At Gate No. 5, no one dared to stop the fleeing civilians.
Every contestant's attention was already locked onto the figure before them.
Bang!
Shinko casually pulled back his golden staff, rested it over his shoulder, and kept strolling forward.
His appearance was completely different now.
A strange golden radiance continuously radiated from his body. Walking within that light, he looked like a god descending to the mortal world. No one could even make out his features anymore.
Whenever his feet touched the ground, black-and-red Conqueror's Haki lightning crackled around him. The ground split apart wherever he walked, while enemies trying to hide or flee collapsed almost instantly.
The path behind Shinko was littered with the bodies of Antoria Gladiators who had tried to team up against him.
Right where he had just passed, a massive Giant wielding an enormous hammer slowly toppled to the ground. He was a fairly infamous Giant pirate in the New World, an Elbaf traitor known as "Brute Hammer" Magnie.
"He took out Brute Hammer in one hit?!"
"Hey, that guy had a seven hundred million Berry bounty! He couldn't even survive a single blow?"
"His aura alone is cracking the ground?! How is that even possible?"
"Ganging up on him didn't even leave a scratch…"
Dressrosa currently had no shortage of powerful New World fighters. For instance, a group hiding inside a nearby building had managed to withstand Shinko's Conqueror's Haki.
They were assassins trained by the Grand Duke of Ravenhold, a powerful nation in the New World. Their mastery of stealth and Observation Haki was world-famous.
Anyone who could stay conscious under Conqueror's Haki of this caliber was considered strong, even on the Grand Line. Yet these assassins still didn't dare make a move against Shinko.
Their Observation Haki told them his body was full of openings, but everything they'd just seen warned them of one undeniable truth: if they attacked, they would die.
"Is it just me, or is his presence getting stronger?"
"What's that light around him? Is it some ability that boosts his body?"
"Hasn't he been using his powers this whole time to suppress the chaos across the entire country?"
"After unleashing abilities and Haki on this scale, doesn't that monster ever get tired?"
When they first witnessed Shinko's unbelievable power, enough to wipe out the Legion of Conquerors in an instant, they had been shocked, naturally. But as assassins on a mission, they couldn't just give up without even trying.
So they had waited for an opportunity.
Shinko was far too conspicuous on the battlefield. Sooner or later, the weaker contestants were bound to group up against him.
And that was exactly what happened.
Every Antoria Gladiator at Gate No. 5 who refused to give up on "Caesar" had teamed up for a coordinated attack. Powerful fighters from several factions prepared an ambush, waiting for Shinko to step into their trap.
Shinko came, exactly as expected. Without dodging or hesitating, he walked straight into their encirclement.
And that was the end of it. Everyone who had tried to overwhelm him now lay dead along the road behind him.
More importantly, Shinko had already fought several battles like that while simultaneously using his external incarnations to suppress the chaos across Dressrosa.
Yet his presence showed no sign of weakening. His Haki remained terrifyingly strong.
"Maybe he's bluffing. There's no way anyone can fight on this scale and keep getting stronger, he hasn't even stopped to eat!"
"Bluffing or not, who would dare fight him now?"
"Only idiots who still don't get the situation would challenge him."
"But the winners at the other four gates are practically decided. The Three Calamities and 'Balloon Vendor' Assoria have almost certainly secured their spots. Do we really have no choice but to give up?"
"But the Grand Duke's orders…"
The assassins were stuck in a tough spot.
Just then...
"Screee!"
A sharp, distinct birdcall echoed through the sky. They instinctively looked up.
Whoosh!
An enormous bird wreathed in green and golden flames came diving straight down toward them.
"That's…"
The leader of the assassins widened his eyes in shock.
But before he could react...
Bang!
The giant bird crashed down, its talons striking with devastating force. The building where the assassins were hiding shattered in an instant, leaving behind a massive crater filled with their bodies.
Smoke and dust filled the air until a pair of massive flaming wings swept outward, blowing it all away.
"Man, that was a long flight. Finally made it..."
A voice echoed from within the flames.
The giant bird was already transforming into a half-human, half-bird figure. He had blond hair styled into a crest, a dagger at his waist, and a tattoo across his chest.
That crescent-shaped tattoo, resembling a curved mustache, was more than enough to reveal his identity.
"Oh! Incredible! Another contestant has broken in from outside the Birdcage!"
Clearly, as powerful as Doflamingo's Birdcage was… to the true monsters of the sea, it was far from an impassable wall.
Shinko had crossed it. And so had the man standing before him now.
"If I'm not mistaken, that's the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, Whitebeard's right-hand man!"
"It's Marco the Phoenix!"
"Is he here to fight Shinko?!"
As the commentator Gaz shouted in astonishment, Marco scratched his head and sighed helplessly.
"Hey, commentator, don't go making things up…"
He surveyed the devastated battlefield and the bodies scattered across it, feeling the terrifying Conqueror's Haki thick in the air.
"I've got no intention of fighting a guy like this…"
As he spoke, Marco raised a wing and pointed toward the ground.
"Hey, you're Shinko, right? I was ordered to find you. I'm not here for a fight, in fact, I even took care of some pests for you."
Marco looked seriously at Shinko, who stood bathed in golden light and radiating an intense pressure, making sure his help was acknowledged.
"All you did was steal one of my victories," Shinko replied.
He glanced at the Whitebeard Pirates' First Division Commander, inwardly surprised by his sudden appearance. Outwardly, though, he just spun his golden staff and casually swung it behind his back.
