I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Unbeknownst to anyone, he subtly pursed his lips, which were hidden behind his scarf.

The Big Mom Pirates appear to be a large family bound together by blood ties, but in reality, they are a legitimate pirate crew.

The relationships between the crew members were nothing like those of mothers and sons or brothers in the traditional family sense.

When an older woman gets angry or goes crazy, she can really be vicious to her own children.

Even in ordinary times, she would often make sarcastic remarks to her own daughter, Pudding, a mixed-race three-eyed person, and all her children were more afraid of her than respectful.

Katakuri picked up the Vivre Card and left the room, but more doubts arose deep in his heart.

"Was the strange thing earlier really because that woman was holding Mom's Vivre Card?" Katakuri vaguely sensed something was wrong.

When Samura was being distributed in the square, the woman herself, who possessed the ability, was right in front of them.

If a Vivre Card that carries the aura of the user with superpowers is like an imperial edict, then it is like a decree from an emperor.

Even if someone had the emperor's edict, how could they possibly make the ministers bow down and obey in front of the emperor?

.............................

As dusk falls, the sun is about to set, and its brightness is gradually fading.

Shan Hu Zi and Xi Ge were hurrying back to their village in the setting sun.

The giantess, Gels, was still devouring the last few samuras, while Ah Ling sat on her shoulders, and the two seemed to have grown much closer.

Beside him, the old giant with the mountain beard watched this scene, his feelings suddenly becoming complicated.

During the day, when he saw Ah Ling fighting with an old lady for Samla in the square, Shan Hu Zi was a little worried and almost scolded her on the spot.

But now, seeing her distribute the Samra to others, including the Giantess, his expression softened considerably.

“People are different.” Shan Hu Zi recalled the old lady’s appalling eating habits with lingering fear.

But when he saw the bandits chatting and laughing, he became furious again.

"You outsiders are really heartless," Shan Huzi shook his head and sighed.

"Do you really know what the Four Emperors mean? Back in the plaza, you almost angered Big Mom and started a fight."

"You two have just narrowly escaped death. Fortunately, Lingling seems to be much better at controlling her temper than before."

"Gels, and you too, how dare you continue eating?"

Shan Hu Zi was getting old, and he kept rambling on and on.

No one paid any attention to it, and they continued on their way.

When he saw the village entrance in the distance, Shan Hu Zi suddenly paused slightly.

He turned around and looked at the setting sun in the west.

The sun was about to set completely, like a giant furnace about to go out, its afterglow dyeing the horizon red, and the red clouds all over the sky taking on a faint blood-red hue.

The light is still there, illuminating the earth, but its brightness is decreasing at a visible rate, and the warmth of the sunlight is almost gone.

"Dusk is coming, thankfully we made it back in time." Giant Mountain Beard breathed a sigh of relief.

The voice just fell.

The blood-red sun had been completely blocked by the iron-gray giant tree and disappeared without a trace. Its last rays of light vanished at an extremely fast speed. The great furnace in the sky finally lost even its last glimmer of light, and the entire world quickly became dark. Night had arrived.

The sun is dead.

The next 12 days will be long, dark nights.

"The fasting period lasts for 12 days. It's a festival to worship the sun, representing its death and resurrection, and there's a reason for this 12-day duration," Shan Huzi explained.

"In the first half of the Grand Line, there are some islands with constant seasons, such as Winter Island and Summer Island."

"Elbaf is located deep within a more chaotic new world, and its climate is naturally different from that of the outside world."

Shan Hu Zi was once the captain of the famous Giant Warrior Pirates hundreds of years ago. He had been to sea and had considerable experience.

"The next 12 days, in your outsider's terms, will be the polar night."

"The next time the sun revives will be in 12 days. If all goes well, Charlotte Lola and Prince Loki's wedding will be held under the newborn sunlight."

A 12-day polar night? That could be a bit troublesome...

Sig frowned, intending to find out as soon as possible about the Black Flame Dragon and the path of evolution mentioned by Vegapunk.

If the giants stay indoors due to the polar night, that would be a significant obstacle...

.................

The sun is dead, winter is here.

The next day, the sun still hadn't risen. Dusk had passed, and a long night was about to begin, shrouding the entire seas of the giant kingdoms in darkness.

Kaido and his men did not attend the winter solstice celebration. They stayed on the ship, did not eat Samura, and continued to eat normally, but kept a low profile and did not eat in front of the giant.

Kaido and his crew inevitably felt a bit more annoyed.

It's not suitable for them to go out, and they also have to keep their burly men in check so they don't provoke giants... These guys are all lawless pirates, when have they ever listened to anyone's rules? They'll have to stay on the ship for 12 days straight?

For the sake of his grand plan, Kaido barely managed to suppress his inner turmoil.

Often, he would stand at the bow of the ship and occasionally look up at the distant horizon, at that giant tree that seemed to reach the heavens.

On the third night, the first snow fell.

It seemed to be a rare blizzard, with thick clouds covering the sky, howling winter winds, and snow falling everywhere, creating a blanket of white.

"The weather seems a bit off; it's unusual even in the New World with its abnormal climate."

Kaido stood at the bow of the ship, wearing a cloak, snowflakes pressing down on his shoulders.

