In the hunting grounds, within a vast forest blanketed in ice and snow...
"Roar!"
The low growls of beasts echoed from all directions.
"Fal... Hans... I... I can't go on..."
A Marine from the detention unit gritted his teeth as he collapsed. A massive gash had opened up in his right leg, and blood was flowing continuously.
His face was pale, and his breathing was weak.
"From here on, it's up to you."
He forced the words out through clenched teeth.
"Give it to me."
Hearing this,
"Kallen…" ×2
Beside him, Hans and Fal, who were already heavily injured, fell silent.
This Marine named Kallen... was their last remaining comrade.
But they did not hesitate. They moved with practiced coordination. Hans shifted his position subtly to block the view while Fal quietly handed something to Kallen.
Then...
"Heh, don't worry! I can still hold on!" Hans grinned.
"Get some rest. Don't pass out, brother." Fal spoke softly. "Otherwise, when that guy shows up, the two of us won't be enough."
Hearing this, Kallen actually smiled.
"Don't worry... I won't miss the final act."
As his words fell, Fal gently reached out and grabbed him.
Then... Kallen's entire body was absorbed directly into Fal's abdomen.
If Roy were here, he would definitely be shocked.
[Fresh-Fresh Devil Fruit LV4 - Allows the user to store non-hostile living beings inside their body.]
Yes!
Although Fal hadn't possessed the Devil Fruit for very long, his level of mastery had already reached an impressive degree.
"Looks like it's just the two of us now." Fal smiled at Hans.
"Can't be helped; we're the boss's two top subordinates, after all." Hans shook his arm slightly and muttered in a low voice: "But are you sure that guy will come?"
"He will," Fal answered decisively.
"When we were brought up here, I noticed that quite a few pirates were preparing for a banquet. They must be the new subordinates that the Shiki gathered after escaping from Impel Down. The Den Den Mushi is broadcasting us. Those pirates are definitely watching. After lying low for so many years, the 'Golden Lion' needs to consolidate his authority..."
Before he could finish...
"Alright, enough. It's annoying to listen to. I trust you anyway." Hans waved him off, then looked into the distance.
"Bang! Bang!"
There... A massive crocodile crushed trees underfoot as it slowly approached.
"Hey... do you still have enough in stock?" Hans asked in a low voice.
"Barely. What about you? Can your body still handle it?' Fal pulled two cans of cola out of his body and handed them over.
"That's a stupid question." Hans cracked one open and gulped it down.
As the power of his Full-Full Devil Fruit activated, his injuries began to heal and his muscles started to grow.
But clearly... It wasn't enough.
His wounds were far too severe for a single can of cola to fully heal. Blood continued to seep out.
But...
"I'm Hans!" He grinned, his teeth clattering.
Then he leapt forward.
"Bang!"
His enlarged right leg smashed down onto the crocodile's head, spraying both the beast's blood and his own into the air.
"Of course I can handle it!"
As he spoke, he tossed the other cola can onto the crocodile's back. Then he pulled a face at the massive Den Den Mushi in the distance and shouted,
"That so-called Golden Lion is nothing but a crippled old mutt! If he doesn't dare fight Grandpa Hans for three hundred rounds, what kind of legend is he?!"
And just as his words fell...
"Rumble!!!"
Both Hans and Fal saw it from afar, the Royal Palace above, belonging to the Golden Lion.
As if responding to his provocation, the grand gates suddenly opened.
"Clang Clang!"
The sound of blades striking the ground rang out.
Shiki, with a cigar in his mouth, slowly floated out of the palace.
Then...
"Buzz!!"
Hans and Fal couldn't see Shiki's movements clearly.
"Lion Majesty - Snow Mane!"
In the next instant... A raging blizzard changed direction. Snow swirled wildly and frost formed instantly into strands that bound Hans and Fal by their necks, lifting them into the air.
"Ugh...!" ×2
The intense pain forced groans from both of them.
And at that moment...
"Have you said enough, Marines?"
Shiki had crossed the vast distance at incredible speed and appeared before them. His hair whipped around wildly in the storm, making him look like an enraged lion.
His gaze fell upon Hans and Fal.
:Fight for three hundred rounds? Maybe if Sengoku or Monkey D. Garp said that, it would mean something. I don't know what plan you have, but what can you possibly do now?"
He looked at Hans and Fal, whose bodies and limbs were completely bound and immobile.
Yes...
