"Admiral! We've spotted the captain of the Golden Pirates, Fred, on the sea!"
At this moment, the Flying Pirates were floating in the sky. The Golden Lion had chosen a huge island as his pirate ship so he could avoid being discovered by the Marines more easily.
He wasn't afraid of the Marines, but being chased by such a big organization would be a huge hassle. They would interfere in everything he planned. Until he built up enough strength, the Golden Lion didn't want to declare war on the World Government.
But flying in the sky meant being affected by the weather, which carried its own risks.
Just then, he heard the lookout report from above. At once, Fred's information appeared in his mind.
"I remember that guy. Didn't he have a fight with John not long ago?"
John was his old crewmate back in the Rocks Pirates and a pretty strong pirate. For Fred to fight John and still survive meant he wasn't weak.
The Golden Lion grew interested. He left the island, spreading his Observation Haki.
He quickly locked onto Fred's exact position and soon saw him on the sea, lying on a broken plank, barely breathing, like he was about to die.
The Golden Lion raised his hand, lifting the plank and Fred into the air. Then he grabbed Fred's body and looked him over carefully.
"Looks like the Golden Pirates were completely wiped out. Not many people on this sea can do that, huh? But still…"
Shiki grinned. "If you want revenge, you're welcome to join my crew."
Like Rocks, the Golden Lion wanted to be King of the World. To achieve something that big, he couldn't be like Roger with just one ship. He needed lots of subordinates—elite ones, loyal ones.
He tossed Fred to a crew member behind him.
"Heal him up. Then ask if he wants to join the Flying Pirates. If not, kill him."
.........
"Kraken… that thing really is hard to control."
Meanwhile, Genichi was in his own territory, tracking Kraken's movements through his radar.
The Shikon Jewel shards could make Sea Kings stronger—even bring the dead back to life—but he never used them like that before. Why? Because those beasts wouldn't listen to him after getting stronger or revived. What if he couldn't take them back under control?
He wasn't going to revive other strong people or power up Sea Kings without any backup plan—especially not with something like a Shikon Jewel shard, which wasn't a one-time thing like Nine-Tails flesh.
But now, with Makima the Control Devil under him, he finally had some insurance if things went wrong.
Just like now—he had used four Shikon Jewel shards to power up a Sea King and turn it into Kraken. Then he sent Makima to control it.
Kraken couldn't hide from him. After merging with those shards, it was basically connected to his power and showed up on his "radar." But now Kraken wasn't just a normal monster anymore.
Honestly, Kraken's strength was probably on par with the top fighters of the sea—and with that massive body, its destructive power was terrifying.
In terms of destruction, not even ten Rogers could match it. Even Whitebeard, who could destroy an island with one punch, couldn't completely cover Kraken's huge body.
And the biggest thing—it was a Sea King!
On the ocean, that alone made it way stronger than Rocks. It was practically a natural enemy of most Devil Fruit users. Only someone like the Golden Lion, who could fly, wasn't affected.
Of course, being a Sea King, its brains weren't close to a human's. It didn't have Haki, much less Conqueror's Haki.
But its raw instinct was already fighting back against Makima's control, so her grip on Kraken was shaky.
If it had just one Shikon Jewel shard, controlling it would be easy. But then it wouldn't be nearly this strong.
Even so, it didn't matter much. Makima wasn't failing—just struggling to keep it under control.
Right now, Kraken was heading deep into the New World, toward another point on his radar.
That point was…
The Roger Pirates!
Roger seemed to be carrying a Shikon Jewel shard too, which let Genichi track him. And since he wanted to start a battle as big as God Valley, he had to draw Roger, that massive force, into the fight.
If Roger didn't come, then he'd attack first!
He even had Kraken move on the surface instead of underwater, leaving traces as it went. Just its movement stirred up waves like tsunamis, bringing disaster to every pirate crew along the way.
Even faraway crews spotted Kraken and spread the news across the world: a giant Sea King had appeared in the New World.
Then another rumor exploded: "That giant squid grew so huge because it swallowed Shikon Jewel shards!"
"Shikon Jewel?!"
Especially Golden Lion Shiki—he looked at Fred, who had just woken up in bed, and said in shock, "You're saying you saw a Shikon Jewel shard?!"
Fred was covered in bandages, his eyes filled with fear. Hearing Shiki's words, he said weakly and tremblingly, "That's right, the Shikon Jewel shard. When I sank into the sea, I found that shard in the eye of that monster!"
But in reality, he couldn't have seen it. How could he see a tiny shard on a huge monster? It was just Makima controlling his memory, making him 'see' it.
"If that's the case, we can't ignore that monster!" Golden Lion still had a cigar in his mouth. He didn't expect to get news of the Shikon Jewel shard again so quickly.
"Heh heh heh! This sea will never be lonely!" Shiki laughed loudly, then looked at Fred again. "So, what's your answer? Join us and continue to challenge that monster with me!"
When he mentioned challenging that monster, Fred's pupils shrank, as if he had seen something incredibly terrifying. He almost cried, saying, "No! No! I don't want to see that monster again! Please, let me go!"
"..."
Seeing his expression, Golden Lion's face instantly darkened, and he turned and left the room.
"Throw him out. The sea doesn't need such spineless guys!"
----
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