Centurion Dey was momentarily speechless. The answer was incredibly arrogant. But the fact remained—this man had single-handedly driven back the first wave of Ronan's fleet. Shiki didn't care to explain himself to weaklings. He floated forward on his scrap of warship. Ahead of him, deep within Ronan's flagship, a violent, purple aura bled through the steel and the vacuum of space.
It was a power that entirely ignored reason. Explosive. Immensely heavy. The kind of power that felt like it could shatter a planet with a single punch. Shiki's laughter hitched. The Mangekyo Sharingan in his eyes contracted sharply.
He remembered the six gems Blake had described back at the tavern. Space. Time. Soul. Reality. Power. Mind. Supreme divine artifacts capable of rewriting the laws of the universe.
Shiki licked his lips greedily. "So that's the Power Stone? Jihahaha! Interesting! Too damn interesting!" He stared at the depths of Ronan's fleet, his eyes burning with unbridled ambition. "Roger... I finally get it now. The sea is just too damn small. In this era, we're meant to conquer the stars!"
Riding the severed chunk of hull, Shiki floated forward. The cigar in his mouth had burned down to a stub, but his eyes were shining brighter than ever. He hadn't encountered a prize like this in a very long time. Not the kind of life-and-death struggle he had with Roger, nor the tactical formations of the Marines, but a treasure so potent that he could feel its absolute weight from miles away.
Ahead, two Kree soldiers rushed to seal the bridge doors. Heavy footsteps echoed from behind the steel. Shiki waved his hand, and the Float-Float Fruit violently ripped the entire metal door off its hinges. The heavy blast doors spun through the air, smashing the two soldiers into the far wall.
"Hand over the purple orb," Shiki demanded. "I'm in a good mood today. I might just let you live."
The bridge fell dead silent. Ronan stood in the center of the throne room, gripping his Universal Weapon. His blue skin was pulled taut over his face. He was the Accuser, leader of the Kree extremists, here to obliterate Xandar and drown the planet in his vengeance. He didn't give a damn about any local primitives. But the man in front of him was different. He wasn't Xandarian, nor was he Nova Corps. Nor did he belong to any civilization Ronan recognized.
Ronan narrowed his eyes, his voice low and threatening. "A beast from a lesser world dares covet a divine artifact?"
Shiki grinned, not bothering to reason with him. "I'm a pirate. Not one of you pathetic, flag-waving lackeys."
Before the words even settled, the chairs and consoles on both sides of the bridge were uprooted. Dozens of metal chairs shot toward Ronan like cannonballs. Ronan swung his hammer. A purple shockwave instantly vaporized the metal into scrap, shaking the entire flagship.
Outside, the Nova Corps detected the energy spike. The command channel erupted.
"Ronan has engaged in combat inside the flagship!"
"All units, lock onto the flagship's engines! Do not let it descend any further! If that hammer touches Xandar's surface, the entire planet is doomed!"
"Never mind the fight inside, anchor the ship!"
Several Nova pilots gritted their teeth and closed in on the black hull. Tractor beams and energy cables latched onto the ship, only for Shiki's gravity to violently yank the vessel off-kilter. Hearing the commotion outside, Shiki scoffed. "Stop barking orders at me."
Done talking, Ronan slammed the Orb into the recess of his hammer. In an instant, blinding purple light erupted from the weapon. The Power Stone had been forcibly embedded. The metal skeleton of the flagship groaned in agony.
For the first time, Shiki was forced back half a step by the backlash. Armament Haki instantly coated his arms, yet his shoulder violently tore open, spraying blood. His entire right arm went numb.
He spat out a mouthful of blood, laughing even harder. "Good! Now that's a treasure!"
Ronan slammed his hammer down, sending a purple shockwave straight at Shiki's face. The Mangekyo in Shiki's eyes spun wildly. The floor, walls, and ceiling simultaneously lifted. Using the Float-Float Fruit, Shiki ripped the entire bridge structure upward. The purple beam grazed past his body, obliterating the consoles behind him. He was blasted backward, slamming brutally into the bulkhead with a sickening crunch of bone.
But in the next second, White Zetsu cells surged wildly over the wound, stitching his flesh back together. Shiki wiped the blood from his mouth, his eyes filled with absolute thrill. "The Power Stone, huh? Today, I'll see exactly what gave that bastard Thanos the right to claim this thing."
Ronan stepped forward, dragging the purple light of the hammer toward Shiki. Shiki raised a hand. "Ame-no-Ohabari."
Terrifying gravity instantly locked onto Ronan's right arm. The downward pressure was so absolute that the alloy deck beneath Ronan caved into a massive crater.
Ronan roared, forcing himself forward through the crushing gravity. "The Power Stone belongs to Thanos!"
