OPTC Chapter 255 The Man with a Ship's Wheel in His Head
The island was rising fast—higher and higher, already far above the point where Zhang Da Ye and his crew had landed earlier.
"Get a few who can fly to check below!" Zhang Da Ye ordered. Now that he had confirmed the island was flying, two possibilities came to mind: either it was a Knock-Up Stream, or it was that man—the one with the ship's wheel embedded in his head.
Both options were bad. Extremely bad.
The Knock-Up Stream was too unpredictable. If there weren't thick enough Sky Clouds above to support the island, it would eventually come crashing back down.
As for the man with the ship's wheel—Shiki the Golden Lion—Zhang Da Ye didn't have the kind of power to "movie-version nerf" a character like that. Who knew how strong he was now?
"Let's go see what's going on." Ye Yan released several fog-like Flag Demons to scout the island's edges. Unfortunately, the fastest among them—Golden Roc No. 2—was still recovering and couldn't be used.
The Qilin Lion also sent several flying beasts out in different directions to investigate.
It wasn't long before Ye Yan received a telepathic report from his Flag Demons. "The island seems to be flying on its own. But there's someone floating below it—a man with long golden hair, swords instead of legs, and a ship's wheel stuck in his head."
Ye Yan relayed the message, and Zhang Da Ye corrected him. "Not wearing a wheel-shaped hat—the wheel's literally jammed into his head."
"You know him?" Ye Yan asked. "Why would anyone stick a ship's wheel in their skull?"
"Not by choice," Zhang Da Ye replied. "About ten years ago, Shiki the Golden Lion fought Gol D. Roger and his crew in the Edd War. Shiki almost had Roger's crew cornered, but then a massive storm hit out of nowhere. Most of Shiki's fleet sank, and he was seriously injured—resulting in that… accident."
There were several explanations for his defeat. Some said even the strongest men couldn't overcome the force of nature. Others believed both crews were exhausted after a long battle, and the sudden storm simply tipped the scales.
"Shiki the Golden Lion! That Shiki?!" Zeole turned pale. That was a name ordinary people feared. "But that's impossible! Wasn't he captured? Just a week before Roger's execution?"
Indeed, after Roger's capture, the Navy had announced it proudly. Shiki didn't believe Roger could be caught alive by mere Marines, so he stormed Marineford alone, fighting Garp and Sengoku simultaneously. The battle destroyed half the base before he was finally captured and imprisoned.
Catching a pirate on par with the Pirate King was too big a deal for the Navy to hide. The world had heard of it.
"He escaped," Zhang Da Ye said. "Cut off his own legs to remove seastone shackles. That's the kind of man he is."
Perona clung to her teddy bear and grabbed Artoria's arm, shuddering. "He cut off his own legs? That's horrifying!"
Brook, holding a half-eaten apple, muttered blankly, "Golden Lion Shiki… I think I've heard of him… Maybe a promising rookie…?"
The crow Asa spoke on behalf of the Qilin Lion and other animals. "How can he make an island float?"
"He's a Float-Float Fruit user," Zhang Da Ye explained. "Anything he touches can float—under his control. Even an entire island." He looked up. Faintly, he could see a dozen massive shadows hovering in the sky. "Even ten or more islands."
Everyone followed his gaze, jaws dropping. "That's insane!"
Indeed it was. To casually make entire islands rise or fall—it was a power like a natural disaster.
"Why would someone like him target this island?" Zeole wondered aloud. "Is it for that so-called treasure that can make someone a king?"
Zhang Da Ye glanced at the group of strange animals huddled around the Qilin Lion. "More likely for these rare beasts."
He remembered Shiki had spent nearly twenty years experimenting to make animals more powerful and violent. His plan was to unleash them on the East Blue—to wipe out the sea where Roger had been executed.
To Shiki, it was a humiliation that the Pirate King had died in the weakest sea. He wanted to destroy it completely.
Zhang Da Ye could somewhat understand Shiki's twisted pride toward Roger, but wasting twenty years on experiments instead of just dropping islands from the sky seemed absurd.
Maybe it was because doing that would draw too much attention from the Marines.
"So what do we do now?" Zeole asked the question everyone was thinking.
The animals were terrified. Knowing the man had come for them only deepened their fear. Someone who could control a dozen islands was beyond anything they could face. Their only hope was the benefactors who had saved them before.
Zhang Da Ye answered, "What else can we do? Those who can fly—leave now. Those who can't—find a way to. We'll make a giant parachute and sail the hell out of here."
"Eh???" Zeole stumbled back, mouth wide open, completely shocked by the answer.
The animals mirrored his expression—Tom included.
After a long pause, Zeole steadied himself. "You're not going to fight him?"
"There's no point," Zhang Da Ye replied. "If we lose, we die. If we win, you all die. Once he's gone, his Float-Float power will lose control, and every island will come crashing down. And if there are other islands below, even more will die."
"I agree," Ye Yan said coolly. When making serious decisions, he was disturbingly calm. "Until we find a safe way to lower these islands, provoking him would be foolish. The smartest thing to do is escape now. Habitats can be replaced. Lives can't."
The animals grew increasingly despairing, especially the Qilin Lion. As king of the island's beasts, it had already failed to protect them once. Now, even after the invaders were defeated, it faced losing its home entirely.
Zeole couldn't stand seeing their hopelessness. Finding a new home would be nearly impossible, and countless animals would die in the process or fail to adapt to new environments. Desperate, he asked, "Isn't there any way to take the island back?"
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