It wasn't until now that Golden Lion finally recovered from his extreme shock.
Golden Lion, who alone had contributed nearly 80,000 negative points to Rocks, took a deep breath before staring intently at Rocks, who had grown even more imposing as he spoke.
"You, you, you really are Rocks D. Xebec! You really are Rocks?!"
As he spoke, Golden Lion unconsciously took a step forward, his famous sword, kogarashi ōkason, moving with him.
Golden Lion, whose fearsome reputation was enough to stop children from crying at night, declared that he had never been so shocked in his life.
Undoubtedly,
As a former officer of the Rocks Pirates, Golden Lion Shiki, before he was subdued by Rocks,
had fought countless battles with Rocks, the Captain of the most ferocious pirate crew in history, the Rocks Pirates!
After the Rocks Pirates disbanded, he even besieged Pirate King Gol D. Roger at the Battle of Edd War.
Furthermore,
if not for a sudden storm.
The Roger Pirates would have perished under his massive flying pirate fleet.
He was also full of heroic spirit, single-handedly invading Marineford, and fighting to the death with Sengoku and Garp, who were stationed at Marineford at the time.
Even though he was ultimately defeated, he still explosively destroyed most of Marineford...
Logically speaking,
Golden Lion Shiki, who forged his reputation with countless glorious victories after the Rocks Pirates, should not have been so shocked, even if he really saw Rocks.
But the situation now was different!
Although he was old, and even had a huge ship's rudder embedded in his skull.
However, he still clearly remembered that Rocks, who had once subdued him, had perished in a battle with the peak Garp and peak Roger thirty-eight years ago!
So, at the moment he saw Rocks, Golden Lion, who had forged his reputation with numerous achievements, felt a shock within him.
A shock he had never experienced before, like a mountain collapsing and the earth splitting...
Yes, even if Golden Lion saw Rocks with his own eyes, he still couldn't believe it was real. He couldn't believe that Rocks, who had passed away thirty-eight years ago, could crawl out of his grave!
Rocks' death was witnessed by him, and Golden Lion, who understood his character, knew that if Rocks had still had a breath left at that time, Rocks would never have lived in hiding.
Because Rocks, who aimed to be the overlord of the world, was the kind of man who, even if he knew he would die, would bravely face his end and would never fake his death to escape!
However,
even if Golden Lion roared in his heart that Rocks was as dead as could be.
But Golden Lion, who had once followed Rocks, said that his body told him that this feeling of facing a formidable enemy, this trembling all over.
No one could give him this feeling anymore, except for the former Rocks!
Therefore,
this person in front of him,
is Rocks, who perished thirty-eight years ago!!!
"Hahahaha, that's right!"
Rocks didn't hesitate at all. The moment Golden Lion's words fell, he admitted it with a look of boundless pride.
In his previous life, after the organization was destroyed, he had long grown to despise the days when everything he did had to be done under the premise of hiding his identity.
So in this life, Rocks, reborn as the overlord of the sea with the strongest overlord system, swore: He would never do such a humiliating thing as hiding his identity and living in hiding in this life.
Reborn in this life into the body of an overlord, how could he defile the name of an overlord?
In this life, I, Rocks, am destined to live openly and honestly. What does it matter if thousands of enemies stand before me? What if exposing my identity means the whole world becomes my enemy?!
Since I decided to become Rocks, how can I fear the challenges that the name of Rocks brings!!!
"Rocks, in the God Valley incident thirty-eight years ago, even your body was shattered. Now, you say you are Rocks?"
"I don't believe it!"
"How can this old man believe you?!"
A roar echoed, and Golden Lion, with wide, angry eyes, suddenly activated his Devil Fruit ability. In an instant, Golden Lion, who had originally stood on the ground with kogarashi ōkason replacing his feet, floated in mid-air as if weightless.
And just as Golden Lion's body floated up under the effect of his Devil Fruit ability,
Aura!
A sharp aura emanated from Golden Lion's body.
At first, the aura was as gentle and subtle as a breeze blowing in the mountains.
In less than an instant,
that originally gentle and subtle breeze grew against the wind, expanding dozens of times.
An extreme sharpness, as if capable of cutting through all things, burst forth from Golden Lion Shiki's feet, who had a cigar dangling from his mouth!
And this ultimate sharpness, wasn't it the ultimate sharpness that, according to legend, only swordsmen could possess!
Furthermore,
as time passed, the sharp aura emanating from Golden Lion's body continued to climb. In less than an instant, his entire aura expanded to the realm of a Great Swordsman, far surpassing that of a swordsman!
"Lion! Thousand Slice Valley!!"
"Swish!"
And just as Golden Lion's entire aura expanded to the realm of a Great Swordsman, his floating figure in mid-air suddenly flickered.
Then,
streaks of sword energy, carrying howling gales, rushed towards Rocks.
kogarashi ōkason is Golden Lion's famous weapon. These two renowned swords, which Golden Lion has controlled ever since he ate the Float-Float Fruit, have long been imbued with his powerful Armament Haki, transforming them into peerless black blades!
The peerless black blades, combined with Golden Lion's refined swordsmanship, made his originally ordinary attack, Lion Thousand Slice Valley, surge in power to a level of peerless sharpness comparable to a Great Swordsman's ultimate technique.
If it were Rocks from a minute ago, who was on the verge of death at any moment, he might have been hit by these sword energies that locked down all his evasion points.
But at this moment, Rocks' decaying body, which was on the verge of death at any time, had already been restored once. Although it was only the most basic body repair, it allowed Rocks to recover one-tenth of his healthy state.
So, facing this sky full of sword energy, Rocks, whose physical fitness and Observation Haki had both surged, merely swayed his body slightly to evade them all.
"Don't embarrass yourself with these petty tricks in front of me, Shiki!!" Rocks, whose body had recovered, didn't care about the sword energy that could easily take the lives of Marineford Vice Admirals, and spoke with boundless arrogance.
His voice exploded, the sound waves reverberating through the air. In an instant, a monstrous blaze erupted from Rocks' body, soaring into the sky!
Under the imposing dominance that reigned over the world, it seemed as if even the island beneath his feet trembled slightly, unable to bear the weight!
The sound waves exploded, and the collapsing wind pressure transformed into ripples, coiling around Rocks' body before erupting with a roar, dispersing all the dust that had risen from Shiki's sword energy.
But,
this was far from over.
Under the sweeping air currents, those towering giant trees, each wide enough for several people to embrace, rippled like a deep pool into which meteorites had plunged, stirred by the monstrous air currents and constantly swaying towards Shiki's direction!
Just a roar, and it was this terrifying!!!
Facing such monstrous might, Shiki, whose hair and beard stood on end under the sweeping air currents, stared with wide, bloodshot eyes. Was such power truly just the product of a roar?!
Seeing such a scene, Shiki, who was in mid-air with his Float-Float Fruit ability activated, felt his scalp tingle, and goosebumps covered his entire body!
Rocks!
It really was Rocks!!