A Distant Terror from the Heart

"For the villagers?"

"This guy really is a good Marine!"

The Ahua Trio looked at the Bearded Man, admiration rising in their eyes.

Kuina quickly turned and helped the Bearded Man to his feet.

Rather than immediately answering the hope in his eyes, she asked a question.

"Do you know that golden figure?"

She had realized something was wrong when Kuta remained in the air after slicing the meteorite apart instead of returning immediately.

The golden figure who appeared afterward and faced off against Kuta had to be incredibly strong.

Otherwise, Kuta would not have looked so serious, nor would this bearded Marine officer have been so terrified.

"Yes."

The Bearded Man thought back, and his face immediately took on

an expression of terror.

"That old man is the legendary pirate from twenty years ago, Golden Lion Shiki."

"He's the captain of the Flying Pirates, admiral of the Golden Lion Pirate Fleet, and a user of the Float-Float Fruit. He's also known as the Flying Pirate."

"The Float-Float Fruit?"

Although Golden Lion's long string of titles sounded intimidating, Kuina was most interested in his Devil Fruit ability.

She looked at the Bearded Man and asked curiously, "Can you tell me exactly what the Float-Float Fruit does?"

The Bearded Man hurriedly explained, "A user of the Float-Float Fruit is known as a Floating Man. He can make himself or objects float and fly through the air. Golden Lion can levitate any nonliving thing he touches, including islands—and more than one at a time."

"Hey! You're kidding, right?"

Ahua leaned over and asked in shock, "You mean there are more islands above those clouds?"

"Uh... yes!"

Seeing the Bearded Man nod and give a definite answer, the Ahua Trio could not help feeling a sense of urgency.

"No wonder he's so terrified."

"Anyone would be terrified of a legendary pirate who tosses islands around like toys."

They hurriedly turned to Kuina.

Kuina finally made her decision.

They would leave first. Staying here would only make them a burden to Kuta.

A battle between the sea's strongest fighters was not something they could take part in.

Even watching would require them to stay far away.

Seeing the villagers rapidly gathering at the pier, they hurried to help usher them aboard.

Before long, every villager had boarded a ship.

With all sails raised, more than a dozen sailing ships and navy warships of various sizes, packed with villagers, left the harbor and sped toward Loguetown behind the Freedom and the Marine warship.

Up in the sky.

Ever since arriving, Golden Lion had been smoking and watching Kuta with a smile.

He stared at Kuta like a lion watching prey already caught in its grasp.

His gaze was cold and merciless, with a trace of curiosity, full of amusement and satisfaction.

He paid no attention to the villagers and Marines evacuating the island below.

In his eyes, the weak did not even deserve a proper glance.

Since Golden Lion was not attacking immediately, Kuta was happy to take it easy and recover his strength first.

A short while later.

Sensing that Kuta's presence had returned to its former strength, Golden Lion burst into laughter and spoke.

"Jihahahaha..."

"Silver-haired brat, how about joining my pirate crew?"

When he had spotted Kuta's wanted poster in the latest newspaper that morning, it had felt like fate.

With further progress on the IQ drug, he could already feel the time for his comeback drawing near.

That was why he had recently been drifting above the Four Blues, searching for pirates with potential, strength, and ambition to join the Golden Lion Pirates he planned to rebuild.

He had happened to reach the skies over the East Blue, only to discover that a powerful Great Swordsman had just set sail there.

And this boy was so young, yet he had earned an astonishing bounty of seventy million Beli on his very first voyage.

The youthful face on Kuta's wanted poster had reminded him of that man aboard Roger's ship, Silvers Rayleigh.

He, too, had come from the East Blue and was a Great Swordsman. He had also been the first companion Roger invited aboard, and eventually came to be known as the Pirate King's right-hand man.

Golden Lion could not help wondering whether fate itself had guided Kuta here to help him fulfill his ambitions.

If he could get this silver-haired brat to join his crew, it would be much like Roger having Rayleigh.

He needed Kuta's strength. He needed him to help realize his ambition of conquering the world.

So, upon discovering that Kuta's course took him fairly close to their location, he had rushed over as fast as possible.

Then he had casually dropped an island as a test for Kuta.

If Kuta could not even handle an island he had tossed down on a whim, he would not deserve an invitation, much less a place as his true companion.

What he had not expected, however, was for Kuta to pass his test by slicing the entire island into pieces.

