"Lion: Thousand Slice Valley!"
The moment Golden Lion's voice exploded in midair, both his hands had already gripped the hilts of the two long blades at his waist.
The instant the blades left their sheaths, two clear metallic hums rang out. Then he swung his slashes repeatedly.
Swish, swish, swish!
One huge golden sword energy after another shot out like crescent moons cut from the sky, carrying sharp screams as they roared toward Linlin behind him.
Linlin, seated on her thundercloud, was clearly startled by Shiki's sudden attack.
She abruptly stood. The thundercloud under her feet sank slightly, then quickly stabilized.
In the next second, she reached for the hat on her head and instantly turned it into a pitch-black blade, Napoleon, while cursing, "Shiki, do you want to die?!"
"Jihahahaha, sorry about that, Linlin. I thought the person behind me was an enemy. But... if you died like that, I would thank heaven and earth." Shiki laughed as he sheathed his blades.
Bang, bang, bang!
Linlin swung Napoleon, knocking away the sword energies one after another. Then she shouted at Shiki's back as he quickly slipped away, "Zeus, shock him for me!"
"Yes, Mama!"
Zeus's voice rang out from within the thundercloud. Then his form instantly expanded by nearly half, tiny electric lights rolling across the surface of the cloud.
Immediately after, Zeus opened his mouth. A thick golden bolt of lightning sprayed out, carrying a shrill sound as it cut through the air, like a thrown spear chasing straight after Shiki's back.
Crackle.
Shiki, who had been smug, suddenly sensed danger through Observation Haki.
Almost instinctively, he dodged sideways. His body shifted at an angle in midair, and the lightning brushed past his shoulder.
Shiki immediately jumped in anger, turning back to curse at Linlin. "Idiot Linlin, why are you shocking me?! Shock the bastards behind us! There isn't much less treasure if the two of us split it, but if those bastards behind us join in, that's a huge problem!"
He said that aloud, but what he thought was something else: I'm lying to you. Even adding you is already too many. Only adding me is just right.
"Don't tell me what to do!" Linlin's voice chased from behind, carrying a kind of unreasonable arrogance that said she simply liked doing this. "I like shocking you! Zeus, shock him!"
"Leave it to me, Mama!"
Zeus's response carried the energy of being praised. The thundercloud swelled again, opening its mouth as the second, third, and fourth golden bolts of lightning shot out one after another.
Crackle.
Crackle.
Bolt after bolt exploded around Shiki. He cursed while dodging, his body constantly changing direction, flipping, and accelerating in the air, yet he never counterattacked.
All his attention was fixed in the same direction: the golden Nine-Tails that was constantly firing Tailed Beast Bombs.
Below them, the land group had already stepped into the battle's affected range.
John, Gansui, Streusen, Babel, and Basta temporarily stopped, each standing on remaining ground near the edge of a crack. The wind from the explosion's aftershocks lifted their clothes again and again.
"Damn it! Shiki and Linlin got ahead of us! By the time we arrive, there won't be a single coin left!" John stared at the flames and smoke constantly rising ahead, his expression dark.
There was no helping it. Only Linlin and Shiki could fly. That gap could not be made up from the beginning.
Basta stood stiffly for a moment before slowly speaking. "If we came for nothing, everyone would be unwilling, right?"
Babel followed up. "How about we cooperate for now? When they come back, we ambush them."
"Hahahaha!" Gansui was the first to laugh. "That's indeed a good idea! Sharing among so many people means less, but it's still better than running here for nothing."
"I refuse."
A small figure among them raised his hand.
Everyone subconsciously lowered their heads.
"Refuse my ass," John cursed irritably. "You're on that bastard Linlin's side!"
"That's why I refuse." Streusen smiled and even nodded calmly.
"Idiot." Gansui waved at him. "We didn't count you in to begin with, all right?"
On the golden Nine-Tails' side, a loud laugh first exploded from the sky.
Immediately after came an even louder shout. "Everyone, I'm here to lend you a hand!"
Everyone inside the golden Nine-Tails looked back at the same time.
When they saw Golden Lion's bright smiling face, varying degrees of surprise, suspicion, and shock appeared on each of their faces.
They looked at one another.
Every face carried a huge question mark.
"What's going on?" Ron said.
He was thinking there should be no profit this time, right? Had he seen a ghost in broad daylight? Golden Lion Shiki had actually come to help on his own?
Or had he been possessed? Was there another transmigrator?
Pirate: I Reincarnated as Golden Lion and Beat Up the Old Era?
"Everyone, be careful. Shiki is scheming something again. No profit, no early rising. If he came here, there must be something he wants," Silver Axe said in a low voice.
"There isn't a damn thing here," Kaido muttered.
Whether there was anything or not, Ron, Kaido, and Silver Axe knew best. They had wanted to loot something earlier too, but after wandering for a long time, they had not found a single hair.
After a pause, Kaido lowered his voice and added, "I know. Is Shiki planning to wait until Harald dies, then take his bones to make soup?"
When Kaido said this, Ron and the others all looked at him.
A young brain really was quick. He could think of anything.
Golden Lion hovered in midair, looking down at everyone inside the golden Nine-Tails as they whispered among themselves.
Every gaze they cast at him carried vigilance that said, 'What trick are you up to now?'
Even that bastard Silver Axe was rarely silent.
Confirmed!!!
Golden Lion made the conclusion in his heart with certainty.
These bastards were absolutely hiding something good.
Why were they whispering about it instead of giving him a share?
"What? You all don't seem very happy," Golden Lion said with a cold laugh and a shrug. The so-called rule was simple: whoever saw it got a share. Want to exclude him? Dream on.
"Idiot Shiki," Whitebeard spoke first, his voice neither high nor low. "There is no profit on this trip. What are you running over here for?"
Shiki spread his hands. "Hey, Newgate, don't always think of me as someone who only cares about profit. I, Shiki, am also someone who contributes to the Rocks Pirates."
As soon as his voice fell, a figure rose rapidly from below the golden Nine-Tails and landed steadily on its shoulder.
Rocks looked up at Shiki in the air, his face carrying a meaningful smile. "Oh, Shiki, you're this kind today? That's rare."
"Jihahaha!" Shiki laughed. "Of course! Rocks, if you feel bad about it, giving me a little hardship pay isn't impossible."
The moment his words fell, Linlin's voice rang out from behind. She had not heard all the earlier conversation, but she did hear Shiki say the words "hardship pay." There was nothing to hesitate about. Since she had come, she naturally needed a share too.
"I want one too."