Seeing this situation, Golden Lion's pupils suddenly constricted, his golden eyebrows shot up, and the wild laugh on his face froze for the first time.
He floated in the air, his golden hair fluttering like a tattered flag, and his expression—
First, it was shock, then disbelief, and finally, it twisted into something close to rage.
"What the hell?!" Golden Lion's voice was no longer lazy or mocking; instead, it carried a hint of trepidation he hadn't even noticed himself.
The clash of Haoshoku Haki created visible black lightning in the air, tearing clouds apart, churning the sea, and making the entire island tremble.
"Just a moment ago, he was a brat who didn't even have Haoshoku Haki..."
"Now he actually..." Golden Lion stared fixedly at Gern, his eyes, which had once looked down on countless powerhouses,
Now reflected an ant who should have been trampled underfoot—
A king who had just awakened, yet dared to contend with him!
"Gyahahaha!" Suddenly, Golden Lion also burst into laughter, but the laughter no longer held its previous composure; instead, it reeked of offended fury.
"Interesting! Too interesting! Zephyr, this disciple of yours... you've hidden him quite well!"
Zephyr didn't reply. Beneath his shattered sunglasses, his eyes showed a fleeting mix of shock, relief, worry, and other complex emotions.
He knew better than anyone that the awakening of Haoshoku Haki was no accident; this disciple of his was extraordinary...
"Gern..." Golden Lion slowly descended, his feet hovering inches above the ground, his Haoshoku Haki pressure crushing down like a tsunami.
"Do you think you can change anything with this newly awakened aura?!"
Gern did not flinch; his Haoshoku Haki likewise surged, the two forces clashing fiercely in mid-air, twisting the atmosphere and cracking the ground.
"I don't need to change anything," Gern's voice was low and hoarse, yet every word was like a knife.
"Boom!!!" The two Haoshoku Haki completely erupted, tearing the sky apart. A pitch-black rift pierced through the clouds, as if the heavens had opened their eyes.
Golden Lion's smile vanished completely.
In its place was genuine killing intent.
"Brat, you're too arrogant!" Golden Lion roared, swinging his hands violently. The air beneath his feet instantly condensed into countless sharp slashes.
"Lion: Thousand Cut Valley!" The slashes poured down like a torrential rain, each one capable of tearing the earth apart.
Gern's eyes narrowed as he swung black blade eight desolations to block, but the slashes were too dense.
For a moment, his body was forced to retreat repeatedly, leaving deep cracks on the ground.
"It's not over yet!" Golden Lion sneered, his figure flickering, instantly appearing behind Gern, his famous sword "sakura ten" thrusting straight at Gern's back.
At the critical moment, a purple figure suddenly inserted itself between the two.
"Heavy Blow!" Zephyr's left arm, imbued with Armament Haki, punched towards Golden Lion's sword edge.
"Clang!" The deafening crash of impact resounded, and Golden Lion's attack was forcefully blocked.
Zephyr said in a deep voice, "Golden Lion, he's not your only opponent!"
"Zephyr?!" A hint of surprise flashed in Golden Lion's eyes, then he sneered, "You want to interfere too?"
"He's my disciple!!! You bastard Shiki!" Zephyr's gaze was firm, his Armament Haki growing denser.
"Bullying the weak, I won't let you do as you please!"
"Hmph, then I'll take care of you too!" Golden Lion roared, unleashing both swords. Sword qi and Haki intertwined into a death net, engulfing Zephyr and Gern.
Zephyr showed no retreat, continuously dodging and counter-attacking, each blow precisely blocking Golden Lion's assaults.
However, Golden Lion's strength was formidable after all, and Zephyr's movements gradually became suppressed, fine beads of sweat appearing on his forehead.
"Teacher!" Seeing this, Gern gripped black blade eight desolations, his Haoshoku Haki erupting again, attempting to break through Golden Lion's suppression.
Golden Lion's Haoshoku Haki and Gern's Haki clashed once more, and the entire island trembled violently amidst their confrontation.
Suddenly, a crimson figure charged from the edge of the battlefield, a magma-transformed right fist, imbued with boiling killing intent, striking directly at Golden Lion's back.
"Hellhound!!!!"
"Hm?!" Golden Lion suddenly twisted his body and swept, splitting the magma fist in two, but the splashing lava still scorched black holes in his clothes.
He narrowed his eyes at the newcomer: "Magma brat... Is it Marine's trend now to gang up?"
Sakazuki landed, his Marine boots crushing the scorched earth, his gaze as cold and sharp as a blade: "Against pirates, there's no need for morality."
