Habu Port was already adjacent to Udon, and Caesar's Kunpeng transformation was simply too vast.
Thus, the moment he surfaced, he was noticed by Ulti and the others, who were searching for someone in Udon.
"Is that... Caesar-sama? He's so huge...!" Page One exclaimed, staring at the endless black back in the sea.
Meanwhile, Ulti had already spotted the steel warship drifting toward the port, her eyes gleaming with excitement as she dashed toward it.
"Wow, could that be Pluto?"
Black Maria shook her head with a wry smile, still occasionally glancing up at the gloomy sky.
High above Wano Country, kilometers up, over a dozen massive islands could be seen rapidly descending.
If these sky islands were to crash into Wano, the country might be erased from the map.
Kiku's face was etched with anxiety, utterly baffled as to why a dozen islands would suddenly fall from Wano's sky.
The scene made her feel as if she were in a dream.
Caesar shrank his enormous fish form and leaped from the water, landing with a thud on the warship's deck.
Before he could even take a closer look at the ship, he let out a surprised sound and gazed up at the sky.
"What is this...?"
When he saw the islands suspended in mid-air, his mind roared with recognition.
The image of a bold, hearty young man with golden hair flashed into his thoughts.
Caesar's lips twitched, and he raised an eyebrow.
"Could it be... Shiki??"
Since the battle at God Valley, he hadn't seen any of his old acquaintances from the Rocks crew.
Back in the heyday of the Rocks Pirates, the ship was brimming with talent—those with Conqueror's Haki were a dime a dozen!
A single cannon blast could reveal several.
The most powerful captains were the Three Monster: Edward Newgate, Shiki the Golden Lion, and Caesar the Devil.
Next were the other captains: Golden Axe, Ganzui, John, Wang Zhi, and Linlin.
Further down were the younger, less powerful but equally prodigious members.
Like the recently joined Kaido and Silver Axe.
As for the other possessors of kingly potential, there were many, but they were all overshadowed by the brilliance of these individuals.
Especially the Three Monster, who were also revered by the pirates of the New World as the Three Malevolent Deities.
Currently, Caesar, having awakened from a thirty-year slumber, remains at his peak.
Meanwhile, Whitebeard had already passed away two years ago.
When Caesar heard this news on Onigashima back then, his heart was filled with mixed emotions.
Because of this, he particularly missed the other person among the Three Monster.
The Golden Lion, Shiki.
Shiki from over forty years ago was incredibly handsome.
With his head full of golden hair and an arrogant, domineering aura, he was practically the Broly of the pirate world.
Among the three, Whitebeard was steady, Shiki was flamboyant, and Caesar was ferocious.
When the three of them appeared together on the seas of the New World, wherever they went, people would surrender in fear and tremble with anxiety.
It was precisely because of this that over forty years ago, the World Government couldn't set foot in the New World at all, at most sending a few admirals to test the waters.
Before and after the Pirate Council, Caesar had been having his intelligence department search for Shiki's whereabouts.
But unfortunately, that bastard, due to the ability of the Float-Float Fruit, never stayed on the sea, and no one could find him.
Until now...
Caesar waved his hand and released Hiyori from the ice ball, glanced at Ulti rushing over from a distance, and casually instructed Hiyori.
"Stay here, I'm going up to take a look."
With that, regardless of whether Hiyori responded or not, he transformed directly into a giant bird and flew toward the floating island above.
Caesar's surging emotions were uncontrollable, and the size of the Golden-Winged Bird grew wildly out of control.
One hundred meters.
One thousand meters.
Ten thousand meters.
When a colossal golden bird, blotting out the sky with a wingspan of twenty thousand meters, flapped its wings and flew toward the flying island, the pirates on the island who had been cheering for Shiki's return suddenly fell silent, as if someone had grabbed them by the throat, and their joyous shouts came to an abrupt halt.
Indigo rubbed his eyes.
Slap!
Then he gave himself a hard slap.
"Ouch...! That hurts! What is this? Am I not dreaming?"
Indigo's eyes bulged, nearly popping out of their sockets, his mouth wide open, with his tonsils clearly visible—perfect for a PCR test...
Clatter, clatter.
On the floating island, the pirates were scared out of their wits, not only dropping their weapons but also collapsing to the ground in a daze.
The red-furred giant ape, which had been roaring with red eyes, dug out a large chunk of soil from a stone pillar, stuffed it into its mouth, then trembled and closed its eyes, shrinking its neck in fear.
A Golden Bird as large as the sky island!
"Isn't the world's largest giant beast Zunesha the Elephant? What the hell is this thing?"
Indigo's legs trembled first, and he muttered to himself as if possessed.
But soon, a flash of inspiration struck him, his eyes lit up, and he stared intently at the approaching giant bird.
"Could it be... could it be...? The blood contained in those strange fish comes from this giant bird? Ouch...! That's it! Absolutely!"
Thinking this, the fear on Indigo's face vanished, replaced by an expression of extreme fervor.
Hoarsely, he shouted from the ground to Shiki floating in the sky:
"Shiki-sama! Capture this giant bird! That blood comes from this giant bird. Catch or kill it, and we can create the perfect version of the IQ serum!!"
No one responded to his shouts.
Because in the sky, the floating Shiki was struck as if by lightning, his eyes fixed only on this golden giant bird that blotted out the heavens.
The moment he saw this sky-obscuring giant bird, Shiki's sealed memories burst open.
He couldn't help but recall a fierce young man from decades ago who could transform into a giant bird.
Shiki's mouth fell open slightly, then the corners of his lips suddenly curved upward into a wide grin.
"Is that you? Caesar!!"
Caesar beat his wings and soared high, the terrifying hurricane stirred up by his wings blowing away more than a dozen hovering sky islands around them.
Even the largest island swayed unsteadily in the massive storm.
It felt like a major earthquake had struck the island, pirates stumbling around in disarray, their faces pale with fear.
"Screech!!"
The golden-winged roc let out a piercing cry that tore through the heavens.
Then, the giant bird rapidly shrank, eventually transforming into a majestic figure with golden wings sprouting from his back, twin horns on his head, standing nine meters three tall, as if cast from steel!
Caesar flapped his wings and landed before Shiki, his face skeptical as he frowned and scrutinized Shiki up and down.
Shiki was deeply moved.
He never expected that nearly forty years later, on the verge of death, he would see the brother he once fought alongside.
Back when he stormed Marineford, he was defeated by the combined efforts of Garp and Sengoku, and was imprisoned in the underwater prison.
Later, he cut off both his feet, escaped from prison, had one last meeting with Whitebeard, then took his subordinates and flew up to ten thousand meters high, completely becoming a recluse.
He knew nothing about the news from the sea and didn't care.
Shiki's old face flushed red, tears welling up in his eyes.
His lips trembled, about to speak.
Then he heard Caesar on the opposite side say in bewilderment.
"Damn, your style is quite unique now, huh? How did you get so sleazy when you got old? Where's the handsome blonde guy from back then? Are you sure you're Shiki, not chicken shit?"