Bang!
The staff expanded instantly and burst with golden light, crushing a few enemies who had mistaken Marco's arrival for an opening and tried to sneak-attack Shinko.
"You came looking for me?" Shinko retracted his staff and turned back to Marco.
"…"
Marco scratched his neck, looking a bit embarrassed. That strike made one thing crystal clear: even without Marco intervening, Shinko would have easily spotted the hidden ambushers.
Still, Marco was a veteran pirate with over thirty years on the seas. He was thick-skinned enough to brush off a little awkwardness.
Dropping the topic, he answered seriously, "That's right. Word of what's happening in Dressrosa has already spread. Once Pops heard, he sent me straight here. My main task was to find you, or any member of the Twelve Zodiac."
Lowering his voice so only Shinko could hear, Marco added, "Long story short, Pops wants to meet Star Lord. Even I don't know why."
Whitebeard?
Beneath his mask, Shinko raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't surprised word of Dressrosa had gotten out. Something this massive was bound to leak when Doflamingo made no effort to hide it.
But the real issue was, Whitebeard wanted to meet Star Lord?
To the rest of the world, that would be earth-shattering news.
Even Roy was taken aback. He immediately recalled the information he'd extracted from Linlin using the Memo-Memo Fruit.
Rocks had last appeared at a reunion of old crewmates in Elbaf. During that meeting, he had asked his old crewmates to join him for one final rampage. Out of the three present, Kaido and Linlin had refused without hesitation.
The only wild card was "Whitebeard" Edward Newgate.
Now Whitebeard had sent Marco all the way here to ask for a meeting with Star Lord, which only reinforced Roy's suspicions.
Roy didn't know the Moby Dick's exact location, but it definitely hadn't been anywhere close to Dressrosa. Marco had flown here over an immense distance. Even for the user of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Phoenix, a flight like that couldn't have been easy.
That alone proved how seriously Whitebeard was taking this. The legendary pirate had likely learned something about Star Lord from Rocks.
"I'll pass the message to the boss," Shinko said with a grin. "But I can't guarantee he'll agree to meet him."
"Fair enough." Marco nodded, accepting the answer.
Inwardly, though, he was stunned.
Before meeting Shinko in person, Marco already knew the Twelve Zodiac members were monsters. They had brought down a Yonko crew, after all, an achievement even the Whitebeard Pirates, the strongest Yonko crew on the seas, had to respect.
Marco had also noticed that Whitebeard treated Star Lord's name with a strange weight compared to anyone else. But until now, it was all just rumors. His grasp of Star Lord and the Twelve Zodiac had been conceptual at best.
Meeting Shinko face-to-face, though, Marco felt the reality of it immediately.
This caliber of Conqueror's Haki was easily in the same league as Pops and Red-Hair. Maybe a step below, but terrifyingly close. Yet a true conqueror with Haki like this willingly followed Star Lord.
That blew Marco away even more than Big Mom's defeat.
Having delivered Pops' invitation, Marco swallowed his shock and said, "In that case, I'll head out now."
"You're leaving already?" Shinko looked puzzled. Did the Phoenix really fly all this way just to drop off a message and leave?
"Not quite." Marco shook his head. "I mean I'm heading over to the Duel Arena."
Lest Shinko misunderstand, he quickly added, "Don't get the wrong idea. We don't care about this Caesar guy. But there's someone here I need to haul back to the Moby Dick. Saw him heading toward the Duel Arena earlier."
"'Balloon Vendor' Assoria?"
Shinko instantly realized who he meant. Gaz had already announced the frontrunners: the Three Calamities and "Balloon Vendor" Assoria, the top four contenders favored to win.
Shinko had also heard rumors that the Balloon Vendor had crossed paths with the Whitebeard Pirates recently, even killing one of their members and walking away alive.
"Yeah." Marco's tone turned cold. "He's the one guy I have to drag back. And I'm going to make him answer for what he did."
The Whitebeard Pirates could forgive a lot of things, often laughing off insult or injury. But they never forgave the murder of a crewmate. A member of their family.
Anyone who laid a hand on family would be hunted to the ends of the earth. Settling that score was Marco's second reason for coming to Dressrosa.
"Got it." Shinko nodded. "In that case, let's head over together."
"…Huh?" Marco blinked, caught off guard.
Shinko raised a hand and called out, "Flying Nimbus."
At his command, a golden cloud descended from the sky. Shinko hopped on.
"So you can fly too…" Marco scratched his head, curious about Shinko's power, but knew better than to pry. "I thought you were gonna walk."
"That was the plan," Shinko admitted. "I like a good fight, and chances to cut loose like this don't come often. But now…"
He trailed off.
In his mind's eye, the Devil Fruit Encyclopedia flashed an entry:
[Gladiator-Gladiator Fruit - Level 5]
[After every "victory," the user undergoes a "Victory Transformation," boosting all physical and combat attributes. The more victories accumulated, the greater the enhancement. This boost lasts until the user runs out of stamina or tastes defeat.]
This was originally the ability of the Gladiator Fruit, now fully integrated into his War God Fruit. Every enemy cut down by Shinko or his incarnations during these battles counted as a win toward the tally.
Which meant...
[Current Victories: 2,026]
[Current Victory Transformation Boost: Extremely High]
Shinko flashed a wide grin at Marco.
"I've had my fill of small fry."
(End of Chapter)
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