I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

Despite his seemingly high spirits, Shiki the Golden Lion actually suffered several setbacks at the hands of Siegfried.

"...And as the undercover prince, I sensed the Golden Lion's wolfish ambitions early on, and after much hardship following the events of Whole Cake Island, I finally infiltrated the enemy ranks..."

Hale fabricated a story about his fantastical adventures in joining the Golden Lion's side.

His gaze fell on Ain, who had originally thought that Ain would have Sig's contact information.

Even after he had said all that, Ain still showed no intention of secretly contacting Sig by taking out a Den Den Mushi from her four-dimensional chest.

“I really didn’t…” Ain was about to argue when Hale’s expression changed slightly.

At that moment, the clouds subtly changed, rolling up waves like a real ocean, and a strong wind began to blow.

Far behind Aion, a golden figure floated up into the air; it was none other than Shiki the Golden Lion.

He stood in mid-air, his face solemn as he gazed in a certain direction. His thick, fluffy, waist-length blond hair fluttered in the wind, and his orange-yellow robe billowed in the breeze.

“Hale,” Skeeter said in a low voice.

".......What?" Hale's heart skipped a beat. He wondered if the Golden Lion had overheard his words.

"Prepare for battle. You will send Ain back." The golden lion's eyes were still fixed on the distance.

"A battle?" Hale and Ain were both shocked. They followed the golden lion's gaze, but only saw an endless, thick sea of ​​clouds rolling up white waves, and no trace of anyone else.

A top-tier user of the Natural type, in a fit of rage, caused the weather to change dramatically, possessing the power of a natural disaster.

As a user of the Cloud-Cloud Fruit, Shiki can manipulate clouds to create abilities such as weather manipulation, lightning, and hail, which can be said to have made up for the shortcoming that almost became a psychological trauma back then.

“But there’s nobody here…” Hale’s expression shifted several times as she tentatively asked:

"This is tens of thousands of meters above the ground. Even ordinary flying ability users can't fly to such a high position. How could there be intruders here?"

"Hale, you're quite the master of feigning ignorance." The Golden Lion glanced at Hale, his gaze indifferent.

“He’s already here,” the Golden Lion said in a deep voice.

At this moment.

Amidst the thick clouds, the outline of a massive warship suddenly appeared.

This is a giant island ship made of Valpo alloy. It emerges from the clouds, with its Gothic castle spire piercing the sky. A figure can be vaguely seen standing on the spire, gazing into the distance.

Tens of thousands of bandits gathered on the city wall, eager for battle.

The giant ship Dushan hovered in the air. The man suspended in mid-air opened his eyes, his gaze first falling on Ain, and then sweeping over the Golden Lion.

Beside him stood Violet, the user of the Stare-Stare Fruit, holding a small glass bottle containing a Vivre Card.

"It arrived a little faster than I expected. So it was the Vivre Card?" the Golden Lion muttered to himself.

At that moment, a sharp alarm sounded, and Golden Lion's subordinates rushed out of the building in droves, while pirate ships flying various flags rose into the air.

Besides Hale, the other fifty-six emperors have also received the notification, and their warships are now floating in the air under the remote control of the Golden Lion.

"That's... Sig?"

"It really is that guy, Sieg..."

Many of the fifty-six emperors wore expressions of indescribable complexity.

They had known Sieg for a long time, and had a long-standing feud with him.

In the bygone era, they were defeated by First Mate Wang Sieg and imprisoned because of him, spending decades in Impel Down.

Later, they were released from prison because of Sieg, and then joined forces to besiege Sieg in Water Seven, thus creating a grudge—the person who released them was the Golden Lion, but in their view, Sieg was also involved in this matter.

Recently, however, things have become several times more complicated since the mysterious connection between Sieg and Lox was revealed.

He is Sieg.

It was also Wang Xige.

It could also be Lox?

This man was both their first mate and suspected to be their captain. He personally sent them to prison and then released them.

Even the label "Fifty-Six Emperors" originated from Sig.

The lives of these great pirates seemed to be dancing in the palm of Sigurd's hand.

What are you doing? Are you just teasing them?

After Rocks' identity was revealed, the way the fifty-six emperors looked at Sig became inexplicably complicated.

