As the light faded, only then did the terrifying sound of the explosion echo in everyone's ears.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The scorching Sword Energy Roya had unleashed grew clearer and larger in Golden Lion's eyes.
At this moment, he had nowhere left to hide.
Bang!!!
Another explosive sound rang out.
It was the sound of Sword Energy striking Golden Lion.
The many Marine soldiers who witnessed this scene were shaken to their cores!
In their eyes, Golden Lion, who possessed such formidable strength, had actually been defeated by a single sword strike from this mysterious man!
And it had been such a swift, decisive defeat.
"How is that possible?!"
"That's Golden Lion!"
"That sky-flying pirate was actually defeated by this mysterious man with one sword strike!"
They could vaguely see Golden Lion's silhouette twisting and wavering amid the rising flames.
There were no screams, only the unceasing sound of fire burning.
No one dared imagine just how much pain Golden Lion was enduring within those scorching flames.
If it had been them, they would surely have screamed in agony before being reduced to nothing.
When the flames finally dispersed, Golden Lion, blackened like charcoal, came into everyone's view.
His golden hair, once hanging to the ground, had vanished completely. His entire body was pitch-black, carrying the stench of burnt charcoal.
Yet even in such a miserable state, Golden Lion still slowly stretched out his hand through sheer force of will.
Everyone who saw this felt their hearts tighten.
"No way, Golden Lion still has the strength to fight back?!"
"At this point, does he still have any strength left?"
"What terrifying willpower!"
Seeing this, Roya knew Golden Lion had the will but lacked the strength. Still, he had to admit that Golden Lion possessed the heart of a strong man.
Thus, Roya softly said in a voice only Golden Lion could hear, "I take back what I said before. I acknowledge you as a strong man."
After saying that, Roya turned around and activated the Chicken Talisman.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished from everyone's sight and departed with ease.
Golden Lion clenched his teeth. Severely injured as he was, upon hearing Roya's words, he suddenly recalled what he had once said to Gol D. Roger.
"You bastard, one day, I will definitely defeat you!"
After saying this, Golden Lion could no longer hold on. He closed his eyes and fell straight from the sky, smashing heavily into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Only then did Sengoku and the others recover from their shock.
He stared deeply in the direction Roya had left, his hands clenching tightly in unwillingness while in Buddha Form.
"That bastard actually escaped again!"
Sengoku said bitterly. At the same time, he released his Buddha Form and ordered those around him, "Immediately shackle Golden Lion with Sea-Prism Stone and return him to the sixth level of Impel Down's Infinite Prison."
After giving the follow-up orders, Sengoku looked at the carefree Garp beside him and said, "We only completed half the mission, yet you can still smile. Tell me, what are you thinking?"
"I truly didn't expect this mysterious man to possess not only unparalleled flames and swordsmanship, but also the same ability as Golden Lion. And the Op-Op Fruit should be in his hands as well, right? I'm really curious how he did it."
After saying that, Garp slowly put away his smile. "But from what I can see, the seas are about to fall into chaos!"
Hearing Garp's words, Sengoku could not help sighing as well. "Yes, the seas are about to fall into chaos. This mysterious man's appearance has ruined our operations time and again. Damn bastard!"
This time, he had even defeated Golden Lion, who had just escaped from prison, with a single sword strike.
Although Golden Lion had only just escaped from prison and was in poor condition, with both legs severed and his former peak realm as a Great Swordsman no longer intact—
His Fruit ability had grown greatly stronger. Yet even so, he had been defeated by Roya in one sword strike and reduced to something like charred coal.
This undoubtedly refreshed Sengoku's understanding of Roya's strength once again.
--
At this moment, Roya was rapidly flying toward Holy Land Mariejo, because the system had issued his next check-in mission.
[Ding, check-in mission issued: Holy Land Mariejo. Reward: a random top-tier Fruit with no side effects. Time limit: 3 days.]
Roya used the Chicken Talisman's power to swiftly float through the air.
But traveling like this alone was far too troublesome.
He planned to take a page from Golden Lion's methods.
After flying through the air for most of the day, Roya finally spotted an island out at sea.
Without any hesitation, Roya landed directly on the island.
The Chicken Talisman activated at full power, and a faint blue glow covered the island in an instant.
Under Roya's control, the island slowly began to rise into the air.
Countless waves crashed against one another after the island left the sea, raising surging swells.
After turning the island into a floating island, Roya headed toward Holy Land Mariejo.
Holy Land Mariejo lay between the first and second halves of the Grand Line, at the summit of the Red Line.
It was home to the Celestial Dragons, with vast numbers of top-tier combatants and intelligence agencies. Checking in there would be extremely dangerous!
But Roya had already made a plan.
In the blink of an eye, three days passed, reaching the final day of the time limit.
Roya arrived above Holy Land Mariejo at an unhurried pace.
It was nighttime now. Dark clouds filled the skies, concealing both stars and moon.
This was exactly what Roya had intended. He had deliberately come here at night.
The floating island beneath Roya's feet seemed to blend into the pitch-black night sky. It was impossible to spot, and no one would pay attention to it anyway.
Standing at the very edge of the floating island, Roya looked down upon Holy Land Mariejo below.
Below, Holy Land Mariejo was lit by blazing flames.
Roya could faintly make out unrest below.
Roya raised a hand and pressed down the brim of his hat. If he remembered correctly, Holy Land Mariejo had once suffered an uprising.
That was when Fisher Tiger, once a slave himself, had climbed Holy Land Mariejo with his bare hands and freed thousands upon thousands of slaves.
This unrest would make it even easier for Roya to fish in troubled waters, slipping into Holy Land Mariejo without being discovered.
Leaning forward, Roya jumped directly from the floating island.
The cold wind of the night swept against Roya's cloak.
As Roya rapidly descended toward Holy Land Mariejo—
The chaos upon the Holy Land became increasingly clear in his eyes.
As Roya descended rapidly from the sky, he even saw warships from nearby Marineford already setting out and rushing in this direction.
"What a beautiful sight."
Roya murmured, then concealed himself and arrived atop Holy Land Mariejo...