"Why did you come to me?"
Vane asked, narrowing his eyes at the old man before him. How had Golden Lion Shiki found him?
"I'm shocked," Golden Lion replied, his tone a mix of amazement and disbelief. "You actually went and attacked Mariejois, and with Kaido no less! Don't tell me you've joined forces with him?"
The Golden Lion's voice held an incredulous edge. What Vane had done was something he himself had long dreamed of—storming the Holy Land—but never dared attempt. He knew the moment he set foot in Mariejois, his life would be forfeit.
Years ago, he'd made a grand assault on Navy Headquarters, but had been crushed by Sengoku and Garp. The result: imprisonment in Impel Down. The memory still burned. Back then, the Navy had powerful forces that hadn't even joined the battle. If Golden Lion had attempted to invade Mariejois, he would've surely died.
Indeed, that was the truth. No matter how strong Shiki once was, there were plenty who stood at his level. On top of that, he hadn't fought seriously in decades. After escaping Impel Down, he had spent nearly twenty years hidden away. His strength had deteriorated.
Once a fearsome swordsman, Shiki had lost much of his edge. Ever since he replaced his legs with his swords, he had been a shadow of his former self.
"Is there a problem?" Vane replied calmly. "It went fine. I destroyed Mariejois."
Golden Lion blinked, taken aback by Vane's nonchalant tone.
"You should've called me!" he barked. Then, narrowing his eyes, he added, "The newspaper didn't tell the whole truth, did it? The World Government always covers up the real story."
"I didn't read the paper," Vane admitted without hesitation.
"Gion, where's the newspaper?" he asked, glancing over at the woman nearby.
Gion responded, "It didn't say anything about the death of a Gorosei… or Im, the one secretly controlling the World Government."
"One of the Gorosei is dead?" Shiki said, eyes widening in shock. "Back when I first set sail, those old men from the Gorosei already looked ancient. No one even knows how long they've been alive. And one of them was killed?"
Vane gave a curt nod. "Killed by me. The one who wielded the Kitetsu."
"Well, I'll be damned, kid!" Golden Lion grinned, impressed.
Then, his grin faded. "And Im?"
Vane's gaze hardened. "A very powerful woman. She appears young, but I'm sure she's been alive for centuries. She possesses advanced Conqueror's Haki and is the embodiment of Uranus, the Celestial Dragon's ultimate weapon. Her power... it's something you can't understand unless you've seen it yourself."
"Uranus... and the highest level of Conqueror's Haki?" Golden Lion looked stunned. "So she's the real form of Uranus? The ancient weapon?"
Vane nodded. "She's terrifying. If I hadn't seen it myself, I wouldn't have believed it."
Golden Lion stared at him. "So Rocks had that kind of power too?"
"He did," Vane replied. "Did you know that?"
Golden Lion took a long sip of sake and lowered his voice. "The advanced form of Conqueror's Haki… we called it the Overlord's Domain. Rocks had it, yes. But that wasn't all. He also wielded another ability."
"What kind?"
"The most evil Devil Fruit in nature: the Yami Yami no Mi… the Dark-Dark Fruit."
Vane's eyes narrowed. Gion gasped.
"I was right, then…" Vane muttered.
Golden Lion nodded. "That fruit… it's chaos itself. The same way Whitebeard developed the Gura Gura no Mi into the strongest Paramecia, Rocks took the Dark-Dark Fruit to its terrifying peak. The fruit grants no Logia intangibility and makes the user feel twice the pain. But once awakened, the user does become intangible… and the pain is reversed—others suffer double. It can devour anything. Entire islands could be swallowed in its darkness. I once saw him absorb an island and release it shattered beyond recognition."
He paused, eyes narrowing. "Rocks was Roger's strongest enemy. Even he and Garp had to join forces to take him down."
"So Rocks was even more dangerous than I thought," Vane murmured to himself.
Golden Lion asked again, "Im… you're sure she also had Overlord's Domain? And she's a woman?"
"Yes," Vane said. "She is the strongest woman in the world, no doubt about it."
"Hard to believe… I've never heard anything like this. Im being Uranus? What a strange twist of fate," Golden Lion muttered.
"You should know better than most, old man," Vane said. "You've heard of Uranus, right?"
"Only legends," Shiki replied. "Said to be an ancient weapon that could control the power of nature. But I never knew the extent of its power. Did you fight her head-on?"
Vane's expression became somber. "She's strong. If we fought to the death, I don't know if I'd survive."
Golden Lion sighed. "To have both Uranus and the highest Conqueror's Haki… that's a terrifying combo. If you go again, call me. I'll bring down Mariejois myself. With my Float-Float Fruit, I'll tear the skies open."
"Not anytime soon," Vane replied. "Maybe in a year or two. And don't get ahead of yourself—Kaido is nearby. You might not be up for that fight. You've declined quite a bit."
"Kaido?" Golden Lion scoffed. "Back in the Rocks Pirates, he was just a brat. When I stood on equal footing with Roger and Whitebeard, Kaido was still playing in the mud."
"He knows you're here," Gion said calmly.
Golden Lion ignored her.
"Vane," he said with a smirk, "don't let a woman slow you down. They're obstacles to true greatness."
"If I never had women in my life," Vane shot back, "I'd have no family, no happiness."
Gion added coldly, "Not every man needs to be like Roger."
"That's right," Vane chuckled. "This old man's just stuck in the past."
Golden Lion grunted, half-annoyed, half-amused. He didn't care what women thought.
The conversation continued long into the afternoon. The two pirates, one young and rising, the other old and legendary, spoke of the past—the lost years, the old world, and the monsters that once ruled it.
Meanwhile, dozens of floating islands loomed high above the Flower Capital—Golden Lion's domain in full display. It was impossible for Kaido not to notice.
Down below, in the shadows of Onigashima, Kaido crushed a fresh barrel of sake in his hand.
"That old man Shiki…"
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