"Hmm?"
Suddenly, Orion abruptly looked up before he could finish speaking.
At almost the same moment, Imu flashed out of the pavilion, gazing towards the sky thousands of meters above.
High above the Holy Land, a black dot hovered motionless against the sunlight, its back turned to the ground.
If not deliberately observed, no one would have noticed this black speck in the sky.
Even for powerhouses like Orion and Imu, only a vague outline was visible.
Suspended thousands of meters above the Holy Land was none other than Golden Lion Shiki, who had just passed over the G-5 branch in the New World.
Thanks to his Float-Float Fruit abilities, Shiki floated effortlessly at this altitude, looking down at the towering Red Line with a fanatical glint in his eyes.
To rule the world, this continent was his final objective.
Yet, whether during his prime or now as a lone wolf, he could only gaze at this land from afar, never daring to approach recklessly.
Though only a blurry silhouette was visible, Orion didn't need to guess—it had to be Shiki.
In the entire Grand Line, no one else besides the Float-Float Fruit user could hover at such heights.
"Bold move."
Tilting his head towards the sky and confirming the black dot was indeed Shiki, Orion blinked in surprise.
He then devoured his grilled meat without hesitation and immediately coated a bamboo skewer with Armament Haki, transforming it into a pitch-black 'steel needle' brimming with terrifying energy.
"What are you doing?"
Seeing Orion infuse the skewer with Armament Haki, Imu—who had also stepped out of the pavilion—blinked in confusion.
"Can you really… hit him with a skewer?"
"Want to learn?"
Orion tilted his head toward Imu.
"I can teach you."
Imu's lips twitched beneath her veil, but she ultimately remained silent.
Orion didn't stop there.
While hardening the skewer with Armament Haki, he unleashed his Conqueror's Haki without warning, startling Gunko—who was closest to him—into jumping back like a frightened rabbit.
Imu face turn paled too.
"Orion, you—"
"Relax, it won't harm you!"
Orion forcibly compressed his Conqueror's Haki and channeled it into the skewer before standing up abruptly and hurling it to the sky.
Whoosh—
The bamboo skewer flashed by, appearing instantly a kilometer away in the sky.
*****
At the same time.
Several kilometers above, Shiki who had merely been passing by the Holy Land and thought to take a quick glance at the Red Line from this height before leaving, suddenly felt his pupils contract violently.
In that brief moment of shock, a sonic boom erupted from the sky below him.
Immediately after, a dazzling streak of light shot upward at an astonishing speed, heading straight for his position in the sky.
Though still two or three kilometers away, the terrifying, invisible pressure had already arrived first.
"Dammit!"
"I've been spotted!"
After a brief moment of shock, Shiki exclaimed in horror.
"How is this possible? I'm several kilometers up in the sky!"
Without wasting another thought, Shiki immediately activated his Devil Fruit ability, propelling himself higher into the sky.
However, his speed was still too slow.
Just as he ascended another kilometer, the Conqueror's Haki stored within the bamboo skewer suddenly erupted, enveloping him like a reverse-flowing galaxy.
"Gah—"
Under the overwhelming pressure of this supreme Conqueror's Haki, even someone as powerful as Shiki stood no chance.
With a piercing scream, the bamboo skewer suddenly accelerated, plunging into Shiki's body with a sickening thud.
The terrifying impact carried Shiki even higher into the sky, ascending over a thousand meters before the skewer shot out of his body, trailing a mist of blood as it disappeared into the clouds above ten thousand meters.
Before Shiki could react, the bamboo skewer—unable to contain Orion's supreme Conqueror's Haki—exploded violently upon entering the clouds.
In an instant, the overwhelming Haki scattered the rolling clouds, creating what looked like a massive hole in the sky from afar.
As the clouds dispersed, a faintly visible gate to the heavens, hidden within the sea of clouds at an even higher altitude, appeared.
"What is that—?"
Though the skewer had nearly knocked him unconscious, Shiki still caught sight of the heavenly gate.
After a brief moment of stunned silence, Shiki ignored the blood gushing from his wound and, leveraging the power of his Float-Float Fruit, accelerated towards the sky, charging straight for the elusive heavenly gate.
*****
Down in the Holy Land, Orion and the others were too far away to notice the gate hidden in the clouds above.
Seeing Shiki struck, Gunko, Sengoku, Zephyr and Imu all turned to Orion with looks of disbelief, looking at him as if he were a monster.
Orion merely shrugged, a hint of regret in his voice.
"A slight miscalculation. Shiki probably isn't dead. But no matter—consider it a little warning."
"You call that a little warning?" Sengoku's face twitched as he pointed at the massive hole in the sky ten thousand meters above.
"If that black dot up there had been me, I'd have died of fright!"
Orion casually picked up a skewer of grilled meat and said calmly.
"It really was a slight miscalculation."
Before anyone could react, he turned to Gunko and Sharlia.
"Why are you all standing around? Eat the meat! Oh, and Imu, since you've already left the pavilion, come try some. It's really good."
Surprisingly, Imu actually walked over and sat right beside Orion.
Seeing this, Gunko and Sharlia who had just taken their seats, quickly stood up.
"You two..."
Not expecting Gunko and Sharlia to be so intimidated by Imu, Orion couldn't be bothered with further words and simply commanded.
"Sit down! Eat to your heart's content—that's an order."
*****
Meanwhile.
Seven to eight thousand meters above the Grand Line, in the White Sea formed by 'Sea Clouds' within the dense clouds, Shiki, dragging his severely injured body, momentarily forgot his wounds as he gazed fervently at a Gate of Heaven not far ahead.
"This is... the sky island that Roger and his crew once reached!"
"Jihahaha, just when all seems lost, a new path appears!"
Amidst his laughter, Shiki didn't want to waste a single moment and decisively sped towards the Gate of Skypiea ahead.
After passing through the gate, Shiki didn't stop.
Instead, he endured the increasing suffocation from the thinning air and continued ascending another two thousand meters.
Soon, he arrived at the White-White Sea.
"BOOM—"
Just as he reached the White-White Sea, a thunderous roar erupted.
The sky flickered between light and darkness amidst flashes of lightning, the dazzling electric arcs making Shiki feel momentarily breathless.
Following the sound, he saw a massive ball of lightning hovering above an island ahead.
Standing atop the lightning ball was a towering figure.
"Fear is the true definition of a god."
"Gan Fall, your reign ends now!"
"From this moment forth, I am the one and only god of Angel Island."
"Yahahaha..."