The Rocks Pirates dominated the seas approximately thirty to forty years ago.
At that time, the young Kizaru had not yet joined the Marines, but he had heard many rumors about the Rocks Pirates.
Due to the "God Valley Incident," the Marines and pirates unusually joined forces to resist a common enemy, leading to the disintegration of the Rocks Pirates and their fall into history.
Later, the World Government ordered the complete erasure of all information related to this once-dominant pirate crew.
To this day, many "newcomers" are entirely unaware of the Rocks Pirates' existence.
But Kizaru remembers the Rocks Pirates vividly.
Especially as time passed, one powerful pirate after another rose to prominence in the New World.
The legacy of the Rocks Pirates only grew more significant!
The Whitebeard Pirates, the Big Mom Pirates, the Beast Pirates, the Wang Zhi Pirates...
Of the four Pirate Emperors in the New World, three originated from the old Rocks Pirates!
The remaining Wang Zhi Pirates now occupy Hachinosu Island—the former headquarters of the Rocks Pirates.
Moreover, these are just the powerful pirates who have survived to this day with their influence intact.
Historically, many other notorious pirates also emerged from the "splintering" of the Rocks Pirates.
Golden Lion Shiki, Captain John, Silver Axe, the Nine Snake Empress...
One name after another flashed through Kizaru's mind.
Even as a Marine Admiral, he had no desire to see the resurgence of such a super pirate crew.
Kizaru transformed into light, flashing onto another Marine warship nearby. Behind his sunglasses, his eyes had turned deadly serious.
"You're a pirate sailing on the same ship as Whitebeard Jr."
Kizaru stared at Golden Lion II, who floated freely in midair.
"So you're—Golden Lion II?"
"I prefer to be called 'Lion.'"
Golden Lion II swung his twin swords like massive batons.
The Marine warship that had just been torn apart by "Lion: Thousand Severance Valley" moved swiftly under his command. Shattered fragments of the ship broke apart and reassembled, forming enormous spikes.
"Lion's Obliteration!"
Amid the howling wind, the massive spikes shot toward Kizaru's location, each capable of effortlessly tearing through human flesh—or even piercing steel.
"Lion..."
Faced with such an attack, Kizaru didn't even consider dodging.
As a "Light-Man," why would he fear a purely physical assault devoid of any Haki?
One after another, the enormous wooden spikes flew toward him, their tips tinged with an eerie ashen hue.
Kizaru ignored them, about to speak to Golden Lion II—Lion—on the other side.
But then—
Thud!
A massive wooden spike struck Kizaru squarely in the lower back, producing a dull impact.
"This..."
Kizaru staggered, nearly losing his breath.
But what unsettled him more was that he now found himself unable to activate his abilities!
A wave of extreme weakness washed over Kizaru as his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities were temporarily "sealed" at this moment, leaving him unable to sense their presence.
"Sea-stone!"
Kizaru looked at the massive wooden spikes that had already reached him and barely managed to utter the name of this natural enemy for any Devil Fruit user.
That's right!
The eerie stone-gray color at the tips of these enormous wooden spikes was actually the hue of Sea-stone!
The "raw materials" Golden Lion II used to create these massive wooden spikes were the several Navy warships anchored in the waters near Impel Down.
These Navy warships could traverse the Calm Belt and smoothly reach Impel Down precisely because their hulls were all embedded with Sea-stone!
Of course, Golden Lion II knew Kizaru was a Glint-Glint Fruit user who could ignore ordinary physical attacks.
But this was exactly the kind of enemy he wanted to target!
Most Logia-type users had an overconfident mindset of "I'm immune to physical attacks, so I don't need to worry about them."
With this mindset, Logia users were highly susceptible to being affected by seemingly insignificant tricks.
Like Sea-stone!
During the previous attack, Golden Lion II had quietly transferred the Sea-stone embedded in the warship hulls to the tips of those wooden spikes.
He had initially thought Kizaru would actively dodge such an attack, but he never expected his opponent to actually step right into the trap!
Did Kizaru not possess Foresight?
A thought flashed through Golden Lion II's mind.
But he quickly dismissed it.
Struck by the Sea-stone, Kizaru temporarily lost access to his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities and fell into a weakened state.
Now was the time to press the advantage—kick a man when he's down, or in this case, a monkey!
The remaining wooden spikes accelerated their flight toward him as soon as the first one hit its mark.
The arrangement between the spikes was far too tight.
After taking the first spike's attack, Kizaru was momentarily dazed.