He continued gazing at the distant sky in the darkness. Due to the polar night and blizzard, visibility was extremely low. From the port, the enormous World Tree in the distance was barely visible; only a vast, dark shadow could be vaguely discerned, like a colossal beast lurking in the depths of the night.

"The opportunity has finally come. With this level of visibility, I'm sure no one will notice."

After gazing at the giant tree in the distance for a while, Kaido suddenly grinned.

His body rapidly transformed, and a layer of fine, light blue scales quickly appeared on his skin, covering most of his body and face, while a long dragon tail emerged from behind him.

This is Kaido's dragon-man form. In this form, he can unleash the power of a dragon to summon wind and rain.

With a light tap of his toes, his massive body soared upwards through the blizzard, a cloud of flames encircling his entire body, propelling him swiftly into the sky.

Kaido in his dragon form can fly, but he is too large.

The dragon-human form was just right; he still had the ability to fly despite his size. Moreover, due to the cover of the polar night and blizzards, visibility was extremely low, and the giants were mostly hiding in their homes to spend the winter. No one would notice Kaido's movements.

Kaido, the dragon-man, rapidly ascended into the night sky, flying swiftly towards the distant giant tree.

In his youth, Kaido followed Rocks to Elbaf, during which time Shiki the Golden Lion once left the party alone to explore the skies above the World Tree, only to return injured.

More than thirty years later, Kaido returned to this place, now a top-tier Yonko (Emperor of the Sea), possessing far more information... so he came.

In a flash, Kaido broke through the swirling snow and swiftly approached the giant tree. The swirling flames carried him upwards at breakneck speed; he wanted to see the truth above...

call!

His figure, swift as an arrow, pierced through the clouds thousands of meters high. The pale moonlight spilled onto Kaido's body, and his vision suddenly opened up.

Kaido's upward momentum suddenly stopped as he saw the outline of a huge island faintly visible among the clouds higher up.

"Is it a sky island? There's a sky island up there?" Kaido's expression was a little strange.

The next moment, a cold voice rang in his ear.

Are you looking for me?

The clouds transformed into a giant lion's head and roared. The snow fell even more heavily, and the clouds gathered into a human shape. Shiki the Golden Lion stood in the air, looking down at Kaido, who was also floating in the air.

Chapter 1189 The True Sun Knight 4k

Thousands of meters above the clouds, large snowflakes danced wildly in the cold wind.

Amidst the swirling snowflakes, Kaido, transformed into a dragon-man, and Shiki floated in the air, gazing at each other from afar.

"Golden Lion, it's you?" Kaido's gaze was indifferent, showing no joy at reuniting with an old acquaintance. He even placed his hand on the spiked club tied to his waist, becoming wary.

Although they had served on the Rocks Pirates, their relationship was far from amicable.

"I am the Golden Lion, the man who reigns supreme over the sea from the sky." The Golden Lion snorted coldly.

"The entire sky is my territory, and it has nothing to do with you where I am."

The power of the Float-Float Fruit made Shiki the "Sky Pirate," whose mobility was unmatched. He could even traverse the Marineford War at will without sustaining any injuries.

The existence of the Logia-type Cloud-Cloud Fruit allows him to become part of the cloud after transforming into an element, thus avoiding the senses of most people.

Among the Four Emperors of the New World, the Big Mom Pirates have the strongest intelligence capabilities.

But Shiki is not among the so-called Four Emperors; he belongs to the Fifty-Six Emperors who left Impel Down.

For more than a decade, Shiki, relying on the power of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, often hid high in the sky, gathering a wealth of information, including intelligence on former Admiral Higuma and Ain, the user of the Rewind-Rewind Fruit.

He is very ambitious and patient; he can wait ten or twenty years to lay low.

The golden lion that appeared before Kaido this time had several tears in its golden robe, revealing several tiny wounds and faint bloodstains that stained the robe.

The Golden Lion had clearly been in a battle and had sustained minor injuries.

"It seems you've run into some trouble." Kaido's gaze swept over the wounds on Shiki's body, and a look of surprise appeared in his eyes.

After consuming the Cloud-Cloud Fruit and using his abilities to create ice crystal prosthetics, Shiki the Golden Lion has made up for his shortcomings.

Unparalleled four-sword style swordsmanship, top-tier three-color Haki, unmatched aerial mobility, and immense destructive power brought by dual Devil Fruit abilities...

Shiki the Golden Lion was already an all-around warrior with off-the-charts stats, but now he's injured...

Did he encounter some unexpected and powerful enemy, or was he not as strong as Kaido imagined, and had developed new weaknesses?

Recalling the elderly Whitebeard, who was seriously ill during the Marineford War, Kaido had a rough idea of ​​what was going on...

"Is Golden Lion sick? Or is he just getting old?" he wondered.

A powerful figure without any weaknesses, who stands at the top, is like the Golden Lion and Whitebeard who competed with Roger for supremacy at their peak. They must be arrogant and proud, and could only be his greatest enemy.

But what if there are weaknesses and the strength declines?

Even when Whitebeard was seriously ill, he still had to find ways to unite other forces during the Marineford War, and Shiki had also joined forces with Higuma and Whitebeard to attack Impel Down... This was of course because Shiki alone was not strong enough to attack Impel Down.