"What are you hesitating about? Don't tell me you're old and still thinking about your old feelings for Lox."

Wald opened his mouth and sneered.

He wasn't a member of the Rocks Pirates, so he wasn't bothered.

But these words also awakened the group of fifty-six emperors.

After all, there's no real connection or kinship between them.

The Rocks Pirates were devoid of warmth back then, with frequent infighting among the crew. After Rocks' death, almost no one mentioned the old days on the ship anymore.

Whether or not the person in front of him is Lox himself is actually not important.

The important thing is...

"What is Sig doing here again? Did the Golden Lion provoke him?"

"You've come at the perfect time; it's time to settle our scores."

"That's right."

Sieg had cast a shadow of failure over them several times, causing some to resent him and others to feel angry.

At this moment, they have regained their youth and reached an unprecedented peak, a time of high spirits and vigor.

But some people are terrified and don't want to be its enemy... referring to a cockroach bully who wishes to remain anonymous.

The Golden Lion's men had already escorted Ain away.

Hale, on the other hand, casually blended into the group of the Fifty-Six Emperors.

"...Are you getting cocky? Whether he's Rocks or not, he's Sieg. Don't forget who sent us to Impel Down," Hale interjected.

These words caused many people to pause slightly and become a little more sober.

"Sieg, you still came."

at this time.

The golden lion's figure floated into the sky, gazing at Sig from afar, his robes fluttering in the wind.

The ground of the floating island beneath my feet trembled slightly, and the boundless sea of ​​clouds in the sky turned from white to black.

In the blink of an eye, the situation had changed dramatically, and thick black clouds rolled in like an emperor descending.

Dark clouds covered the sky, turning it black. The howling clouds rolled and surged like a pitch-black ocean, and as far as the eye could see, there was only a sea of ​​black clouds.

On one side was a colossal, unimaginably massive, isolated island ship.

On the other side was a massive air fleet of dozens of pirate ships flying various flags, surrounding the giant island ship.

This scene caused the young Golden Lion's gaze to slightly daze, as if he were dreaming back to the days when he dominated the seas and competed with Roger for the throne.

And then there's that epic battle that will forever haunt my memory: the Battle of Eidol, the turning point in the Golden Lion's rise and fall.

Decades have passed.

After its rise and fall, imprisonment, and countless trials, the Golden Lion once again stands at the top of the world, even more powerful than before.

And the opponents he faced had also changed somewhat.

The Roger Pirates originally only had one ship.

Compared to back then, only Sieg's ship is a tiny bit bigger, and the ocean has turned into a dark sea of ​​clouds.

"Sieg, you still came."

The golden lion floated in the air, a cigar in his mouth, and looked at Sig across the distance, their gazes meeting in mid-air.

"The time has come."

He grinned, and the cigar in his mouth curled up.

"The perfect plan that has been painstakingly built over many years has reached the most crucial moment of implementation in this chaotic era."

“Sieg, with our military strength and power, we can overthrow and dominate this world in no time.”

"How about it? If we join forces, we can immediately take this world under our control!"

“I have no interest in ruling either,” Sieg replied calmly.

This answer made the Golden Lion momentarily dazed.

"The same answer Roger gave back then? No... Your plan is to take revenge on the World Government, overthrow the world, and dominate it, isn't it?"

Golden Lion frowned. In his memory, Sig was an ambitious man with far-reaching plans, not a pirate like Roger.

"Isn't this what you came here for? The plan is now only one step away from completion!"

The golden lion rubbed his head in annoyance and frowned, saying:

"Otherwise, why did you come here?"

"It can't be like Whitebeard, doing it for your family, can it?"

Sig remained silent, simply watching the Golden Lion, which made the Golden Lion feel inexplicably anxious.

He had been looking forward to this day for a long time, but it seemed to be quite different from his initial expectations.

"...That's true." The Golden Lion took a deep drag on his cigar, suddenly realized something, and burst into laughter that echoed through the clouds.

"Hehehehe... It should have been like this a long time ago, it should have been like this a long time ago."

He has fought against and also worked with Sieg.

But for pirates, allies are only temporary. When Impel Down was breached, the pirate alliance disbanded.

There is only one throne.

For the Golden Lion, there are only two kinds of people in this world.

One type is subordinates who submit to him.