North Blue, Minion Island.
A massive pirate ship was anchored in the port.
The sight of the flag on this pirate ship terrified the entire island.
The Flying Pirate, Golden Lion!
Minion Island was a cesspool in the North Blue, a lawless zone where the Marines, the World Government, and all the nations of the North Blue turned a blind eye.
The reason was probably that all these forces benefited from the island in some way.
After all, Minion Island was the largest black market hub in the North Blue, filled with all kinds of goods, from legal to contraband. As long as you had the money, you could buy anything.
Therefore, there were almost no good people on Minion Island, not even ordinary citizens.
It was filled with pirates, gangsters, middlemen, crooked merchants, black-market traders, and evildoers from the underworld.
Because they were so wicked, very few people dared to cause trouble on Minion Island. If they did, they would offend many criminals, and it would not end well for them.
But there was always an exception to every rule.
This wicked island was about to welcome an even more wicked person.
The Great Pirate, Golden Lion Shiki.
Compared to an elite like Shiki, who was one of the strongest in the world, the people on Minion Island were all small-time crooks; none of them could even put up a fight.
In the current pirate world, Shiki was ranked in the top three, and many people would even say he was number one.
Most people called him the Pirate Overlord.
Many believed that he would eventually complete his pirate conquest and go even further than Rocks D. Xebec had in his day!
At the moment, only Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, and the legendary "Golden" Roger could be mentioned in the same breath as Shiki.
The three future Yonko were no match for Shiki right now.
Kaido was probably plotting how to take over Wano, and Charlotte Linlin was busy building her ideal Totto Land.
As for Shanks, he was still an apprentice on Roger's ship, spending his days messing around with Buggy and scrubbing the decks.
In short, Shiki was at his peak. But if you counted the days, it was late in the year 1495. The new year was approaching.
In the year 1496, Shiki would face the biggest setback of his life. He would clash with the Roger Pirates in the Battle of Edd War, and a massive storm would ruin his ambitions and grand plans, ending his burgeoning reign as overlord.
But for now, all of that was still to come, and Shiki was on his way to the top.
Therefore, since he had arrived at Minion Island, the entire island had fallen under the terror of the roaring Golden Lion.
On the docks, Shiki walked out of the wicked town of Minion Island.
He had only come to Minion Island to buy some special materials. Recently, he had been helping his subordinate, Dr. Indigo, research a new monster they had found on the New World island of Merveille.
The Donquixote Family hadn't become a powerful, underworld-spanning organization yet.
So, the circulation of goods in the underworld was far from being as developed as it would be twenty years later.
At that point, if you placed an order with the Donquixote Family, you wouldn't need to travel anywhere. The middleman would deliver the goods directly to you in no time.
But now, everyone was on their own, and every sea had its famous black market.
Minion Island was the black market of the North Blue.
Shiki had heard he could find what he needed here, so he had traveled all the way from the New World.
Now that he had what he came for, he was ready to leave. There was nothing else in the North Blue worth his time. In Shiki's mind, his ultimate reign lay in the New World, and one day, he would leave the New World and bring his ambition to the entire world!
Just as Shiki was about to board his ship, he stopped. He took a few steps to the edge of the port and looked at the distant horizon, his brow furrowing slightly.
It was a warship, a massive one. The Marine Branches in the North Blue didn't have the right to use this kind of warship.
The ones approaching were definitely from Marine Headquarters, Marineford. Judging by their direct course, they were undoubtedly looking for him.
There weren't many Marines with the authority and guts to come after him like this!
"Is it Sengoku? Or Garp, or that Zephyr guy?" Shiki murmured softly.
But he felt no fear. He was different from most pirates.
Shiki was more aggressive.
Neither Roger nor Newgate feared the Marines, but they usually ran when they saw them. They wouldn't start a fight if they could avoid it.
That was normal since one side was a criminal and the other was a cop.
But Shiki was never like that. He would typically crush any Marines who appeared in his sight!
