Just as Law swallowed his humiliation and acknowledged reality—just as the Golden Lion, thoroughly satisfied, prepared to press him even harder—
"Heh."
A cold chuckle sliced through the air without warning.
It carried no warmth. Only pure malice. Pure battle intent.
Shiki's pupils shrank instantly.
His battle instincts—honed through decades of blood and war—kicked in the moment the sound reached his ears.
He didn't even have time to turn his head.
His left palm slammed down toward the ground.
"BOOM!"
A violent counter-blast of air erupted beneath him, launching his body upward dozens of meters in a split second.
And almost at the exact instant he vacated his position—
"BANG!!!"
A fist wrapped in pitch-black Busoshoku Haki, thick with bulging muscle, smashed into the spot where he had just been standing.
The air at the point of impact detonated outward in a rippling shockwave several meters wide. The explosion of compressed air sent Law's battered body tumbling even farther away.
High above, Shiki's gaze snapped downward.
The dust slowly parted.
The attacker revealed himself.
Dark crimson skin. A devilish, exhilarated grin. A massive body that radiated overwhelming pressure just by standing still.
"Douglas Barrett!"
"Golden Lion… Shiki!"
Two voices rang out—one crashing down coldly from the sky, the other rising from the earth with manic battle hunger.
They spoke each other's names almost simultaneously.
Two figures of the old era.
Facing off once more—unexpectedly—on the training grounds of G-10.
Barrett slowly withdrew his fist. He rolled his neck, producing a series of bone-grinding cracks.
He tilted his head back to look at Shiki hovering above. In those eyes brimming with destructive desire, there was not the slightest attempt to conceal his provocation.
"Golden Lion… you've grown weaker. When I rampaged across the seas back then, we crossed fists once. The Shiki I fought… wouldn't have chosen to dodge."
"Like hell I wanted to dodge, you bastard."
Shiki hovered midair, staring down at Barrett as a chill crept through his heart.
This monster… he's actually grown this much stronger since then?
That raw physical power… that Haki… There's no mistake. Emperor-level.
While Shiki was still calculating—
Another voice drifted over from a different direction, cool and faint.
"Cursed blade?"
Shiki turned toward the source.
At the edge of the training field stood Dracule Mihawk—"Hawkeye"—who had appeared without anyone noticing.
His hawk-like golden eyes rested on the sword Kikoku, which had fallen from Law's hand.
With a casual flick of his foot, he popped the blade upward and caught it in his hand.
"They say it's cursed? Then why did you pick it up?! Hurry up and throw it away!"
Perona floated behind him, clutching her Kumashi doll—styled suspiciously like Mihawk himself—poking at the brim of his hat with exaggerated annoyance.
Her tone carried equal parts bratty disdain and nervous energy.
Meanwhile—
"Yahahaha! Isn't that Law?!"
Enel sat cross-legged atop Bartholomew Kuma's broad shoulders, his golden staff resting lazily across his lap.
He looked down at the pitiful figure in the crater with blatant mockery.
"What happened? Didn't see you for a few days and you turned this pathetic?"
"He's hurt really badly… that's so sad…"
Beside Kuma, a pair of soft rabbit ears twitched.
Lipo took a bite of her carrot, blinking her large eyes as she looked at Law's miserable state. Her tone held a thread of innocent sympathy.
Behind her stood the tall, voluptuous Snake Princess—Torritoma—her elegant figure coiled with a massive serpent.
She didn't spare Law a glance.
Her crimson lips parted slightly as her gaze locked onto Shiki in the sky.
"Looks like we've got a restless one."
"Everyone!"
At that moment, Gern Reginald Sigmar's voice came from behind them.
"You're all back?"
He stepped out from the depths of the garden at an unhurried pace, expression calm as ever.
Beside him walked Tesoro.
Gern did not position himself with either side.
He simply stopped in the open space between Shiki and the gathered members of the Calamities.
The moment he appeared, the formation of the field subtly shifted.
Gern stood alone at the very front.
Like the core. The axis. The master of all G-10.
Behind him—Barrett, Mihawk, Tesoro, Enel (with Kuma), Lipo, Torritoma—the direct pillars of the Calamities.
Some stood. Some sat. Some smirked. Some remained expressionless.
But unconsciously, they formed a single line.
An immense collective pressure radiated outward.
And at the center of that invisible semi-circle—
Hovering in midair, gripping twin blades, his expression shifting darkly—
Was Golden Lion Shiki.
He stood with neither Gern nor the Calamities.
This "independence"—this faint but unmistakable separation—felt like a silent declaration.
Golden Lion Shiki.
Legend of the old era.
On this land called G-10—
Was, in the end, an outsider.
A collaborator.
Perhaps even… a potential liability.
He did not belong to this tightly bound and terrifyingly powerful collective.
His stance was ambiguous.
His ambition had never truly died.
Gern's calm gaze swept across the field before settling on Shiki.
A faint, unreadable smile tugged at his lips.
"Come down, Shiki."
"I called them back specifically for this. From now on, we're family. Let's get acquainted."
