Shiki's Resolve

That was how Ryan followed Golden Lion Shiki to the island, though having a red-haired giant ape trail right behind him left Ryan thoroughly ill at ease.

Shiki led Ryan into the reception hall. Gazing at Shiki seated in the main chair, Ryan asked with curiosity, "Hey, isn't it uncomfortable having a ship's helm stuck right in the top of your head?"

Shiki, who had finally managed to calm down, flared up all over again. One had to know that the helm on his head was Shiki's ultimate taboo.

Over twenty years ago, Shiki wanted to team up with Roger to conquer the entire world. After Roger turned him down, Shiki flew into a rage from embarrassment, and the two pirate crews erupted into a fierce battle known as the "Edd War."

The originally cornered Roger Pirates were saved by a sudden, violent storm. More than half of the Flying Pirates' massive fleet was driven into the ocean depths, and thanks to a freak accident, a ship's helm unfortunately embedded itself right into Shiki's head. Because forcefully pulling the helm out would pose a mortal danger, the steering wheel remained embedded in his head to this day.

"Kid, are you looking to die?" Shiki roared in fury.

Ryan didn't take Shiki's threat to heart; he had merely been genuinely curious. Seeing that Shiki was enraged, however, he didn't pursue the topic further. After all, Ryan still had a few things he wanted to ask Shiki.

Ryan spoke to Shiki politely, "Sorry about that, I got a bit curious for a moment. By the way, Shiki, do you know what the situation is with the very last stretch of the New World?"

Seeing that Ryan's attitude was not bad, Shiki didn't say anything more.

"Old man here has never been, but Roger went. Unfortunately, in the end..." A look of nostalgic recollection appeared on Shiki's face.

Seeing Shiki like this, Ryan inwardly muttered a constant stream of cynical remarks. Such a tsutsumi of a proud one. Back when Roger was alive, you fought him to the death, and now that he's dead, you're standing here getting all sentimental.

In truth, Shiki was also a pitiful man. The first half of Shiki's life was infinitely glorious, and his greatest dream in this life was to rule the entire world just like Captain Rocks. Yet his ending was even more miserable than Rocks's.

Rocks had at least died straight away without enduring any major suffering, but what about Shiki? He was defeated by Roger due to an accident at the "Edd War," and then captured and thrown into Impel Down after being defeated by Garp and Sengoku both.

He severed his own legs to escape Impel Down, went into hiding for twenty years after breaking out, and then prepared to destroy the East Blue, only to get knocked flying by Straw Hat Luffy and thrown right back in prison.

Such was the tragic second half of Golden Lion Shiki's life, and the "Edd War" was the starting point of it all. Shiki's luck seemed to have been beaten out of him by Roger, and from then on, nothing went his way.

Thinking of this, Ryan cast a look of sympathy toward Shiki.

Right at that moment, Shiki finished reminiscing and looked over at Ryan, and the hall instantly plunged into a dead silence.

Shiki repeatedly questioned himself in his heart. Was that a sympathetic look just now?

Shiki sank into doubt. Throughout his life, some people feared him, others worshipped him, and an even greater number were terrified of him. Because of that, Shiki had never once seen a sympathetic gaze.

Yet his intuition told him that Ryan was indeed pitying him.

Seeing that he had been caught red-handed by Shiki, Ryan hurriedly changed the subject.

"Shiki, I have a question to ask you. Why do you insist on trying to destroy the East Blue?"

Shiki was completely baffled. The chance to destroy the East Blue is something I only brought up ten days ago. How does he know about it? Could it be there's a traitor? Soon, Shiki dismissed the thought from his mind, because no one on the island had ever left.

In this Kong ten thousand meters above the ground, apart from him, no one could leave. Ordinarily, they purchased supplies once every half year, and the last time someone went out was two months ago.

Thinking of this, Shiki instantly straightened out his train of thought. There is only one truth to the matter, and that is that this brat is abnormal!

"Kid, how do you know I plan to destroy the East Blue!" Shiki stared at Ryan and barked angrily.

Only then did Ryan remember he had let a slip of the tongue. Not knowing how to explain, Ryan could only force out two dry laughs.

"Guess!"

Without another word, Shiki moved directly to attack, feeling as though he were being toyed with by this brat.

"Lion: Senjindani." Several sword slashes suddenly flew toward Ryan.

Fortunately, Ryan reacted quickly and narrowly dodged them. Had it been anyone else ambushed by an expert like Shiki, they would have directly lost their life.

Ryan's hair, however, suffered a disaster, with a wisp of fine locks being sliced straight off by a sword slash.

Ryan's temper flared up as well. The man attacked without a word of warning. Hadn't they been chatting quite nicely just a moment ago? Why suddenly start fighting out of nowhere?