He was even bold enough to single-handedly attack Marine Headquarters, Marineford, later on.
Of course, the ending was a disaster. He was double-teamed by Sengoku and Garp and ended up in Impel Down for some "rehab," which ended up costing him his legs.
"Let's see who it is…" Shiki said with a wicked grin.
As he finished speaking, he stomped his foot lightly. A strange, invisible force quickly spread from his feet, from the port to the sea.
In the next moment, the once-calm sea suddenly became turbulent. A massive tidal wave, appearing out of nowhere, surged outside the port. Then, as if being controlled, the wave rolled toward the distant Marine warship.
This was the power of the Great Pirate, Golden Lion Shiki.
It was one of the top-tier Paramecia-type Devil Fruit abilities.
The Float-Float Fruit!
Shiki could control nearly every substance in the world, even seawater.
At the same time, on the Marine warship, Admirals Sengoku and Zephyr were also watching the massive tidal wave.
"Tsk, tsk, that's just like him. Does he always greet people with such a huge spectacle?" Zephyr said with a click of his tongue.
"That bastard Shiki has always liked to show off…" Sengoku said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
Meanwhile, in the cabin, Diarmuid was also watching the incoming tidal wave, feeling incredibly shocked.
In his previous life, he had, of course, watched and learned a lot about this world, especially the top-tier powerhouses. He had admired them greatly.
But it wasn't until he saw the top-tier power of this world firsthand that he realized the impact was far beyond what he could ever feel through a screen or a book.
A powerhouse of Shiki's caliber could destroy the world with a simple action.
But even though he was shocked, he wasn't too worried.
Shiki was strong, but Admirals Sengoku and Zephyr were also in their prime. They shouldn't have any trouble.
He just had to be careful not to get caught in the aftermath of their fight.
I hope the warship will be okay… Diarmuid muttered to himself.
Just then, he felt the ship's bow stop abruptly, as if the huge warship had just nodded.
The ship couldn't have come to life and agreed with his thoughts.
Sure enough, a second later, Diarmuid saw several golden beams of light scatter from the bow. He couldn't see clearly from his angle, but he had already guessed what happened.
It was probably Sengoku's power.
The Human-Human Fruit, Model: Buddha!
This was the origin of Sengoku's epithet, "Buddha Sengoku"!
Before Diarmuid could think more about it, a powerful shockwave erupted from the ship's bow. The massive tidal wave, which could have crushed the warship, was instantly disintegrated by the shockwave.
After the tidal wave was destroyed, the resulting waves made the warship roll and pitch violently.
"So strong… Is this the power of a top-tier fighter?" Diarmuid gripped the window sill, steadying himself. He was utterly shocked.
It felt like these powerhouses could kill him with a sneeze.
"Jihahahaha, Sengoku?" Shiki roared with laughter from the port after seeing what happened.
Then, his body rose into the air without any wind.
He didn't attack again. Instead, he snapped his fingers. With his gesture, his massive pirate ship, which had been anchored at Minion Island, also rose into the sky.
"You guys go on ahead. I'm gonna go see an old friend." Shiki waved his hand dismissively.
He completely ignored his subordinates, raised a hand, and pointed toward the warship.
"Go!" Shiki shouted.
Instantly, all the miscellaneous ships in Minion Island's harbor were guided by an invisible force. They all floated off the water and flew like giant cannonballs toward the warship.
"Zephyr, I'm leaving the ship to you," Sengoku said in a low voice.
Zephyr lit a cigar and exhaled a puff of smoke. "Oh, don't you worry about it."
After hearing the response, Sengoku didn't hesitate. He pushed off the deck, shattering the thick wooden planks, and shot forward with incredible speed.
Only then could Diarmuid see his form.
In the air was a giant, golden Buddha.
"Don't get too cocky, Shiki!" Sengoku roared.
Then, several powerful shockwaves destroyed everything in his path…