The battle rapidly escalated

"--Hehehe--!"

Arrogant laughter echoed through the sky.

On the bubble island atop the Knock Up Stream, the Pirates looked up one by one. First, they saw the sky darken, then they saw two small islands emerge from the clouds.

One of them is still gradually 'growing'. This island also seems 'alive', with rocky arms and a 'face'.

"--What!?"

"The island... the island is falling down!?"

Run!

The 'living island' crashed onto the bubble island. The bubble membrane shattered upon impact.

The two islands collided, and Bubble Island collapsed. The Knock Up Stream below also began to 'disintegrate' upon impact.

Buggy was floating in mid-air, clutching a treasure chest. The Shockwave from the shattering island flipped him over, the chest slipped from his grasp, tumbled twice, and plummeted downwards.

"Ah! My treasure chest!"

Buggy screamed as he swooped down.

All the Pirates who participated in the treasure hunt also fell haphazardly into the lake below, along with the island's wreckage.

The Devil Fruit Users were in a worse situation; the 'lake' below was a seawater lake. After falling in, they all sank to the bottom, and it was only through their non- Devil Fruit User companions that they were able to retrieve them.

" --Luffy!"

Ace rushed into the water and grabbed Luffy.

Luffy's mouth was bubbling on the surface of the water, and he was hanging on the water like a noodle. Ace dragged him to a huge rock platform, turned him over, and patted his back.

"--cough--cough-- Ace... are you alright?!"

Mind your own business first.

Ace pressed him against the rock and looked up at the lake.

These large boulders fell onto the lake surface, forming a large 'island'-like terrain. The Main Venue was also thrown into chaos.

Other Pirates involved in the treasure hunt also climbed ashore from the sea. After all, they were in the New World to make a living, and more than half of them had survived a disaster of this magnitude.

Meanwhile, Shiryu, Urouge, Apoo, Hawkins, and Crescent Moon Hunter, each with their own subordinates, stood on different floating boulders and descended with the Golden Lion.

The island, assimilated by the Corrupt King, lies in the center of the lake, with its upper part above the water. The small hill in the center of the island has taken on the shape of a 'head'.

A pair of large eyes on the mountainside looked down at the Pirates. Above the head of the Corrupt King, Bullet, dressed in a black military uniform, stood with his arms crossed and a contemptuous look in his eyes.

But even more conspicuous was the Golden Lion hovering in mid-air, looking down at all the Pirates below.

"Roger's treasure—I'll take it!"

As he spoke, the Conqueror's Haki emanating from the Golden Lion spread and swept in all directions.

The Pirates on the various reefs looked up and saw this flamboyant figure. Some of the weaker ones immediately lay down.

"Golden Lion... Shiki!?"

"That one who sided with 'Bondrewd'..."

"So this guy came too!"

At this point, everyone still followed conventional thinking, assuming that the Golden Lion had personally intervened for some reason.

But what happened next made them gradually realize that the situation might not be so good.

'--Hoo--'

With a deafening roar, a bolt of lightning shot into the sky from the direction of the audience seats, heading straight for the Golden Lion.

Lightning gathered above the lake, transforming into Shining that hovered in mid-air, a cynical smile curving its face outlined by arcs of Electric Arc.

"Hey~ Golden Lion ~ You don't need to personally handle this kind of event, do you?"

Whether facing the Golden Lion directly or Sephiroth himself in his Shining form.

After all, given Enkidu's performance, it would still be exposed in a one-on-one fight against the Emperor of the Sea -class opponent.

A flash of lightning in the sky drew everyone's attention.

"--The Shining!?"

"The Strongest Shichibukai!"

What is he doing here!?

Shining his hands forward, unleashing two bright blue 'Lightning Strike spears' straight at Golden Lion.

" --Double Spark!"

Golden Lion's Observation Haki triggered an alarm the moment Shining appeared. Without hesitation, he turned to the side. A Lightning Strike spear grazed past him.

Another Lightning Strike spear struck, and Golden Lion had no time to dodge. He flipped the Oto of his right hand, covered it with Armament Haki, and took the blow head-on.

Lightning struck the blade, exploding outwards, and the Golden Lion's body was propelled backwards a distance by the impact.

His left hand swung out Kogarashi, a Flying Slash aimed at Shining from below.

Shining's 'body' dispersed before the slash could reach it, Electric Arc flowing in multiple directions before reforming a short distance away. A large amount of arcs of Electric Arc accumulated on his body.

" --Thunderclap Breaker."

Hundreds of Lightning erupted from Shining's body, and he crashed down.

The overwhelming bombardment reminded Shiryu, Urouge, Apoo, Hawkins, Crescent Moon Hunter of the terror of being whack-a- Shining.

Their henchmen also scattered and fled in panic.

