By the time the ship was completed, the sky above Water 7 had finally cleared after several days of rain.
Today, even among the shipwrights, there was a strange excitement in the air.
A massive curtain had been drawn across one section of the dock.
Behind it rested the vessel that had consumed the full attention of Water 7's finest shipwrights for days.
No ordinary ship could have created such an atmosphere, and no ordinary client could have made Iceburg personally wait at the entrance of Dock One.
When Shiki walked in, his golden hair and striped coat immediately drew the eyes of every worker nearby. Even after seeing him several times throughout the construction period, the shipwrights still could not completely get used to the presence of the Golden Lion.
A monster with a bounty of nine hundred million Berries and now, the owner of the strangest ship Galley-La had ever built.
Iceburg stood near the main dock with Kalifa behind him, his hands tucked into his pockets.
When he saw Shiki approaching, he smiled.
"Shiki-san."
Shiki walked over carelessly, his coat swaying behind him.
"Looks like you're finally done."
"That depends on whether you're satisfied with the result."
Iceburg turned slightly and looked toward the covered dock.
"The ship is ready. I was just about to ask you to inspect it yourself."
Shiki's eyes shifted toward the enormous curtain.
Even he could not deny that, for a moment, anticipation stirred in his chest.
For a pirate like Shiki, a ship was not merely transportation.
It was a symbol.
Shiki's grin slowly widened.
He had originally planned to call Nami, Vivi, and Robin over as well.
Those three had been even more excited about the ship than he was.
Since the ship was ready, it was only right for them to see it together.
Shiki lifted his head slightly.
His Observation Haki spread outward in silence.
In an instant, the voices of Water 7 entered his senses.
Then his smile froze.
A moment later, every trace of warmth vanished from his grin.
Iceburg, who had been looking forward to Shiki unveiling the ship, was taken aback by his reaction.
"Shiki-san?"
"So, after hiding for this long, the rats finally decided to move."
Shiki muttered to himself, completely ignoring Iceburg.
Iceburg's expression shifted.
"Rats?"
Kalifa's fingers tightened almost imperceptibly around her notebook.
For one brief instant, her professional mask nearly cracked.
Only one thought crossed her mind.
This is bad… he noticed too quickly!
Shiki's body rose lightly from the ground.
The next instant, the air around him bent, as if the world itself had chosen to move aside for him.
"Iceburg."
"Keep the curtain closed for now."
"Did something happen?"
Shiki's smile showed his teeth.
"Nothing much."
His body floated higher, but at that moment, his hand suddenly clenched.
Kalifa, who had been pretending to remain calm, felt an invisible force seize her throat.
"Ghhk!"
A strangled sound escaped Kalifa's lips as the crushing pressure tightened around her neck.
Before she could react, her body was pulled violently upward toward Shiki.
Shiki caught her by the throat with one hand.
Saliva slipped from the corner of Kalifa's mouth as her eyes rolled, the strength in her body nearly leaving her in an instant.
"What is the meaning of this!?"
Iceburg's expression changed sharply, sweat sliding down his face. He could not understand why Shiki had suddenly attacked Kalifa.
"You'll understand in a moment."
Shiki's eyes remained fixed on the distant streets of Water 7.
"I'll be back."
The moment he finished speaking, Shiki shot into the sky with his hand locked around Kalifa's neck.
A fierce gust swept across the dock, forcing several shipwrights to raise their arms against the wind. Iceburg watched the golden figure vanish above Water 7's rooftops, his expression growing heavy.
At the same time, in a quieter district away from Dock One, Nami, Vivi, and Robin had just stepped out of a small shop beside the canal.
Nami held a folded map of Water 7 in one hand, her lips curved in satisfaction.
"Good. With this, we can mark all the best supply points. If we're leaving soon, we need to restock properly."
Vivi smiled softly.
"Nami-san, you really do become energetic whenever money or supplies are involved."
"Of course. That's called being responsible."
Nami glanced at her with complete seriousness as she lied without hesitation.
"Do you know how expensive it is to feed a pirate crew? Especially when the captain throws money around like seawater?"
Robin politely raised one hand to her cheek.
"Then I suppose it was wise to leave our financial future in your capable hands, Navigator-san."
Nami narrowed her eyes and placed her hands on her hips, suspicion written across her face.
"My instincts are telling me you're making fun of me, Robin."
"Ara~ Not at all."
For a moment, the atmosphere remained peaceful and pleasant. During their time in Water 7, the three of them had enjoyed themselves even more than they had in Skypiea.
Then Nami, who had been smiling happily, suddenly stopped.
She calmly folded the map.
"Looks like someone picked a very bad place to start trouble."
Vivi's hand lowered to her side.
Green leaves quietly unfurled from her fingertips.
