There was indeed a gap in strength between Silver Axe and Shiki, but it wasn't that large. At least not so large that he would be terrified at the sight of Shiki.
Apart from not having Conqueror's Haki, Silver Axe and Wang Zhi weren't inferior to Shiki in other aspects. Both of them had Admiral-level strength. Alone, neither could defeat Shiki, but together, victory was hard to predict.
Of course, now wasn't the right time to reveal their alliance.
The most crucial intelligence should be kept for last—that way, they could catch others off guard. He hadn't forgotten that this time, they had quite a few enemies.
The Marines, Shiki, Big Mom, Inazuma...
Compared to these forces, they didn't have much of an advantage.
"Your subordinate seems a bit unruly, so I taught him a lesson on behalf of our old friendship. No need for thanks, ze-hahahaha..." Shiki laughed loudly, clearly quite pleased about embarrassing his old comrade.
He could even be said to be enjoying it.
Silver Axe's face couldn't hide his displeasure, and he wasn't about to simply swallow this loss. The two were ready to clash at any moment.
But at that moment, another voice rang out from behind Shiki. Wang Zhi, who had arrived almost simultaneously with Silver Axe, walked over, immediately targeting Shiki.
"Shiki, your personality is still as terrible as ever. What? The lesson Inazuma gave you a few years ago wasn't enough?"
Wang Zhi immediately brought up Shiki's painful past, and from his demeanor, he seemed to want to drag Ren's people into this as well. This left Ren with a rather poor impression of him. Although they had done business before, they had never met in person.
"So you're here too. What, planning to join forces with Silver Axe against me?" Shiki raised an eyebrow with disdain. Though he said this, he didn't actually think the two would ally. It was normal for Wang Zhi to target him right away—after all, among the pirates standing against Shiki earlier were Wang Zhi's subordinates.
"Wang Zhi-sama!" The former Eight-Teeth Navy general relaxed upon seeing Wang Zhi, hurriedly rushing toward him.
Wang Zhi didn't even glance at him.
"Join forces with others? That doesn't sound bad. First kick out this annoying fellow—that's actually not a bad choice." Wang Zhi's gaze first swept over Silver Axe, then successively over the leaders of other major forces gathered here.
"How about it? Anyone interested?" Wang Zhi's gaze fell upon the pirates, immediately making some of them restless. If they could eliminate a legendary pirate like Golden Lion from the entry list right here, that didn't sound bad either. Quite a few were quite tempted.
"Something this interesting, of course I'm joining! But let's be clear—cooperation is limited to this. Wang Zhi, don't expect me to be your hired muscle!" Silver Axe sneered. He was the first to respond to Wang Zhi, but this approach actually prevented others from suspecting they had already planned to ally.
After all, his conflict with Golden Lion was plain to see. Agreeing to Wang Zhi's suggestion was natural. With Silver Axe being the first to agree, others soon stepped forward.
"This sounds interesting, count me in!" A tall, powerfully-built man dressed like a Viking stepped forward, looking cruelly at Golden Lion. On his shoulder sat another, similarly dressed but much thinner person.
"Wait, Byrnndi..."
"Don't worry, brother, I won't lose!" Byrnndi World didn't give his brother a chance to continue speaking. Instead, he lifted the small figure from his shoulder and carefully handed him to the ship's doctor.
"Byrnndi World, you want to oppose me too?" Golden Lion frowned as he looked at him. He had heard of this man—said to be an utter madman. Even the World Government called him the "World Destroyer."
Setting aside his actual strength, his destructive tendencies and level of madness were officially recognized.
Honestly, this was someone who gave even Ren quite a headache. World had no fixed territory, and his location was hard to find on the seas. His habit of causing massive destruction wherever he went had always been troublesome.
He was essentially the seas' troublemaker.
Actually, World hadn't always had this personality. In the beginning, he was a decent young man traveling the world with his frail older brother. But during their journey, he gradually became a pirate, and his heart began craving destruction.
In terms of strength, World actually had some gap compared to Wang Zhi and others. Although he possessed Conqueror's Haki, he hadn't mastered advanced techniques like Conqueror's Haki coating. His Armament Haki was strong, but not top-tier.
Decades later, he would be at about Doflamingo's level. After breaking out of prison, his strength declined even further.
However, World's joining was a signal—representing that Golden Lion was being targeted by everyone right after arriving on the island. But he brought this on himself. Who told him to provoke so many forces upon arriving? He deserved it.
But Shiki was no fool either. He certainly knew that continuing like this would put him at a disadvantage. So he made up his mind to directly start a chaotic battle. These pirates talked about eliminating him first. They made it sound nice, but once fighting actually started, who wouldn't take the opportunity to stab each other in the back?
He just needed to withstand the initial pressure, and things would become much easier later.
Especially since he still held the aerial advantage—if he couldn't win, he could always create distance.
So Shiki truly wasn't afraid at all. He drew both swords and charged toward Wang Zhi, Silver Axe, and World simultaneously, while shouting to the warship in the sky: "Boys, start deploying the war machines!"
Indigo on the flying ship heard Shiki's command and immediately waved his hand. Suddenly, countless Ruin Sentinels rained down from the sky like divine soldiers onto the island.
Half of these Ruin Sentinels were purchased by Golden Lion, and the other half were seized from other pirates or countries during his raids.
"Ze-hahahaha, watch this great lord flatten this island!"
"Crazy fellow!" Zephyr, watching from a distance, shook his head helplessly. Clearly, the Marines couldn't stay out of this now either. Shiki clearly intended to drag all the forces on the island into the whirlpool of war. The Ruin Sentinels were deployed against everyone.
But...
"This kind of thing... you're not the only one who has it!"
Suddenly, other pirate crews and the Marines stopped hiding. The Ruin-series autonomous machines they had brought along were immediately activated. In an instant, machines of various colors clashed together, with artillery fire flying everywhere...
This must have been the scene when Khaenri'ah launched its campaign...
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