37 years ago, in the year 1480, in the waters of Rocky Port.
On the boundless sea, on a small wooden boat, a man and a woman, both disheveled and in rags, were panting as they desperately rowed, dodging cannon fire from a large ship pursuing them from behind.
"Hahahaha! Cannon fire! Don't stop! These two disgusting three-eyed monsters have no sense of being slaves, daring to secretly escape while Saint Francis was visiting his friend, Saint Green Goo. Do they even know that being able to become a slave to the great World Nobles is a blessing they accumulated in their previous lives? Worthless trash who don't know how to cherish."
At the bow of the pursuing large ship, several arrogant CP agents held guns, repeatedly pulling the triggers towards the small boat, which was fleeing in panic.
Amidst the bang-bang-bang of gunshots, a few splashes erupted on the sea.
Although they didn't hit, the two men and women with collars around their necks were terrified and despairing.
As the large ship behind them drew closer, the younger man finally couldn't bear the immense psychological pressure. He broke down, wailing, letting go of his oar, and turned with a thud, repeatedly kowtowing towards the approaching ship.
"Spare me, please, spare me. I'll never dare to escape again. Please, great Saint Francis, spare me this one time. It's all my sister's fault, she told me to escape. I didn't dare originally, wuwuwu..."
"Leo!"
Having lost one rower, the small boat, which was moving forward, immediately veered off course, circling on the sea, causing the other three-eyed girl's eyes to split with rage.
"What are you doing? It's too late to beg for mercy now that we're here! Don't give up! Just a little further, and we'll be in the waters controlled by the Rocks Pirates. Even World Government ships aren't allowed to enter without permission. Just a little further, and we'll be free!"
The three-eyed girl shouted, trying to calm her brother down.
But it was no use.
Her brother, terrified by the constantly approaching death, had completely broken down, leaving only the thought of begging for mercy.
"Spare you?"
On the approaching large ship, a pot-bellied CP agent held a flintlock gun in one hand and a button in the other, looking at the kowtowing man.
"Don't be silly. We never intended to simply kill you. If we only wanted to kill you, just pressing this button would make the explosive collars on your necks go bang and blow your heads to the sky.
The reason we've kept you alive until now is merely to complete Saint Francis's mission. The noble said that slaves who dare to escape should be killed when they are most desperate. This is the great mercy granted to you by God."
"That's right! Hurry up and keep rowing! One person being desperate isn't enough; it won't be a good report to the noble!"
Another person held a visual Den Den Mushi, recording.
"If you don't row quickly, you won't even have the slightest chance of successfully escaping, you last monsters of the Three-Eyed Tribe." The fat CP agent grinned, raising his gun and aiming it at the nearby wooden boat.
Looking at the approaching large ship, the three-eyed girl gritted her teeth, pushed away her broken companion, grabbed an oar with one hand, and rowed desperately forward.
Long hours of escaping and an already weak body left the girl with little strength. Rowing alone now, she was sweating profusely from exhaustion.
The roar of cannons exploded in her ears, and splashing waves hit her frail body, but she still stubbornly gritted her teeth, refusing to give up.
Bang!
With a gunshot, the girl grunted, a splatter of blood erupted on her left shoulder, her body tilted forward, and she let out a painful groan.
Behind her, a group of people immediately burst into joyful laughter.
"Faster, hurry up, or I'll shoot the other arm, hehehe."
The girl gritted her teeth, dragging her bleeding left arm, and desperately rowed with her only remaining right arm.
"Too slow, too slow. Never mind, that's enough for today. Open fire, sink them!"
Listening to the voices from behind, despair appeared in the girl's eyes. Gritting her teeth, she turned back, looking at the black muzzles of the cannons, which had adjusted their trajectories.
"Just... just one more step, just one more step to reach the waters controlled by the Rocks Pirates. Just one more step to gain freedom. Why..."
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Amidst a series of cannon blasts, the girl's three eyes watched helplessly as more than a dozen black, heavy cannonballs whistled through the air, flying towards her small wooden boat.
"It's over, everything... is finished."
Just as this thought arose in the girl's mind, a brilliant, dazzling light suddenly appeared in her eyes.
With a whoosh, a curtain-like sword light descended from the sky, slashing across the sea between the two ships with a swish, pulverizing the freshly fired cannonballs into nothingness.
Even the sea below was severed by the terrifying sword light, revealing a massive rift that stretched for countless kilometers.
Everyone on the sea was stunned by this sudden turn of events, their faces filled with horror as they slowly looked up.
