The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

But the Golden Lion didn't shatter the dream he had woven; he merely smiled perfunctorily.

“No rush, Indigo. We can…”

"Bang!"

Before he could finish speaking, the Golden Lion's expression suddenly changed, and the wine dish he was holding suddenly slipped from his hand without warning, falling onto the tatami mat, where the clear wine liquid immediately soaked into the surface.

He himself stood up from his seated position, the smile on his face vanishing instantly, replaced by extreme solemnity as he stared intently in a certain direction outside the palace.

He sensed that familiar yet unsettling fluctuation emanating from the sea below, and then touched the scar on his chest.

"That aura... there's no mistake!"

That's the bastard's arrogance!! He actually brought the East Sea here?!

"Captain Shiki? What are you..." Dr. Indigo was stunned by this sudden turn of events and didn't react at all, fidgeting with his hands.

Unfortunately, the Golden Lion completely ignored it.

The next second, the Float-Float Fruit power activated!

"Whoosh!"

The golden lion's figure instantly broke through the palace dome, bringing with it a gust of wind, and sped straight towards the source of that domineering and unparalleled Conqueror's Haki!

Dr. Indigo was left standing there, looking blankly at the broken roof and spilled wine.

Chapter 417 Because you are the first man who made me feel death.

Meanwhile, on a small sailboat on the sea, Gern slowly withdrew the Conqueror's Haki that he had released to its fullest extent.

"Strange, did it run off to somewhere else again?"

Even if a powerhouse of his caliber is old, his perception of domineering aura shouldn't have weakened, right?

Gern clicked his tongue unconsciously, looking at the still sky.

As a result, the next second was almost "zero frame start"!

He gently clenched his hands together towards the cloudless sky above him.

"Buzz, click!!!"

Countless pale, high-frequency vibrating particles were created and then frantically converged between the palms.

In an instant, it condensed into a huge, extremely unstable energy ball that was constantly expanding and contracting violently!

The space around the sphere began to distort and blur, emitting a tearing sound.

The terrifying energy fluctuations caused the small boats below to creak and groan!

Immediately afterwards, Gern wanted to compress this highly compressed object, which contained enough power to shatter this area of ​​airspace.

And in the instant the unstable "Star of Calamity" was propelled into the sky...

"Hey, you bastard!!" A voice filled with sneer and anger came from high above behind Gern.

"Are you trying to shatter the sky?! Gern!!!"

Upon hearing this voice, Gern showed no surprise, but rather a smile that said, "As expected."

Immediately afterward, the extremely dangerous, out-of-control energy ball between his palms vanished without a trace with a soft "pop" as he thought of it.

Then, Guern slowly turned around and looked up at the source of the sound.

In the air behind the sailboat, "Golden Lion" Shiki was hovering.

His long, golden hair and mane danced wildly in the air currents, his eyes fixed intently on Gern.

His face showed a mixture of anger, fear, and relief.

After all, if that attack had actually been unleashed, his floating island would likely have been affected.

Gern looked at his old rival, who had once fought against him, Whitebeard, Roger, and others.

Although he now appeared disheveled, he still retained his domineering air. A bright, almost irritating smile spread across his face as he shrugged and said in a relaxed tone...

That's what I originally thought.

The Golden Lion narrowed its eyes dangerously at Gern's smug "I'm just here to cause trouble" expression.

"You little brat... came here specifically to see me?"

"Otherwise what?" Gern picked at his ear and said casually, "Are you so bored that you come to the East Blue to unleash your Conqueror's Haki to relieve your boredom?"

"Purpose." The Golden Lion was concise and to the point, not wanting to beat around the bush.

"The purpose..." Gern grinned, revealing two rows of white teeth: "Of course, it's to see if we can use the legendary 'Golden Lion's' head to exchange for some ample base funding for G-10."

These words instantly ignited a powder keg!

The golden lion's expression hardened.

Even though I am now a fallen tiger, I will never tolerate such blatant humiliation and provocation!

"You're still as arrogant as ever, you little navy brat!!!"

The golden lion roared and kicked forward with its left foot in a "Sakura Ten" style!

"Chopping!!!"

A colossal golden slash, imbued with the power and domineering aura of a top-tier swordsman, brutally tore through the sea below.

It cut a bottomless chasm and charged straight at Gern and the small boat beneath his feet with a destructive force!

This attack, unleashed in fury, was powerful enough to easily cleave a warship in two!

However, Gern's reaction to this powerful strike was completely unexpected by the Golden Lion.

He didn't easily disperse the object using vibration or physical techniques as the Golden Lion had expected, and he didn't even move an inch.

Gern's eyes narrowed, and with a speed that was almost imperceptible to the naked eye, his right hand gripped the hilt of the black sword "Eight Desolations" wrapped in old bandages at his waist!

"Clang!" The clear sound of the blade echoed across the sea and sky!

The black blade was released with a snap, and then Gern's wrist flipped, covering it with Armament Haki.

Bahuang drew a simple yet perfect black arc in the air, slashing horizontally with unparalleled precision towards the massive golden slash!