"You've been following us for quite some time. Would you like to come out now?"
A low voice answered from the shadows.
"Nico Robin."
Robin's eyes narrowed, and her expression grew cold.
Several figures appeared.
A tall man in a black suit stepped out first, a white pigeon resting on his shoulder. His expression was cold and emotionless, like a blade that had never known warmth.
Rob Lucci.
Beside him were Kaku and Blueno.
All three stood in the street with the silent discipline of trained killers.
Nami glanced at them and frowned.
"Galley-La's shipwrights?"
Vivi's expression turned serious.
"No… they're not ordinary shipwrights."
Kaku placed one hand on the brim of his cap and spoke in a low, steady voice. "This has nothing to do with you two. Step aside."
Nami smiled brightly at those words, but her smile did not look friendly at all. If anything, it looked almost frightening. "Oh? You came after our crewmate, and now you're telling us to step aside?"
"That is not going to happen." Vivi also stepped forward, placing herself in front of Robin as if to shield her.
Robin's eyes flickered as she looked at Nami and Vivi's backs. The two of them stood before her without hesitation, protecting her. Then her gaze moved over Lucci, Kaku, and Blueno one by one. "The World Government."
Lucci did not care that she had realized it. He spoke in a flat tone. "Nico Robin. You will come with us. The Demon Child who survived Ohara. The only person in the world capable of reading the Poneglyphs. The World Government has waited twenty years for this opportunity."
Robin's breathing grew uneven as buried memories struck her all at once, dragging her back to a sea of fire, screams, and falling giants. But before she could answer, Vivi stepped forward.
"I do not care what happened twenty years ago, or what the world calls her…" Her voice was gentle, yet every word carried strength. "All I know is that Robin-san is our friend now."
Leaves and vines began to rise from the cracks between the stone tiles beneath her feet.
"And we will not hand her over."
Nami refused to be outdone. Pale blue lightning flickered across her body as she lightly cracked her knuckles, sparks dancing over her shoulders and hair. "I couldn't have said it better, Vivi-chan. You government agents always act so important, but you picked the wrong crew."
Lucci finally looked at them with cold eyes. "Then you will be eliminated."
The moment his voice fell, Kaku vanished.
Soru.
His body cut through the air in a straight line toward Robin, one hand already shaped for Shigan. But before his finger could pierce forward, a thick root burst out from the ground.
Kaku twisted in midair. "Rankyaku!"
A crescent blade of compressed air sliced downward, cutting through the root. Yet the severed wood did not fall. Instead, it split, grew, and multiplied, and in an instant, a dense curtain of branches surged upward like a living wall.
Kaku's eyes widened in surprise. He had no idea that Shiki's crew had Devil Fruit users among them. "What kind of ability is this?"
Vivi raised one hand, and the roots obeyed her movement, twisting around Kaku from every direction. "Mori Mori no Mi," she said calmly, her voice carrying across the street. "I am a forest human now."
Kaku's body spun, sending more Rankyaku blades flying outward. The crescent slashes cut branches apart one after another, but every root he severed only gave birth to more. Green life forced its way through the city street, wrapping around walls, balconies, lampposts, and railings. In seconds, the canal street had become a small forest.
Kaku landed on a wall, his expression losing its earlier ease. "What a troublesome power."
On the other side, Blueno moved toward Nami with elegant and precise steps. "It seems the correct choice is to end this battle by taking the weakest one hostage."
Nami tilted her head, not at all angry at being underestimated. "Is that so?"
Blueno disappeared with Soru and appeared beside Nami in the blink of an eye. "Shigan."
His finger thrust forward, but it passed straight through Nami's shoulder. Instead of blood scattering, only lightning flickered.
Blueno's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at his finger, which had passed through her without causing any damage.
Nami's body reformed behind him, a bright grin on her face. "For someone talking so confidently, you sure are slow, black bull-looking guy."
A lightning-charged kick slammed into Blueno's side without warning.
Crack!
The sound of electricity exploding across Blueno's body rang through the street as he was sent crashing into a wall.
Bang!
Nami landed lightly and dusted off her skirt. "Honestly, this feels refreshing. I've been wanting to do this for quite a while. Hehehe."
Lucci's expression darkened at the sight. "Nami. Princess Vivi. Your Devil Fruit abilities were not included in the report."
Nami pointed at him as if he were an idiot. "Is that really what you should be worrying about right now?"
Blueno, who had fallen against the wall, suddenly placed one hand against the air beside him. A door-shaped outline began to appear.
"Air Door."
Robin's eyes widened in alarm, and she immediately shouted a warning. "Be careful, Nami! He is a Devil Fruit user too!"
Blueno pushed his hand forward, and a door opened in empty air. At the same time, Lucci moved. His body blurred with Soru, passing through the gaps in the forest like a predator slipping through tall grass.
