After the great battle began, Golden Lion finally witnessed the overall strength of the Limitless Pirates. He knew that the Flying Pirates were no match for the Limitless Pirates.
So he wanted to defeat Imu first and become the World King.
If Nox were to break his promise then, he could integrate all the other Pirate Crew except the Limitless Pirates to deal with the Limitless Pirates together. This would greatly increase the probability of winning compared to just the Flying Pirates fighting the Limitless Pirates.
At most, it would just be one big fight, or they would divide the World equally.
If he chose to appear later, Imu might be defeated by Nox first, allowing Nox to become the World King, and he wouldn't even have a chance to compete.
"Hahahahahaha, Golden Lion, since you want to go first, Imu is all yours. If you are defeated by Imu, then obediently become my little brother. When the time comes, I'll grant you the title of World Second King!"
Seeing Golden Lion blocking him, Nox couldn't help but laugh.
"Jie hahahaha, the World King belongs to me, Golden Lion!"
Seeing Nox step back, Golden Lion flew out laughing loudly.
"You all deserve to die!"
Seeing both of them acting as if they were certain they could defeat him, and even competing to fight first, Imu's cold, eight-hundred-year-old heart was instantly filled with rage.
He had ruled the World for eight hundred years! Now, to be treated as prey was simply unforgivable, unforgivable!!
"Jie hahahaha, that Imu, let this old man see what kind of ability you have to be the World King. No, you should give the position of World King to this old man, otherwise, this old man will beat you to death!"
Golden Lion flew high into the sky, looking down at Imu below like a male lion overlooking its prey, his arrogant demeanor fully displayed.
Imu below looked up at the provoking ant in the sky, and the anger in his calm heart intensified. After all, he didn't know how long it had been since anyone dared to look down on him!
Although Golden Lion was arrogant, he didn't dare to underestimate Imu at all. After all, even a pig that had lived for eight hundred years would be close to becoming Pigsy!
"Lion's Might: Sky Lion!"
Golden Lion slashed with his two swords, and instantly, three enormous lions composed of airflow, thousands of meters wide, swept down. Looking up from below, it was as if the entire sky had collapsed, transforming into lion heads and smashing down.
Facing this attack that resembled a natural disaster, Imu remained unfazed. Three black arrowheads, like long snakes, shot out from behind him, directly piercing the three massive lions.
The originally tiny arrowheads seemed like embroidery needles to the Sky Lions, but it was these very arrowheads that, upon touching the Sky Lions, instantly shattered them completely.
"From a point to a surface, this control of ability has reached its peak!"
Seeing this scene, Nox frowned. He could achieve this technique with his sword, but not with his ability.
After all, exerting force from a single point and then transmitting that power to a Sky Lion thousands of meters wide, completely shattering the entire Sky Lion, was too difficult.
If it were him, he would have directly cut the entire Sky Lion in half with one slash, but doing so would consume more stamina. What Imu did was to exert the greatest power with the least stamina!
The three arrowheads seemed to extend infinitely. After defeating the three Sky Lions, they shot towards Golden Lion at high speed.
"Jie hahahaha, you've got some skill!"
Although Golden Lion was laughing, his expression had become serious. Facing the incoming three arrowheads, he had no intention of confronting them head-on and immediately used his Float-Float Fruit to dodge.
At the same time, Imu also immediately flew up into the high sky. He wasn't used to looking up at others.
On the other side, as Imu and Golden Lion began fighting, the people on the battlefield below wouldn't just watch. They had been interrupted by Imu before, and now they would continue fighting until they killed their opponents.
"Lord Imu has appeared, and you will all die!!"
Saint Saturn laughed maniacally. They, the Gorosei, worshipped Imu like fervent believers worshipped God.
"Just trash. As long as he's eliminated, my Father will be the World King, and you five old men won't have a good end either!"
Gaenie said dismissively.
"How dare you insult Lord Imu, go to hell!"