The three-eyed girl was no different; she also looked up at the sky.
Then, she saw a large pirate ship with a lion's head, which had appeared at some unknown time, floating dozens of meters in the air. Sunlight streamed down, casting large shadows on the sea below, engulfing both ships.
A tall, untamed man with flowing golden hair, a lit cigar dangling from his mouth, held a double-edged sword in one hand. He stood casually at the bow of the floating pirate ship, looking down.
The man's eyes held unbridled wildness and flamboyance.
"Firing in my territory, did you ask for my permission, World Government trash?"
On the large ship below, cold sweat had seeped onto the CP agent's forehead, but he still feigned bravery, shouting shrilly, "Go-Golden Lion! Don't be reckless, we are the great Saint Francis..."
Rumble!
The seawater within several hundred meters roared and converged, surging up to form a hundred-meter-tall lion's head made of water. With a roaring maw, it swallowed the large ship on the sea in one bite, along with all the CP agents standing on it, plunging into the chaotic deep sea.
In the sky, Golden Lion opened his clenched five fingers, took the cigar from his mouth, and exhaled a puff of smoke.
"Sorry, I hate names with 'Saint' in them."
Saying this, he didn't even look at the small wooden boat on the sea below or the three-eyed girl on it. With a wave of his large hand, the pirate ship beneath him changed direction, flying towards the distant island.
"Hey! Are you Shiki the Golden Lion of the Rocks Pirates?"
Suddenly, a loud shout came from below, making Golden Lion halt his turn.
He looked back at the sea below. A ragged three-eyed girl, one hand clutching her bleeding left shoulder, stood biting her lip on the small wooden boat, which was about to slide into a bottomless abyss. She shouted loudly, "My name is Rose! I want to join the Rocks Pirates!"
Golden Lion's lips curled into a faint, indifferent smile. "Gyahahahaha, you? A woman so frail, weaker than an ordinary person? What can you offer?"
He had never been a kind person.
On the contrary, cruelty, bloodlust, belligerence, lust, and greed were his true nature.
There were no good people in the Rocks Pirates.
Here, good people wouldn't survive either.
The only reason he acted was simply because he disliked those arrogant CP agents.
Hearing Golden Lion's cold words, the girl on the wooden boat gritted her teeth and suddenly tore her tattered clothes, exposing her body covered in whip marks.
"I can be your woman! I'm also from the Three-Eyed Tribe. Three-Eyed Tribe members can understand ancient texts once their talent awakens! That's my value!"
Golden Lion stood at the bow, looking down at the girl biting her lip for a long time. Then, with a grab from a distance, he lifted the small wooden boat where the girl was, along with a large amount of seawater, into the sky.
The Three-Eyed Tribe girl named Rose was roughly pulled around the waist and embraced by him.
"I agree. From now on, you are my woman, Shiki's woman."
The flying large ship landed steadily, stopping on the plaza of Hachinosu Island, drawing the gaze of countless pirates.
Not far away, several tall men and women were feasting at a long table.
Seeing Golden Lion approaching with a three-eyed woman, the horned oni boy with dragon-like muscles sneered sideways, "Shiki, don't you hate us, the strange races?"
"Shut up, Kaido. Do I need your permission for what I do? If it weren't for Linlin covering you, I'd break your legs."
Golden Lion sat down with Rose, ignoring Kaido, who was angrily gripping his spiked club. He grabbed some food from the table and shoved it into Rose's arms, then looked up at the wild man sitting in the very center, the shortest in stature, yet with an aura as fierce and powerful as the sun, impossible to ignore.
"Rocks, this woman's name is Rose. She's my woman, and from now on, she's a member of the Rocks Pirates. Do you have any objections?"
The man named Rocks grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth. "Of course not, Shiki, I'll still give you face. Rose, is it? I'll remember that. Since she's your woman, a welcome gift is in order. Here, take this Mythical Zoan Fruit and eat it; it might increase your strength a little."
Saying this, Rocks picked up a fruit from the ground beside his feet and casually tossed it in front of Golden Lion.
"Mythical Zoan Fruit?" Rose, who was eating heartily, froze, staring blankly at the Devil Fruit that Golden Lion casually slipped into her hand.
"You don't mind, do you, Newgate?" Rocks turned to look at the golden-haired giant, twice his height, sitting to his left.
Whitebeard, without his signature mustache yet, folded his arms and shook his head, "I don't care."