His target was Robin.
Nami's eyes flashed, and she shouted, "Vivi!"
"I know!"
Vivi pressed one hand against the ground, and the entire street shook. Massive roots erupted in a circle around Robin, forming a protective cage of living wood. Lucci's Shigan struck the surface and pierced through several layers, but the wood tightened and regenerated around his arm.
Lucci's gaze grew colder. "Tekkai."
His muscles hardened, and with brute force alone, he tore his arm free. Then he transformed.
His body expanded abnormally. Spotted fur covered his skin, and a long tail lashed behind him. In his human-beast form, Rob Lucci became far more imposing.
Nami clicked her tongue with interest. "A leopard?"
Robin smiled faintly. For some reason, having Nami and Vivi beside her filled her with courage. And knowing her captain, he should have already sensed what was happening here.
Several arms bloomed from Lucci's shoulders, back, and waist. "Seis Fleur."
The hands tried to twist and restrain him, but Lucci's strength overwhelmed them. He broke free with a violent motion, his cold eyes remaining fixed on Robin.
"You are not nearly strong enough to stop me. Resisting is futile, Robin. Stop these childish games and come with us."
"I can't refute that now, can I?"
Robin's smile did not disappear, but there was a quiet firmness in her eyes. "But I never thought I could stop you alone."
The ground beneath Lucci split open.
Roots thicker than pillars surged upward and wrapped around his legs. Lucci slashed downward with Rankyaku, cutting them apart, only for more vines to coil around his arms, shoulders, and waist.
Vivi stood ahead of Robin, her blue hair swaying in the wind stirred by the rapidly growing forest. "Robin-san does not have to fight alone anymore."
Nami's body turned into lightning.
For one instant, the entire street was dyed blue-white.
Lucci's eyes shifted sharply, but even then, he still lost track of her.
Nami appeared above him in an instant, moving faster than he could properly sense.
"Thunder Kick!"
Her heel crashed down onto Lucci's shoulder with a burst of lightning.
Boom!
The impact blasted him through the roots and sent him skidding across the street. Stone shattered beneath his body as electricity tore across his fur.
Kaku tried to move in support, but Vivi's forest closed around him.
"Not so quickly."
Kaku's expression tightened. He launched another Rankyaku, cutting several branches at once, then used Geppo to leap into the air. But the moment he rose, vines shot upward like spears.
He stepped again and again through the air, avoiding them with sharp, precise movements. "Such a gentle-looking princess using such an aggressive power… this is quite surprising."
Vivi's eyes remained steady. "I learned long ago that protecting something precious requires strength."
Her hand lifted slightly, and the forest answered her will.
"Even if that strength looks frightening."
The vines converged.
Kaku hardened his body with Tekkai, but the roots wrapped around him and dragged him down from the air, slamming him into the stone street.
"Guh!"
Vivi lifted her hand elegantly once more. More roots bound his limbs, pinning him in place. Kaku struggled, but the roots only tightened further, completely immobilizing him as they began to drain his nutrients. In moments, his body shriveled like an old man's.
"One down."
Just then, Blueno's Air Door fully opened. He reached toward Lucci, intending to pull him inside and retreat.
"This operation has failed. We should withdraw, Lucci. If that monster comes, we're finished."
Lucci, still smoking from Nami's attack, forced himself upright with killing intent flickering in his eyes. "Nico Robin…"
Their plan had been simple. With Kalifa reporting the moment Shiki went to inspect the ship with Iceburg, they would attack Robin and use Blueno's Door-Door Fruit to leave before Shiki could notice.
But who could have expected that even without Shiki, these two women would be so strong?
Rob Lucci could tell that Nami and Vivi had not gone all out yet. He knew there was no way they could win this battle, and for someone like him, that realization was a complete humiliation.
Seeing that Lucci did not answer, Blueno took his silence as consent, and the door widened. However, just as his hand stretched toward Lucci, a bolt of lightning flashed between them.
Nami appeared in front of Blueno at point-blank range, arriving in a streak of blue light as if she had teleported.
Her eyes were bright, and a creepy smile adorned her face.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Blueno's pupils shrank.
So fast…
He had only just thought of moving.
Nami's foot struck his face before his hand could reach the door.
Bang!
Blueno's body folded backward from the kick and smashed into the ground so hard that the Air Door trembled and vanished.
A web of cracks spread beneath him, smoke rising from his scorched body.
Nami landed beside him, then dusted her hands proudly. "Nice try."
The two CP9 agents, Kaku and Blueno, were down for good without Nami and Vivi breaking a sweat.
Only Lucci remained conscious, kneeling on one knee, his body still sparking faintly from Nami's lightning.
He looked at the two women standing in front of Robin with pure anger and disbelief.
