Golden Lion Shiki was one of the first pirates to join the Rocks Pirates.
The Rocks Pirates—no, the crew hadn't even been established back then; he, Whitebeard, and Stussy were already with Rocks.
Thus, many believed Golden Lion and Whitebeard to be Rocks' right and left hands.
Having followed Rocks for over a decade, Golden Lion had learned a few things from Rocks' own mouth, even if they didn't share a deep level of mutual trust.
Rocks naturally wouldn't reveal true secrets, but he had mentioned things like the ancient weapons once or twice.
After all, the ancient weapons weren't exactly a secret; a great pirate like Golden Lion could find out about them with just a little effort.
However, with Rocks' death, Shiki had assumed that no one knew about the ancient weapons anymore.
But to his surprise, he was now hearing about an ancient weapon from the mouth of a kid(?).
"What did you say?!"
Golden Lion's heart was filled with agitation; suppressing his excitement, he said in a low voice, "You know about the existence of the ancient weapons?!"
"Of course." Belts had originally intended to flee directly, but on second thought, Golden Lion was also a Haki master; he could learn Haki from him!
Furthermore, Golden Lion was actually quite loyal; if you earned his recognition, he would even storm Marineford alone to rescue you.
Of course, currently, only Roger enjoyed such treatment.
But regardless, he felt there was no harm in cooperating with Golden Lion.
Looking into Golden Lion's burning eyes, he said, "I not only know of the ancient weapons' existence, I even know the location of one of them."
"Where is it?!"
Golden Lion asked hurriedly.
"I can't say right now."
"!"
Golden Lion's pupils dilated as he roared, "You brat, are you playing me?!"
"I know the location of the Pluton, but I truly cannot tell you now because I have business to attend to at the Sabaody Archipelago next."
At this point, Belts' lips curled into a slight smile, and his body slowly shifted from his Hybrid Form back to human form.
"If we have the chance, let's meet again at Sabaody."
After saying that, he vanished directly from before Golden Lion's eyes!
"What?!"
Golden Lion was shocked once again as he watched Belts suddenly turn into thin air.
What was going on?
How could a living person suddenly disappear?
Zanpa!
Golden Lion slashed out in all directions; the powerful blade energy tore through the air and sliced the clouds apart, but Belts was nowhere to be found!
Teleportation?
But that was impossible; he had already eaten the azure dragon fruit, so how could he have eaten a Teleportation Fruit?
After his fit of rage, Golden Lion slowly calmed down.
"Very well, you brat..."
"Sabaody Archipelago, is it?"
Golden Lion Shiki said in a low voice, "If you dare to trick me, I will definitely show you the meaning of pain!"
He flew back to his ship and then piloted it toward the Sabaody Archipelago.
Meanwhile, Belts had returned to the Wandenreich, right in his own room.
He checked the wound on his chest and clicked his tongue.
The defense of the dragon scales combined with Blut Vene was truly strong; although Golden Lion could wound him, it wasn't fatal.
Moreover, the azure dragon fruit granted his physical body incredible recovery abilities; this small wound would likely heal very soon.
Then again, Golden Lion probably didn't have any killing intent, did he?
He hadn't used Conqueror's Haki just now... he just didn't know if Golden Lion lacked Conqueror's Haki or simply hadn't used it.
He would likely find out at the Sabaody Archipelago.
His combat experience in the Hybrid Form was still too lacking; after all, for the Sternritter selection, he had spent most of his time fighting in human form.
So, the previous clash with Golden Lion counted as his first serious battle using the Hybrid Form.
His development of the Hybrid Form's power was still too shallow.
But there was no helping it; after all, he couldn't use the azure dragon fruit's abilities within the Wandenreich.
Sigh, it's still not free enough.
If only I had an independent space.
When Liltotto was around, he could enter the Mirror World, but now that Liltotto had lost her memories, he couldn't go to her.
Belts simply lay down on the bed.
Contacting Golden Lion wasn't necessarily a bad thing.
Because he intended to go to Wano, and Wano had Kozuki Oden.
Kozuki Oden was indeed a fool, but he was a strong fool.
Belts had no intention of getting into a dispute with Kozuki Oden, so bringing Golden Lion along was a good idea.
Let Golden Lion go and make a scene with Kozuki Oden; he would just take Vegapunk and develop peacefully within the shadows.
He pulled out the experimental data from Mayuri that he had copied from the image room earlier.
Another idea formed in his mind.
What was the most powerful thing in Shinigami?
That's right, hybrids!
A hybrid like Ichigo, who concentrated the five types of abilities from the Three Worlds and Six Realms within himself, possessed infinite potential.
He was just a Quincy; in terms of upper limits, he couldn't compare to those hybrids.
But could he not modify himself?
He thought of Mayuri's artificial Shinigami technology, and... Vegapunk's Six Paths clone technology!
If... if he could create several avatars like Vegapunk?
Compared to Vegapunk, his avatars would be closer to himself, and he wouldn't even need the Brain-Brain Fruit or Punk Records to share consciousness!
Because... he had the 'Subconscious' Schrift!
He was The Psychologist!
Within 'The Psychologist' lay 'Personality Surgery'; he could split his personality and even transfer it into others!
In this way, he could have true clones!
Then he only needed to create a Hollow clone and a Shinigami clone, and he would effectively possess the four most important bloodlines.
He was a Quincy and a human; add to that Hollow and Shinigami, and if each reached the end and then fused... wouldn't that be equivalent to a brand new Ichigo?!
Furthermore, he had the resources of two worlds; if he truly succeeded, his upper limit might even be higher than Ichigo's!
Belts became excited at this moment, which further confirmed the importance of Vegapunk to him.
Yes, this is how it should be!
Awakening the 'The Subconscious' Schrift was the greatest desire within his heart!
And each clone could also eat a Devil Fruit; he could even have Vegapunk use Lineage Factor technology combined with Mayuri's artificial, infinitely growing Shinigami technology to create the strongest clones!