Just outside the council hall, Romanos had his ears severed by the guards. Inside, those who heard his agonized screams displayed varied reactions—King Norton I and the old nobility visibly trembled with horror.
After departing the council chamber, William gestured for Dampier to accompany him. The two walked side by side along the path leading from the royal palace.
"When you return to the laboratory, have 'Clown' Buggy seek me out," William instructed.
With William's backing, the Buggy Ball had been successfully developed, and recently, significant progress had been made on miniaturizing the weapon. Buggy himself had proven to be a remarkably "adaptable" character, behaving with unusual docility under Dampier's supervision—likely because William maintained control over vital pressure points in the clown's body.
"Oh?" Dampier cast William a sidelong glance. "Do you have plans for him?"
"Ask him if he's interested in regaining his freedom," William replied.
Merveille—a mysterious island that soared into the clouds.
Thirteen years earlier, shortly after his escape from the great prison Impel Down, 'Golden Lion' Shiki and his most trusted lieutenant, Dr. Indigo, discovered this extraordinary place. They were astonished to find that the island's organisms evolved at an unprecedented rate—as if Earth's evolutionary process had been accelerated thousandfold. Changes that might require tens of thousands of years for terrestrial species to develop in response to environmental pressures could manifest here in mere hundreds of days.
This phenomenon immediately captured the interest of both Shiki and Dr. Indigo. During their subsequent explorations, Indigo identified several plant species previously unknown to science. Among these discoveries was a remarkable specimen he designated "IQ"—the catalyst behind the island's accelerated evolution.
Animals that consumed IQ experienced neurological stimulation that triggered rapid evolutionary adaptations based on environmental factors. While these evolutionary pathways proved wildly unpredictable, the ambitious Shiki focused on cultivating just one direction—combat capability.
From the moment Shiki discovered IQ and the island's unique fauna, he resolved to weaponize them for his grand design.
Shiki claimed exclusive ownership of all IQ plants and commanded Dr. Indigo to develop pharmaceutical compounds derived from them. His objective was twofold: to manipulate the evolutionary trajectory toward combat specialization and to further accelerate the already rapid evolutionary process.
For thirteen years, Shiki had methodically recruited forces, accumulated resources, and gathered personnel. As his evolving creatures required increasingly diverse environments and expanded territories, he employed his Float-Float Fruit powers to elevate suitable islands into the sky.
Thirteen years—from world-renowned pirate to a figure lurking in the heavens. The new generation of pirates had likely forgotten the name "Golden Lion." Shiki's extraordinary patience stemmed from a singular obsession—to obliterate the mythology of the so-called Great Pirate Era.
When Shiki first learned of Roger's capture, his fury had been boundless. This reaction transcended mere respect between formidable rivals.
More profoundly, Roger—the man who had defeated Shiki—had been apprehended by the Marines and scheduled for execution in the East Blue, the weakest of all seas. For a pirate who had once directly challenged both the World Government and the Marines, this represented an unconscionable humiliation, not only of Roger himself but of Shiki by extension.
Following Roger's execution, Shiki believed he had forever lost the opportunity to personally defeat his rival and heal the wound inflicted during the Battle of Edd War. This changed when, within the confines of Impel Down, he heard fellow prisoners jubilantly heralding the dawn of the "Great Pirate Era."
The Great Pirate Era was Roger's creation—his legacy and his epoch. Shiki's ambition was to terminate it decisively. He intended to demonstrate to the new generation of pirates—those who idolized Roger and pursued childish fantasies of "ONE PIECE" and legendary treasures—what true piracy embodied. In Shiki's philosophy, only one ultimate treasure existed: the power to inspire terror through overwhelming force.
This represented Shiki's sole path to transcending Roger's legacy.
Thus, Shiki patiently cultivated his plans from the isolation of Merveille. According to his vision, the island's evolved creatures would possess destructive capabilities rivaling the most fearsome predators of the Calm Belt's abyssal depths. Furthermore, these biological weapons would remain under his absolute control—a superweapon arsenal capable of fundamentally altering the world's balance of power.
Shiki had already determined that the first demonstration of these "weapons" would occur in the East Blue—birthplace of the man who defeated him and the sea associated with his humiliation. By devastating this region, he could simultaneously shock the world and crush the faith of those who venerated Roger and celebrated the Great Pirate Era.
Individuals like Harden.
Shiki was a man who appreciated luxury. Even during his thirteen-year seclusion, he refused to adopt an ascetic lifestyle. On the contrary, he enslaved Merveille's indigenous population and gradually reassembled many of his former subordinates to attend to his comforts.
His residence had become the island's architectural centerpiece—a magnificent palace not only imposing in its grandeur but comprehensively equipped with every conceivable amenity, including specialized detention facilities for captives.
As a senior officer from the Steamship, Harden had been granted certain "privileges" even in captivity, including solitary confinement.
He sat cross-legged in a corner of his cell, his limbs bound by massive shackles connected to chains thicker than a man's arm. A metal collar encircled his neck, similarly attached to the wall by an extremely short chain that prevented him from lowering his head or making sudden movements without choking himself.
Two iron hooks suspended from the ceiling penetrated his shoulder blades, forcing him to maintain his cross-legged position.
The rhythmic clanking of metal approached from the corridor outside, growing steadily louder. Harden's eyes shifted toward the cell entrance.
Moments later, 'Golden Lion' Shiki, balanced upon two sword-legs, appeared before the cell. Behind him stood the expressionless Kuro.
Blood-smeared and defiant, Harden's features contorted with rage. He appeared to lunge toward Shiki and Kuro but remained firmly restrained. The chains rattled violently as the collar constricted around his throat, turning his complexion purplish. Fresh blood seeped from the wounds where the hooks penetrated his flesh, yet Harden continued his futile struggle.
Harden possessed an indomitable spirit. One might defeat him or even kill him, but breaking his will remained virtually impossible.
The only method to earn Harden's submission was to genuinely command his respect.
Even William, who had successfully gained Harden's loyalty, never subjected him to humiliation. Instead, William consistently demonstrated trust and respect, understanding that men of Harden's temperament responded to genuine regard rather than coercion.
Shiki's torture had not only failed to break Harden's spirit but had filled him with intense hatred—directed not only at Shiki himself but also at the treacherous Kuro.
"How pitiful," Shiki remarked, casually flicking ash from his cigar. "Do you know what I see before me? A deluded dreamer, bloodied by his collision with reality. Roger? The Great Pirate Era? ONE PIECE? Are you aware that the hometown of your idolized 'Pirate King'—the man who launched the Great Pirate Era and concealed ONE PIECE—may soon exist only in historical records?"
"Oh!" Shiki exclaimed, theatrically slapping his forehead. "I nearly forgot—it's your hometown as well."
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