"What are you babbling about? Get over here..."
As Ron's voice fell, one of the chakra arms suddenly grabbed Golden Lion around the waist and yanked inward.
"Ron, screw your mother!"
Shiki's curse was still echoing in midair when his body was dragged into the internal space of the golden nine-tailed fox demon by that golden chakra arm.
A moment later, Shiki stumbled to the ground, furious. He grabbed Ron's collar, his face full of rage. "Bastard... you really insist on dragging me onto your pirate ship, don't you?!"
Ron remained calm, even smiling faintly. "Don't rush. If you keep interfering with me, that guy behind us will catch up."
After a pause, he added, "And you, Kaido... calm down. Put my sword down."
Shiki froze slightly. Only then did he turn his head and discover that this little bastard Kaido was holding a sword and planning to cut him.
'What the hell? Outlaw behavior now, Kaido?'
The corner of Shiki's eye twitched. He let go of Ron's collar, crossed his arms over his chest, and sneered. "You two bastards caused this trouble. Don't think I'll help you."
"Ron, why don't we throw this bastard Shiki back out? He's acting too arrogant," Kaido said, glancing at Shiki with blatant disgust.
"Hey, Kaido, did your guts get fat? You believe I'll kill you?!" Shiki cursed angrily.
"Hehehe..." Kaido sneered and puffed out his chest. "Want to test the power of my Eight Gates?"
"What the hell is that? I don't care if it's eight gates, nine gates, or ten gates. None of them will save you, bastard!"
"Gentlemen," Ron suddenly cut in. His voice was not loud, but it stopped their argument at just the right moment. "Are you done?"
The golden nine-tailed fox demon suddenly came to a halt, its four paws carving four deep trenches into the ground and lifting a sheet of sand and dust.
"If you're done, then it's time to put in some effort."
"What..."
As soon as the words fell, Shiki's expression stiffened.
Because Imu had somehow flown ahead of them and was now blocking the golden fox demon's path.
"Bastard, let me out!" Shiki quickly shouted.
Whoosh!
Shiki's body was instantly ejected from the internal space of the golden fox demon. The force was actually quite strong, turning him into a cannonball that shot straight toward Imu.
Shiki adjusted his posture in midair and used the Float-Float Fruit to quickly dispel his forward momentum. Even as he steadied himself, he did not forget to curse back, "Are you trying to kill me, Ron?!"
"Weren't you the one who told me to let you out?"
"You bastard. Fine. You're ruthless."
In that instant when Shiki was distracted by cursing, Imu had already moved.
A mass of black mist twisted and condensed in his palm, rapidly turning into a gigantic black mist hammer.
Then Imu swung the hammer straight at Shiki.
Shiki reacted quickly, immediately drawing both swords and crossing them to block.
Boom!
A heavy impact exploded in the air.
Shiki, along with both blades, was smashed away by the giant hammer. His body drew a brilliant arc through the air before crashing heavily into the distant ground.
Boom!
Rolling smoke rose upward. A shallow crater appeared, cracks spreading from it.
Inside the pit, Shiki lay still with his eyes closed, while inwardly cursing up a storm.
'Good. Ron, you damn bastard. I, Shiki, will remember this.'
Then he decided to keep pretending to be dead.
"What an eyesore of an insect."
Imu slowly withdrew his gaze. His eyes locked again on the golden nine-tailed fox demon.
His voice was unhurried but oppressive. "You seem to know something about the Void Century. Who exactly are you?"
"Me?" Ron thought for a moment, then answered seriously, "Monkey D. Garp."
When Kaido heard that, his head snapped over, eyes wide and round.
'Abstract as hell.'
"D..." Imu murmured slowly. Then he spoke again. "But everyone else calls you... Ron."
"Tch." Ron sneered. "You called that blond guy 'insect' earlier. Is his name Insect?"
Kaido looked at Ron with admiration and silently gave the brains of the intern alliance a thumbs up in his heart.
Imu's expression darkened slightly. He said nothing more. He simply reached into the void. A mass of black mist churned in his palm and rapidly condensed into a pitch-black long blade.
Tap, tap, tap.
At that moment, footsteps suddenly sounded behind the golden nine-tailed fox demon.
Then, whoosh!
Two figures leapt high almost simultaneously. They drew two parallel arcs through the air and landed on the left and right shoulders of the golden fox demon.
"Rocks? Newgate? Where did you two run off to?!"
"You bastard..." Rocks lowered his head and glared at Ron irritably. "You still have the nerve to ask? Newgate and I chased you all the way here!"
After saying that, he lifted his head and looked back at Imu. "You should be the guy I saw in that place, shouldn't you?"
A sinister smile slowly curved across Imu's mouth. "Good... new Davy. You came at the perfect time. It saves me the trouble of finding you."
"Rocks, be careful. This guy is an old schemer. It's best not to get close. If he stabs you once, he'll control you," Ron warned.
"Wahahahaha..." Rocks suddenly burst into laughter. He gripped his long blade with both hands. Conqueror's Haki wrapped around it like dark-red flames, lightning jumping along the edge. "I'm not afraid."
Whitebeard immediately understood what Rocks intended to do. He put away his naginata, drew back his right fist, and gathered the Tremor-Tremor Fruit's power into a white sphere of light around his fist.
Almost at the same time, two shouts rang out together.
"Skybreaker!"
"Abyssal Curse!"