Ever since Roger had given the order to "accelerate," the Oro Jackson moved like a beast that had finally been let off its chain. The crew no longer bothered avoiding Marine patrol routes or staying on any island for too long to gather supplies. Even their parties became wilder and more rushed than before. They buried their sadness deep down, letting it turn into a burning fuel that pushed their legendary ship toward its final destination.
They were in the New World, near Edd War.
The weather was perfect, with a clear blue sky and not a single cloud in sight. Seagulls flew behind the ship, chasing the waves. Everything felt peaceful and calm.
"Hey! Kyle! The weather's great today. You wanna have a fishing competition?" Shanks called out, running over excitedly with a fishing rod that was taller than he was.
Buggy trailed behind him, holding a fancy bait box. He snorted. "Kyle isn't a kid like you, Shanks. He's probably thinking about some big strategy for the Grand Line! Right, Kyle?"
Kyle was leaning against the railing, carving a piece of wood with a small knife. He just smiled at them without saying anything.
Suddenly, the lookout in the crow's nest let out a piercing scream. "Up there! Everyone! Look at the sky!"
The cheerful chatter on the deck stopped instantly.
Everyone looked up, confused. In the next second, their eyes went wide with shock. A massive shadow fell over the Oro Jackson, as if an entire continent were floating above their heads. It wasn't a cloud. It was a fleet of at least twenty-five giant pirate ships, all hovering impossibly in the air. Their shadows instantly turned the bright day into a dark dusk.
At the very front of the fleet, on a flagship decorated with the head of a golden lion, a large man stood with his hands behind his back. He had a full head of long, golden hair that looked like a lion's mane, and he stared down at them from above.
"Golden Lion… Shiki!" Jabba said, his hands automatically tightening on the two axes at his waist.
The entire crew went on high alert. Faced with such an overwhelming presence, the Oro Jackson looked as small and helpless as a toy.
"Yo, Roger!" the Golden Lion's voice boomed like distant thunder, filled with an arrogance that looked down on the entire world. "Long time no see! You look like you're in a hurry. Did you find something good?"
Roger looked up at him and grinned, showing off his white teeth. "Kuhahaha! If it isn't Shiki! Still like floating up there in the sky? What's wrong, you afraid you'll fall in the sea and drown?"
"Cut the nonsense!" Shiki waved his hand, and his fleet descended until it was level with the Oro Jackson's main mast. "Roger, I have a plan to change the world, and all I'm missing is a man like you!"
He spread his arms wide, as if he were trying to hug the whole world. "I have the largest fleet on the seas and the most powerful crew! And you know where to find the ancient weapons that are rumored to be able to destroy the world!"
"Become my right-hand man, Roger!" Shiki's eyes burned with a feverish ambition. "Your strength combined with my army! We'll rule this world together! Wealth, fame, power! Everything you've ever wanted will be ours!"
His voice was full of temptation. On his ships, the pirates of the Flying Pirates all had greedy looks in their eyes, and they couldn't help but swallow nervously.
The deck of the Oro Jackson was completely silent. Everyone was looking at Roger, waiting for his answer.
The smile on Roger's face slowly faded. He just looked up at Shiki quietly, as if he were looking at a fool.
"Shiki," he said, his voice not loud, but it carried clearly to everyone's ears. "I have zero interest in boring things like ruling the world."
He paused, and then his signature, fearless smile returned. "What's the point of being a pirate if you aren't free?"
The Golden Lion's face instantly darkened. The ambition in his eyes turned into cold, killing intent. "So that's a no? Roger, you're asking to die!" he snarled. "That means we'll just have to wipe you all out! Men! Since he doesn't appreciate my offer, blow him and his pathetic little ship to pieces!"
At his command, the cannons on all twenty-five warships aimed down at the single ship on the sea.
"Fire!"
"Boom boom boom boom boom—!"
A deafening roar of cannon fire filled the sky. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of cannonballs rained down like a black storm, whistling as they fell.
"All hands, battle stations!" Rayleigh's voice cut through the explosions. His longsword was already in his hand. He didn't even turn around as he swung his blade back. A silver flash of light cut through the air, and the first few cannonballs were sliced neatly in half, exploding into two perfect fireballs in mid-air.
Kyle took a single step forward and pushed out his right fist in a simple-looking punch.
