Crush,!!
With a massive explosion, the huge meteor was destroyed easily, but the aftermath became another headache.
Now it was raining giant stones, their sizes varying from tennis balls to average-sized houses.
"Phew,! Those two are monsters. I expected this from the honorary admiral but… isn't that old man sea emperor level, or even stronger?!" a man wearing a weird mask and possessing an insanely macho body spoke. He was one of the people who had come from the New World to enjoy the event.
"Yeah, he might be just below our pops' level, oi."
A man whose head resembled a pineapple replied.
"…"
"The hell are you doing here?!" x2
⸻
'Burgess, Marco, Ace, and Revolutionary Army members including Sabo… this is really a weird gathering of people today…'
"Bang."
Shun chanted and created a bunch of shotguns to destroy the bigger rocks.
"Shihahaha, I'll lower you guys. Release the mutated animals to them."
'Seems like this old man forgot to cut the dial off before giving orders. Doing the classic boomer mistake.' Shun thought before turning toward his group of eight allies.
"You heard him. Kill anyone except that doctor with the Ope Ope Fruit. If there are any interesting or useful animals among them, you can keep them."
The seven warlords and one admiral nodded.
Whoosh,!!
To Shun's surprise, the seven of them didn't wait for the enemies to drop. Instead, they used Geppo, one of the Marine Six Styles, to meet them in the sky.
'…I guess I underestimated their talents.'
Seeing them leave, Sengoku asked,
"Who are those kids with fox masks?"
Even though he already had his suspicions, he asked anyway.
"They're my kids. Blood-related." Shun lied as casually as he breathed.
"!!!"
"You? A parent? You?!" Garp doubted his own ears.
'The hell is this old man trying to say?'
"I thought today would be a good opportunity for them to gain experience."
Sengoku, on the other hand, became even more suspicious. After all, quite coincidentally, a few children had disappeared a few days ago.
⸻
Back to Shiki's side.
One of the strongest pirates from the previous generation, Golden Lion Shiki stood atop an island floating in the sky. Looking below, he watched the explosions and relentless gunfire destroying the meteors.
'It's been a long journey to get here…'
Shiki closed his eyes and reminisced about the past year. Usually, he only thought about Roger and his strange obsession with him. It was almost like Naruto chasing after Sasuke.
For him the World Government was like Orochimaru.
Until one normal day, a live broadcast changed his entire life.
Shiki and his close friends, a group consisting of a gorilla and a clown, were watching the broadcast together. They were laughing at Shun and 'Rayleigh' calling Ochoku trash.
Until…
"Golden Lion Shiki is a fraud!"
On the screen, Shun and Rayleigh started talking about him, and not in a positive way. Rayleigh would occasionally add "facts" that he claimed to have witnessed himself.
"…"
Crush,!!
The giant screen was sliced apart by a flying slash Shiki sent from his sword leg.
"Captain…"
"I'll kill those two! Forget the SIQ, the plan has changed!"
"Captain… it's an obvious provocation to lure you out."
"I know!!"
Shiki wasn't an idiot. He knew it was a provocation, but if he didn't respond, it would only prove the rumors they were spreading. It was a nasty move from Shun's side.
"Captain. There's a rookie with an interesting Devil Fruit, he just became a sea warlord." Suddenly, the clown spoke up.
"Huh? Why would I care about trash like that?!"
"I think his Devil Fruit can bring back your old strength, or even make you stronger!"
"…"
Hearing this, Shiki visibly regained his composure.
If he was going to kill them anyway, why not improve the odds even further?
He was a man who had waited twenty years to take revenge on the World Government for… executing Roger.
Thus began his training arc.
Despite being an old man from the previous generation, he kidnapped Trafalgar Law, the newly appointed sea warlord.
'Just a brat pretending to be a pirate. By taking his crewmates hostage, I made him do whatever I wanted.' Shiki thought with a smile.
After removing the steering wheel lodged in his skull, he slowly regained all three types of haki.
Despite his anger, Shiki continued watching the provocative live broadcasts.
After another six months, the anger and humiliation from those broadcasts pushed his haki back to its prime, or perhaps even beyond it.
Then, after another month… he succeeded in something even harder than mastering haki…
He awakened the Float Float Fruit.
Now he could do far more than before, like affecting living beings other than himself with his Devil Fruit powers. He could also use his abilities far more efficiently, on multiple targets at once.
The rest of his time was spent recruiting pirates through underground channels. He floated around gathering meteoroids to keep at his disposal.
Finally… one day.
"Book release event?"
"Is this bastard giving me a deadline?"
⸻
Back to Shun's POV.
"Oi! Where's Rayleigh?! Now that I think about it, he hasn't shown himself." Shiki asked through a seashell dial from Sky Island technology.
"He's hiding somewhere on this grove."
"Shihahaha, as he should be."
Rayleigh, who had been spying with Observation Haki, clenched his fist tightly.