"Whoosh!" There was no earth-shattering explosion, no surging tide of energy collision.

The fierce slash was smoothly cleaved in two the instant it touched the pitch-black blade of the Eight Desolations!

The cleaving energy grazed past Gern and the small boat from both sides.

It left two long trails on the sea surface before eventually disappearing without a trace.

After the slash was neutralized, the Golden Lion did not immediately launch another attack; instead, he froze in shock...

He hovered in the air, staring intently at the Black Blade Eight Desolations in Gern's hand, which had already been unleashed, with an incredulous expression.

From the moment he was captured and imprisoned in Impel Down, to his escape by cutting off his own legs, and then to the past twenty years he has been hiding like a rat in the gutter in the skies of the East China Sea.

Shiki the Golden Lion has never truly stopped paying attention to the sea.

He knew better than anyone else that the man before him...

"Skyquake" Gern is the true representative of this era.

It's a monster that even old guys like Whitebeard, Kaido, and Linlin have to be on high alert for.

And what about the Golden Lion himself?

His peak strength has been lost by at least 50% during his long imprisonment and the passage of time!

While not quite as ill and unable to sustain life as Whitebeard, the ship's rudder on his head was putting pressure on his nerves.

Having lost both legs and having been unable to use a knife with his hands for many years, he was no longer as brave as he once was.

Therefore, he knew perfectly well that in his current state, it was not worth it for Gern to draw the Black Blade Eight Desolations, which symbolized his peak and had slain countless powerful enemies!

But... he still drew his sword.

Golden Lion pursed his dry lips, suppressing the turmoil in his heart, and landed directly on Gern's sailboat, asking in a calm tone...

"Why...drew that knife?" He stared intently at Gern and demanded.

"Given who I am now, you should... you shouldn't need it to deal with me anymore, right?!"

Now I... know it very clearly!!

I am no longer worthy to have it done for me again...

“Because…” Upon hearing this, Gern slowly retracted the Eight Desolations, but did not sheath it; he simply casually hoisted it onto his shoulder.

Looking up at the once-legendary pirate who had dominated the seas, the nonchalant expression on his face gradually faded, and he interrupted...

"You're the first man who made me truly feel the approach of 'death'..."

"Golden Lion, Shiki."

These words struck the Golden Lion's heart like a heavy hammer.

That wasn't mockery, nor pity, but the highest recognition of that life-or-death battle in G-3.

This is the final and most solemn tribute to a powerful figure who once stood at the pinnacle.

Chapter 418 Meeting an Old Friend, But Things Are Not the Same

Gurn was not lying.

At the time, he had only recently been transferred to the New World G-3 division, and still retained some of his youthful naiveté and sharpness.

Together with the then-colonel, tough-minded Sakazuki, they faced off against the "Golden Lion" Shiki, who was at his absolute peak!

Back then, the Golden Lion was incredibly arrogant!

Stepping into the void, Sakura Ten and Mu Ku, wielding their twin swords with disdain, attacked alone.

The overwhelming sense of oppression at that moment felt as if the entire sky had collapsed down, making it hard to breathe.

That was also the first time Gern had so clearly smelled the scent of death.

For the first time, I experienced being crushed by absolute power, a feeling that bordered on despair.

If it weren't for the timely return of Zephyr, who possessed the strength of a general, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

Therefore, that deathly tremor, and the domineering figure of the golden lion laughing wildly as it tore the earth apart and severed everything.

This was all imprinted on Gern's growth trajectory, becoming one of the driving forces that propelled him to become stronger and eventually reach the top.

It also gave him his first king-to-king intuition and awakened his Conqueror's Haki.

but.......

Gern pulled himself out of his thoughts and recalled the image of the spirited, domineering admiral of the Sky Pirates.

That great pirate who rivaled Roger and Whitebeard, ushering in the legendary era.

Before me stood a man who had been hidden in the East China Sea for twenty years; his hair and beard were still golden, but the signs of age were undeniable.

The contrast is stark, with some elderly people even relying on a hollow "IQ" program to sustain their ambitions...

Two figures, one real and one illusory, one prosperous and one declining, slowly overlapped before my eyes.

For a moment, Gern was somewhat dazed.

The sea breeze ruffled the hair on his forehead, and also brushed against the golden lion's still-fierce, lion-like blond hair.

The two faced each other again, but neither could muster the same bravado as before.

Gern looked at the famous sword that had replaced the legs on the Golden Lion's leg, and sighed softly, his voice carrying a hint of melancholy at the transience of time.

"You really...have gotten old, Golden Lion."

Upon hearing Gern's words, tinged with the感慨 of passing years, Shiki's pupils trembled slightly.

Immediately afterwards, he subconsciously turned his eyes away, avoiding Gern's gaze, and looked at the undulating sea.

There was no angry rebuttal, no hysterical denial, and not even... the desire to take further action.

From the moment when Gern, facing his furious attack, solemnly drew the black sword "Eight Desolations," a blade he only drew when facing an enemy requiring his full strength,...

The golden lion understood.