One Piece: SSS-Rank Haki at Age Seventeen

Shakky's Rip-Off Bar

The tavern was filled with the mixed aromas of tobacco, ale, and seafood risotto, blending together with the familiar laughter of reunited friends.

"I didn't gather you all here just for a reunion."

Shakky's lazy voice drifted through the room like cigarette smoke.

Leaning casually behind the counter, she held a slender cigarette between elegant fingers, ash hanging loosely from the tip.

Everyone's attention shifted toward her.

Nami was the first to react, setting down her glass of orange juice.

"Shakky, what happened?"

"I want you all to take a look at this."

Shakky pulled a neatly folded newspaper from beneath the counter.

The instant Nami unfolded it, her pupils shrank sharply.

The headline was printed in bold black letters, every word striking like a blade:

"Legend Returns! Golden Lion Shiki Massacres Paradise Island — Entire Town Vanishes Overnight!"

The attached photo was blurry, clearly taken from a great distance.

An island's silhouette was being torn apart within a grotesque vortex, while an unimaginably massive shadow loomed in the sky above it.

Though unclear, the sheer sense of destruction practically burst from the page itself.

"Golden Lion?!"

Nami cried out involuntarily.

The tavern's laughter abruptly ceased.

Luffy had been lazily leaning against Nami's shoulder, sipping fruit juice through a straw.

At the mention of that name, he slowly raised his head, stretching his rubber neck closer to the paper.

A rare frown appeared on his face.

Not confusion.

Not annoyance.

But instinctive caution.

"Golden Lion Shiki?!"

Robin quietly closed the book in her hands.

Her voice remained calm, but a trace of seriousness flashed through her eyes.

Franky lowered his cola bottle, gears softly clicking inside his mechanical arm.

"Super~ that's one troublesome guy showing up."

Chopper immediately hid behind Usopp's leg, only his wide round eyes peeking out.

"G-Golden Lion? He sounds terrifying…"

"Golden Lion? Who's that?"

The crisp voice cut through the tense silence.

Uta tilted her head, her red-and-white hair cascading over her shoulders as confusion filled her purple eyes.

As one of the newer additions to the crew, she still wasn't fully familiar with many of the legends from the old era.

Shakky inhaled deeply from her cigarette before slowly exhaling.

The smoke spread through the air like the curtain rising on an old story.

"A pirate who should no longer belong to this era."

Her voice lowered with the weight of history.

"Golden Lion Shiki. Captain of the Flying Pirates."

"He once stood alongside the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, and Edward Newgate, Whitebeard himself."

"One of the three legendary pirates who ruled the Grand Line."

Brook gently brushed a finger across his violin strings, producing a low haunting note.

"Yohohoho… that truly is a name cold enough to chill one's bones."

"Although I no longer have any bones."

"Twenty-two years ago,"

Shakky continued, her gaze seeming to pierce through time itself,

"on the very day the Pirate King Roger was publicly executed in Loguetown, the entire world was focused on that historic event."

"And Golden Lion Shiki stormed Marine Headquarters, Marineford, completely alone."

"By himself?"

Sanji lit a cigarette, eyes narrowing sharply.

"By himself."

Shakky nodded.

"He demanded to know how a man like Roger could possibly have been captured."

"He claimed Roger's death was an insult to the Great Pirate Era."

Zoro finally lowered the cloth he'd been using to clean his swords. At some point, all three blades had already been placed within easy reach.

"And then?"

"At the time, Marineford was defended by Marine Hero Garp and the tactician Sengoku."

The tavern had become so silent that even the distant sound of waves outside could be heard.

"Legend says the clash between those three nearly destroyed half of Marineford."

"Walls collapsed. Fortresses cracked apart."

"Even the sky itself was torn open by their Haki."

"In the end, Golden Lion was imprisoned in Impel Down's Level 6 — the Eternal Hell."

Nami's fingers trembled slightly as she flipped the newspaper over.

The back page held a more detailed report along with an old bounty poster reproduction.

The man in the picture wore wild golden hair like a lion's mane, a massive ship's wheel lodged in his head, and a grin overflowing with madness and ambition.

"Yet sometimes reality is stranger than fiction."

Shakky flicked ash from her cigarette.