Shiki's face darkened. "Thanos? Tell him to come take it himself."
With a flick of his right hand, Shiki yanked a massive chunk of Xandar's floating city ruins into the ship. Entire buildings, complete with roofs, pipelines, and broken bridges, smashed into the main corridor, completely crushing the Kree reinforcements and gun batteries behind Ronan.
The Nova Corps watched in absolute horror.
"He just pulled city ruins into the flagship!"
"Is that guy an ally or an enemy?!"
"Who cares?! Just keep Ronan from hitting the ground with that hammer!" Centurion Dey barked. "All personnel, continue suppressing the flagship's thrust! Pin that ship to the sky!"
Shiki grinned at the outside noise. "Xandar's Marines? Less annoying than Navy Headquarters, but still a pain."
Seizing the moment of distraction, Ronan's right arm violently surged with power. He actually managed to break free of Ame-no-Ohabari's lock. Purple light traveled up the hammer, blasting Shiki and a chunk of ruins straight into the side wall of the throne room. The wall caved in, debris and cables raining down. Shiki pulled himself from the rubble, a bone-deep gash torn into his shoulder by the Power Stone's shockwave.
Yet, he didn't retreat. He bit down harder on his cigar. "Come on."
Ronan's eyes burned with malice. Pushing off the ground, he rocketed toward the lower decks of the flagship. He was going for the bottom. He intended to smash the hammer into Xandar's surface and crack the planet in half.
Shiki immediately saw through the plan. This guy wasn't trying to win a fight; he was trying to drag an entire planet down with him.
"Trying to run?" Shiki raised a palm. Half of the flagship, including the entire throne room, was violently ripped from its structural moorings and yanked into the sky. Ronan's path was instantly severed. "Stand the f*ck still!"
Flipping in mid-air, Ronan smashed his hammer into the floating wreckage. The purple shockwave nearly snapped Shiki's arm in two. Shiki gritted his teeth, holding the line. Pitch-black Armament Haki fiercely protected his arms, the veins on his forehead bulging. This was the first time he truly felt the sheer weight of the Power Stone. It wasn't just "strong." It was a raw, brute force that shattered the very laws of reality. And it was exactly his style.
Shiki's laughter squeezed through his clenched teeth, growing louder and louder. "What a rush! I hate weaklings who only know how to talk big. Trash like you is the only kind worth getting serious for!"
He slammed both hands down. Every piece of debris floating outside the flagship was violently pulled inward. Shattered gun turrets, chunks of Xandarian skyscrapers, and armor plating blasted off by Nova fighters converged above Ronan's head like a swarm of floating islands. He had forcibly turned the throne room into a mid-air graveyard.
Looking up, Ronan's expression finally cracked. "You dare destroy the flagship?"
Cigar clenched in his teeth, Shiki's grin stretched ear to ear. "F*ck the flagship. I'll smash your throne to pieces right along with it."
As his words fell, dozens of massive wreckage pieces plummeted simultaneously. The ceiling of the throne room caved in, crushing the steps, the throne, the consoles, and the communication pillars beneath Ronan into a flat pancake of scrap metal.
Outside, the Nova Corps saw the flagship severely tilt, triggering a blaring chorus of alarms.
"Flagship structure compromised! Right wing control lost!"
"If this keeps up, it'll crash into Xandar's outer ring!"
"What the hell is that pirate doing?! I thought he was helping us!"
"Forget helping, look at the hammer!"
In the Nova Corps' monitors, Ronan had charged to the exit of the lower deck, the purple light from the hammer's tip blindingly bright.
Shiki dropped from the ruptured ceiling, landing squarely in Ronan's path. Planting a foot on the shattered remains of the throne's armrest, Shiki slammed his hands together.
"Ame-no-Ohabari." The crushing gravity locked firmly onto Ronan's right wrist. "Leave that hand behind."
Roaring, Ronan channeled the Power Stone's energy into his arm. Purple light surged from the hammer, actually causing Shiki's gravity bindings to emit a loud cracking sound. Shiki's right shoulder burst open once more. Despite the Haki defense, blood sprayed across the deck. Yet, he refused to let go. His eyes were filled with the manic intensity of a man staring at the ultimate prize.
"Bring it!" Shiki roared. "Let's see if you smash me to pieces first, or if I crush you into the dirt!"
Ronan's face twisted in rage as he hoisted the warhammer high. The purple light pierced through the ruined flagship, staining the skies of Xandar a violent violet. Looking up at the descending hammer, Shiki didn't take a single step back. Behind him, dozens of massive city ruins flipped upside down, resembling an entire collapsing sky.
"Then let's see who breaks first!"
The two apocalyptic forces clashed head-on. The throne room completely disintegrated, and the bisected flagship was driven straight down toward Xandar's surface.
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