Cutting through his island was easy for a Great Swordsman, but reducing it to fragments was beyond an ordinary Great Swordsman's ability.

And judging by how freely Kuta stood in midair, it was not hard to guess that he might also be a Devil Fruit user with the ability to float.

That suited his tastes as the Flying Pirate perfectly.

After all, he was the man who proclaimed that he would rule the sea from the sky!

Terror from Afar, Born Deep Within

"Your pirate crew?"

Watching the ships below gradually leave these waters, Kuta let out a deep breath of relief.

Whether he wanted to clash with a powerful opponent to train his Haki or Golden Lion had some business with him,

he knew one thing: he and Golden Lion were bound to come into conflict and fight.

The villagers on the island below could never withstand a battle like that.

To ordinary people, battles between powerful fighters were little different from natural disasters.

That was especially true of someone like Golden Lion, whose power could wreak cataclysmic destruction. They needed to get as far away as possible.

Kuta had to admit that the Bearded Man was a good Marine. Not only had he been willing to kneel before a pirate for the island's residents,

he had also freed Kuta from his restraints, allowing him to fight Golden Lion without holding back.

Kuta looked up at the second-strongest person he had encountered in the world of One Piece—or perhaps the strongest.

After all, he did not know exactly how strong Dragon was.

Thoughts churned through his mind.

Is Golden Lion in his seventies now, or his eighties?

Hmm... judging by his condition, he definitely isn't in his prime. His stamina can't match mine, either.

He remembered that, because of his age and the ship's rudder lodged in his head, the old man should no longer have been able to use Conqueror's Haki.

His limited stamina should also have left him with fairly little Armament Haki.

And with my strength...

I can win now.

He did admire the man for giving him time to recover his stamina.

It might have been only Thousand Slashes, but all thousand strikes had been unleashed in an instant.

Even with his stamina, he needed a little time to recover.

This was not the same as delivering one slash after another. If he were doing that, forget a thousand—he could manage ten thousand.

His stamina was back at its peak, the villagers below had evacuated, and this old man certainly could not beat him now.

He relaxed, his expression returning to its usual calm.

The unknown was often the root of fear. In this world, he feared nothing he understood.

Looking at Golden Lion, he asked casually, "Hey, old man, do you even have a pirate crew anymore?"

He remembered that this man would not rebuild his crew for another two years.

"Jihahahaha..."

Golden Lion laughed, spread his arms, and invited Kuta once more.

He genuinely admired Kuta.

The boy could hardly have been a better fit for him.

"I can tell from your eyes that you know who I am. And if you know who I am, you should know how strong I am. As long as you join, I can rebuild my crew right now."

He paused, then laughed again.

"Jihahahaha! Silver Hair Kuta, become my right-hand man! With my plan and your potential, I can make the World Government feel pain right now."

"Let them know that I... Golden Lion, have returned."

"Jihahahaha..."

Kuta watched Golden Lion's crazed laughter, sensing the wild ambition in his expression and words.

This old

man wanted nothing but to destroy the world now. He had completely lost his mind.

The moment he stopped believing in his own strength and started tinkering with those mutated beasts, he had ceased to be one of the world's greatest fighters.

His strength plainly no longer matched his ambition.

With his ability, he had no need for ferocious beasts at all. He could simply drop a few dozen islands and leave. Destroying the East Blue would take mere minutes.

Forget just the East Blue—he could wipe out every Marine branch, too.

Hmm...! Maybe there's something behind it that I don't know about!

"Burp!"

Kuta pulled the wine gourd from his waist, raised it to his lips, tilted his head back for a drink, and belched.

"Refreshing!"

He had to admit, this three-hundred-thousand-Beli liquor had something going for it.

The corners of his mouth lifted as Kuta smiled at Golden Lion. "Old man, at your age, you ought to find somewhere with flowers and birdsong and enjoy your retirement."

"Why insist on coming out and making a spectacle of yourself? Wouldn't it be better to stay a legend?"

He paused and took another drink.

Then he continued mockingly, "Coming out at your age and proclaiming that you're going to destroy the world—don't you realize how ridiculous that is?"

"Destroying the world, making the world feel pain... who do you think you are, Pain?"

As he listened to Kuta, Golden Lion's laughter slowly faded.

He looked at Kuta with a slight frown, took a deep drag, then removed the cigar from his mouth and tapped off its ash in front of him. Malice poured from his body.

"So, that's your answer, then!"