Across the battlefield,
the earth cracked and the waves churned.
The new king stood opposite an overlord of the old era. The king in black raised a hand and beckoned.
"Seagull King."
"Gah."
Answering the call, the Seagull King swooped in. Before the eyes of the entire world, the broadcast feed that had only just gone dark suddenly cleared again.
"Look, look!!!"
"The picture's back!!!"
"What?! Is Pirate King Roger showing up again?!"
Some reporters who had missed the first explosive reveal immediately turned their camera Den Den Mushi toward the screen.
But to everyone's surprise, the figure appearing on it was not the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, the name they were all dying to see again.
Instead, it was a man who looked both tragic...
and tyrannically overbearing.
At the same time, a narrator's voice rang out.
"The one appearing on the live broadcast right now is none other than one of the three legendary pirates once counted alongside Pirate King Roger and the world's strongest man, Whitebeard."
"The admiral of the Flying Pirate Fleet... Golden Lion Shiki!!!"
With that introduction, countless viewers went pale.
For the younger generation, that name was unfamiliar.
But for those with a few years on them, it struck like thunder.
Even if many of today's newcomers no longer remembered this former legend, that string of terrifying titles alone was enough to tell them exactly how extraordinary this man had once been.
Cold sweat broke out across faces everywhere as they stared at the screen.
Then the blond man raised his head.
"Jahahahaha!!!"
"Interesting. So just like when Roger died, you're going to show the whole world what I look like at the moment of my death?!"
"Good!!! Cough cough cough... I accept that!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki coughed up blood, but his face still wore that fearless, unruly grin.
"It still beats Roger, that bastard, dying in front of a crowd at the hands of nobodies in the weakest sea, the East Blue!!!"
Ozz watched as Shiki's aura swelled faintly, as his clothes and blond hair began to whip around in the wind. He knew this was the final cry of the old lion.
But he was not flustered. He merely dusted off his collar, then covered the Den Den Mushi with one hand.
"Since your life is about to end, I may as well tell you the truth."
"Roger is alive right now. Not for long, but at the moment he's probably already fighting Garp."
Shiki froze.
"What did you say?!"
"Roger... is alive?!"
"Yeah. He's an old man now, too."
Golden Lion fell silent.
Nostalgia flashed through his eyes. Then a sharp edge. Then calm.
"Jahahahaha!!!!"
"Even old, that bastard Roger is probably still way stronger than a washed-up wreck like me who can't even use Haki anymore. Better to let the image of my strength remain forever in his memory!!!"
In the end, he chose not to go see the man who had ruined his glorious life and strength.
Though Roger had left him with a ship's rudder in his skull, cost him his legs, and sent him to Impel Down, Shiki had never truly hated him.
He had only acknowledged him as a worthy strong man.
"Come on!!!"
"If you've got the guts, then come and take my head, Ozz!!!"
Golden Lion Shiki's aura exploded upward, almost like a final flash of life before death.
"Flying Slash!!!"
"Lion: Thousand Slices Valley!!!"
Ozz neither dodged nor flinched. His eyes only held a trace of complexity and remembrance as he slowly put on his gloves in the face of the storm of attacks.
Then a black gun appeared in his hand.
All across the world, everyone watching the broadcast stared at the screen in dead silence.
With their own eyes, they watched a shot from the world's strongest sniper strike through the chest of the old lion.
He looked wretched.
But before dying,
he roared these words to the world.
"Jahahahaha!!!"
"All you weaklings of the world, remember my name!!!"
"Even if I die, that doesn't mean my will vanishes with me. Sooner or later, even greater overlords will rise!!!!"
As Shiki laughed wildly,
"A world ruled by overlords will never disappear from this world. You naive brats of the new era who dream of equality and freedom..."
"Give up your fantasies and pursue absolute strength instead!!!!"
And thus, in the solemn voice of fate itself,
one of the three legendary pirates,
the admiral of the Flying Pirate Fleet,
Golden Lion Shiki,
after leaving behind words like a brutal truth that shattered all illusion,
died beneath the gun of Black Gun Ozz.
And thus, the Flying Pirate Fleet,
in the struggle between the overlords of the old and new eras,
was defeated.
...
At the same time,
on Marineford's main battlefield, beneath the execution platform,
warfire and smoke continued to rise and fall without end.
Looking at the figures blocking his way, Sakazuki clenched his fist, which instantly transformed into blazing magma.
"Revolutionary Army Commander Morley, and Jinbe of the Seven Warlords, you delusional fools think you can protect these seeds of a cursed era?!"
"Even if it costs me my life, I won't let you pass!!!"
"Me too!!!"
The magma was scorching, overwhelming, lethal. But with so many pirates trying to protect the three brothers, along with several capable commander-level fighters, even Akainu found himself tied down for the moment.
While clashing with the half-dead Whitebeard, Sengoku's eyes reddened.
"Damn it!!!"
"Even if Straw Hat Luffy and Revolutionary Sabo escape, even if the traitorous Warlords all get away, it doesn't matter..."
"Portgas D. Ace must die. That is the bottom line of the Navy's dignity!!!"
He wanted to act, but not to the point of becoming a coward.
With the whole world watching, if Ace really escaped, Marine Headquarters would become the laughingstock of the seas.
"Hey!!! Borsalino, go take down Fire Fist Ace!!!"
Sengoku blocked Whitebeard's attack with one palm and shouted in Kizaru's direction.
"Oh, how troublesome. You want me to kill Fire Fist Ace now?"
At that moment, Borsalino, who was clashing swords with Mihawk using Ama no Murakumo, suddenly lit up.
He had long since gotten tired of trading sword blows with the world's greatest swordsman.
It was tolerable for a short while, but the longer it went on, the more irritating Mihawk's slashes became, even for him.
In an instant, Kizaru's body dissolved into light and shot toward the fleeing three brothers. Mihawk raised Yoru, intending to intercept him.
But an iceberg suddenly formed in front of him.
It was Kuzan, who had been fighting Doflamingo and Crocodile.
In that blink of an eye, Borsalino flashed right beside the three brothers.
"What terrifying youngsters. Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"
Light gathered in the horrified eyes of the three brothers.
And at that exact moment, another voice rang out beside them.
"Divine Departure!!!"
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