I am the Bandit King of the East Sea.

"Over the past decade, I have collected more than a dozen islands around the world, and it seems that Sabaody Archipelago is also worthy of becoming part of my territory!"

The Sabaody Archipelago is special; it's not an ordinary island, but rather a tree-lined island.

Its essence is a total of 79 mangroves, each mangrove is a small island, and the roots of the mangroves are the ground.

Under the control of the Golden Lion, the mangrove island was torn apart by an invisible and terrifying force. The part above the sea level rose into the air, and countless pieces of mud and gravel crashed down the edge of the island into the sea, creating towering white waves.

This shocking scene was witnessed by everyone on the other islands of the Sabaody Archipelago.

"what happened?"

"The 17th island in the Sabaody Archipelago has ascended to heaven?"

"SOS! SOS immediately!"

Amidst the tense shouts of the navy, Hawkeye Mihawk stood at the edge of the crowd, looking up at the island that was rapidly rising into the air, and reached out to touch the Black Blade Night behind him.

But in the end, he still didn't draw his knife.

..........

Over the Sabaody Archipelago.

Island No. 17 is currently floating in the air, already thousands of meters above the ground.

Some people stood on the edge of the island and looked down, but were immediately terrified and turned pale.

"Where's Shiki? Where did he go?"

Zephyr shook his head, his sharp gaze sweeping across the now unrecognizable land, but he found no trace of Shiki.

But when his gaze fell on Sieg, his expression changed:

"Higuma, where's the box containing the Angel Fruit?"

Sieg didn't answer, he just shook his head.

He was also completely lost and somewhat helpless.

How could the situation have changed so drastically all of a sudden?

Shiki suddenly appeared, taking the fruit and the entire island, and then vanished without a trace.

Sig looked up at the sky, his unease growing stronger.

He could see more than ten floating islands in the distance. This was the territory of Shiki the Golden Lion, a secret realm ten thousand meters above the ground, Vermeer.

However... these sky islands are very far from the island beneath Sig's feet, and even if the elite navy personnel all master Moonwalk, they would probably find it difficult to cross this distance.

The island No. 17 that Sig and the others are currently standing on has become an isolated island floating in the air.

"Golden Lion, what exactly does he want to do?"

Zephyr's face was ashen, but he was powerless to do anything about the situation and could only try to gather the remaining navy on the island.

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

Higher up, in the aerial wonderland of Vermeer.

Shiki the Golden Lion, carrying a box, strolled across the main island at the top.

The ship's doctor, Indigo, was already waiting in front of the building on the main island.

"The Angel Fruit is in my hands."

Shiki the Golden Lion opened the box in his hand, looked at the fruit inside, and felt an urge to swallow it.

But in the end, he suppressed his desire and handed the box over to Indigo.

"Examine this fruit as quickly as possible...it's related to the plan I've been preparing for eight years..."

"If this fruit is truly effective and can help me return to my peak, I won't have to remain dormant for another ten years."

Although the ship's doctor, Indigo, looks like a clown, he is an excellent doctor, biologist, and chemist.

Shiki's original plan was to use the drug IQ, with the help of Indigo, to spend 20 years breeding the most ferocious beast in this aerial secret realm.

Then, these ferocious beasts were banished to the East China Sea, where they were completely destroyed.

However... the appearance of the Angel Fruit changed his mind.

Chapter 380 The World of the Strong

"Boss Shiki, so... what should we do with the Marines on that Red Tree Island that just took off?"

Indigo walked over to Shiki's side and looked down at the mangrove island below the sea of ​​clouds.

This mangrove island is the 17th island of the Sabaody Archipelago that just took off. Due to Shiki's control, although it has taken off, it is still a long distance away from the other sky islands.

We can ignore the others for now, but there is a naval admiral on that mangrove island.

It's true that Zephyr is currently reorganizing the remnants of his army, but once he has the time, given his physical prowess, it's possible that he could use Moonwalk to directly ascend to Vermeer.

The golden lion followed Indigo's gaze and looked down at the mangrove island below.

"Huh? An afro?" The Golden Lion's eyes widened in complete astonishment.

“It looks like an island no matter how you look at it!” Indigo corrected.

Shiki the Golden Lion was once a great pirate who rivaled the Pirate King, but ever since that sea battle, he has had a ship's wheel stuck in his head. Shiki sometimes talks strangely and often sees things like cumulonimbus clouds as weird.

As he grew older, this condition gradually worsened; the ship's wheel on his head was pressing on his brain nerves, gradually affecting his mental state.

