"Lion's Might - Earth Strike!"
Without hesitation, Golden Lion used the lion created from the earth to delay Hakai's attack, then used the Float-Float Fruit to quickly escape Hakai's attack range.
Seeing the Hakai tear apart the soil with unstoppable force, even the Golden Lion couldn't help but show a hint of amazement.
Even at his peak, he would have had to exert all his strength to unleash an attack of this caliber.
The Golden Lion couldn't help but wonder why Xia Chen, whose overall strength wasn't particularly high, could unleash such a powerful attack.
Considering the two Xia Chen that had appeared, the Golden Lion had a guess. He murmured:
"A combination attack?"
What puzzled him was why, in his perception, the other being, which resembled Clone, also possessed the same strength.
"What kind of outrageous Devil Fruit ability is this?" Golden Lion cursed inwardly.
Then, when he turned around, he realized that two Xia Chen had appeared in front of him without him noticing.
" Great Vajra Thunder Bagua!"
The Golden Lion's pupils contracted, and it immediately stretched out both arms in front of its body.
"Whoosh!"
The Golden Lion's body flew backward like an arrow released from a bow, and he couldn't help but spit out a mouthful of blood.
After flying backwards for a distance, Golden Lion used the Float-Float Fruit to forcibly stop his body, but before he could react, Xia Chen reappeared above him.
" Conqueror of Three Worlds - Ragnarok!"
Another powerful blow sent the Golden Lion flying rapidly downwards.
"Boom!"
With a loud bang, the Golden Lion smashed a crater tens of meters deep into the ground below, turning over and over again the surrounding soil.
Without hesitation, Xia Chen sped towards the ground.
Strike while the iron is hot and kill him!
Xia Chen wouldn't give the enemy any time to catch their breath!
Moreover, despite his current apparent dominance over Golden Lion, his actual strength is still a notch below!
He merely exploited the information gap caused by the Golden Lion's lack of understanding of his abilities; it would be much more difficult to achieve such great results with the same attack in the future.
Moreover, the repeated recovery from his injuries had already significantly reduced his stamina. If this dragged on any longer, he couldn't guarantee that he could outlast the elderly Golden Lion!
However, he still has the upper hand; even the Golden Lion must have been seriously injured by those attacks he just took.
During this time, take down the Golden Lion in one fell swoop!
However, just as Xia Chen was about to approach the Golden Lion, an extremely sharp black and red sword aura suddenly shot out from below and attacked Xia Chen.
Xia Chen's hair stood on end instantly, and he slammed the stick in his hand down hard at the sword energy.
Xia Chen was forced back over a thousand meters by this sword energy before he finally managed to obliterate it. Looking down, his expression turned grave. He sensed something unusual!
The moment Xia Chen had this thought, an extremely powerful aura suddenly erupted from where the Golden Lion was, with black and red Inazuma swirling around it.
"This is... Conqueror's Haki?"
Xia Chen was slightly surprised. In the previous battles, Golden Lion had never used Conqueror's Haki!
Moreover, this Conqueror's Haki is of a very high level, at least much stronger than Xia Chen's Conqueror's Haki.
The Golden Lion suddenly burst out of the dust and flew rapidly towards Xia Chen, then stopped a few dozen meters in front of him.
This time, the Golden Lion simply floated there quietly, yet it brought Xia Chen unparalleled pressure. A bead of sweat involuntarily rolled down his forehead.
The only difference between this Golden Lion and the previous Golden Lion is that the ship's rudder on its head has disappeared.
After a long silence, Xia Chen spoke softly.
"Hey, you'll die if you do that!"
The ship's wheel had been stuck in the Golden Lion's head for so many years that it had grown into the flesh of his skull. Now that it was being rashly pulled out, death was the only path awaiting the Golden Lion.
"So what? Do you want me to slink away like a coward? I'm the Golden Lion!"
The Golden Lion, having taken the rudder, spoke with a much stronger voice, as if he had become a completely different person.
"Ever since I took the helm, I've become timid and hesitant, completely losing the majestic spirit I once possessed!"
"But I don't think there's anything wrong with this outcome; staying alive is the most important thing!"
"So what if Captain Rocks was so strong back then? In the end, after he died, the World Government still erased all traces of him."
" Roger was the same! Even though he became the Pirate King, didn't he still die decades before me? He was the real loser!"
The Golden Lion's loud voice abruptly stopped there. Xia Chen remained silent, still watching him quietly. The Golden Lion then continued speaking.
These were my thoughts before today, but after fighting you just now, I saw that fearless version of myself in your eyes.
"It suddenly dawned on me that, without realizing it, I had become the very thing I once despised in my youth, and I was even quite proud of it."
"So, in the end, I'm no match for Roger..."
At this point, the Golden Lion sighed, gazing at the sky, lost in thought.
The next moment, the Golden Lion turned to look at Xia Chen, and a massive burst of Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body, rushing towards Xia Chen.
Xia Chen was not to be outdone and retaliated with his own Conqueror's Haki, even though his Conqueror's Haki was not as strong as Golden Lion's.
But the king cannot bow his head!
Black and red Inazuma flashed continuously in the air, making the robes of the two people rustle.
After a while, the clash of their Conqueror's Haki ended. Xia Chen's face was full of solemnity, while Golden Lion's face remained calm.
The Golden Lion looked at Xia Chen and said loudly, "Boy, although I'm not as strong as I was in my prime now, I can still reach 90% of my peak strength!"
"Today, I'll show you the strength of the top warriors on the high seas!"
With that, the Golden Lion slashed with its right foot, and a black and red sword aura shot out, attacking Xia Chen.
"That sword energy again!"
Xia Chen's eyes narrowed, and he gripped the staff tightly with both hands, slamming it fiercely towards the sword energy.
Similarly, Xia Chen's body was knocked back more than a thousand meters before he stopped. However, before he could catch his breath, another sword aura attacked him from above.
Xia Chen was pushed by the sword and slammed hard into the ground, making a huge roar as he hit the ground.
"Cough cough!"
Xia Chen stood up from the smoke and dust, coughed up a few mouthfuls of blood, and smiled as he looked at the deep, bone-revealing knife wounds on his body.
"Are these the top experts on the high seas?"
To be honest, the strength that Golden Lion is showing now is already greater than the strength that Aokiji showed back then.
And this is only 90% of the Golden Lion's strength at his peak. How strong would he be at his full strength at his peak?
No wonder it took Sengoku and Garp working together to defeat him!
Xia Chen looked at the Golden Lion slowly flying towards him and asked, "Did you use Conqueror's Haki Coating your sword aura just now?"