Where the Golden Lion Is / Lion's Might: Imperial Palace Earth Scroll

"Let's sail at full speed. Anyway, the business is almost done. The Pirates in Sabaody should be running rampant again, right?"

Atlas rose slightly, a cruel smile playing on his lips.

Although his remaining power was still there, Pirates are just like that; Majors and Kyros alone couldn't suppress the Pirates who were making a comeback, even though Kyros had officially mastered Armament Haki.

Armament Haki is not invincible. As long as one's physical fitness meets the requirements and one knows the method of Awakening, many people can successfully guide the Armament Haki within their bodies.

In fact, most Pirates with a bounty of around 100 million who reach Sabaody can Awakening Armament Haki, but there are very few Pirates in Paradise who can use Armament Haki, let alone learn how to train it.

"Yes, Lieutenant Vice Admiral!"

The navigator accepted the order.

Just as the navigator was about to return to the cockpit to relay Atlas's instructions, he suddenly caught a glimpse of a shadow growing larger at an alarming rate out of the corner of his eye.

"Lieutenant Vice Admiral Atlas, what, what is that thing...?"

An island!

That's right! It was an island. Cold sweat poured down the navigator's forehead, his face filled with horror, and his pupils shrank sharply in shock.

Because the island landed in the waters near the warship!

Wow, what a huge island!

"The outside world is so wonderful..."

Ace and his two companions also noticed the strange phenomenon in the sky, immediately stopped what they were doing, and exclaimed in amazement.

The soldiers on board naturally noticed the gradually enlarging outline of the island overhead. Their faces turned pale, but they forced themselves to remain calm and looked at the main body of the warship.

"Hey! What kind of joke is this? How could you encounter something like this in the East Blue?!"

A flicker of panic crossed Smoker's eyes. This kind of cataclysmic power was something he had never encountered before, having spent so many years in the early stages of the game. He could only instinctively cast a pleading look at Atlas.

"This is really troublesome. It seems we've run into some very important person this time..."

Atlas abruptly stood up, his face quickly darkening.

Golden Lion!

On the vast ocean, only the Blind Swordsman Issho and the Golden Lion Shiki could so freely manipulate a huge island, and Issho wouldn't do something like that just because of his Devil Fruit Ability!

The criminal the Navy most wanted to capture, the man who shattered the Impel Down myth, it's said that after escaping from prison, he only met Whitebeard once before disappearing without a trace. But Atlas knows that Golden Lion has gone out to research this weird thing called 'IQ,' just another guy who has lost confidence in himself.

"Explosive Flame Pillar!"

As soon as he finished speaking, a pillar entirely constructed of Explosive Flame shot into the sky from Atlas's body. Like a majestic fire dragon, it bared its fangs and claws as it lunged toward the distant island.

Boom!

A deafening explosion rang out, and the massive island was instantly engulfed by a pillar of fire. Countless ashes rained down from the sky, and the sky above returned to clear. Along with them fell the hearts of the marines, which were pounding in their throats.

In this situation, Atlas naturally couldn't use a slashing attack. If it were Hawkeye's Swordsmanship, he might be able to completely destroy the island without affecting the warships. However, Atlas has more than one method; he just used the Dragon Talisman because it looked cooler.

But...

Atlas looked at the azure sky and grinned.

Golden Lion? This is practically a victory delivered right to our doorstep...

P. S. It's been eight years since Golden Lion escaped from Impel Down. Aside from seemingly searching for Whitebeard once, there's been no further news of him. Then he reappeared in the East Blue in 1520. So, I guess this is a major modification, since with his mobility, he could appear anywhere.

Chapter 145 The location of the Golden Lion (Thanks to book friend 'Huan' for the great certification)

The gray-black dust drifted into the sea, and the sailors on the warship breathed a sigh of relief. Although they had long since become numb to the power of their Vice Admiral, they were still amazed that he could do something as terrifying as destroying an island in one strike.

In fact, this kind of island can only be considered a small island. Atlas was able to slowly wear it down with its continuous Explosion Impact, so this result was not surprising at all.

Everyone looked up at the sky, trying to find the source of the recent crisis.

There was nothing overhead, and no trace of any floating Sky Island appeared in the field of vision.

A flash of red light appeared in Atlas's eyes, and his powerful Observation Haki rapidly spread upwards, extending the tentacles of his senses continuously...

He refused to believe that even if Golden Lion's Devil Fruit Ability Awakening, it couldn't possibly extend too far beyond the area where the island fell. With his Observation Haki, he could easily pinpoint the guy's location.

Found it!

Soon, islands floating in the air appeared within Atlas's perception range, teeming with violent life force.