Hearing Gaenie's audacious words, Saint Saturn became even more frantic, attacking Gaenie even more fiercely than before. Insulting him was acceptable, but he would never allow anyone to insult Lord Imu!
"Hahahahahaha, that Imu is just a dog that has lived for eight hundred years. My Father can cut down two of that caliber with one sword. Only old dogs like you would recognize an even older dog as your master. I feel embarrassed just saying it!"
Seeing Saint Saturn's frenzied state, Gaenie transformed into a sharp-tongued devil, relentlessly belittling Imu in order to disrupt Saint Saturn's emotions.
"Hahahahaha, the Captain has made his move! The World King of the old era is about to die, and the Captain will become the new World King!"
"Ugororororo, I really want to fight that so-called World King and see if he can kill me!"
"Yohohohoho, I wonder if Golden Lion will lose, but it doesn't matter. Even if he loses, there's still Nox behind him!"
"Brothers, defeat these damned Celestial Dragons, and this World will be ours!"
"..."
After Golden Lion and Imu began fighting, many powerful Pirates on the battlefield below also began to pay attention to the battle above.
After all, for them, their opponents didn't require their full effort; killing them was only a matter of time.
And the battle in the sky would determine the outcome of the entire war.
Once the former World King Imu was defeated, the entire World Government would completely perish.
Conversely, if that Imu defeated both Golden Lion and Nox, then they would have no hope of defeating the World Government. After all, those were the two strongest people in the World!
Sky Battlefield:
"This trick is really troublesome."
Facing the three dark arrowheads, Golden Lion originally intended to dodge, but the three arrowheads clearly wouldn't let him go. No matter how he flew and dodged, the three arrowheads still followed him as if they had eyes.
"Break!"
Since he couldn't dodge, he would cut them off with a sword!
Golden Lion's Sakura Ten and kogarashi simultaneously slashed at the three arrowheads, intending to cut them off.
However, when Golden Lion cut off the three arrowheads, new arrowheads began to grow from them!
"Not good!!"
Just as Golden Lion was about to use his ability to control the three arrowheads, he suddenly realized that Imu had appeared in front of him at some point!
Imu made no unnecessary movements; he simply threw a punch.
Imu's speed was too fast, so fast that Golden Lion didn't even have time to counterattack and could only cross his two swords in front of him to block.
However, when Golden Lion's two swords came into contact with Imu's punch, he instantly felt the immense power transmitted from the sword blades.
This power was incredibly strong, the most powerful he had ever seen. Compared to this power, the strength of Whitebeard and Garp, and even Rocks from back then, seemed insignificant.
Furthermore, his two swords were blasted away by Imu's punch and struck his chest. Golden Lion was thus sent flying by Imu's punch, along with his own two swords, impacting his body.
Even though his two swords and his chest were covered in Busoshoku Haki, they still couldn't block Imu's simple punch.
"Pfft!!!"
Golden Lion's chest instantly caved in. A powerful force even penetrated through his chest and directly struck his internal organs, tearing them apart. His entire body was sent flying like a meteor.
Golden Lion was sent spewing blood and seeing stars by Imu's punch, almost being knocked out instantly.
"How can he be this strong!"
He couldn't believe that there was someone in this World with such immense power. This completely exceeded his understanding of power!
It wasn't just pure power; there was also a powerful Busoshoku Haki he had never seen before. That Busoshoku Haki seemed to be a whole level above his own Busoshoku Haki; it was incredibly strong.
"With such weak power, you dare to attack the World Government? Truly a frog in a well!"
Imu's cold voice came out.
"Bastard, I am Golden Lion!"
Even though Golden Lion couldn't clearly see Imu's face, he knew clearly that when that guy looked at him, it was the same way he used to look at the low-level ants!
As Golden Lion, who was determined to become the World King, how could he tolerate someone looking at him with such eyes?
Having only taken one punch from Imu, Golden Lion clearly understood that he absolutely couldn't hold back, otherwise, he would likely be defeated by the next punch, without even having a chance to use his trump card!
