Morning light pierced through the thin clouds, gilding the edges of the floating island cluster.
Black's figure instantly appeared in the cabin at the rear of the ship.
Before the two CP agents could even notice the Sky Island ahead, he knocked them unconscious and tossed them onto their beds.
The scene that was about to unfold might not be suitable for them to witness.
After finishing this, Black walked to the bow of the sanctuary.
Conqueror's Haki mixed with Ghost Qi surged skyward, and the weather abruptly changed.
Everyone on the sanctuary, except for the women standing beside Black on the deck, collapsed to the ground.
Black's Conqueror's Haki, after several layers of reinforcement, was even stronger than the Haoshoku possessed by Imu when controlling Junko.
Not only did it stun the strange creatures scattered across the Sky Islands, it even formed a visible storm in the sky.
Golden Lion Shiki was sitting inside the palace on the central volcanic island.
His legs were crossed.
Correction.
He no longer had legs to cross.
Instead, he lazily crossed the two swords attached to the stumps of his legs while dozing.
Suddenly, Golden Lion sensed a surge of Conqueror's Haki sweeping across the sky like a tangible wave.
The intensity of that Haoshoku made even an old pirate like Shiki who had witnessed countless monsters of the sea momentarily lose focus.
A moment later he burst into loud laughter.
"Gyahahahahaha…!"
Golden Lion shot upward into the sky, smashing straight through the palace dome.
Suspended in the air, he stared toward the source of the pressure.
At the bow of a ship stood Black, calmly looking back at him.
Golden Lion flew closer and examined him carefully.
After a moment, he raised an eyebrow.
"Gyahahahahaha…"
"As expected of a descendant of the Twenty Kings."
"Another fellow like you has appeared among the Celestial Dragons."
After sighing once, Golden Lion suddenly sneered.
"I killed plenty of Celestial Dragon brats like you back in the day!"
"Don't those five old geezers worry about letting someone like you roam outside? Aren't they afraid I'll finish you off?"
Black bowed slightly, his posture as elegant as if he were attending a royal ball.
"I've heard a little about your exploits at God Valley, Senior Shiki."
"I heard the four great pirates there were chased all over the place by Garp."
"Are those old stories all you can rely on to scare people now?"
Golden Lion's eyes narrowed.
"Oh?"
"So you want to see my real abilities?"
"Exactly. Please enlighten me, Senior Shiki."
Black walked over to Mandy and calmly unbuckled the rapier from her waist.
His preferred weapon was actually a long scroll-shaped blade.
Before leaving the Holy Land he had already ordered craftsmen to forge one.
Unfortunately, because his requirements were extremely demanding, it had not been completed yet.
For now he could only make do with a weapon that wasn't perfectly suited to him.
Seeing this, Golden Lion burst into laughter again.
"Gyahahaha!"
"Has the World Government fallen so low that it can't even find a proper swordsmith?"
Black removed his transparent Celestial Dragon helmet.
"With all due respect, Senior Shiki…"
"If a sword is destined to end up stuck in someone's legs, that would be a great insult to the swordsmith."
Golden Lion's expression instantly darkened.
Never strike someone's face, and never expose their scars.
Why did this brat keep poking at his sore spot?
The two legendary swords, Oto and Kogarashi, attached to Golden Lion's legs began to hum sharply.
"Brat… when your head separates from your body, you'll understand what a real insult is!"
Golden Lion suddenly dived downward.
His crossed sword-legs unleashed a cross-shaped slash.
"Slash Wave!"
Black held the rapier but did not draw the blade from its scabbard.
He struck precisely at the weak point where the two slashes intersected, effortlessly dispersing the attack.
"Senior, there's no need to hold back."
"I can still endure for now."
Black chuckled lightly, clearly not taking the attack seriously.
"Your Highness! I'll help you!"
Koala rushed forward with clenched fists, golden light already shimmering around them.
Black raised a hand to stop her.
He had no intention of letting Koala ruin this rare battle opportunity.
"This is an exchange between Senior Shiki and myself."
"You should remain here and observe the gap between yourselves and the true peaks of this world."
Opportunities for Black to fight freely in the real world were rare.
Inside the card space he had fought countless silent AI opponents who never responded to anything he said.
Now that he finally met a real opponent capable of conversation, he naturally wanted to talk a bit.
Golden Lion had already closed the distance.
"Two Sword Style: Swallow's Return to Nest!"
His movements were astonishingly fast.
The twin swords carved perfect arcs in the air, both coated with Armament Haki.
Black stepped back half a pace.
The moment his scabbard blocked the attack, brilliant sparks exploded between them.
"Senior's strength truly is impressive."
Black casually chatted while parrying the attacks.
Golden Lion's eyes flashed coldly.
"Just how much are you looking down on me, brat?!"
"I am the Golden Lion!"
More than anyone, Shiki understood how far his current strength had fallen from his prime.
He assumed Black's words were mocking him.
In truth, Black had no intention of mocking him at all.
The Golden Lion he remembered was the version from later years an aging pirate who barely used Haki and relied mainly on the Float-Float Fruit.
But the Shiki before him was clearly stronger than what the newspapers described after his escape from Impel Down.
It seemed the Flying Pirates' doctor, Indigo, was indeed quite capable.
Their swords clashed again.
Black suddenly surged forward, finally drawing the blade.
The rapier thrust toward Golden Lion's throat like a venomous serpent.
"Good technique."
"But unfortunately…"
"You're an old man who can't even hold a sword anymore."
Golden Lion rapidly retreated and landed on a nearby Sky Island.
"Brat… didn't those five old geezers teach you to respect your elders?"
"Of course they did."
Black pursued him, the blade already wrapped in black-gold, dark red, and deep purple energy.
"So they specifically instructed me"
His sword suddenly slashed outward.
"to use strength to make outdated seniors face reality!"
The slash shot toward Golden Lion like lightning, leaving a vacuum scar in the air.
The thunderous sound of air exploding only followed long after the slash had passed.
"Two Sword Style: Omamori!"
Golden Lion crossed his sword-legs to block.
With Oto and Kogarashi, he barely defended the attack.
But the impact blasted him thousands of meters away from the edge of the island all the way toward the palace ruins in the center.
Crack.
His bones creaked.
Golden Lion, who had already lost his lower legs, now felt the bones of his thighs beginning to fracture.
"What the hell?!"
"Only Roger can defeat me!"
"How could someone like me… Roger's rival… lose to a Celestial Dragon brat?!"
"Lion's Might: Earth Scroll!"
The entire main island trembled violently.
Thousands of rocks tore free from the surface and gathered in midair, assembling into a massive lion-shaped construct.
"Secret Art: Ghost Flash!"
Three triangular sword slashes tore through the sky, shattering the stone lion in an instant.
Black shook his head slightly.
"Senior… your current techniques are far inferior to those of your younger days."
"Secret Art: Yellow Springs!"
Black leapt into the air.
His sword aura split into eight streams, striking Golden Lion from multiple directions.
Golden Lion struggled to defend.
But legs could never match the flexibility of arms.
With his thigh bones already fractured, he failed to block every attack.
Boom!
Golden Lion slammed into the palace ruins like a cannonball.
Black did not immediately pursue the finishing strike.
Old men were not like young fighters.
They couldn't recover their strength just by standing back up again.