As for whether Mikita was capable of defeating two 80 million berry pirates? Bon Clay had no doubt whatsoever—she absolutely could.
In their new "Floating Artist" pirate crew, every officer had their own wicked set of skills.
Take himself, for instance.
As a Mane Mane no Mi user, he could mimic anyone's appearance perfectly.
Combine that with his masterful Okama Kenpo, he was basically born for assassination.
Theoretically, he could take out high-level enemies before they even knew he was there.
That was why he had studied so many assassination techniques—it was the path he chose to specialize in based on his Devil Fruit.
The second member, Galdino (Mr. 3), was the crew's brain.
Right now, he was focusing on military strategy and pushing his Devil Fruit to the limit.
After all, smart guys tend to have better ideas for how to use their powers.
His signature Giant Candle was a prime example of his twisted genius.
The third, Marianne, with her crazy Colors Trap ability, naturally excelled in spy ops and messing with people's minds.
She worked perfectly with either Galdino or Bon Clay to set up traps.
The fourth member, Gem, the Bomb-Bomb Fruit user, was training like a madman every day to mix his physical combat with his explosive powers.
In his spare time, he also practiced using hidden weapons—something he apparently picked up while being held captive by the Straw Hats.
And the last one... their captain, the former Miss Valentine, Mikita.
Ever since she spent time with Ray, she had become a completely different person.
She spent most of her days grinding, practicing the coordination between her Kilo-Kilo Fruit and physical combat.
Before long, she even managed to unlock Haki.
Now, within the entire crew, only two people had mastered Haki: Bon Clay and their captain, Mikita.
In fact, she was the one who taught him!
Why was Mikita chosen as the captain?
First, because she had the closest relationship with Ray, the absolute beast of the Straw Hat Pirates.
But the second reason? Mikita was genuinely the strongest among the five of them.
Her Devil Fruit ability was just too broken.
For instance, when throwing a punch or closing in on an enemy, she could drop her weight to one kilogram.
Because she was light as a feather, her speed became insane.
Then, right before impact... BAM!
She'd crank her weight up to 10,000 kilograms instantly.
The kinetic energy from that was enough to knock a Sea King into next week with a single punch.
Dealing with two worthless pirate captains who only got their 80 million bounties by killing civilians? Please.
They were toast.
Especially since Mikita trained her strength daily.
By the time they talked about forming this new crew, they realized Mikita had already surpassed them all.
Same with Gem—his close combat skills were getting scary.
Fight him from a distance? He's a walking bomber.
Get close? Touch him anywhere, and you explode.
Even a Logia user would have a headache dealing with that.
These two, who once followed Ray, had undoubtedly become the top dogs of their crew.
This made Bon Clay especially eager to chat up Ray.
Who knows? Maybe he could snag some of that sweet training opportunity for himself!
…
After checking out the second battlefield for a bit, Ray told Frieda to switch the view back to the main event.
This was where the real show was.
On the screen, Shiki was still floating in the sky, throwing everything he had at the kids below.
He lifted two massive mountains and hurled them toward Zoro and Robin like they were pebbles.
Or he created a giant sphere of water, trying to drown Luffy inside it.
In the original storyline, the Straw Hats probably would've been wiped out by stuff like this.
But the current Luffy and his crew? They were built different.
The entire crew had mastered Haki.
Their strength was way beyond normal standards.
Mastering Haki meant their bodies were tougher, and their reactions speed were on a whole other level compared to the past.
So, those giant mountains? Zoro sliced them apart like butter.
The falling rocks? Robin swatted them away with giant hands like they were annoying flies.
The massive water sphere didn't even touch Luffy before he dodges it.
And Sanji? He used Sky Walk to jump right up to Shiki's face, harassing him with kicks.
Shiki had to waste several moves just to knock Sanji away, but he couldn't even seriously injure the curly-browed chef.
Sanji's defense was so high it was confusing the hell out of the old man.
And sometimes, a weird plant wolf would pop out of the ground and shoot shockwaves at him, adding to the headache.
Shiki was feeling extremely uncomfortable right now!
He had to admit, he got cocky.
The teamwork of these Straw Hat brats was way better than he expected.
Even as a legend from the old era, he was struggling to keep up.
Another huge problem was Nico Robin.
Her ability was a nightmare.
As long as he was in her line of sight, arms would sprout all over his body to strangle or snap him.
So, the Golden Lion had to keep levitating massive junk to block her view, otherwise, he'd get grabbed instantly.
It would be great if he could just kill Robin, but that green-haired swordsman was a damn wall.
Every stone giant or earth lion Shiki sent to crush Robin got smashed to pieces by him.
Shiki figured that Three-Sword Style kid was a monster even among elite swordsmen.
Then there was the blonde kid with the fire legs—he was too damn tough.
When Shiki managed to slash Sanji's chest with his sword legs, it barely broke his skin.
Remember, the Golden Lion was once a rival to Roger and Whitebeard!
Even if he was old, tired, and losing Haki because of Robin's constant harassment, he was still a guy who could split mountains.
And this cook just took his attack like it was a tickle?
It was unreal.
But the biggest headache for Shiki was the bouncing demon in the sky—Luffy, covered head-to-toe in Haki.
With his old rusty body, if Shiki took a clean hit from those spring-loaded fists, he was done for.
As for the long-nosed kid shooting from miles away? Whatever, he was annoying but manageable.
At this moment, Shiki started doubting himself.
Was he just too old? Or were these kids freaks of nature?
The Straw Hat Pirates had been sailing for less than a year.
How the hell could they push a legend like him into a corner?
Was the East Blue really this scary? Had he been wrong about the "weakest sea" all along?
Just then, Shiki noticed something.
His old, blurry eyes focused on the hat Luffy was wearing.
"Roger's hat?" Shiki's eyes widened, and then he grinned like a maniac!
"Ji~hahaha! Luffy! Since you've made me see this hat, your journey ends right here!"
"Even if I die today, I, the Golden Lion, will erase you! I won't allow some brat to wear Roger's hat!"
Hearing Shiki's rant, Luffy looked confused.
He tilted his head, completely missing the point.
But Luffy was clear about one thing.
"Shiki! Shut up with your nonsense! I'm gonna punch you!"
With that, Luffy ditched the plan to get close.
The muscles in his arms contracted like springs, coiling back five times. He aimed right at Shiki from a distance.
"GOMU GOMU NO... KONG GATLING!"
Countless Giant fists blanketed the sky and shot toward Shiki from hundreds of meters away.
At the same time, Robin's eyes narrowed.
"Cien Fleur... Clutch!"
Dozens of black, Haki-coated arms sprouted all over Shiki's body, locking him in place.
Sanji also appeared behind Shiki in a blur, his leg engulfed in blazing red and blue flames, aiming a kick right at the old man's head.
"Diable Jambe... Grill Shot!"
And almost instantly.
"Santoryu... Onyudo!"
Zoro's massive Haki slash came screaming in from the side.
At this moment, Shiki suddenly realized he was screwed.
He was surrounded from all sides, with nowhere to run!
He finally realized that wasting time on his angry speech was a fatal mistake.
And the Straw Hat Pirates? They didn't give a damn about letting him finish his monologue.
'Damn these brats... bullying an old man when he was talking is hella rude!'