In that brief moment of distraction, spike after spike came piercing toward him.
Thud! Thud! Thud—!
A series of heavy, dull impacts rang out.
Kizaru was struck by one "Sea-stone spike" after another.
The relentless barrage forced a trickle of blood to spill from the corner of his mouth.
How many years had it been since he last felt such excruciating pain after obtaining the Glint-Glint Fruit?
Kizaru couldn't recall the answer.
But he knew one thing for certain—with his body pinned down by Sea-stone, there was no way he could use his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities!
'Teacher Zephyr…'
For some reason, the image of Zephyr flashed inexplicably through Kizaru's mind, though it vanished just as quickly.
Countless massive wooden spikes pressed against Kizaru's body from all directions.
From a distance, it looked as though a giant wooden sea urchin was floating in the sky.
The next instant.
Golden Lion II manipulated this "wooden sea urchin" while simultaneously controlling the vast expanse of seawater below.
The sea urchin descended.
The seawater surged upward.
The distance between the two rapidly closed.
As long as seawater made contact with Kizaru, he would lose all combat ability within moments, just like Magellan had before!
However, Kizaru was, after all, an Admiral of Marine Headquarters.
Even temporarily deprived of his Glint-Glint Fruit abilities, his physical combat skills were still formidable!
His "weak" physique and "weak" combat techniques were only relative to other top-tier fighters of his caliber.
Pinned by the Sea-stone wooden spikes and about to be thrown into the sea, Kizaru erupted with all his strength in this life-or-death moment.
His body, pressed against the Sea-stone spikes, suddenly underwent a strange transformation, as if swelling several times its size.
Kizaru controlled his body, inflating it like a balloon.
This was a technique derived from Life Return!
In the next instant, his body shrank back to its original form.
Through this expansion and contraction, Kizaru forcefully pushed the surrounding Sea-stone spikes away, avoiding direct contact with them.
By then, the rising seawater had already submerged most of his leather shoes!
Glint-Glint Fruit!
At this critical moment, Kizaru activated his Devil Fruit ability just in time, transforming into scattered photons that slipped through the gaps between the Sea-stone spikes.
Boom!
The seawater surged upward, crashing against the now "gall-less" wooden sea urchin, its powerful impact instantly scattering the spikes.
But by then, Kizaru had already reappeared atop the mast of another floating warship.
In past battles, relying on the unparalleled speed of his Glint-Glint Fruit, Kizaru could always escape even if he couldn't win.
It was common for him to end a fight with only slightly dirtied clothes.
But not long ago, during his clash with Whitebeard Jr., the speed of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit proved no less formidable than his own.
Seizing the opportunity, Whitebeard Jr. landed several heavy blows, severely injuring Kizaru's ribs.
Now, facing Golden Lion II, Kizaru suffered another setback due to his overconfidence in the Glint-Glint Fruit.
Pinned by the Sea-stone spikes, he nearly plunged into the sea.
Even after struggling free, he was left in a sorry state, his once-pristine suit now tattered.
Kizaru winced slightly.
His still-healing ribs throbbed with pain once more.
"Two monsters!"
Kizaru steeled himself, clapping his hands together before pulling them apart to summon a gleaming Ama-no-Murakumo Sword.
In an instant, he vanished, reappearing before Golden Lion II in a flash of light.
Raising the Ama-no-Murakumo Sword high, he brought it down in a vertical slash, aiming to cleave Golden Lion II in two!
But Golden Lion II's Observation Haki had already detected Kizaru's movements.
Crossing Cherry Ten and Withered Tree before him, he blocked the strike.
Clang—!
The Ama-no-Murakumo Sword clashed violently with the twin blades, the clear metallic ring echoing across the sky.
"Golden Lion II!"
Kizaru glared at his opponent, poised to speak.
"Your next words will be—"
At that moment, Golden Lion II spoke leisurely.
"Who is the captain between you and Whitebeard Jr.?"
"You and Whitebeard Jr.'s captain—Nani!?"
Kizaru uttered the second half of his sentence but froze instantly.
His thoughts had been predicted by the enemy!
"Can't even see the 'future'—this is a Marine Headquarters Admiral?"
Golden Lion II's eyes glowed with burning red light as his eight-star Observation Haki continuously sensed and read Kizaru's inner thoughts.
"You rely too much on your Devil Fruit! Kizaru!"
-Support me in Patreon for more chapters 35+ chapters in there
patreon.com/LegendaryTL
Thanks!