The speeding figure instantly carved a white wake across the sea, then raced away in the blink of an eye, soon vanishing from the sight of everyone aboard.
"Jahahahaha!"
Golden Lion Shiki laughed and tried taking a couple of steps across the deck, his smile widening.
With his legs restored, even his youthful vigor seemed to have returned.
He slowly bent down and picked up his two swords.
"Oto, Kogarashi, at last, I hold you in my hands again."
As Golden Lion Shiki murmured those words, tears glimmered faintly in his eyes.
No one could understand the excitement and joy he felt at that moment.
Clack!
The instant his hands tightened around the hilts, Golden Lion's presence surged, becoming powerful and overwhelming.
"This really gives me something to look forward to!"
Speaking softly, Golden Lion looked toward the sea ahead.
Suddenly, he drew his sword with his right hand and swung it toward the ocean.
Whoosh!
An enormous slash roared forth, cleaving the sea in an instant and racing toward the distant horizon, parting the water to carve an immense chasm.
"How I've missed this feeling!"
Sheathing his sword, Golden Lion bent his knees slightly, then sprang upward, reaching the top of the mast in the blink of an eye.
Then he began leaping all over the Ark Maxim, shifting his position faster and faster as his laughter grew louder.
Seeing this, Crocodile gave his right hand and body a slight shake. Grains of sand obeyed him like an extension of his limbs, moving at his will.
One moment they formed a shield, the next a spear, then swords and blades.
He slowly clenched his right hand. The sand shuddered, gathering into a sphere before abruptly compressing into a flat disc.
"I've never felt anything like it. Such incredible power."