Chapter 172: Won the Grand Prize! The Golden Lion Has Regained His Full Strength!
"It's slower than expected."
Shiki the Golden Lion floated in midair with his arms crossed.
He was bald in the front, with a broken ship's wheel jammed into his head. Behind that ugly scar, his long, thick golden hair spilled down his back, two strands looping around to the front and falling over his chest.
A yellow striped cloak hung from his shoulders, rattling in the cold night wind. Two longswords, their edges flashing with a cold gleam now and then, were attached to his severed legs.
But…
Unlike the comical look of the Golden Lion's hair and that ridiculous wheel, his expression was ice cold.
Cruel light burned in his eyes. A cigar hung from his lips. He glared at the three of them as if he wanted to bite their throats out.
"Whether you come early or late, it won't delay your death," Gion said coldly. She tightened her grip on Kinpira and drew it in one clean motion.
"Jihahaha!"
Shiki threw his head back and laughed wildly.
Then, without warning, he stopped.
The smile vanished. His face sank into a shadow so heavy it looked like it could swallow the moon.
"Even Roger almost lost to me," Shiki said in a grim voice, staring at the three of them. "You brats… are you trying to make me laugh to death?"
"Something's wrong with the Golden Lion," Shanks said quietly, speaking to Roy beside him.
Logically speaking, after Shiki's battle with Roger, that ship's rudder had been stuck in his forehead. At first, the old lion seemed fine. But as the years passed, the problem became more and more obvious.
That rudder's influence made Shiki increasingly confused. Sometimes he would do things so absurd they looked like jokes, like calling a gorilla his relative.
It was funny to watch.
But the reality was terrifying.
A mind that was not clear could not properly use Observation Haki.
Roy even doubted whether Shiki, aside from his Devil Fruit ability and whatever swordsmanship he could swing on instinct, could still use Armament Haki at all.
This was also why, many years later, Luffy clearly could not defeat Big Mom and Kaido.
The biggest reason they could crush Shiki, who once stood on the same level as Roger and Whitebeard, was that the Golden Lion had already fallen apart.
Do not be fooled by Luffy's exciting final blow in the future.
He was beating a disabled old pirate whose mind was unstable.
If Shiki had been at his peak, and you dragged Luffy from that era into Shiki's timeline, Luffy would have been beaten senseless from start to finish.
Even with the author's overpowered favoritism, it would not be enough. The gap was simply too vast.
But the Golden Lion now…
His mind was unbelievably clear.
He even used Observation Haki to sense their approach and intercept them halfway.
And the aura rolling off him was completely different from before, like he had become a different person.
"A rare moment of clarity," Shiki said, voice smug, fist tightening. A proud smile curled at his lips. The arrogance and evil expression of a great pirate returned to his face, making him look like he had stepped back into his prime. "I'll let the three of you see… what true top tier combat power really is!"
His golden hair fluttered in the wind, carrying an oppressive, imposing force.
In the next instant, Armament Haki spread rapidly across his severed legs, racing along the withered stump and onto the two long blades fixed there.
The Haki coated both swords in a hard, dark sheen.
Whoosh!
Shiki shot forward at lightning speed.
He twisted in midair and kicked out with both legs.
Oto and Kogarashi each unleashed two terrifying golden slashing waves, one cutting left, one cutting right, unstoppable as they tore toward Gion and Shanks.
Boom!
At the same time, a small mountain ripped itself up from the floating island.
Under Shiki's control, it reshaped into a giant lion of earth and stone, roaring as it charged straight upward at Roy.
"Hehehe… die," Shiki snarled, eyes cruel, cigar bouncing slightly with his grin. "Linlin's friends, the Navy, and Roger's crew… die!"
His golden hair whipped wildly as Oto and Kogarashi flashed again, the two blades slashing toward Roy at terrifying speed.
Shiki… the Golden Lion…
He had regained his consciousness.
So…
He had sorted out many things.
Unlike his usual muddle headed self, he would not make foolish decisions now.
Now that he was fully awake, the thing he wanted most was revenge.
Whoever dared to suppress Roy and the others, whoever dared to stand in his way, whoever dared to look down on him…
All of them would pay.
Clang clang clang!
In a blink, Shiki appeared in front of the three of them and slashed with both swords in a violent storm, sending all three flying backward.
"Jihahaha, that's all you've got"
With the cigar still in his mouth, Shiki flew out again, attacking alongside the flying lion of earth and stone in a relentless chase.
Shanks stared at Shiki in shock.
Roy and Gion did too.
So aside from that ridiculous moment where he called a gorilla his relative, the Golden Lion had been half out of his mind most of the time.
Was the difference between a declining, sick lion and a lion in its prime really just whether he was awake?
It seemed so.
Losing both legs did not actually reduce Shiki's strength that much, especially when he could fly.
The bigger problem had always been the rudder jammed into his head, warping his mind.
And now, in this rare lucid state, Shiki felt like he had hit the jackpot.
Unfortunately…
It was Roy and the others who had truly hit the jackpot.
Because they had run into him at his best.
Shanks, the only pirate among them who was closest to Shiki's level, had not yet grown strong enough to defeat him.
Boom!
In midair, Roy sheathed his sword and threw a punch at the mountain sized lion charging upward.
Cracks spread instantly across the earth and stone beast's head.
Roy lifted his gaze toward Shiki.
The cracks expanded, racing across the giant lion's entire body.
In the next moment, the lion formed from a small mountain collapsed with a deafening crash.
Above, four enormous slashing waves tore across the sky and collided.
Shanks and Gion dodged Shiki's incoming blades, then retreated through the air with Moonwalk.
The three of them stared at Shiki with hard, focused eyes.
What was supposed to be a simple incident, Roy fighting the Golden Lion while the other two watched the show, had escalated into something far worse.
A Golden Lion at his peak was crushing three young monsters.
But…
Whether it was Roy, the future admiral candidate Momousagi, or the future Yonko Shanks…
None of them would run.
"This is interesting," Shanks said, laughing as he gripped his sword with both hands.
"Very challenging," Roy replied, clenching his fist.
The two redheads glanced at each other and smiled.
Roy had not awakened Armament Haki yet, but with the same Iron Defense talent as Linlin, his fists were far more reliable than his blade right now.
Gion did not want to acknowledge cooperating with Shanks at all. Still, she nodded once, cold and tacit, then looked at Roy.
"Be careful."
Do you care about me?
Roy laughed shamelessly in his heart.
"It's because I don't want you to die before I see my sister," Gion said coldly. Even that was not really concern, it was because her sister cared about him.
"Let's go," Roy said with a chuckle.
Then his expression sharpened.
He clenched his fists, stepped onto the air with Moonwalk, and charged at the Golden Lion together with the other two.
A Golden Lion at his peak.
What a rare, precious battle.
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