The Golden Lion knew that their strange provocation wasn't normal.
He could already guess... They probably had some kind of plan.
But... That didn't matter.
No matter what plan they had, Shiki didn't believe it posed the slightest threat to him. 'The cleverness of the weak is meaningless in the face of true power.'
He spoke coldly.
"I can kill you in countless ways at any moment, and you have no means to resist. The law of the sea is survival of the fittest."
He stood at the very top of that food chain... Whether as a member of the Rocks Pirates or as the 'Golden Lion.'
He was the roaring lion.
"Now… choose."
As his words fell, accompanied by a thunderous roar... All across the forest, the Beast Weapons that had been hunting Hans and Fal gathered at once.
Their crimson, greedy eyes fixed on the two men as if to prove Shiki's words.
"I'll let these beasts devour you piece by piece so you can experience the most painful death."
Shiki raised his hand, his voice booming across the island.
"Or… beg me for mercy, Marines. If you do, I might spare your lives."
Those words echoed through the Den Den Mushi into the Royal Palace. And once again, the pirates erupted in excitement.
"What presence! What brutality!"
"As expected of Old Boss Shiki!"
"This is exactly how the legendary "Golden Lion" should be!"
Their cheers rang out loudly, carrying beyond the open palace gates.
But the next moment...
"Heh…" A voice came from within the snow that was binding him tightly.
Hans actually spoke. "Are you an idiot?"
He forced his eyes open to look at Shiki and then... He smiled.
"!!!"
Shiki's expression froze for a moment before a surge of killing intent flashed in his eyes.
"Are you that eager to die?" He spoke coldly, and the surrounding beasts immediately began to close in.
"I agree..." At that same moment, Fal also spoke.
His condition was worse than Hans's, his Devil Fruit wasn't suited to combat, and he was on the verge of losing consciousness.
Yet he still forced himself to answer his comrade.
"This guy really is… an idiot…" Fal, who rarely spoke harshly, managed to say:
"Beg for mercy?
"Do you even know who we are?"
As he finished speaking, his voice faded and he lost consciousness completely.
But at that exact moment...
'Buzz!' "Buzz!" "Buzz!"
Figures fell out of his body.
They all wore white Marine uniforms. They were all severely wounded, their clothes soaked in blood.
They were the Marines that Fal had stored inside himself.
When a Devil Fruit user faints or dies, their powers are naturally undone.
So they were all released.
Yet, none of them looked surprised.
On the contrary...
"!!!"
Shiki suddenly noticed that every single one of them was gripping a button tightly in their hands.
Some of their hands were trembling. But ultimately, their gazes hardened as they looked up at him.
And in that instant...
"!!!"
...Shiki's eyes widened.
Drawing on his vast battle experience, he immediately looked towards the surrounding Beast Weapons and realized that inside the 'cola cans' that Hans had been throwing, there were faint blinking signals.
"They're bombs… these bastards...!"
In that instant, Shiki understood everything.
Yes...
From the very beginning, Hans and Fal knew they couldn't win.
Their opponent was the 'Golden Lion'... a legendary pirate.
But so what?
Just because they couldn't win, did that mean they should refuse to fight?
"We swore to follow the boss. We swore we wouldn't let him down."
Everyone thought that Fal's Fresh-Fresh Fruit contained only food.
But in truth he carried miniature high-energy bombs produced by the Marines' SSG. Everyone thought that Hans's provocations were just meaningless bravado before death.
But in reality... Every can of cola he threw at the beasts and across the forest was part of his preparation for this very moment. Everyone thought the Marines were hiding inside Fal's body to survive.
But in truth... They were ready for this the moment they went in. Everyone thought that, once Hans and Fal were captured, their plan would fail.
But in reality... Even if Shiki had killed them on the spot, the plan would still have proceeded.
Just as they said before... This was the final act they had prepared from the outset.
"Brothers!"
In that final moment, Hans roared with all his remaining strength.
"Tell him who we are!"
"Subordinates of 'Black Kirin' Roy Amos... Marines of Detention Unit DT-31!" ×N
As their voices fell... they pressed the buttons in their hands without hesitation.
That was the resolve they had decided on from the very start.
"Did you hear that?! We are subordinates of the future legend of the Marines! How could we ever surrender to an old relic abandoned by the times like you, pirate?"
And in the next moment...
"BOOM!!!"
Amid the raging blizzard... a deafening explosion shook the heavens.
(End of Chapter)
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