" --Electric Boy--!"

The Golden Lion immediately rose in altitude and chased after Shining.

He knew very well that he couldn't let Shining run rampant. With that guy's speed, even he would have a hard time retreating. He could only hope that Red Count would summon Bondrewd.

"--Lion Thousand-Cut Valley!"

Lightning attacks are too fast; trying to dodge them is unrealistic.

Golden Lion adopted offense as defense, rapidly wielding his Crossed Swords, unleashing Armament Haki in conjunction with continuous Flying Slashes, carving out a safe zone in front of him.

More than ten Slash Wave waves collided with the lightning, exploding into a sky full of turbulent currents and sparks.

"--Celestial Instruments - Meteor Shower!"

The Shining flew backward, its swaying trajectory punctuated by dozens of Ball Lightning Electric Current collided, intertwined, and bounced off each other, drifting and scattering towards the Golden Lion in a Brownian motion.

Despite the disparity in mobility, the Golden Lion maintained his arrogant and domineering smile and let out a loud shout.

" --Lion's Might Zinbo!"

In the clouds, the "Sea Current" traveling alongside the "Flying Admiral" literally means "a waterfall plunging three thousand feet."

The cascading waterfall swept away most of the Ball Lightning.

The high-energy Plasma was submerged in a resistive medium like seawater. The high temperature caused the seawater to vaporize and expand rapidly, creating dozens of violently expanding 'cavities'.

Complex overlapping Shockwave tore this towering waterfall apart into a massive downpour. In the highly ionized environment, a large cluster of chimeric rainbows formed.

Shining used Flash repeatedly to escape the area affected by the downpour.

Golden Lion gripped his twin swords tightly, and black and red Inazuma began to crackle around the blades of Oto and Kogarashi.

Shining the Golden Lion's stance, Electric Arc's expression turned 'serious'.

The Golden Lion unleashed two Conqueror's Coating slashes, flying in a cross shape.

Shining's figure vanished before the slash even touched him, further widening the distance. The Arc Light of Lightning circled halfway around the outside, appearing in the airspace several kilometers behind and to the side of the Golden Lion.

"Blue Jets!"

Shining raised his right arm, Plasma converged into a ball of light in front of his Silver Gray gauntlet. It then 'erupted' in the form of Forked Inazuma that converged into a thin cone.

The Golden Lion's Observation Haki detected the approximate landing point. He spun and maneuvered in the air, flipping over to unleash a reverse 'Lion Slash', wielding Kogarashi. The Conqueror's Coating, wrapped in black and red Inazuma, collided with the bright blue Inazuma cone-shaped jet.

"--Super Slash Wave!"

The blue Inazuma was sliced in half by the Golden Lion's Conqueror's Coating Flying Slash, splashing out to both sides and forming V-shaped bands of light that further meandered into dense Electric Arc.

"Evil electric brat!"

Golden Lion, his entire body covered in Armament Haki, withstood the aftershocks of the thunderstorm. However, he was somewhat agitated by Shining's 'avoidance of battle', and his long golden hair danced wildly in the wind.

"Coward!"

Golden Lion, using the Float-Float Fruit with all his might, even employed the 'Sky Walk' technique, which utilizes Armament Haki, to accelerate.

The Golden Lion unleashed a series of sonic booms, not expecting to catch up with Shining, but to put pressure on him and prevent the kid from unleashing his destructive power.

While the Golden Lion and Shining were engaged in aerial combat, a massive melee also broke out on the lake.

"How strange! Why is that Monster Shining, here? Meow!"

In the center of the island, assimilated by the Corrupt King, Xiaoshan opened his mouth. His large eyes rolled upwards, looking at the top of his head.

High in the sky, the battle between Shining and Golden Lion was a spectacular sight from the ground, with Golden Lion nimbly weaving and Pursuit through dazzling lightning that stretched for over ten kilometers.

"It doesn't matter—I'm not the same person I was before!"

Bullet jumped down from the 'head' of the Corrupt King. Then he stomped hard on the ground, creating a crater and sending up a huge shockwave of rock and soil that shot towards the participating Pirates like cannonballs.

The Corrupt King, having been 'stepped on,' let out a strange 'woo-ga-meow' sound. Even after being assimilated, he could feel pain when the island was harmed.

The Corrupt King, grinning, began to 'repair' his 'body'.

Bullet grinned excitedly and instantly appeared in front of 'Kingdew'.

"--Heh-- Whitebeard died because of you useless trash."

His fist, covered in Armament Haki, struck Kingdew with a sonic boom.

"Damn it! -- Bullet!!"

Kingdew, with his dark skin, is over three meters tall. But compared to the five-meter-tall Bullet, he looks like a teenager.

