New World — Territory of the Flying Pirates, Floating Archipelago
A violent gale howled as pitch-black storm clouds pressed down from above.
At the edge of a sheer cliff, Golden Lion Shiki stood motionless, the newspaper in his hand crushed into scraps.
His yellow kimono cloak snapped violently in the wind as his gaze locked onto the endlessly churning sea of clouds in the distance.
Because a ship's steering wheel had been embedded in his skull, Shiki suffered frequent migraines and bouts of neural disorder. He had been forced to undergo long-term treatment because of it.
But once again, the treatment had failed.
The truth had long been made clear—the steering wheel lodged in his head could never be removed.
Yet compared to that, what truly enraged him…was the news he saw the moment he stepped out of treatment.
"What kind of joke is this?!""Roger—that bastard—how could he possibly be captured by the Marines?!"
Golden Lion's roar shook the entire floating island, causing the surrounding pirates to stagger backward in fear, not daring to approach him.
At that moment, Indigo cautiously stepped forward and pushed up his glasses.
"Lord Shiki… the news has already been confirmed.Roger was indeed defeated by the Marine known as 'Heaven-Shaker' Gern."
"He is currently imprisoned in Impel Down. The Marines have announced that—"
"One month from now, in the East Blue… at Loguetown, they will carry out a public execution…"
"Bullshit!!!"
Golden Lion whirled around violently as his Conqueror's Haki erupted in a thunderous explosion. The rocks around him shattered instantly.
"Roger?! Roger—that man… even if he were on death's door, there's no way he'd lose to some Marine brat!!"
"And when I last saw him, there was nothing wrong with him at all!!"
As he spoke, the image of Roger's smile from their last meeting flashed through his mind.
That man—his equal, perhaps even his superior.The only pirate he had ever truly acknowledged.The Pirate King.
And now, the newspapers claimed that Roger had been defeated by a Marine vice admiral—and would be dragged to the weakest sea and publicly executed?!
"Loguetown… in the East Blue…"Golden Lion's voice dropped, heavy with danger."Those Marines… are they trying to humiliate him?!"
Indigo swallowed hard and forced himself to speak.
"Lord Shiki, Marine Headquarters is on maximum alert right now.Steelbone Kong, Sengoku the Buddha, and Garp are all stationed at Marineford."
"If we act rashly—"
"Shut up!!"
Golden Lion raised his hand sharply. A blade of compressed air screamed outward, cleaving a distant mountain peak clean in half.
"Roger is my rival!His end is not something the Marines get to decide!"
With those words, Golden Lion leapt into the air.
Gripping his famed blades 'Oto' and 'Kogarashi', he released surging waves of sword energy. His body hovered high above the ground as violent Conqueror's Haki churned the clouds, like a maddened lion baring its fangs.
"Lord Shiki! Where are you going?!" Indigo shouted in panic.
"Marineford!!"Golden Lion's voice boomed like thunder.
"I'm going to ask those Marines myself—what right they think they have to decide Roger's fate!!"
Before the echo faded, his figure had already turned into a streak of light, blasting toward Marine Headquarters.
Grand Line — G-14 Marine Base
"Enemy attack!! It's Golden Lion!!!"
The alarm blared across the base—but in the very next instant, a golden figure crashed into the central plaza like a meteor.
"Lion's Chopping Valley!!"
Golden Lion laughed wildly as he swung his legs. Hundreds of golden sword slashes crisscrossed the air.
Steel fortifications were sliced apart like tofu. Cannons, warships, and buildings collapsed beneath the rain of blades.
Blood and fire erupted skyward.
By the time he departed, G-14 Marine Base had been reduced to ruins.
After that—outposts, Red Line patrol fleets—anything that encountered Golden Lion, or even lay along his path, was utterly annihilated.
Dragging destruction and wreckage behind him, he continued onward toward Marineford.
Marine Headquarters — Marineford
Black clouds pressed low. Torrential rain poured from the sky.
Golden Lion stood a thousand meters above the ground, his feet planted atop dozens of Marine warships suspended in the air by his power.
Rain streamed down his face, yet it could not extinguish the boiling killing intent in his eyes.
"MARINES!!!"
His roar thundered across all of Marineford.
"Hand over Roger—NOW!!!"
With a violent wave of his hand, the floating warships plummeted like meteors toward Headquarters.
Explosions tore through the plaza, the fortress, the harbor—fire and smoke swallowed everything.
"Enemy invasion!! Someone has breached Marineford!!"Alarms screamed throughout the base.
"How many enemies are there—?!"
"Th-the number—"The lookout in the tower went pale, nearly dropping his binoculars.
"R-report!! There's only one!It's… it's Golden Lion Shiki!!He's already broken into Marineford Plaza!!"
Fleet Admiral's Office
"That bastard?!"Steelbone Kong shot to his feet and slammed his fist onto the desk."Why would that madman show up now?!"
Sengoku's expression darkened."He's here for Roger…"
Zephyr clenched his fists, his gaze shifting toward the hospital wing."Gern is still unconscious… but at least Sakazuki and the others are here."
"No time!" Kong barked."Activate Level One Alert immediately!Send Garp and Sengoku!Golden Lion must not be allowed anywhere near Impel Down!"
Outside the window, storm clouds churned as violent winds rose.
Marineford — Central Plaza
"Heaven-Shaker brat!!!"
A golden figure tore through the clouds, standing atop Marine corpses with twin blades in hand. His arrogant laughter echoed across the battlefield.
"Get your ass out here!!!"
"How could Roger ever be captured by trash like you?!"
"He's the man I acknowledged!!!"
Footsteps approached.
The Marines surrounding Golden Lion visibly relaxed when they saw who had arrived.
"Admiral Sengoku… Vice Admiral Garp…"
"Roger is the Pirate King," Sengoku said calmly, dressed in a black suit beneath his Justice cloak, his gaze steady on Golden Lion."And you already lost once—at the Battle of Edd War, Shiki."
"Pirate King?"Golden Lion, cigar clenched between his teeth, yanked Kogarashi from a Marine's body. Blood sprayed as he slowly turned around.
"So what?!!"
"If he'd agreed to join me back then, we would've conquered the entire world by now!!"
Narrowing his eyes at Sengoku and Garp, Golden Lion continued,
"Yeah, we didn't get along…"He pressed a hand to his chest, the memory of Gern's slash flashing through his mind."But we still walked through the same era…"
Rain mixed with blood, pooling into a dark crimson stream at his feet.
"But what I can't stand…"Golden Lion suddenly clutched his chest harder, an old wound throbbing painfully.
The scar Gern had carved into him.
"That brat…"
His voice dropped, turning icy and terrifying.
Conqueror's Haki detonated outward, a golden shockwave exploding from his body.
Within a hundred meters, Marines collapsed like harvested wheat. The plaza tiles cracked layer by layer.
"He made his name by cutting me once—and now he wants to use Roger to bring an era to an end?!"
Golden Lion slowly raised both blades, their edges reflecting blood-red light.
"What does Gern think he is…?"
"A brat who's never even weathered the tides of the old era…"
"What right does he have—what right—to put a period on the legends of our generation?!"
"The end of this era is NOT for him to decide!!!"