"Bang!"
With a heavy thud, the air in front of him seemed to bend. In a wide arc, a dozen cannonballs smashed against an invisible wall and exploded with a roar.
Jabba was even more direct. He let out a loud laugh as the twin axes at his waist flew from his hands. They spun through the air like two high-speed whirlwinds of death, carving deadly paths through the rain of cannonballs and leaving trails of fire behind them. The rest of the crew roared as they manned their stations, drawing their swords and firing the ship's cannons to intercept any shots that got through.
But they were overwhelmingly outnumbered. A main sail was torn apart by a cannonball and fell to the deck in flames. The entire ship shook violently from the constant explosions. Wood splinters and smoke filled the air, and several times the ship tilted at a dangerous angle, nearly getting swallowed by the waves.
"Damn it! They're coming down like rain! It never ends!" Nozdon shouted, shaking his arm after punching a cannonball away.
"Hard to port! Avoid the main barrage!" Spencer yelled, his face covered in sweat.
Shanks and Buggy stood back-to-back, trying their best to block the shockwaves from the explosions. Buggy's face was pale with fear.
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die! This is it, we're really gonna die this time!" he cried. "Shanks, you idiot, don't pull me away! It's safest behind the mast!"
Shanks completely ignored him. The small boy gripped his saber, his eyes focused as he slashed at another explosive shockwave flying toward them.
From his flagship, the Golden Lion watched the struggling Oro Jackson with cold eyes. A cruel smile formed on his lips. "Is this your answer, Roger? How pathetic."
He drew his two famous swords, "Oto" and "Kogarashi," and pointed them down at the sea below.
"Lion's Threat: Earth Bind!"
As he spoke, the calm sea suddenly began to boil. Two massive streams of water, as large as mountains, were pulled from the ocean by an invisible force. They twisted and roared in the air, finally forming into two giant, ferocious lions made of water. They opened their huge mouths and lunged toward the Oro Jackson.
If that attack hit, it would be enough to tear the ship apart.
"Kuhahaha! Is that all you've got, Shiki!" Roger laughed loudly, his eyes cutting through the smoke and fire to lock onto the golden figure high above. Before his laugh even faded, he stomped his feet hard on the deck and shot into the sky like a cannonball, heading straight for Shiki's flagship.
"Arrogant fool!" Shiki's eyes narrowed. This was the moment he had been waiting for. He crossed his twin swords and slashed down at the incoming figure.
"Clang—!"
The moment their blades met, a visible shockwave exploded outwards from them. Black and red lightning crackled wildly around Roger's saber, "Ace." Shiki's swords were also coated in powerful Armament Haki, but when they clashed, he felt an incredible force surge through the blades. It made his arms go numb and sent him stumbling back several steps.
As a result of the massive impact, the two water lions that had been lunging at the Oro Jackson disintegrated, turning back into a heavy downpour that fell back into the sea.
"So this is your power, Roger!" Shiki's face wasn't filled with fear, but with an excited, ferocious grin. "Good! Very good!"
The two captains began a high-speed battle on the deck of the flagship. Sword lights flashed and sparks flew everywhere. Each time their blades clashed, a wave of force erupted, and the mix of black-and-red lightning and golden sword beams tore deep cuts into the ship's sturdy deck. The pirates on the ship couldn't get anywhere near them. If they got too close, the shockwaves alone would send them flying backward, coughing up blood.
"Flying Slash!" Shiki swung his sword, sending a golden slash tearing through the air.
"Divine Departure!" Roger didn't dodge. He met the attack with a slash of his own. The black and red energy from his sword was even more powerful, splitting the golden slash in half before continuing on toward Shiki.
"Wow! Shanks, did you see that!" Down on the Oro Jackson, Buggy poked his head out from behind a broken mast and pointed at the distant flagship. "The captain's tearing their ship apart! The Golden Lion is done for!"
"Idiot! Look what's in front of you!" Shanks roared without turning around. He swung his sword and knocked a stray cannonball away.
Buggy flinched and quickly pulled his head back. Just as he did, a burning piece of wood flew past his nose and smashed into the spot where his head had just been, scaring him so much his face turned green.
"We're gonna die, we're gonna die! I'm really going to die!"