"Are you part dog or something, Golden Lion Shiki!" Ryan cursed loudly at Shiki.

"You brat, how dare you curse this old man! How many years has it been since anyone dared curse me? Do you even know how the people who cursed me before ended up dying?"

An enraged Shiki burst forth with a formidable presence, a powerful wave of Conqueror's Haki sweeping toward Ryan.

Ryan met it with his own burst of Conqueror's Haki in response.

The Conqueror's Haki of the two clashed formlessly in Kong, the entire island shrouded by the Conqueror's Haki of both men. The Ferocious Beast on the island emitted cries of sorrow, though more simply collapsed to the ground one after another.

At the same time, the hall where the two men stood was directly destroyed by their momentum.

Ryan was dumbfounded for a moment. He had never clashed with anyone using Conqueror's Haki before. The people he had encountered until now either didn't have it, or didn't use it against him.

Though he had always known that Conqueror's Haki was the most special existence among the three colors of Haki, Ryan genuinely felt it had no real use. Normally, Ryan only used it to put on airs and effortlessly wipe out small-fry mobs.

This clash with Shiki's Conqueror's Haki, however, let Ryan truly experience the might of Conqueror's Haki firsthand. It was definitely not as simple as Ryan had imagined.

"I didn't expect you brat to also have the qualities of a king," Shiki laughed loudly.

Shiki had stayed on this island for seven years, and for seven years he had not crossed swords with anyone. Ryan's strength had made the unextinguished blood within Shiki's body boil once again.

"Shishi Shigan!"

Utilizing the power of the Float-Float Fruit, Shiki directly had the entire ground completely flipped up, transforming it into two lion-head shapes that charged straight toward Ryan to bite him.

Ryan hurriedly retreated, but the lion heads closely pursued him. A flash of sword light followed, and the two massive lion heads were sliced in two halves.

"One Sword Style. Iai. Lion Slaughter." It was only after the lion heads hit the ground that Ryan's calm voice finally arrived.

Ryan's Iai swordsmanship had all been acquired through life-and-death combat with Ferocious Beasts. This particular move was something Ryan had comprehended specifically to deal with a three-headed lion.

Yet this technique only made Shiki even more furious. Wasn't naming the move Lion Slaughter deliberate?

"You brat, how dare you insult me!"

Seeing this situation, Ryan knew Shiki had misunderstood, and hurriedly explained.

"Listen to my explanation, Shiki!"

"Shishi Goshikani!" How could Shiki possibly listen to his explanation.

The entire island looked as though a thick layer of skin had been scraped right off it, recombining into several stone lions hundreds of meters tall.

Even people as far away as Weatheria on the island of Beli witnessed this scene.

Kid shrieked in succession, "That's way too exaggerated! What kind of monster is the captain fighting?!"

"I believe Master Ryan will win!" Killer clenched both fists and said in a low voice.

Fujitora asked, "What did you all see?"

Meanwhile, the battle between Ryan and Shiki had already entered a white-hot stage.

"If I explain and you won't listen, don't blame me, Shiki!" Ryan directly leveraged the force beneath his feet and dashed toward that giant lion.

"One-Sword Immortal Kneels!"

The moment Ryan's voice fell, that hundreds-of-meters-tall stone lion was seen splitting entirely into two, toppling toward the two men one after another. As for the falling stone lions, they crushed an untold number of innocent wild beasts to their deaths.

Shock appeared on Shiki's face. He had thought Ryan was strong, but he never expected him to be this strong.

Shiki's expression was caught in Ryan's eyes, and he thought inwardly, Humph! This is a sword that can make immortals kneel down, let alone this stone lion.

The true meaning behind One-Sword Immortal Kneels was that no matter how strong the opponent was, they had to submit beneath this single sword; only by possessing such a conviction could the maximum power of this technique be unleashed.

Seizing the moment when Shiki was distracted, Ryan sent Shiki flying out with a single slash of his sword.

Shiki collapsed powerlessly onto the ground. His most powerful technique had been neutralized so effortlessly by Ryan, and Shiki had already lost the confidence to defeat Ryan.

The blows of so many years had long since left Shiki's inner self riddled with holes. What a proud and domineering man he once was, yet now he was hiding on this little island researching some kind of "IQ."

Looking at Shiki before him, Ryan sighed softly. "Since you've given up on yourself, I'll send you off right here! Using this sword to see you off won't be considered a humiliation to you."

With that, "Ace" appeared in Ryan's hand.

Seeing "Ace," the look in Shiki's eyes finally recovered its past brilliance, no longer as dim as it had been moments ago.

"Roger's sword?"

"That's right. You fell because of Roger, and you shall end by Roger's sword!" Finishing his sentence, Ryan prepared to finish Shiki off with one stroke.