"Awakening!!!"
As Golden Lion roared, golden clouds and mist instantly appeared around him. Almost everything in the entire sky was affected by his Float-Float Fruit. The air, airflow, and even space were homogenized and became part of his Float-Float Fruit ability!
"Come down here!!!"
With a thought from Golden Lion, ten massive islands in the sky instantly plummeted down at high speed.
At the same time, not just the islands, but also ten streams of seawater, like a celestial river, rushed down.
As a Float-Float Fruit user, he naturally had to fully utilize his ability. Although he wasn't sure what Devil Fruit ability Imu had, one thing he was certain of was that Imu was a Devil Fruit user, and any ability user would be countered by seawater and Sea Stone.
He couldn't control Sea Stone, but he could control countless amounts of seawater, so he had prepared a large amount of seawater suspended in the air early on to enhance his power!
"Mountain and Sea Fall!"
After Golden Lion Awakened, he immediately flew into the sky, simultaneously controlling the ten islands and the vast amount of seawater to rush down towards Imu below. He even used the Float-Float Fruit's ability to control airflow and space to restrict Imu's movements.
He knew very well that he could never win against Imu in a head-on confrontation, not even after Awakening. Imu's punch just now had left too deep an impression on him, so deep that he didn't dare to engage in close combat with Imu.
But it didn't matter, his greatest strength wasn't close combat, but rather long-range control. This was his most powerful force!
"Devil Fruit Awakening? But this Awakening is still trash!"
Imu remained unmoved by the rushing islands and seawater.
Darkness surged out from his entire body and covered him. With a wave of his hand, infinite dark power transformed into a massive slash.
"Swish!!!"
In an instant, all the islands and seawater rushing towards him were cleaved in half by the dark slash. The power of the slash even extended outwards, shattering the ten islands with the force that shot out, and the seawater was even divided into countless fragments!
"The power of this slash, I'm afraid even Nox can't compare to it!"
Seeing this dark slash, Golden Lion's eyes narrowed, and he couldn't help but compare it to Nox's slash in his mind.
"Jie hahahaha, my ability is naturally designed to counter those who use swords!"
"Mountain and Sea Reconstitution: Mountain and Sea Giant Lion!!!"
Golden Lion laughed loudly, then activated his ability. The ten shattered islands and countless amounts of seawater instantly reconstituted, transforming into ten giant rock lions and ten sea lions.
They then roared and charged towards Imu again. Anyway, these islands and seawater were inanimate objects; no matter how many times they were destroyed by the enemy, Golden Lion could restore them with his ability and continue to control these things to attack the enemy.
As long as he himself wasn't defeated, it was useless no matter how many times the islands and seawater were shattered.
To ensure his own safety, Golden Lion pulled down three more islands and countless amounts of seawater from the sky to surround and protect himself.
"Petty tricks!"
Seeing this scene, Imu raised his hand and unleashed another massive dark slash. The ten rock lions and ten sea lions that hadn't even gotten close to Imu were all cleaved in half again.
"Jie hahahaha, my ability is invincible! No matter how many times you shatter them, I can restore them!"
Seeing this scene, Golden Lion laughed loudly and immediately activated his ability again to restore the ten shattered rock lions and ten sea lions.
However, in the next moment, he stopped moving, because he saw that the instant Imu shattered the ten rock lions and sea lions, he crossed the ten rock lions and sea lions at extreme speed and rushed to his front.
"Ten Thousand Arrows Firing!"
Seeing the seawater and islands surrounding Golden Lion, Imu didn't directly crash into them, but with another wave of his hand, countless dark forces surged out, transforming into tens of thousands of dark arrows that shot towards Golden Lion from all directions.
The dark arrows possessed extremely strong penetrating power. The seawater and islands couldn't block the dark arrows and were constantly pierced through, all shooting towards Golden Lion in the center.
For a time, Golden Lion was like a trapped prey in a cage, letting the dark arrows shoot at him.