To anyone else, it sounded friendly.
To Shiki, it felt like a death sentence.
His eyes rapidly scanned the faces below.
"Devil" Douglas Barrett."Hawkeye" Mihawk."God" Enel."Tyant" Bartholomew Kuma."White Rabbit" Lipo."Snake Princess" Torritoma."Gold Emperor" Tesoro.
Damn it…
If they all move at once… I'm dead. No question.
His heart began to pound violently. Cold sweat threatened to soak through his back.
It looked so ordinary.
Yet he couldn't tell.
Was this—
"Family. Let's get acquainted."
Or—
A banquet at Hongmen. A trial. An execution.
If his conscience were clear—if he truly intended to join Gern sincerely—
He should have descended immediately.
Faced everything openly.
But…
He hesitated.
That split-second hesitation—born of his nature—made him the loudest informant of all.
It exposed the ambition and scheming he had never extinguished.
He feared Gern had already seen through him.
Feared this so-called "acquaintance" was a meticulously arranged ambush.
Feared that if he descended—
He wouldn't be welcomed.
He'd be erased.
"Marine brat… are you planning to kill me?!"
The wind howled in the sky, whipping Shiki's golden mane.
Below, every Calamity's gaze locked onto him.
That silent pressure nearly crushed him out of the air.
He hovered there.
Advance—or retreat.
Descend, and perhaps walk into death.
Refuse, and tear off the mask entirely.
Either path led to uncertainty.
And Gern—
Still stood there with his hand extended.
His smile unchanged.
"Admiral Gern, the Golden Lion has—" Tesoro stepped closer, lowering his voice.
But before he could finish, Gern calmly interrupted.
"I know."
His voice wasn't loud.
But Tesoro fell silent immediately.
"Admiral Gern?" Tesoro's eyes flickered with surprise.
Gern's expression remained warm, almost gentle.
Yet his gaze never left the wavering figure in the sky.
As if admiring something fascinating.
"Heh."
He chuckled softly.
"A simple little test… and you revealed yourself, Golden Lion."
Without shifting his eyes, he continued in a voice only Tesoro could hear.
"The struggle for Fleet Admiral within the Marines has already begun beneath the surface. Sakazuki and Kuzan… both have their backers and their pushers."
"The World Government is happy to see them fight. To see them exhaust one another. Because when one side suffers enough, they can step in as saviors—and reclaim the authority the Marines have slowly taken back."
"So I need Shiki. I need an uncontrollable force capable of stirring the entire board."
"But I also need… an opportunity."
For a fleeting moment—
A killing intent flickered in Gern's eyes.
"Tesoro. The World Government doesn't want me in that seat."
His voice dropped even lower.
"So tell me… if I personally 'end' a legend—if I draw a clean, decisive line under the era of Roger, Whitebeard, and Shiki—the so-called 'Three Great Legends'…"
"If I use an overlord of the old era as the sacrifice that ushers in the new…"
"Would that 'merit' and 'deterrence' be heavy enough?"
"Or perhaps—if Marineford no longer exists—would they even have a choice?"
"Faced with timing, position, unity, and prestige all at their peak in me…"
"Would they still dare refuse me the Fleet Admiral's seat?"
"That authority never should have been in their hands to begin with."
Tesoro inhaled sharply.
His heart pounded wildly.
"Admiral Gern… you…"
He dared not continue.
Because he knew.
This man never acted without certainty.
Behind every seemingly insane thought lay layers of careful planning.
After a brief moment of shock, Tesoro gave a soft laugh and bowed slightly.
"In that case… G-10 and Marineford… can't both exist in the future, can they?"
"Fleet Admiral… Gern."
Gern's smile widened faintly.
"There's no helping it. Time won't wait."
"And the 'opportunity'… is about to arrive."
...
Sea Circle Calendar, Year 1520.
August.
First half of the Grand Line.
Banaro Island.
Betrayal and pursuit reached their conclusion.
Former Whitebeard Pirates member—"Blackbeard" Marshall D. Teach—
Officially defeated the Whitebeard Pirates' Second Division Commander—"Fire Fist" Portgas D. Ace—who had come to capture him.
Within the same month—
Teach did not hand Ace over to the Marines.
Instead, he contacted agents of the World Government directly.
A secret deal was struck.
As leverage, Teach revealed a secret he had once overheard during his time aboard the Whitebeard Pirates—
The truth of Ace's real identity.
Using this "pledge of allegiance," combined with the power he had demonstrated in defeating Ace—
Teach bypassed the Marines entirely.
He was granted the title of Warlord of the Sea (Shichibukai) directly by the World Government.
Meanwhile—
The captured Ace was not imprisoned in a Marine facility.
Instead, he was transferred under the escort of World Government agents—
Secretly delivered to the world's greatest underwater prison—
Impel Down.
The lowest level.
(The underwater prison Impel Down operates independently from the Marines.Alongside Marine Headquarters and Enies Lobby, it stands as one of the World Government's three great directly controlled institutions, possessing its own independent chain of command and operational system.)