Rocks then turned to look at the tall, pink-haired woman sitting to his right. "Linlin, what about you?"
"Mamamama, I don't care either, after all, Shiki here is your right-hand man now. But, Rocks, if you ever find another Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit in the future, you have to save one for me."
"Hahaha, alright!" Rocks laughed, raising his goblet. "Then let's toast! To celebrate the joining of a new comrade."
"Oh, right, she was also Saint Francis's slave," Golden Lion added.
"Is that so? Then we'll find a time to kill Francis."
"Alright."
35 years ago, Hachinosu Island.
Rose lay on Golden Lion, drawing circles on his chest with her slender fingers. "Shiki, when do you think we'll have a child?"
Golden Lion leaned back against the headboard, pulled out a cigar, and lit it. Hearing her, he grinned, "What? Are you envious of Linlin having sons?"
"A little," Rose said honestly, then added, "But Linlin is truly amazing. It's only been a few years, and she's had so many children, and it hasn't affected her strength at all. When will I become as strong as her?"
"You want to become a sow too?" Golden Lion scoffed.
"Hmph!" Rose rolled her eyes at him. Her beautiful face looked tender and alluring, making Golden Lion hot with desire.
33 years ago.
Massive pirate ships rose from Hachinosu Island, flying rapidly into the sky ten thousand meters high.
At the bow of the Flying Lion, Rose, in a red dress, was like a butterfly, turning elegantly and smiling charmingly at Golden Lion.
"On God Valley Island in West Blue, those detestable Celestial Dragon pigs are holding a brutal gladiator tournament. This time, Rocks will pull those high-and-mighty gods from their pedestals, stepping on the World Nobles' corpses to ascend the throne of the King of the World. Shiki! Do you think we'll succeed?"
Golden Lion smoked his cigar silently, showing no particular expression on his face, simply watching the woman before him.
She was still as beautiful, just as she was four years ago.
A fair hand held out a white piece of paper, shaking it in front of him.
"Here, this is a Vivre Card I had made. There's only one. It's for you. If I die, this paper, representing its owner's life, will burn away. Isn't that amazing?"
30 years ago.
Somewhere in the New World, an unnamed island.
Spiders surging like a black tide submerged and overwhelmed the pirates blocking their path. A three-eyed woman in a red dress walked through the black tide, reaching the drunken golden-haired man. She grabbed his collar.
"Captain Rocks is dead, and you're not thinking of avenging him, but hiding here carousing. Where did the formidable Golden Lion go?"
"Rose..." Golden Lion looked up at the woman, still as beautiful as ever, and muttered, "What should I do?"
"Reorganize the fleet, gather the old crew. Rocks is dead. Now, the sea is yours. You will become the next Rocks, the King of the World."
19 years ago.
Torrential rain poured down, soaking the world. Golden Lion, with half a ship's rudder stuck on his head, flew into the air, holding two long swords, and charged towards Marineford.
On the isolated island behind him, a tearful woman let out a heart-wrenching cry.
"Don't go! Shiki! Let it go! I can go back to the New World with you. We can still have a child. Don't go, please, Shiki!"
"Roger is the man I acknowledge! How can he die in a pathetic place like East Blue! I must destroy Marine Headquarters!"
Golden Lion, his chest filled with fury, departed resolutely, without looking back.
He dared not look back, for he feared that if he did, seeing the woman slumped on the ground behind him, tears streaming down her face, he would soften.
He was Golden Lion; he could not soften for a woman.
In the dim corridor, Golden Lion stood like a statue, his eyes closed. Two lines of cloudy tears flowed down his cheeks.
He stood silently.
For a very long time, when his eyes opened again, they were icy cold.
Clang!
Clang!
The tips of Otokuni and Kogarashi scratched the ground. Golden Lion's coat billowed as he strode forward, exiting the dim corridor and entering a noisy, bustling palace.
In the palace, goblets clinked, and a muscular giant with two horns on his head, like a dragon, was tilting his head back, gulping down alcohol.
But the moment Golden Lion stepped into the hall, the clamor within instantly ceased.
For a terrifying, storm-like aura was unleashing from his body, as if it would explode the entire palace from the inside out.
"Kaido! Let's cooperate! It's time to bring a grand war to this boring world!"
Note: The author's note at the end of the original text stated: Whitebeard has Miss Bakkin as his lover, Kaido has Linlin, so I thought Golden Lion also needed one, which is why I created this original story. Of course, it was also to introduce Golden Lion.
(End of Chapter)
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