The battle had become a chaotic mess. Kyle stood at the stern of the ship. He placed his palms flat on the wet deck and closed his eyes. He needed an opportunity, a medium to use his powers to their fullest.
Just then, without any warning, the clear sky suddenly grew dark. It wasn't because of Shiki's fleet, but because real storm clouds were gathering. A fierce wind began to howl, and the sea started to churn violently. A bolt of lightning tore across the sky, followed by a deep rumble of thunder. A massive, unexpected storm had descended upon them.
"What's going on?!" Shiki struggled to keep his balance, looking up at the bizarre weather. "Damn it! Not now!"
Giant waves crashed against the ships, and the chaotic currents made it impossible to steer. Shiki's flying fleet was tossed around by the gale-force winds, and their cannons lost all accuracy. The Roger Pirates were also stunned. The storm had appeared too suddenly, too strangely.
"Is fate on our side?" Jabba laughed, wiping the rain from his face.
Only Kyle, the moment the storm arrived, snapped his eyes open. He wasn't panicked at all. Instead, a terrifying light ignited in his golden pupils.
The opportunity had come.
"Now, this is my home turf," Kyle muttered to himself. He held his hands out, palms facing the raging sea. He didn't need to create new waves; he simply took control of the fury that the storm had brought to the ocean.
An invisible power spread out from him, and the chaotic, giant waves seemed to find their king. Rows of colossal waves, each one tens of meters high, defied the laws of nature. They changed direction and roared upward, crashing into the Golden Lion's aerial fleet.
"What?!" The pirates in the sky watched in horror as the sea itself rose up to attack them.
Kyle then looked up at the thunderclouds. He cupped his hands as if he were holding thousands of invisible strings. The lightning in the sky was no longer random. It seemed to hear his call, and it began to gather and twist according to his will.
"Boom!"
A thick bolt of lightning, like a spear thrown by a god, struck the powder magazine of a pirate ship, causing a massive chain reaction of explosions. Flames and lightning lit up the sky in a symphony of destruction.
"Boom!" "Rumble!"
One after another, bolts of lightning struck with perfect accuracy, breaking masts, setting sails on fire, and splitting entire ships in half. The giant waves from the sea and the lightning from the sky, all under Kyle's control, had become a devastating attack on the Flying Pirates from both above and below.
"It's Kyle! Kyle's doing it!" Buggy pointed at him, his voice trembling with a mix of fear and awe. "That guy… he's not human! He is the storm!"
The rest of the Roger Pirates stared at the scene, completely dumbfounded. They knew Kyle was a Devil Fruit user, but they had never imagined his power could be this destructive.
"You bastard!" On the flagship, the Golden Lion watched as his fleet was knocked out of the sky and plunged into the sea. His eyes were completely bloodshot. He roared and tried to use his own powers to stabilize his fleet, but against a natural disaster amplified by Kyle, his own strength seemed insignificant.
In the moment he was distracted by his own angry roar, an impossibly large wave, like the hand of a giant, slammed into the ship he was standing on.
"BOOM—!!!"
The entire flagship was sent tumbling through the air. The pirates on board were thrown off the deck and into the raging sea. Shiki was also thrown into the air, spinning uncontrollably. In the chaos, the ship's large wooden rudder, which had been broken by the wave, was picked up by the wind and flew through the air like a spear.
Pfft!
There was a sickening thud. Amidst the pouring rain and flashing lightning, the spinning rudder plunged deep into the Golden Lion's head.
Time seemed to stop. Shiki hung there in mid-air, his eyes wide open, his face frozen in a look of shock and pain. Blood mixed with rainwater flowed down the rudder and through his golden hair. He wasn't dead, but for him, the battle was over.
As Shiki fell, the storm seemed to lose its strength and gradually began to fade. The dark clouds broke apart, and the sun shone down once more. All that was left on the sea was the wreckage of more than twenty burning, sinking ships.
The Oro Jackson was covered in scars, but it was still floating stubbornly on the water.
The crew looked at the destroyed fleet, then at Kyle, who was standing at the stern, looking only a little pale. For a long time, nobody could find the words to speak.
Roger sheathed his sword, walked over to Kyle, and punched him lightly on the shoulder. Then, he threw his head back and laughed.
"Kuhahaha! Well done, Kyle!"
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