At this moment, the Golden Lion also realized what was happening.

"Leaving those naval forces unattended is indeed a potential problem."

Golden Lion floated up and landed on the deck of a flying pirate ship in the air. He gazed at one of the tropical islands in the sky.

“Indigo, those beasts have been bred for about ten years now.”

"Let's try it out with these navy personnel."

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

Mangrove Island.

After the island took off, Shiki the Golden Lion temporarily disappeared, giving the Navy a precious respite to gather the remaining troops on the island and appease the civilians.

However, everyone, including Zephyr, still looked grim.

"General Zephyr, although we have made contact with headquarters, the island's current location makes it difficult for headquarters to provide support!"

A sergeant reported.

At this moment, this mangrove island is probably several thousand meters high. Even if the Navy Headquarters is not far away and has a large number of troops stationed there, it is impossible to provide assistance.

Elite naval personnel generally possess the skill of moonwalking, enabling them to remain airborne for short periods. However, climbing to this sky island, which is several thousand meters high, is virtually impossible.

"Shiki the Golden Lion's abilities are too troublesome!"

"This is a legendary figure from before the Great Pirate Era..."

"If a figure like that hadn't launched a preemptive attack on Marine Headquarters and been captured by Vice Admiral Garp and Admiral Sengoku, how could our Navy possibly fight him?"

The navy men were losing their fighting spirit.

Zefa's face darkened, and he was about to reprimand her, but as soon as he opened his mouth, his chest heaved, and he coughed violently, spitting out several mouthfuls of blood.

He paused for a moment, then pulled open his shirt and glanced at the long, narrow scar across his chest and abdomen. The wound, which had just begun to heal, had started to bleed again.

This is the injury he sustained during his fierce battle with Whitebeard in the New World about two weeks ago.

According to the Navy's plan, it is highly unlikely that Kaido will come to the Sabaody Archipelago. At most, he will have to deal with the three calamities under Kaido's command. Even if his injuries have not fully healed, he will be able to handle them with ease.

But who could have imagined that the golden lion, which had been lying dormant for nearly ten years, would re-emerge from the sea at this time?

Facing the Golden Lion with such injuries... even Zephyr himself wasn't very confident.

As he frowned and pondered a solution, he saw movement again in the distant sky.

Shiki the Golden Lion floated in the air atop a pirate ship, looking down at them from high above.

"Hehehehe..."

"Marinemen, welcome to the world of the strong!"

The golden lion's maniacal laughter still lingered in the air, and the Zephyr group on Red Tree Island became wary again.

"The Golden Lion has appeared again."

"Prepare for battle!"

Zefa clenched his fists and growled.

With a wave of his hand, Shiki caused an island in the sky to begin moving, drifting towards the mangrove island below.

Boom...

The two islands collided in mid-air with a dull thud. The islands cracked, and rubble and gravel fell from the sky. Finally, the two islands were pieced together in mid-air.

The commotion startled countless birds on the densely forested island.

Immediately afterwards, a thunderous roar gradually rose from the dense forest on the island, growing louder and closer.

Dust billowed, waves of earth surged, and from the direction of the dense forest, a large herd of rare beasts suddenly emerged: a blue mantis over ten meters tall, a giant octopus charging across the land, a giant horse with a single horn...

This is clearly a wave of beasts!

All sorts of bizarre and exotic beasts rushed out, and the sheer force of their charge caused the island beneath Sig and the others to tremble.

"Attack!" Zephyr shouted the order.

For a time, gunfire roared incessantly, but to little avail.

Sig stood in the crowd, his expression changing slightly. He raised the cannon barrel in his hand and fired a shell at a seven- or eight-meter-tall black-and-white striped giant bear that was charging towards him.

After acquiring the Nobita card, Sig possesses an extremely high accuracy rate.

But just as the shells were about to hit the giant bear, it leaped up, its seven- or eight-meter-tall body incredibly agile, soaring dozens of meters into the air to dodge the hail of bullets.

Then, the giant bear crashed to the ground like a meteor, creating a shallow crater. Its massive claws, almost touching the ground, swung with tremendous force, completely tearing apart the navy's newly formed formation.

These were beasts that Shiki the Golden Lion had bred for ten years. Although they hadn't yet reached his ideal level, they still had a numerical advantage. A wave of beasts swept in, immediately plunging the remaining marines on the island into a fierce battle.

"Has the Golden Lion been lying low all these years just to raise these monsters?"