A moment later,
The powerful blast wave swept in every direction, nearly rocking the ships in the surrounding waters so violently that they could not stay steady.
"What was that!?"
"What a terrifying explosion!"
"I saw it! That person on the island unleashed it!"
"That man's a demon! He's going to wipe us all out!!!!"
Just one shot!
A single Atomic Lance had easily wiped out an enormous pirate ship.
And that was not the true power of the Atomic Lance.
Because there had been only one pirate ship in the area where the Atomic Lance landed.
At that moment,
After witnessing the terrifying power of the Atomic Lance, the pirates, assassins, and members of the underground forces on the surrounding sea all prepared to flee faster.
They had never imagined
That Arthur could kill them from the island even after they had escaped out to sea.
They had to flee farther, at least beyond the waters near this island!
However.
Would Arthur give them that chance?
Next, looking at all the ships on the sea within his sight,
Arthur kept forming new Atomic Lances in his hand and hurling them toward the sea, as though he were practicing for a javelin competition.
A rain of deep blue light fell from the sky!
But this rain of light
Killed on contact!
Even a slight graze was enough for the terrifying explosion that followed to engulf and devour them. This was power enough to erase everything!
At that very moment.
On the distant sea.
The Marines and the people from the World Government
Were already staring in stunned disbelief!
They could never have imagined
That power of this caliber would appear here in the North Blue.
And that it would be wielded by a mere brat!
Although this brat had committed no crimes, had only killed people such as pirates, and had no World Government bounty on his head,
What if this brat suddenly decided to become a pirate one day?
They did not know!
But they knew that if this brat wanted to become a pirate, he might very quickly make a name for himself on the Grand Line.
Under Arthur's Atomic Lances, the number of pirate ships on the sea dwindled visibly in almost no time.
No one could escape Arthur's Atomic Lances.
The only reason they had not yet been killed
Was that there were too many pirate ships, scattered too widely, and their turn had not come yet.
With his indisputably overwhelming power,
Arthur had crushed this attempt to surround and kill him.
Without a doubt,
If the outcome of this battle spread, his name would become known throughout the North Blue within a day, making him the focus of everyone's attention!
However, just then.
Boom!
An enormous shadow suddenly loomed over everyone!
Arthur raised an eyebrow and looked up at the sky.
There, he saw
An enormous island breaking through the thick clouds. Like the descent of a god's palace, it hovered high among the clouds in unchallenged majesty.
A Sky Island!
This was a Sky Island!
Arthur understood at once.
Likewise, the remaining pirates on the sea,
As well as the Marines and World Government personnel in the distant waters, all understood.
On that wondrous Grand Line, "Sky Island," an island floating ten thousand meters in the air, had become a legend people scoffed at.
Even on the Grand Line,
Something like a Sky Island was mocked as a fabrication.
Yet now, an island suspended in the air had appeared before all their eyes in reality.
The oppressive sensation of the sky falling, the rubble occasionally dropping into the sea from beneath the island, and a certain powerful presence coming from the Sky Island...
Every characteristic they perceived
Confirmed that a Sky Island had truly appeared before them!
"A Sky Island!? H-how is that possible!?"
"This has to be a joke! I'm actually seeing a Sky Island descend with my own eyes!?"
"Look! It looks like someone's coming down from that Sky Island!?"
At that moment, someone with exceptionally keen eyesight noticed something unusual. Someone was actually flying down from the Sky Island. Was it a real god, or something else?
Everyone took out their telescopes and looked toward the sky.
Then,
The Marines, the World Government personnel, and the remaining pirates
All spotted a figure that instantly filled them with utter horror!
A ship's wheel was embedded in his head, long golden hair draped over his body, and he wore an orange-and-yellow kimono, his face bearing an expression of supreme arrogance.
"G-Golden Lion!!?"
"No way!?"
"Could that be Golden Lion Shiki, the legendary man once as renowned as Pirate King Gol D. Roger and Whitebeard, the World's Strongest Man and one of the Four Emperors!?"
"What's someone of that caliber doing here!!!"
After clearly seeing the figure descending from the sky,
Among everyone present,
There were naturally those who immediately recalled the legendary pirate Golden Lion Shiki!
After all, although Golden Lion Shiki had vanished from the seas for a full twenty years, his fearsome reputation had not faded with time!
Even though there had been no news of Golden Lion Shiki on the seas,
Anyone who knew of Golden Lion Shiki's existence knew.
This man was a great pirate who had fought on equal footing with monsters of the caliber of the Pirate King and Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors!
His life could only be called legendary!
In his youth, he had roamed the seas, competing with Pirate King Roger and Whitebeard of the Four Emperors, each enjoying their share of the limelight. For a time, his mighty reputation had resounded far and wide, and he had basked in the spotlight!
In middle age, unable to believe that Pirate King Roger would be captured by the Marines, he had stormed Marine Headquarters at Marineford single-handedly and wreaked havoc there. He had battled the then-Admiral Sengoku and Garp the Hero of the Marines for three days and three nights, ultimately destroying almost half of Marineford before finally exhausting his strength and being captured. Yet his fearsome reputation had likewise resounded across the seas.
The year after his capture, to escape history's greatest prison, Impel Down, he had cut off his own feet, becoming the first prisoner to successfully break out of Impel Down.
After his escape, Golden Lion Shiki had vanished from the seas completely.
At that moment, no one on the North Blue had expected
That the legendary great pirate Golden Lion Shiki
Would suddenly descend upon these waters of the North Blue after twenty years, seemingly none the less imposing than he had been back then, still commanding awe in every direction!
At that moment, everyone on the sea,
Whether Marines, World Government personnel, or the surviving pirates,
Stared in slack-jawed shock as Golden Lion Shiki descended from the sky!
Just then.
Golden Lion, who resembled a golden-maned lion king,
Slowly descended from the Sky Island to a spot in the air not far from Arthur.
Like a lofty god, he looked down arrogantly at Arthur D. Dragonier, who stood on the shore, likewise gazing at him.
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