As the 11th division commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, upon hearing such insults directed at his Pops, he disregarded the difference in strength and met the attack head-on with his fists covered in Armament Haki.

Their fists collided, Kingdew was knocked down, his arm broken, and he was slammed into the rocky ground, letting out a scream.

"Kingdew--!"

Not far away, Curiel pulled out two large-caliber hand cannons.

"Go to hell!!"

Two hand cannons were aimed at Bullet and fired continuously, causing several small explosions on Bullet body.

But Bullet slashed horizontally with his hand, cutting through the smoke and dust of the explosion, and appeared in front of Curiel in the next instant. He grabbed Curiel's face and slammed him backward.

"Stop! Bullet!!"

Blenheim, who was a head taller than Bullet, charged forward wielding a large sword.

Then he saw Curiel being grabbed by the face and slammed towards him by Bullet, which made Blenheim's movements pause slightly.

Curiel's head slammed into Blenheim's nose, and the two were thrown out by Bullet's powerful swinging hammer, crashing into a boulder.

"Seriously—what the hell happened?!"

At this moment, Becky, who was closest to Bullet on the field, was sweating profusely.

Although I really wanted to complain about how "weak" the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates were, I didn't dare to say anything.

He hurriedly activated the Castle-Castle Fruit, unleashing his strongest form.

"--Big Father!"

Becky transforms into a giant 'castle man' over ten meters tall.

A medieval-style stone fortress, sprouting arms, legs, and a head, with a crown-like 'spire' atop it, and cannons erupting from its body, bombarding Bullet relentlessly.

"--Heh--"

Bullet chuckled dismissively, swinging his fists to easily deflect the cannonballs. With an explosive leap, he delivered a powerful punch to the 'Big Father's' chest.

Becky, now transformed into the 'Big Father,' let out a muffled groan and fell backward, the ground shaking and kicking up a large cloud of dirt and dust.

"Is this guy Monster!?"

Becky, who was lying on her back and unable to get up for a while, saw a figure Extreme Speed past above her.

"Bullet--!"

Ace arrived using 'Sky Walk', and after a series of dashes, he threw a punch at Bullet.

Bullet laughed maniacally as he met the attack head-on. Their fists collided, and Shockwaves spread outwards.

" --Whitebeard's 'successor'? Ridiculous!"

Ace remained silent, only unleashing a barrage of punches fueled by his anger.

Bullet countered each move, and the two sides were evenly matched for the time being.

Just then, Luffy cut in from the other side and entered Gear Second.

" --Gum-Gum Jet Gatling!"

Caught between two attacks, Bullet was finally Knockback a distance. His feet dug two deep furrows in the ground, and when he looked up, a ferocious smile was on his lips.

"--interesting."

Kingdew and the others also stood up one after another, wanting to rejoin the battle. But the ground began to shake, and the island-like 'Corrupt King' advanced with a roar. Its huge rock arm, thousands of meters long, swept across, sending a large number of Pirates flying.

Amidst the chaos, the other members of Road Island rushed over. Shiryu, Urouge, Apoo, Hawkins, and Crescent Moon Hunter, along with their respective subordinates, jumped off the 'Corrupt King's' 'body'.

"Ah-ba-ba--Found that 'treasure chest'!"

Apoo patted his chest with both hands, his voice carrying throughout the entire venue.

Amidst the chaotic melee, both sides gradually stabilized their respective opponents.

Shiryu, still acting on his own whims, took the initiative to confront Vista, and their blades clashed.

Urouge wielded a large hexagonal metal pillar, blocking Zoro. His wide-ranging attacks made it difficult for Zoro to break through for the time being.

Apoo and Sanji fought fiercely, their blows coming back and forth.

Becky, now in his 'Big Father' form, steadied himself and began bombarding the Road Island Pirates minions.

"The Demon Subduing Form!"

Hawkins activated his ability, transforming into a giant 'cursed Scarecrow '. Wielding a spiked club in both hands, he faced off against the 'Big Father'.

Crescent Moon Hunter licked her lips and charged toward the most handsome guy on the scene, Cavendish.

"--Here we go again!?"

Cavendish's expression changed, mainly because the Crescent Moon Hunter was too ugly, Earthshaker ugly.

The other division commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates began to attack the behemoth known as the "Corrupt King".

Franky, Chopper, and the other members of the Straw Hat Pirates healed the wounded while fighting alongside other Pirates against the henchmen of the Road Island 'joint Pirates crew'.

Usopp was very clever; he used his slingshot to fire one shot and then move to another, hiding and avoiding any strong enemies.

As he hid behind a protruding rock, he discovered a crack with something inside.

"... What's this?"

Usopp crouched down and took a look.

It's a small treasure chest that looks somewhat familiar.

"--It's... that treasure!?"