Before his words finished, his right arm again turned to magma, a volcanic eruption-like shockwave blasting towards Golden Lion: "Great Eruption!"
Golden Lion roared with laughter, swinging his sword to cleave the molten torrent, but Gern's Black Blade had already slashed from the other side.
Facing the blade infused with vibrating particles and Armament Haki, he was forced to retreat into the air.
However, Zephyr had already sealed off his escape route, his Armament Haki-hardened iron fist smashing towards his spine.
"Bang!" Golden Lion was forced into a desperate situation by the three-pronged attack, taking a solid punch to the back, a trace of blood spilling from his mouth.
He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his golden hair wildly dancing in the strong wind: "Gyahahaha... Three people ganging up on me? You certainly think highly of me!"
Sakazuki ignored the taunt. His magma fists suddenly clasped together, cracking the ground as scorching lava surged up like a giant wave: "Meteor Volcano!"
Countless magma meteors rained down from the sky, completely sealing off all of Golden Lion's escape routes.
"Petty tricks!" Golden Lion crossed his swords, his slashes transforming into a Golden Lion's mane, cutting down all the magma meteors.
But at this instant, Zephyr, the most experienced fighter among the three, suddenly charged forward, seizing the opportunity. His Armament Haki-clad arm clamped down on Golden Lion's mouth in mid-air.
"Whoosh! Bang!!" Immediately followed by a fierce throw, slamming him directly into the ground!!
"Gern--!"
......
The sky suddenly darkened.
As the battle raged, Gern's Haoshoku Haki continued to rampage, black and red lightning coiling around his entire body like a wild dragon.
But the black blade eight desolations in his hand suddenly became scorching hot, the blade humming and vibrating, not caused by vibrating particles.
But... the blade itself was humming and vibrating!!
"Buzz!" A purplish-black lightning bolt suddenly burst from the Eight Desolations' blade!
That was no ordinary Haoshoku Haki, but a more violent, more primal power—
It was the remnant Haki of Rocks, stirred by Gern's Haoshoku Haki, a combination of the two!
The purplish-black lightning, like chains, pierced through the sky, instantly coiling around Golden Lion in mid-air.
"Wh-...?" This sudden occurrence made Golden Lion's pupils abruptly constrict. His body stiffened suddenly, as if held tight by an invisible hand.
His Float-Float Fruit ability... had failed!
The air beneath Golden Lion's feet suddenly lost its buoyancy, and his body began to fall uncontrollably!
"What's going on?!" Zephyr looked up in shock, and Sakazuki's gaze also froze in mid-air.
They had never seen such Haoshoku Haki manipulation!
Especially Gern, who had just awakened, shouldn't be like this, or rather, Gern's awakened performance was already a bit advanced.
As the only one of the three Marine legends without Haoshoku Haki,
Zephyr had witnessed Sengoku and Garp awaken their Haoshoku Haki, and those were merely sudden displays of incredibly powerful, yet fleeting, auras!
But now, Gern was like a master of top-tier Haoshoku Haki...
"Is it absorption...?" Gern himself looked down at Eight Desolations in astonishment.
At this moment, the dark red patterns on Eight Desolations' blade had completely turned purplish-black due to Gern's Haoshoku Haki.
No!
Eight Desolations was guiding his Haoshoku Haki!
Realizing this, Gern gripped the hilt tightly. black blade eight desolations suddenly erupted with a purplish-black Haki vortex, and where the blade pointed, even light was swallowed!
Haki Infusion - complete!
"Impossible..." Sakazuki's voice was hoarse. "He just awakened Haoshoku Haki, how could he directly master Haki Infusion?!"
Zephyr stared intently at Gern's back and the black blade eight desolations in his hand, his eyes beneath his sunglasses trembling violently: "No... it's not him using the sword."
"The sword is guiding Gern to fight in the way its true 'master' once did!"
At this moment, Zephyr finally saw clearly the double-edged sword his disciple usually carried, wrapped in white bandages.
It was that man's weapon, that absolute powerhouse of the previous generation....
The only man in the world who could forge his weapon into a Black Blade using his own Haoshoku Haki.
Rocks · D · Xebec!!!
"Whoosh!!" Gern's figure suddenly vanished!
Not high-speed movement, but true "instant flash."
The next second, he appeared directly in front of the falling Golden Lion!
At the same time, Golden Lion finally managed to regain his senses from the Haki suppression, but when he looked up at Gern...
His pupils suddenly constricted to pinpricks, perhaps from seeing black blade eight desolations, which reawakened the fear within him.
At this moment, Gern's figure, in his eyes... changed!
