Thump~
Thump~
Thump~
Three loud booms reverberated across the battle-scarred sea.
A golden figure shot down from the sky, skipping across the sea's surface several times like a stone.
Then, as if by perfect coincidence, it crashed directly into one of the Navy's warships.
A massive cloud of dust billowed out.
Chaos erupted on the warship.
The Navy soldiers aboard gripped their weapons tightly, their eyes fixed on the hole smashed through the ship's deck.
"All those who lack sufficient strength, fall back immediately. Do not approach," Tsuru commanded swiftly as she arrived at the scene, standing at the bow and directing the troops.
Thud~
Tap~
Tap~
After a long moment, sounds finally emerged from within the wrecked cabin.
A figure stumbled out, limping slightly, and only upon emerging from the dust cloud was his true appearance revealed.
"Gyahahaha! Damn Navy scum, you all deserve to die!" Shiki snarled.
Both of his cheeks were symmetrically swollen, and his body was covered in wounds.
The wounds were healing at an agonizingly slow pace, blood still trickling out.
This was the current state of the Golden Lion.
Earlier, surrounded and attacked by Garp and the others, he had been kicked around in the sky like a pinball.
Not a single blow had missed him; he had taken the full brunt of the assault.
The fact that he was still alive was a testament to his sheer tenacity.
As Shiki looked at the surrounding Navy soldiers, his heart grew heavy.
'Dammit, I shouldn't have been so cocky and let Brian and the others leave.'
'This is really troublesome now, shit!'
Regret flooded his mind, but he didn't know how to express it.
He could already foresee the torture that awaited him if he were captured alive by these Navy dogs.
But torture was the least of his worries. If they used him as a bargaining chip to negotiate with those damned Celestial Dragons, the humiliation would be unbearable.
How could he ever face anyone in the Rocks Pirates again?
He'd rather die than live with that shame, forever looking up to others.
In an instant, Shiki shook his head and made a decision.
He would fight with everything he had. If he could just break free, his Float-Float Fruit abilities would allow him to escape.
Scanning his surroundings, a flicker of hope ignited in his chest when he noticed Garp and the others weren't immediately present.
But just as he prepared to make his move, he realized it was already too late.
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
Whoosh~
"Surrender, Shiki. Spare yourself further pain," Sengoku's voice rang out.
"Otherwise, this sea will become your grave today."
Sengoku and the two others had surrounded Shiki in a triangular formation mid-air, cutting off all escape routes.
"Hmph! Do you think I, the great Golden Lion, would fall so easily here?" Shiki retorted.
Hiss~
Hiss~
White steam erupted from his body as Shiki's wounds began to heal rapidly, his aura intensifying dramatically.
"Life Return? A futile effort," Sengoku remarked calmly, his expression unchanged.
Three against one, and their opponent was already half-dead and limping. He saw no possibility of failure.
"Lion - Thousand Ripping Valleys!"
Now restored, Shiki unleashed his full power, swinging his twin swords to send seven or eight massive blades of soaring slash energy flying forth.
However, his target wasn't Sengoku and the others in the air; it was the numerous weaker Navy soldiers aboard the warship.
"You bastard!" Sengoku roared.
"Great Buddha · Immovable!"
Seeing this, Sengoku's expression turned grim as he appeared on the warship.
His body rapidly enlarged, and a golden Great Buddha manifested on the warship, blocking half of the sword energy.
"Crush · Ripple Fist!"
Meanwhile, Zephyr moved to cover the position.
Swinging his fists repeatedly, he shattered and pulverized the sword energy unleashed by Shiki.
"Lion's Might: Imperial Sea Swirl!"
"Gyahahaha! Thanks for the hospitality, Navy! I won't forget this!"
Witnessing the scene, Shiki didn't hesitate. With a wave of his hand,
the surrounding seawater around the warship erupted violently, rapidly rising and crashing down onto the vessel from multiple angles.
After that, he dusted himself off, soared into the sky, and prepared to flee.
"Gyahahaha, damn it! This is utterly humiliating."
After putting some distance between them, Shiki touched the still-throbbing wound on his chest, his face a mix of frustration and gloom.
His attempt to show off had backfired, and he'd been thoroughly beaten.
It was a massive blow to his pride.
Thinking of the recording Video Transponder Snail, Shiki suddenly lost the desire to hand it over to Morgans for sensationalism.
Too embarrassing!
But he celebrated too soon.
Whoosh~
"Where do you think you're going?"
"Fist Bone · Fist of Fury!"
Garp, steam emanating from his body, appeared behind Shiki and landed a solid punch square on his back.
Whoosh~
Shiki shot away like a cannonball, once again sent flying.
It took him a moment to finally stabilize himself mid-air.
"Pfft~"
"Damn you, Garp!"
Seeing Garp closing in, Shiki felt utterly helpless.
Even with the power of the Float-Float Fruit, he couldn't shake off this mad dog. It was infuriating.
"Lion's Might: Imperial Sea Swirl!"
He summoned the seawater once more to attack Garp.
But the damage was noticeably weaker. Shiki had no intention of continuing the fight; he just wanted to escape.
Yet, the same outcome repeated itself.
In his enraged state, Garp wasted no words, charging forward and shattering the tsunami with a single punch before pressing the attack again.
To make matters worse, Sengoku and Zephyr had resolved the troubles on the warship and were catching up once more.
This time, they were determined to capture Shiki.
Without a moment's hesitation, they launched their ultimate moves as soon as they arrived.
Bam~
Bam~
Shiki was once again reduced to a punching bag, being batted around the sky.
It seemed his fate was sealed: a life behind bars.
But as one of the era's chosen pirates, Shiki still had a bit of luck left.
After being used as a human pinball for three minutes, Garp, Sengoku, and Zephyr finally relented.
"Huff, huff~"
"These high-ranking officers of the Rocks Pirates are monsters. So troublesome and hard to capture."
Sengoku looked at the tattered Shiki in the center, who could no longer maintain his Life Return state, and sighed in resignation.
They had finally subdued him. Shiki had lost all ability to resist.
Staying airborne was his last resort.
Just as they prepared to move in for the final arrest, another sudden change occurred.
"Beast · Four Symbols Magic Array!"
"What?!"
Sengoku, Garp, and Zephyr's faces instantly paled as they simultaneously looked up.
High above them, thousands of meters in the air, the thick clouds that had been concealing the sky were violently dispersed by an unseen force.
Revealed in their place was a massive magic array.
Four divine beast silhouettes formed the enormous array, with vast energies converging at its center.
There was a slowly churning gray lotus, on the verge of fully taking shape.
Around the lotus, space trembled.
Cracks continuously appeared around the lotus but quickly healed.
This lotus seemed to be the embodiment of destruction.
It was about to bring devastating destruction to this sea area once again.
"Shiki, you're really in a sorry state."
Brian's figure appeared above the magic circle, looking at the utterly disheveled Shiki with some genuine pity.
Despite his words, the Den Den Mushi camera in his hand showed no such sympathy.
Click~
Click~
One photo after another, he preserved every bit of Shiki's current wretched appearance.
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