Golden Lion's heart jolted. Almost the instant the black mist spear closed in, he drew the two swords at his waist and slashed backward, but his flying speed did not slow at all. His entire body maintained its high-speed charge forward.
Slash, slash!
Two crescent-shaped sword energies flew out in an X-shaped crossing path, accurately meeting the black mist spear pursuing his back.
Boom!
The two forces collided violently in midair, and the blast wave surged outward.
Yet the black mist spear did not scatter. It shot out from the center of the explosion and continued chasing Shiki.
Shiki's gaze sank sharply, cold sweat appearing on his forehead. While accelerating, he cursed at the golden nine-tailed fox demon ahead. "Bastard Ron! What the hell did you provoke?!"
The moment he finished cursing, Shiki's mind spun quickly.
Wait. This thing was chasing Ron. As long as he dodged to the side, it would have nothing to do with him, right?
"Jihahahaha..." A smile returned to Shiki's face. He quickly tilted aside, dodged the black mist spear, then immediately changed direction and flew away. "Ron, Kaido, you two play by yourselves!"
Sure enough, Imu did not even glance at him. Those indifferent eyes remained locked on the golden nine-tailed fox demon as he continued the chase.
Inside the golden fox demon, Kaido had been watching behind them. Seeing Shiki move to the side, he quickly shouted at Ron, "Hey, Ron! Shiki didn't stop that guy called Imu. But he looks like he got away with something, and it really pisses me off."
Ron's gaze sank slightly. He was not concerned that Shiki had failed to stop Imu. It would have been strange if that guy had managed to. What Ron truly cared about was that he had not seen Whitebeard or Rocks.
If he saw them, he could pull them into the golden fox demon too, then run straight across the sea.
"Keep an eye out," Ron told Kaido in a low voice. "If you see Newgate or Rocks, tell me immediately."
Ron knew a little about Imu's ability.
He possessed the power of Domi Reversi. In the original work, Rocks was controlled by that black-turn domination and ultimately walked toward destruction.
After spending this time together, Ron's impression of Rocks had become very good. He did not want the Rocks Pirates to end here.
"What?" Kaido immediately perked up. "Newgate and Rocks came too?!"
"This isn't exactly a good thing," Ron said helplessly. "Rocks came to beat you up."
"..." Kaido's excitement instantly shrank by more than half.
While the two spoke, an even larger mass of black mist suddenly erupted from Imu behind them.
The mist twisted and writhed like living things. In only an instant, it condensed into a huge black mist bow. The bow curved like a crescent moon, dark-red lightning flashing along the string.
Imu drew the string. Three sharp arrows formed from black mist appeared on the bowstring, their tips aimed at the golden fox demon's back.
Whoosh!
Imu let go. The three black mist arrows shot out instantly, the sound of tearing air exploding around them.
"They're coming, Ron! Behind us!" Kaido shouted in warning, his earlier disappointment forgotten.
Ron reacted extremely quickly. The golden nine-tailed fox demon suddenly sprang from the ground. The three black mist arrows brushed past its abdomen and buried themselves deep in the earth.
Boom!
A violent explosion rang out. The aftershock lifted trees, stones, and soil in every direction, leaving three enormous charred craters in the ground.
Ron frowned tightly. Before he realized it, he had already run to the edge of the coastline. Ahead was open sea, and beneath his feet was soft sand.
The moment the golden nine-tailed fox demon landed, it made a sharp turn and sprinted along the other side of the coast.
Imu continued pursuing relentlessly, launching attack after attack to interfere with Ron's path.
Not long after Ron and the others left, two figures had arrived at the shore.
Rocks carried his long blade, moving quickly, his gaze fixed on the golden fox demon ahead. "That brat Ron is running too damn fast. We can't catch up."
Whitebeard ran shoulder to shoulder with him, but his gaze was on the black figure. "Behind Ron... there seems to be someone incredible."
"I know." Rocks nodded. "That aura is very similar to the person I saw in the Flower Room back then."
Whitebeard turned his head slightly, glancing at Rocks from the corner of his eye. "Who?"
Rocks did not look at him. His gaze remained forward, his voice carrying rare seriousness. "The pinnacle of the world."
"..."
Whitebeard fell silent and did not ask further.
Golden Lion Shiki floated in the air, looking down at the battered ground below with a disappointment he could not quite describe.
He knew he had arrived late. That legendary Devil Fruit was already beyond him.
However, judging from the current situation, this ending was still within the range he could accept.
Because that fruit had not been taken by Kaido, and it had not been taken by Ron. It had been taken by that thing that looked neither human nor ghost.
As long as it did not fall into the hands of one of his own, he would not feel too bad.
"Rocks really is a bastard," Shiki muttered. "Telling me this late."
Boom, boom, boom!
Suddenly, heavy footsteps came from the distance, getting closer and denser.
Shiki slowly turned toward the sound, and his face stiffened.
That golden nine-tailed fox demon had made a huge circle and was now charging straight toward him.
"Hey, Shiki!" A booming voice came from inside the golden fox demon. "I've come to pick you up!"
Shiki's expression froze. Almost instinctively, he turned and accelerated sideways, shouting back over his shoulder, "Get lost, Ron! Don't lead that guy over here!"
"What nonsense are you talking about?" Ron's voice came from within the golden fox demon. "I, Ron, would never abandon a single comrade!"
As his words fell, two golden chakra arms extended from the nine-tailed fox demon like flexible pythons, reaching toward Shiki flying ahead.
Inside the golden fox demon, Kaido was moved to tears by Ron. "Ron, you... even though that bastard Shiki isn't human inside or out, you still reach out to save him in a crisis!"
Ron looked at Kaido in astonishment. For a moment, he could not tell whether this guy was being sarcastic.
"Who's your comrade?!" Shiki cursed, dodging left and right in the air, up and down, side to side. "Stay the hell away from me! That thing behind you is creepy as hell!"
After cursing aloud, Shiki went wild in his heart.
'Ron, are you still human? When we were dividing spoils, why didn't you remember we were comrades? The moment danger comes, you suddenly remember we're all Rocks Pirates?!'
"Shiki, don't underestimate the bonds of the Rocks Pirates!" Ron declared. More chakra hands extended from the golden fox demon.
Shiki was speechless at the sight. Bonds? The bonds of the Rocks Pirates? Are you out of your damn mind?
"Ron, can you die a little farther away? Don't force me to kill you!"