"You all stay here and don't move. I'm going to meet with some old guy!"

Atlas grinned maliciously, settled everyone on the warship, quickly changed his clothes, and then used Geppo to walk towards the floating island.

"An old man? A floating Sky Island, could it be...?"

Smoker muttered to himself, then his whole body trembled as an uncontrollable conjecture surged into his mind.

"Who is this old guy Atlas is talking about?"

Ace, standing nearby, perked up his ears, keenly catching Smoker's mutterings, and asked curiously.

"Golden Lion!"

Smoker's expression was solemn. Although he had never faced this legendary Pirates directly, he had heard about how terrifying this man was from other veteran marines, especially ten years ago.

He single-handedly stormed Marineford, the Marine Headquarters, and countless Marines perished in that battle! In the end, it was only through the combined efforts of Sengoku Admiral and Marine Garp the Hero that he was subdued, but at the cost of almost half of Marineford being destroyed.

"That man who, before the Great Pirate Era, was known as one of the three legendary Pirates alongside Roger and Whitebeard..."

"Roger... that kind of man?"

Ace clenched his fist quietly, never expecting to hear news of a legendary Pirates on par with Roger here.

"Hoo~" Smoker slowly exhaled a smoke ring through his cigar, disbelief still lingering on his face. "If this guy hadn't been so unlucky, Roger might never have had the chance to become the Pirate King. During the Battle of Edd War, a sudden storm destroyed most of his Fleet, allowing the Roger Pirates, who were on the verge of defeat, to escape."

Atlas should be able to do it...

Smoker looked with some concern at the figure gradually disappearing into the horizon.

Several enormous floating Sky Island were pieced together, and on the largest island in the middle stood a palace.

Inside the palace, the decor was not particularly lavish. A spacious throne sat before a curtain carved with Golden Lion, its deep red beams adorned with crimson beams. A man, with a rudder-like object on his head, puffed on a smoking cigar, his long, flowing golden hair cascading down to the ground, wore a defiant smile.

"Disappeared? Was it destroyed?"

He felt the island, which he had just controlled with his Devil Fruit Ability, suddenly disappear from his control, either destroyed or sinking into the sea.

However, sensing the powerful life force that had intruded into his Observation Haki range, Shiki grinned maliciously, "Looks like it's the former, how interesting. I wonder if it's a Marine or Pirates!"

"Hey! Indigo, where are we now?"

Splat, splat, splat, splat...

The words had barely left his mouth.

A series of footsteps, sounding like a fart, echoed through the palace. Then came a man with a face thickly covered in makeup, dressed like a clown. His exaggerated makeup, sunglasses perched on his head, dark blue hair, and white coat created a rather comical impression.

"Shiki, we are currently located in the East Blue."

Upon hearing this, the Golden Lion's face showed a thoughtful expression, then he threw his head back and laughed loudly, "The East Blue? Roger's hometown, that bastard's hometown. I didn't expect another strongman to appear. How interesting! Hehehehehe!"

"Shiki, it looks like you're from the Navy?"

The observers below the palace put down their observation binoculars and turned to report to Shiki.

"The Navy? This is getting more and more interesting. Are all the navies so arrogant these days? One person dares to attack me. Has the reputation of the Golden Lion been forgotten?!"

Upon hearing the name of the Navy, a hint of hatred flashed in Golden Lion's eyes. He subconsciously looked at the prosthetic limbs containing 'Sakura Ten' and 'Kogarashi,' and felt a pang of pain in his heart.

"Shiki, shall we take the initiative?"

"No, we'll wait for him here. And Indigo, when will the drug you mentioned made from IQ be completed?"

Shiki turned to Indigo, the white-faced clown, and asked.

"Click-clack, it won't be long, Shiki. Once we've truly created the IQ, the whole world will fear us, and the seas will once again sing your praises!"

Indigo laughed loudly, his pale face contorted with fanaticism, his whole body trembling uncontrollably with excitement, causing large amounts of makeup to fall from his face.

"Hahaha, when the time comes, I will definitely destroy the East Blue to announce to the world the return of my Golden Lion, the sea where Roger was born!"

Geppo is quite fast, especially with Atlas's abnormal physical abilities.

Soon, a large number of floating Sky Island came into Atlas's view. It has to be said that Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit is definitely a strategic-level ability. No wonder the Navy has been searching for this guy's whereabouts without success.

He used his Devil Fruit Ability to hover these islands in the clouds, invisible to the naked eye, and with his powerful mobility, even the World Government's intelligence agency, Cipher Pol, had difficulty gathering intelligence on Golden Lion.