This was not what CP9 had prepared for.
Nami rested one hand on her hip. "Vivi, you all right?"
Vivi nodded, then turned back worriedly. "Yes. Robin-san?"
Robin looked at the two of them, and a charming smile appeared on her face as she nodded. "I'm fine."
Lucci's claws scraped against the ground.
"This changes nothing."
"Oh? You still want to continue?"
But before he could move…
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
The sound of applause drifted down from above.
Everyone looked up at the same time.
Shiki stood in the sky with his arms crossed loosely, his striped coat swaying in the wind. His golden hair framed his face like a lion's mane, and his grin was wide enough to show his teeth.
"Well done."
Shiki descended slowly, stopping several meters above the ground as if the air itself were a throne beneath his feet. Beside him, a woman floated unconscious in the air.
It was Kalifa.
"Not bad at all."
Vivi smiled faintly at his praise. "Thank you, Shiki-san."
Then Shiki turned to Nami.
"As for you…"
Nami raised her chin proudly before he even finished.
"It was barely passable."
"…"
"What the hell, Shiki? Why are you so particular with me and not Vivi?"
"Don't even get me started on how you were secretly watching us fight this whole time."
"And if I'd stepped in, you would've complained, 'Why did you interfere? I had it handled.'"
"Uhh…"
Robin covered her mouth and chuckled.
Shiki finally looked down at Lucci and the others.
Lucci forced himself to stand. "Golden Lion Shiki."
"Did I permit you to speak?"
Shiki's voice cut him off.
The stones around Lucci suddenly lifted from the ground and pressed against his body from every direction, pinning him in place with an invisible force. Lucci's expression changed as he realized his limbs would not move.
Kaku, Kalifa, and Blueno were the same.
Rubble, roots, broken doors, and shattered stone all rose from the ground and locked them down at once.
Shiki looked at them with naked disdain. "Trying to steal my archaeologist before my ship even leaves the dock. You people have courage… or maybe you're just stupid."
Nami crossed her arms. "What are you going to do with them?"
Shiki did not answer her immediately. Instead, he turned his gaze toward Robin and called out in a casual tone. "Robin... How do you feel?"
Robin lowered her eyes briefly, then smiled with quiet warmth as she placed one hand over her chest. "I don't know how to describe it… I feel fine."
Then, after a small pause, her smile became brighter.
"No… I feel free."
Those words made Nami and Vivi smile as well, as if Robin's happiness had quietly reached them too.
"Hahaha… Then that's enough."
Shiki laughed, then clenched his fist. The stones rolled across the ground, swallowing the entire CP9 squad into one massive boulder thick enough to hold them down completely.
Lucci's face darkened as a dreadful feeling crawled up his spine. "Do you understand what you are doing? The World Government will not ignore this."
Shiki looked at him as if he had just heard something ridiculous. "That's supposed to scare me?"
He leaned forward slightly, his eyes burning with contempt.
"If the World Government wants to come, let them come properly. Sending rats through the sewer only makes them look cheap."
Then he waved one hand carelessly.
The stones and debris rose higher, carrying the four CP9 agents into the air. The next instant, with a sharp sonic boom, the huge boulder tore through the sky and flew toward the sea.
Boom!
It crashed heavily into the ocean. Under the force of Shiki's power, the boulder did not stop at the surface. It kept sinking, pushed deeper and deeper until it vanished into the depths of the sea.
After dealing with that little drama, Shiki and the others returned to the dock where their ship was waiting.
Iceburg was still in shock, but after Shiki briefly explained what had happened and showed him the proof through the Den Den Mushi he had taken from CP9, Iceburg had no choice but to accept the truth.
The shipwrights he had trusted for so long had actually been dogs of the World Government.
That realization left his mood heavy.
Shiki, however, did not care much about Iceburg's feelings. His attention quickly returned to the ship.
At the front of the ship, the lion-headed bell formed the vessel's proud figurehead, its massive golden body gleaming beneath the sunlight. The new ship waited like a beast finally ready to leave its cage.
The others also began inspecting it with great interest, and the most excited among them was Nami. When she discovered that she could control and fly the ship with her Devil Fruit ability, her eyes nearly sparkled.
Although during her first attempt, she almost made a mess of it. If Shiki had not helped her in time, they might have lost the ship before even setting sail.
After a few days of getting familiar with the process, Nami could finally pilot it smoothly, almost like a professional.
And soon, the Golden Lion Pirates set sail.
--------------------------------------
Support me at patreon.com/Arthorain and read upto 50 Advanced Chapters and R-18 Content!
--------------------------------------
Update schedule: 7 chapters/week
Every 300 power stones = 1 Extra Chapter
By voting with [power stones], you can easily get double the number of chapters.