Souta Kiryuu watched the chaos unfold from afar—the Golden Lion and his two opponents locked in a furious three-way battle. Then his gaze shifted toward a smaller airship fleeing the scene.
Barrett had already awakened his Fusion-Fusion Fruit, using its power to seize control of the terrain from Shiki's grasp. The Golden Lion's floating earth lions were collapsing one after another, their shapes distorted and uncontrollable under Barrett's interference.
"Did the Devil Fruit Shiki stole from Demon-God Island ever get eaten…?" Souta murmured, narrowing his eyes.
Realizing the fight among the three legends wouldn't end anytime soon, he transformed into his massive crimson dragon form. His wings spread wide as he unleashed a roaring torrent of flame toward the escaping vessel.
Trying to flee right under his nose? That was an insult to his power.
BOOM!
The dragon's breath cut through the air like a beam of molten death. Without Shiki's telekinetic control, the small airborne craft couldn't dodge the blast—it was obliterated in a fiery explosion.
"Indigo! Scarredo!!"
Shiki's enraged roar echoed across the battlefield, his eyes blazing with fury. Those two had been his closest subordinates for twenty years—and now they were gone in an instant.
But Souta frowned. His Observation Haki still detected their life signatures.
"Boss Shiki! Run! Get out of there!"
To his surprise, Dr. Indigo had transformed into a massive eagle, talons gripping the gorilla Scarredo as he soared away at full speed.
"A giant eagle? Zoan-type—ordinary or ancient?" Souta muttered, his sharp eyes tracking them.
He distinctly remembered Dr. Indigo having no Devil Fruit ability before. That eagle's form must have come from one of the fruits Shiki plundered from Demon-God Island.
"It can't be a regular Zoan… at least an Ancient type."
With a single beat of his wings, Souta took off after them. Even if it was an Ancient Zoan, he couldn't let it escape—it was too valuable. Besides, a flying transformation like that was rare even among Zoans.
Seeing the massive crimson dragon closing in, Dr. Indigo cursed aloud.
"Why me?! Of all people, why is the world's most wanted criminal—Souta Kiryuu—chasing a scientist like me?! Have you no shame, you damn dragon?!"
Scarredo roared back at him, urging him to drop him and flee. The gorilla knew he'd only slow Indigo down.
"I know, I know!" Indigo shouted back. "I'll drop you near the island! Hide there—I'll draw him away!"
Despite his flustered words, the scientist's mind spun quickly, calculating the best option.
The eagle swooped low over Lorenz Island and released Scarredo into the forest canopy, then pulled up sharply, flying off into the distance to divert Souta's pursuit.
The dragon ignored the gorilla completely, keeping his focus on the fleeing eagle—his interest fixed on the mysterious Zoan power.
Moments later, as the eagle vanished beyond the treetops, Souta's keen eyes widened. The massive bird suddenly shrank and morphed into a small sparrow, darting into the thick brush below.
"A transformation? A Mythical Zoan?" Souta's lips curled into a sharp grin.
His Observation Haki surged to its peak, locking onto the faint aura.
In the next second, the sparrow's form warped again—its wings folding into sleek limbs as it turned into a leopard sprinting across the forest floor.
If not for Souta's Haki, which had locked onto Indigo's signature from the start, the scientist might have truly escaped.
"A Mythical Zoan, huh? Even better…" Souta growled, his grin widening.
Under his watchful gaze, the leopard shifted again—its form swelling into a huge brown bear, and then… into a tree.
"A tree?!" Souta's eyes widened in genuine astonishment.
He could sense the exhaustion in Indigo's aura. The scientist, panting heavily, had merged with nature itself, becoming one with the forest to hide.
Had Souta not chased him the entire way, he never would have believed that one creature could shift from eagle to sparrow, to leopard, to bear—and then to tree.
Inside that false tranquility, Dr. Indigo prayed desperately that the dragon would leave.
But moments later, the crimson giant descended before him, his wings kicking up waves of wind. Even the bark of the tree trembled under his presence.
"Enough pretending," Souta said with a mocking smile, his golden eyes fixed on the trembling trunk. "Tell me—what kind of ability lets you transform into so many creatures?"
The tree shuddered, and a pair of frightened eyes opened on its bark.
"S-Souta Kiryuu… why are you so fixated on me…?" the trembling voice of Dr. Indigo came from within.
"A treant form, huh?" Souta asked, intrigued. "Does this shape grant you any special power?"
"I… I can channel a bit of nature's energy," Indigo stammered. "It lets me heal nearby living beings slightly. The fruit… the one Shiki stole… it's a Zoan-type, Mythical Model—Human-Human Fruit, Druid Form."
As he spoke, his body slowly emerged from the bark, collapsing weakly onto the forest floor. His face was pale, his eyes hollow—he had already accepted defeat.
Even though he possessed a Mythical Zoan, Indigo was still just a frail scientist. His stamina was gone; his spirit broken.
He'd only eaten the fruit a few months ago, and his control over it was shallow. His natural aptitude for combat was poor.
"Druid, huh?" Souta chuckled. "No wonder. If you hadn't turned into a treant, I might not have guessed it."
Even Vegapunk's Encyclopedia of Devil Fruits had only vague mentions of this rare type.
Still, this particular Mythical Zoan wasn't particularly powerful—its transformations were mostly ordinary beasts, and only the treant form had unique abilities.
"But a Mythical Zoan is still a Mythical Zoan," Souta said softly. "Plenty of potential for development."
He looked down at Indigo, eyes cold. "You're too weak. You're wasting this fruit's power."
"Souta, please—!" Indigo gasped.
Before he could finish, Souta struck the back of his neck with a swift hand chop. The scientist crumpled instantly, unconscious.
"Perhaps if you'd never eaten that fruit, you might have lived longer," Souta murmured.
He hoisted Indigo effortlessly by the collar, transforming back into his massive dragon form and soaring toward the sky once more.
With Dr. Vegapunk as his chief scientist, Souta didn't need another mediocre mind like Indigo. Once they recovered all the research data from the Floating Islands, Vegapunk could easily surpass anything Indigo had achieved in twenty years.
The man had spent decades creating beasts on par with Marine Colonels and Vice Admirals—creatures that couldn't even compare to Vegapunk's Pacifistas, let alone the Seraphim.
Moments later, Souta landed on the Ark Maxim, handing Indigo's limp body over to his men.
"Bind him with Seastone," he ordered. "He'll serve another purpose later."
The Druid fruit, after all, deserved a worthier host.
Meanwhile, the battle between Shiki, Barrett, and Enel reached cataclysmic levels. The entire Lionhead Fortress began to crack and crumble under their combined power. Souta's crew retreated swiftly, boarding the airborne fleet as the three titans continued their war above.
The sky itself burned with their power.
From Lorenz Island below, countless pirates stared in stunned silence—completely paralyzed by the sight. None of them had ever witnessed such an apocalyptic battle.
Lightning raged across the heavens, floating lions roared through the air, and a towering stone giant stood defiantly upon the breaking island-ship.
It was a sight that seared itself into the memory of every soul who saw it—a clash of monsters that made even the bravest hearts tremble.