Chapter 148: Golden Lion - Shiki
"Who found you?" Louis's smile faded, replaced by a look of confusion.
To this, Daz Bonez placed the Den Den Mushi on the table. "He's looking for you by name," he replied very directly. "He didn't reveal his identity to me. He only stated his purpose and said he would call back in five minutes."
As he spoke, Daz Bonez's brow furrowed slightly. He knew the reason for this. It was nothing more than the other party seeing him as an insignificant character, not worthy of knowing their identity.
Then, Daz Bonez turned, preparing to return to the training area to continue sweating it out.
Yelena's gaze turned to Daz Bonez. "Daz," she said softly, "go tell Road to prepare a route to take us to Dressrosa."
"I understand," Daz Bonez replied in a deep voice, and left directly without turning his head.
With Daz Bonez's departure, Louis and Yelena were once again left alone in their corner of Avant Heim. But at this moment, neither of them continued the discussion about their base. Instead, they quietly savored their fruits and cold drinks, waiting for the call from the unknown person.
"..."
Five minutes passed in a flash. Under their watchful eyes, the Den Den Mushi on the table opened its eyes and rang with its distinctive ringtone.
Brrring~ Brrring~ Brrring~
Click. Yelena's expression did not change. She answered the call and placed the receiver to the side.
The next moment, an arrogant, aged male voice came from the other end.
"Archangel - Louis? The pinnacle of the new era of pirates?"
Louis ignored the second sentence and replied concisely, "If there isn't a second 'Archangel' in the world, then I'm the person you're looking for."
"..."
A moment later, the Den Den Mushi mimicked the man on the other end, letting out a laugh that was both arrogant and somewhat neurotic. "Shishishishi— My name is Shiki. I was once a pirate."
This unfamiliar name made the nearby Yelena frown slightly, not understanding.
But Louis, after hearing these words, had a flash of understanding in his eyes. He instantly knew the identity of the man on the other end.
Golden Lion - Shiki!
After the fall of Rocks, he, along with Roger and Whitebeard, were the uncrowned kings in the depths of the New World. The likes of Kaido and Big Mom were a step below. It was just a pity that later, in his decisive battle with the Roger Pirates, he was defeated due to a storm. Not only did the massive pirate fleet he had accumulated over many years suffer heavy losses, but he even ended up with a ship's wheel stuck in his head.
When his "white moonlight" Roger was captured, he was so foolhardy as to single-handedly attack the entire Marine Headquarters. He was captured by the combined forces of Garp and Sengoku, at the cost of destroying more than half of Marine HQ, and was imprisoned in Impel Down. After cutting off his own legs to escape from prison, he disappeared from the world until the year 1520, when he reappeared before the world with the intention of destroying the East Blue.
A series of information about the Golden Lion flashed in Louis's mind, and he began to think about what kind of benefits he could get from him. "I see. You're unwilling to just watch your legend go unnoticed, while those other old geezers from the same era are enjoying boundless glory on the sea, is that it, Golden Lion - Shiki?"
"..."
"Golden Lion... I didn't think that a rookie in his teens nowadays would still remember my title." Shiki was silent for a moment, and then the arrogance in his tone weakened a bit, replaced by a strange emotion.
Louis and Shiki's conversation left Yelena, who was drinking a cold drink, dazed for a moment. It took her a while to search her mind and find the title "Golden Lion." Then, a strange light appeared in her eyes. She never thought that the famous Golden Lion from before the Great Pirate Era would actually contact Louis and ask for help with his injuries.
Under Yelena's subtle gaze, Louis leaned back in his deck chair and spoke again. "So, you want me to help you remove that ship's wheel from your head?"
On the table, the Den Den Mushi mimicked Shiki's current appearance and once again let out a neurotic laugh. "Shishishishi— that's right! The battle report about your crewmates has been circulating in the underworld for some time now. Now, everyone in the underworld knows that many surviving Marines saw those giants take fatal injuries multiple times and then stand up unharmed. Therefore, everyone knows that you, as the 'Angel,' possess a terrifyingly powerful healing ability, able to instantly heal even fatal wounds."
"And I happen to want to experience the power of my peak period again!"
To this, the Golden Lion indicated that this healing ability was beyond people's comprehension. If Louis himself wasn't a top-tier fighter, then all the powers in the world would be fighting over him. Even now, if Louis wanted to go to any power's territory, the host there would treat him as a guest of honor. No one could refuse a person who could heal injuries on such a large scale. And almost no one was willing to make an enemy of someone who practically held the power of life and death.
Why "almost"? Because there was a madman in the world named Kaido, and also the unspeakably bitter Marines and World Government.
"Heal the injuries on my body, and I'll owe you a favor. How about it?" Shiki's voice came through the Den Den Mushi, conveying his true thoughts to Louis.
He had been tormented by the ship's wheel on his head for a long time. Not only had his Haki declined and become unusable, but he could even feel that his mind seemed to have some problems. And just as Louis had said, watching the glorious deeds of those people who had once been on the same ship as him, pursuing their dreams in the New World, while he, with his declined Haki and muddled brain, had been hiding for over a decade, not appearing before the world...
And the plan he had been brewing... to put it nicely, was to destroy the East Blue. To put it bluntly, he had declined to the point where he could only rely on bullying the weakest sea to save face. To this, the Golden Lion stated that if he were still in his peak period, he would absolutely not be playing this "destroy the East Blue" game. Instead, he would once again seek the dream he had lost along with his defeat in that sea battle.
To rule the world!
Originally, the Golden Lion thought that he had forever lost the possibility of walking down this path again, that he could only carry out that plan to destroy the East Blue to tell the world that he was still a powerful pirate admiral.
But a short while ago, Shiki had seen the report about the Archangel and had begun to gather more detailed intelligence from the underworld. In the end, he had seen the word that interested him: "healing." And it was a rather perfect healing, a power that could quickly heal even a slit throat or shattered organs.
Therefore, Shiki had started with the famous West Blue assassin Daz Bonez and had gradually found Louis.
"..."
Louis slowly sat up. He looked at the Den Den Mushi, which was mimicking the Golden Lion, and said with great interest, "You dare to appear before me in your most vulnerable state? And if I were to treat you, with my ability, killing you would only take an instant. Pirate Admiral of the Three Legends, have you really thought this through, entrusting your life to my hands, to be manipulated at will?"
To this, the Den Den Mushi let out a laugh. "I have to admit, I am just an ordinary retired pirate now. Killing me, you will get nothing. But if you heal me, you will get a favor from someone with the same level of power as Linlin, Kaido, and Whitebeard. Most importantly, there is no conflict between you and I, and no hatred to speak of." As he spoke, Shiki's words were filled with a bewitching meaning, trying to persuade Louis to let him return to his peak.
Hearing this, Louis fell into a brief silence. But soon, a thoughtful look flashed in his eyes. "A mere favor is not enough to offset my treatment of your injuries!" he said with a smile.
"Come to Dressrosa. I will wait for you there and negotiate the price of your treatment!"
At these words, the Golden Lion on the other end of the Den Den Mushi was silent for a moment. After a long while, his iconic laugh once again came through the device to Louis's ears.
"Shishishishi— In that case, I will be there!"
The call was quickly hung up. Louis and the others were once again in peace. And Road, after hearing the message passed on by Daz Bonez, quickly came to Louis's side.
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