What surprised Atlas the most was that the Golden Lion actually summoned a large amount of seawater to surround several islands. This Devil Fruit Ability was simply unreasonable, which also showed that truly powerful Devil Fruit users were not afraid of the curse of the sea at all, and could even manipulate the sea to their advantage.

It's often said that there are only bad Devil Fruit users, not bad Devil Fruits. But that's just something to take with a grain of salt. There's a hierarchy among Devil Fruits, and while developing a powerful ability does require personal development, some Devil Fruits allow you to instantly become a formidable force – that's what gives you a head start.

Chapter 146 Lion Power· Imperial Scroll

Observation Haki to scan the area, Atlas discovered that there weren't as many ferocious beasts as he had imagined.

"It seems the Golden Lion and his team haven't developed that drug yet..."

Atlas ignored the other islands and headed straight for the largest floating Sky Island in the center. In his Observation Haki, the Golden Lion's aura remained motionless within the palace.

This is silent contempt!

"Heh... does he really think he's still the Golden Lion he used to be?"

Admittedly, as one of the three great Pirates alongside Roger and Whitebeard, Golden Lion certainly had the right to look down upon the seas, but he was just a bit unlucky.

Since the Battle of Ettore, the massive ship's rudder had pierced his brain, but it didn't have a significant impact on his strength in the short term; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to storm Marine Headquarters alone later.

Furthermore, it required Garp and Sengoku to join forces to capture him. Although the two of them only needed to take down Golden Lion in a short time to reduce the Navy's losses, it was enough to highlight his terrifying strength.

As time went on, the damage to his brain from the ship's rudder eventually affected his use of Haki. Coupled with the loss of his legs, he could not fully unleash the strength of a great Swordsman, which led to him being defeated by Luffy, who did not yet know Haki, more than a decade later.

Of course, the fighting power in the movie is not a reliable indicator, but it does reflect how much the Golden Lion has weakened due to his advanced age and serious injuries.

Soon, the Golden Lion's palace appeared before Atlas, which made him chuckle. "Really, still dreaming of being the King of the World."

"Explosion!"

With a soft thud, an Explosive Flame, accompanied by a scorching heatwave, shot straight towards the palace!

Boom!

The Golden Lion's carefully constructed residence was reduced to ashes by Atlas's Explosive Flame, and a huge cloud of smoke rose into the sky!

"Damn it, you bastard navy man!"

A furious shout came from the smoke, and a rapidly moving figure soared into the sky, carrying a limp humanoid creature in its hand. The legendary Pirates's face was fully revealed to Atlas.

With its golden beard and mane, its appearance truly lived up to the name "Golden Lion." Only around its mouth was there a light layer of black whiskers, Atlas to wonder if its hair color was intentionally dyed that way.

He wore a traditional orange and yellow striped kimono, with a signature ship's wheel stuck on his head. His face still showed signs of rage, and his legs were replaced by two Famous Swords of the Great Grade Sword grade.

"You brat, don't you know the might of Golden Lion? Are you trying to end your naval career right here? Heh heh heh heh!"

Golden Lion glared with one eye in a comical manner, actually expressing his inner rage. This navy man had actually destroyed his palace, which housed the top meteorological and research talents he had gathered from all over the world.

He casually tossed the unconscious Indigo down from the air, but instead of the expected thud, he was caught by an invisible giant hand that held his limp body and then slowly descended to an island below.

"Tch~ What a piece of trash!"

If Indigo hadn't been so useful to his research on IQ, he wouldn't have gone to the trouble of saving Indigo's life; subordinates were just things that could be discarded at will.

"I never imagined you'd developed the Float-Float Fruit to this extent! You truly live up to your reputation as the legendary Pirates, Golden Lion!"

Atlas knew that Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit could only free non-living objects from the pull of gravity, and that the object had to be touched. As long as the person touched the object did not fall into a coma, they would have permanent control over it!

The scene before them was clearly not a Golden Lion breaking the inherent rules of the Devil Fruit's use, but rather of him using the control of air to create a lifting force on Indigo's body.

And this is clearly the power of Devil Fruit Awakening!

Come to think of it, as one of the three legendary Pirates of the previous era, their Devil Fruit Ability and Haki levels were undoubtedly at the pinnacle of their time, Devil Fruit Awakening was standard practice for them!

"Hehehehe! You actually know about Devil Fruit Awakening. But..." Golden Lion grinned, revealing almost his crimson gums, "You'd better stay here! My masterpiece isn't finished yet; I can't let the Navy know where I am!"

"That's not up to you!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than Atlas heard an Explosion beneath his feet, using the recoil to quickly close the distance!

Almost simultaneously, the Golden Lion in mid-air used its 'Sakura Ten' sword to unleash several giant sword energies in the direction Atlas was charging!