Looking at the sword poised above his head, Shiki began to grow somewhat frantic.

"Roger! I'm going to be killed by Roger's sword!"

"No!"

"I will never lose to you, Roger!"

Shiki let out a furious roar, using all his strength to yank out the ship's helm that had been embedded in his head for more than a dozen years. Fresh blood immediately spurted forth in a rush.

"Gahahahaha, Roger, even in death I will not lose to you!"

Blood had already covered Shiki's entire face, and his golden hair had been dyed red. Drip, drop, drip, drop—blood continuously dripped onto the ground.

Shiki laughed wildly in this manner, completely disregarding his own life or death.

Ryan felt an inexplicable sense of shock. What kind of sheer willpower did this man possess? Even with a massive hole freshly opened in his head, he could still laugh with such unrestrained abandon.

Shiki unleashed a sword slash that drove Ryan back, then laughed aloud. "Kid, the real fight starts now!"

"Infinite - Lion: Senjindani"

Instantly, countless sword slashes continually assailed Ryan. No sooner had Ryan blocked a few than an identical number immediately replenished them the next moment.

"Gahahahaha."

For a moment, Ryan found himself struggling to fend them off, as dense walls of sword slashes filled the space ahead. Furthermore, having pulled out the helm, Shiki seemed to have unlocked a knot in his heart, and the power of his sword slashes was actually several notches stronger than before.

Watching Shiki covered in blood, his legs continuously kicking out sword slashes while laughing maniacally, Ryan was truly shaken to his core.

This man cannot just die here! Even if he's going to die, he should go out in a blaze of glory instead of on this uninhabited island. Such a voice echoed within Ryan's heart.

"Shiki, if you keep going like this, you're going to die!" Ryan shouted toward Shiki while fending off the incoming sword slashes.

"Gahahahaha, are you scared, kid?"

Seeing Shiki in this state, Ryan knew that trying to talk sense into him was useless; he couldn't take anything in right now. He had no choice but to knock him down first.

"Two-Sleeved Green Snake!" Ryan directly unleashed his strongest technique.

Two forty-meter-long sword slashes entwined together, their might a fraction greater than before. The cyan sword slashes broke through Shiki's sword slashes with unstoppable momentum, reaching Shiki in the blink of an eye and sending him flying dozens of meters away.

Seeing that he had succeeded, Ryan hurriedly ran over to check his breathing and discovered that he was still alive, just knocked unconscious.

At that moment, because of Shiki's unconsciousness, the entire island began to shake violently, as though it could plummet at any second.

Ryan shouted anxiously, "Whoever's the ship doctor, hurry up and save him!" Ryan remembered that the Flying Pirates had a ship doctor.

Hearing Ryan's shout, Indigo, who had been hiding to the side, hurried over, completely stripped of his usual playful demeanor.

Grabbing Indigo, Ryan bolted toward Weatheria. Just as Ryan was running, the island began to fall apart piece by piece. Seeing this, Ryan ran even faster. Driven by his stimulated potential, Ryan sped up even more, but the rate of the island's collapse was simply too fast.

The three of them fell straight down. In Kong, Ryan stepped on falling rocks to climb continuously upward, but it was all to no avail. Just as Ryan was about to despair, two voices rang out.

"Ryan!"

Lory and Robin shouted from the bubble boat, and at the same time, Robin used countless hands woven into a rope to toss it toward Ryan. Ryan was caught by several hands.

Although it felt somewhat uncomfortable, Ryan didn't raise any objections, considering that these were Robin's hands after all.

Just like that, the three of them safely returned aboard the bubble boat.

"How did you guys end up coming here?" Ryan asked.

Listening to the two of them explain, Ryan finally understood. It turned out that when Robin saw him fighting Shiki, she suddenly remembered that if a Devil Fruit user died or lost consciousness, their abilities could not be maintained.

If Shiki died, the entire island would plummet from a height of ten thousand meters.

And so Robin and Lory had kept guard here in the bubble boat, which explained why the scene from just a moment ago had happened.

"It's really great having you guys here," Ryan smiled gently at Robin and Lory.

Hearing those words, Robin hurriedly turned her head away.

As for Lory, she kept repeating, "I'm not that great at all!"

On the return voyage, watching the entire island plummet all the way down, Ryan couldn't help a feeling of inner emotion. If it weren't for Robin and Lory, I really would have been in grave danger this time. After all, I'm no monster like Kaido who can survive a fall from a height of ten thousand meters.

And so the five of them returned to Weatheria.----------------------------Brothers, a massive 4,000-word chapter brought to you! One chapter is better than two! Old Wang is asking for some free gifts here, and that's not too much to ask, right? Brothers who have free gifts in hand can send some to support Old Wang's creation.