Usopp reached into the treasure chest, pulled it out, and glanced inside. His expression froze, and cold sweat began to bead on the back of his head.

He looked up guiltily, only to find his entire body had turned 'white'.

All eyes were on him. Even those engaged in combat stopped what they were doing.

Usopp swallowed hard.

... At this moment, in the air.

The Golden Lion Pursuit Shining with all its might.

" --Lion's Might Jinbo Meteor!"

Hundreds of 'spheres' formed from seawater circled the Golden Lion like a constellation of Satellites.

With that shout from the Golden Lion, they flew Shining in all directions.

"--Hey hey--Is this a copy of my move?!"

Shining transformed into a massive bolt of Lightning and soared into the sky, piercing through the barrage of seawater spheres.

The electrolyzed water underwent a hydrogen explosion, producing a column of fire that spread outwards. A tremendous roar followed, and a spindle-shaped explosion cloud, tens of kilometers long, stretched across the sky.

At the forefront of the explosion cloud, lightning converged into 'Shining,' appearing above the Golden Lion.

"--You brat..."

The Golden Lion bared his teeth. He had been using this trick frequently for over twenty years.

To counter Shining's speed, Golden Lion maintained his Observation Haki to the fullest extent, and at this distance, he could hear Shining's taunts.

Then, a thick bolt of lightning descended from the sky. Golden Lion used Kogarashi trunk to block it, his Armament Haki covering the blade. The lightning bolt struck the blade, forcing him to fall dozens of meters downwards.

Golden Lion thrust his twin swords upwards simultaneously, cleaving the lightning pillar in two. His body tumbled through the air, unleashing a dense barrage of slashes upwards.

"--Lion Thousand-Cut Valley!"

Shining used Flash repeatedly, disappearing each time just before Golden Lion's slash arrived.

Golden Lion used Observation Haki to predict the landing point and strike in advance, but Shining's movement trajectory was too irregular, sometimes appearing above, sometimes to the side, and sometimes behind.

The Golden Lion kept turning and swinging its sword, unleashing golden, high-speed Slash Wave swept in all directions like Fireworks.

" --Blue Starters."

A high-frequency electron beam erupted from Shining's palm, flashing in all directions.

The rapid, continuous Slash Waves forced Shining to constantly change position, making it 'difficult' for him to charge up. So he countered with a high-speed electron beam that could be activated quickly.

Shining 'flashed' at high frequency in the airspace around the Golden Lion, and bright blue beams of light shot at the Golden Lion one after another from various angles, covering the entire globe.

When the electron beam collides with the Slash Wave, the atmosphere gradually produces a large-scale ionization effect.

Even with Armament Haki covering his body, Golden Lion's wild, long golden hair couldn't help but stand up in an even wilder way, like a Super Minks.

"--Super Slash Wave!"

The Golden Lion unleashed a burst of Conqueror's Haki, so powerful that it caused physical interference, briefly 'pausing' the surrounding electron beams.

The Golden Lion plummeted, dodging the electron beam bombardment, while Conqueror's Haki gathered on its Crossed Swords, unleashing two sweeping slashes of Conqueror's Coating. The leaping black and red Inazuma- like Slash Wave pierced the air, producing short, dense sounds similar to shattering glass.

Shining didn't take the hit head-on, but instead teleported away again. He appeared diagonally above the Golden Lion, pressing his hands down.

" --Floating Large Mines."

Dozens of inconspicuous, dark Ball Lightning fell and scattered around the Golden Lion, then detonated simultaneously. The explosions engulfed the space where the Golden Lion was located.

"Heh ha ha—die!"

Golden Lion used his Armament Haki to resist the explosion and burst out. His Haori was ripped to shreds, but he himself was not seriously injured. Wielding his twin swords, he charged at Shining once more.

Shining used Blink to retreat and create distance. Golden Lion pursued relentlessly. The two clashed at high speed in the air.

Just as Shining was preparing to launch the next attack, a red figure jumped down from the Flying Admiral above the clouds.

Red Count descended from the sky, his feet treading the Geppo, and unleashed a punch. A black and red shockwave of Conqueror's Coating Shockwave straight towards Shining.

Shining vanished before the Shockwave reached him, reappearing several kilometers away in the air. He turned around, arcs of Electric Arc tracing a mocking curve.

"--A sneak attack is not something a gentleman does, Red Count."

As the Red Count descended on Geppo, the Golden Lion glanced around and saw hundreds of large rocks fall from the Heavenward, floating in the nearby air.

The Red Count landed smoothly on a floating pebble near the Golden Lion.

"--I'm Pirates, you know."

Despite saying that, the Red Count, dressed in a red British gentleman's suit, still bowed slightly with elegance.

I've gone out these past few days.

I don't have a personal computer. ( _ _)ノ|

Next, things will return to normal.