This sea has never lacked fools who, after tasting defeat, abandon faith in themselves and pin their hopes on external power.
Crocodile was like that.
Moria was the same.
Even many monsters rotting in Impel Down shared that mindset.
Just as Garp was escorting Ace toward the East Blue, a major incident erupted within the world's most secure prison.
Impel Down.
Level 6 — Infinite Hell.
A grating metallic screech echoed endlessly through the darkness, sharp enough to set one's teeth on edge, irritating every criminal confined there.
"Hey! Golden Lion! What the hell are you doing? Can't you keep it down?!"
Shiki glanced toward the voice, though the thick walls blocked his sight.
He snorted coldly.
"A nobody like you dares speak to me that way?"
"Out on the sea, you wouldn't even qualify to stand before me."
"When I break out of here, you'll be the first I kill."
The voice sneered.
"Old fossil, keep dreaming."
"Has that ship rudder in your skull made you stupid?"
"Break out? I'll be waiting for you, old man."
"If you've got the guts, come now!"
Though all confined to Level 6, the prisoners' circumstances differed greatly.
Some were there due to overwhelming strength and destabilizing influence on the seas.
Some had clashed with the World Government through racial or crew conflicts.
Others had massacred nobles of allied kingdoms.
The gap in power among them was immense.
Ordinarily, few pirates would dare provoke a former top-tier monster like the Golden Lion.
But after the Battle of Edd War, when a ship's rudder became lodged in his skull, Shiki suffered relentless splitting headaches.
Later, upon Roger's execution, he stormed Marineford alone and fought Sengoku and Garp for three days and nights, nearly destroying the base.
After his defeat, his condition worsened.
His concentration faltered.
His Haki became unstable.
Sometimes it worked.
Sometimes it did not.
Conqueror's Haki, which demanded unwavering will, became impossible for him to release.
Otherwise, those insolent pirates would have collapsed instantly.
Even so, this was still Shiki's comparatively "good" state.
As years passed, his mind would deteriorate further.
But now…facing that provocation, Golden Lion thought only one thing.
He had truly never seen such a request.
Crack!
The grinding sound stopped.
Wild laughter replaced it.
"Gehahahahaha!"
With a deafening explosion, a cell door burst apart.
Golden Lion flew out.
His legs were severed at the knees.
His body floated midair, blood trailing behind him.
"What?!"
"How is that possible?!"
"That lunatic!"
Infinite Hell erupted.
Even those capable of Observation Haki were stunned by his ruthlessness.
Redfield glanced at him quietly.
But Redfield was not yet a Devil Fruit user. His restraints differed, and Shiki's escape meant little to him.
Having already abandoned the ambition of assembling a crew rivaling Roger's, Redfield had challenged Fleet Admiral Kong directly and accepted the consequences.
Imprisonment had never shaken him.
He felt no urgency to flee.
Bullet, meanwhile, glanced at the Seastone chains binding him and shook his head.
With the Gasha Gasha no Mi, he could create prosthetic limbs.
But his ambition was absolute supremacy.
Losing his legs would cripple his combat ceiling.
He would not gamble that.
Under countless gazes—some shocked, some calculating Golden Lion hovered freely.
As a former apex powerhouse, only Seastone had restrained him.
Now, having severed the part of his body that touched it, his Float-Float Fruit power surged back.
Excitement ignited across the level.
"Lord Shiki! Take me with you!"
"Admiral! I'll follow you!"
"Let me block the guards!"
"Golden Lion!"
"Admiral!"
Shiki ignored them.
He stopped before a cell.
"It was you who wanted me to kill you, wasn't it?"
Inside, the pirate trembled violently.
"No no! I was joking! Admiral, I admire you deeply!"
"I even tried to join the Flying Pirates once! I just wasn't chosen!"
"Oh?"
Shiki stroked his chin.
The man nodded frantically.
"Yes! So I'd never insult you! Please, let me follow you! Let's raise the Flying Pirates' flag again!"
Not only begging for mercy
He even sought salvation.
Unfortunately for him, this was not the senile Shiki of decades later.
Boom!
The cell door shattered.
Shiki appeared before him instantly, one hand gripping his throat and lifting him high.
"Do you take me for a fool?"
"I am Golden Lion!"
Crack.
His neck snapped.
The body fell limp.
Shiki swept his gaze across the now-silent prisoners, grin savage.
"Gehahahaha… rot in this hell, you scum."
With that, he soared toward the corridor.
"You bastard!"
"Shiki! Stop!"
"Golden Lion! You won't escape!"
"I'll kill you!"
Curses echoed behind him.
He did not look back.
Even weakened, rudder lodged in his skull, weaponless, legless
He remained Golden Lion.
By the time he reached Level 4, no one had stopped him.
He seized two jailers by the heads.
"Where are my swords?"
"They're famous blades."
The trembling jailer pointed toward the equipment room.
"Th-there…"
"I see."
He tightened his grip.
Two skulls burst.
Blood sprayed.
Ignoring it, he flew onward.
Inside the equipment room
There they were.
Oto and Kogarashi.
His twin blades.
By then, Impel Down's forces had mobilized.
Golden Lion bared his teeth.
"You Marine brats think you can stop me?"
He inverted the swords and, without hesitation, plunged them into his severed legs to replace them.
Not a flicker of pain crossed his face.
Then he rose.
Using his sword-legs, he slashed downward.
"Wave Slash!"
"Move aside!"
A voice cut through the chaos, stepping to the front.
Magellan.
"Hydra!"
Poison surged forth.
The attacks collided.
Dust exploded outward…magellan exhaled.
"Blocked"
A voice echoed behind him.
"Boy. Where are you looking?"
His pupils shrank.
"What"
"Lion: Valley Slash!"