"…"
The Straw Hat crew, who had gathered there along with Shakky, didn't know what to say.
They already had their own problem. Their cook, who loved women more than anything, had somehow turned into a woman himself.
Hearing the target of humiliation shift from Shiki to himself, Rayleigh angrily stepped out of Shakky's bar. He never thought he could still feel this much anger at his age.
Meanwhile, on Shun's side.
Leaving the dial on the ground, Shun started walking toward the sky. His legs were coated with paw bubbles, repelling the air just enough for him to walk on it.
Shiki also floated down from the island.
The two stared each other down in the middle of the sky.
Shiki didn't even seem to care about the meteoroids being destroyed.
Instead, he looked at Shun with a confident smile.
Suddenly, Shun chanted.
"Bang."
Out of nowhere, ten shotguns materialized around Shiki's body, completely surrounding him.
"!!!"
The shotguns roared relentlessly.
The people watching were shocked by this bizarre fighting style.
But not Shiki. He had studied the previous broadcast where a man named Garling fought Shun.
"Idiot."
Shiki spoke as though it were the name of a technique.
The bullets that were about to hit him, along with the guns surrounding him, all froze in place.
With a wave of his hand, the bullets and guns all turned toward Shun instead.
Once again, the shotguns roared. Only this time, the target had changed.
Shun could have stopped supplying the guns with magic and made them disappear, but… he didn't.
Instead, he removed the gloves Juvia had gifted him a few days earlier.
And in the next moment… he displayed the mastery he possessed over his paw powers, recoil, and repulsion.
"Useless! Useless! Useless!"
POP,!
Every single bullet was repelled effortlessly and efficiently.
Shiki didn't bother redirecting the repelled bullets back with his telekinetic ability.
"Great technique. It's a waste for a man of your ability to die. If we work together, we can take over the world!" Shiki unexpectedly invited him.
'He said work together instead of demanding I work under him, huh? Just what happened to this guy over the past year? Well, I only knew him from a single movie anyway.'
"That's true. If our abilities are combined, we'll be unstoppable."
"Hm?"
Shiki, who hadn't expected anything, was now intrigued.
"But I refuse."
"…"
"After all, I can combine our abilities even better after killing you." Shun shrugged while saying something terrifying.
'Besides, how could I trust you? After my attempt to recruit admirals failed, I realized I shouldn't try working with old people.'
"I see. Then die."
Shiki's demeanor instantly changed as he waved his hand.
"Gah,!! Agh,!!"
To the crowd's shock, Shun visibly started struggling.
"Zanpa!"
Without giving Shun a chance to literally catch his breath, Shiki unleashed a flying sword slash with his leg. A golden slash tore through the sky toward Shun.
'What is this? I can't breathe.'
Even while struggling to breathe, he raised his paw toward the slash.
He waited for the usual POP,! sound, but…
At the very last second before the attack reached his paw, his forearm bent at a horrifying, impossible angle. The jagged bone tore through skin and muscle.
With his paw forcibly twisted away, Shun took the slash directly on his already critically damaged left arm.
The impact sent him crashing heavily into the ground, blood spraying everywhere.
"Cough,!"
"…"
The crowd watching, even the haki masters, couldn't understand what Shiki had done.
"What did Shiki do…?" Garp asked, no longer in the mood for fooling around after witnessing that scene.
"I don't know, but…" Sengoku muttered, anger visible on his face.
"SHUN! YOU DAMN BRAT!!" Sengoku roared.
"Oi! Calm down. The brat's heavily injured. We should support him." Garp said. He felt this incident might finally humble Shun. Together, they could defeat Shiki.
But Sengoku ignored him.
"USE YOUR DAMN HAKI!!! SHIKI ISN'T TRASH LIKE OCHOKU!"
Shiki didn't chase after Shun to finish him off.
After awakening his Devil Fruit, he believed there was no one left who could rival him anymore.
Meanwhile, on Shun's side.
"Cough,!"
Shun coughed up blood.
He heard Sengoku's scolding, but he wasn't paying attention. His brain was overheating as he analyzed what Shiki had just done to him.
"Dust… he sent dust through my nose straight into my lungs." Shun muttered before looking at his left arm.
"It hurts…"
His left arm, which had absorbed most of the attack, was barely attached by a thin strip of flesh.
The crowd didn't know how to react. Were they witnessing history? Or should they already start running?
Until…
Crack,!
A thunderous explosion erupted from the spot where Shun had fallen.
Dark blue lightning exploded outward like a natural disaster, spreading across the entire Sabaody Archipelago without discrimination.
Anyone below vice admiral level collapsed unconscious before they could even resist.
"W-What is this sinister haki?" Burgess couldn't help but fall to his knees in fear.
"…"
Marco, Ace, and the others weren't much better.
The only ones still standing straight were Shiki Rayleigh, Issho, Garp, and Sengoku.
Shun slowly walked forward while releasing his haki without restraint.
Then he chanted a short, simple word.
"…Restore."