Black hair turned wild, the stern face blurred into another arrogant countenance.
Even the posture of his sword swing perfectly overlapped with a scene deep in his memory!
"Ro-Rocks... Captain?!" Golden Lion's lips trembled, as if he had instantly returned to the day he first met that man.
At that time, Rocks stood upon a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood, on a king's capital, swinging his sword to cut off a Celestial Dragons' head, and laughing as he asked if he would join.
And it was he... with one slash, who shattered Golden Lion Shiki's arrogance, which had remained unshaken for twenty years since he set sail!
"Captain? Impossible... You're clearly dead," Golden Lion muttered, lost in thought.
Gern couldn't hear his murmur. At this moment, he only felt the boiling killing intent on the blade and the urge to cut down everything.
"God's Fall!!!" With a roar that shook heaven and earth, the blade carved a perfect arc of death.
Dark red purple lightning and vibrating particles intertwined into a destructive torrent, and the space in its path shattered like fragile glass.
Countless spatial fragments flew and refracted in the sword qi, shattering the entire sky!
Under God's Fall, all beings are equal!
Between heaven and earth, only this one blade!
Immediately after...
"Splat!!" Blood splattered from Golden Lion's chest like spilled ink.
A gruesome sword mark extended diagonally from his left shoulder to his right abdomen, deep enough to expose bone.
His golden hair was swept up by the strong wind, his pupils suddenly dilated, his whites of his eyes rolled up, and his consciousness was almost severed in an instant!
"Cough...!" Blood welled from his throat, and Golden Lion's body stiffened in mid-air for a moment, then flew backward like a broken kite.
But just as he was about to fall, his beast-like pupils suddenly constricted, forcibly pulling his consciousness back from the brink of unconsciousness!
"What the... hell...!" Golden Lion clutched his chest tightly with one hand, blood still gushing through his fingers.
But the Float-Float Fruit ability had reactivated, and air currents spread beneath his feet, stopping his fall dead in its tracks!
The strong wind carried the scent of blood, whistling past, leaving only heavy panting on the battlefield.
Golden Lion looked down at the wound on his chest, his muscles spasming uncontrollably.
That slash... almost, almost cut him in half!
Then Golden Lion slowly turned his head to look.
He saw Gern standing there quietly, his back to him.
The tip of black blade eight desolations was angled towards the ground, purplish-black lightning still dancing on the blade.
He didn't turn around.
He didn't even spare another glance at his result.
Golden Lion's throat bobbed, and he suddenly felt a ridiculous chill.
This Marine... was facing him with such an attitude?!
"You bastard!" Golden Lion wanted to roar, wanted to swing his sword back and cleave him.
But the intense pain in his chest and the ceaseless gush of blood made even breathing difficult for him.
This slash had severely wounded Golden Lion Shiki!!
Of course, what was even more terrifying was that he found his sword-wielding hand... trembling slightly.
For the second time in forty years, someone had made him truly and directly feel the threat of death!
Once it was Rocks, once it was Gern.
And both times with the same weapon!
"Cough cough! I don't believe you can unleash a second slash," Golden Lion stared fixedly at Gern, blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.
Now the distance between him and Gern was less than fifty meters; if he made a move, Zephyr and Sakazuki wouldn't be able to save him at all!
But Gern still didn't turn around, only slightly lifted Eight Desolations.
In that instant, Golden Lion's smile stopped abruptly, and he stomped the air, his body retreating rapidly!
He chickened out! At that moment, he had considered the threat of defeat and capture, but in the face of true death!
He, Golden Lion, chickened out!
Especially now, in an era where Roger and Whitebeard were still at their peak.
If he were the only one of the three legends to die first, especially at the hands of an unknown Marine...
He dared not gamble! Neither his life nor his pride.
"Next time we meet... I will personally pull that sword... from your corpse!!"
After uttering his threat, a fierce wind arose, and Golden Lion's figure transformed into an extremely fast streak of light, vanishing into the distant horizon in a blink of an eye.
.......
PS: Originally, I wanted Gern to fight Golden Lion alone, but for the current Gern, it's a bit unrealistic, after all, it's a peak, unharmed Golden Lion.
So, it's best for Zephyr, Sakazuki, and Gern to combine their efforts, with Gern delivering the decisive slash that changes the battlefield (this won't lower Golden Lion's strength and fits the power level).
Also, 【The only man in the world who could forge his weapon into a Black Blade using his own Haoshoku Haki】 is a personal setting of mine, the author.
Additionally, thank you all for your support.
If gifts exceed 30 daily (free ones count too), I'll update three chapters punctually every noon!