"Just two years later—twenty years ago—Golden Lion Shiki did something that shocked the world."

"He cut off both of his own legs to escape his Seastone shackles."

"He became the first prisoner in Impel Down history to successfully escape."

"He cut off… both his legs?"

Uta covered her mouth, face turning pale.

Zoro stared at the photo before suddenly asking:

"Is he strong?"

Shakky looked toward him and gave a complicated smile.

"Stronger than you can imagine."

"And his ability is especially dangerous."

"He ate the Float-Float Fruit."

"He can make himself—or any nonliving object he touches—ignore gravity and freely fly through the air."

"Float…"

Nami suddenly realized something and looked back at the island destruction photo.

"Wait… then that means…"

"That's right."

Shakky's expression turned grave.

"Golden Lion can make entire islands float in the sky and create his own aerial kingdom."

"After escaping twenty years ago, he disappeared completely. Everyone assumed that relic of the old era had retired—or died somewhere unnoticed."

"But now…"

She pointed toward the newspaper's date.

The report was from only three days ago.

"He's back."

"And the moment he reappeared, he destroyed an island in Paradise."

"An entire town."

"No survivors."

Franky struck a dramatic pose.

"That is SUPER~ bad news!"

Robin softly added:

"Before the Impel Down breakout during the Summit War, Golden Lion's escape was considered the prison's greatest humiliation."

"The World Government tried desperately to bury that stain."

"His return doesn't just signal the revival of an old legend…"

"It may also mark the beginning of a major shift in the world."

"Even so,"

Nami broke the brief silence, her orange hair swaying gently as she shook her head.

"This doesn't really have anything to do with us, does it?"

Her tone carried the practicality and rationality unique to a navigator as her fingers unconsciously tapped the counter.

"Catching criminals and protecting civilians is the Marines' job."

"We're pirates."

She said the last sentence with complete confidence—

though there was also a trace of helpless amusement behind it.

Sanji quietly chuckled beside her while topping off her glass with freshly mixed juice.

"That may be true,"

Shakky calmly lit another cigarette, the ember flickering in the dim light,

"but according to the intelligence I've gathered these past few days…"

"Golden Lion's movements have followed a very specific pattern."

"He's heading toward a particular destination."

As smoke curled through the air, she prepared to continue—

but a firm voice interrupted her.

"The East Blue, right?"

Luffy's voice wasn't loud, but it rang clearly through the tavern like a drumbeat.

At some point, he had already sat upright.

Beneath the brim of his straw hat, his eyes carried an unusually certain light.

It wasn't speculation.

It was conviction.

He finally remembered.

Fragments of memory had pieced themselves together inside his mind:

Golden Lion Shiki.

The man who ruled the skies.

His madness.

His ambition.

And the threat he posed to the East Blue.

Shakky's fingers paused slightly around her cigarette.

Ash silently drifted downward.

She narrowed her eyes at the young captain before her.

How did he know?

That information had cost her considerable effort and resources to confirm through special channels.

"That's right."

Shakky slowly exhaled smoke, unable to completely hide her surprise.

"The East Blue."

Those two words rippled through the tavern.

"The East Blue?!"

Chopper's voice trembled.

"Isn't that where Luffy, Nami, Zoro, and Sanji are from?"

Luffy had already jumped down from his stool.

The shadow of his straw hat shifted as he turned toward his crew.

His eyes swept across every familiar face before he broke into his trademark grin—

the one that always made everyone feel reassured.

"Then let's go."

He said it casually, as though suggesting an ordinary afternoon stroll.

"To the East Blue."

"HEY!"

Nami nearly jumped out of her seat, fist already raised.

"Why are we getting involved in something like this again?! We're pirates!"

Her voice mixed helplessness, concern—

and a faint trace of pride.

Even though he was a pirate, this captain of theirs always instinctively took responsibility for things that "heroes" normally worried about.

"What's the problem?"

Luffy stretched out his rubber arm and casually wrapped it around Nami's shoulders, pulling her closer.

The intimate gesture froze her raised fist midair.

In the end, she only lightly bonked him on the head—so softly his hat didn't even tilt.

"We're pirates!"

Luffy's voice echoed through the tavern with the weight of a declaration.

"That means nobody gets to define us…"

"We're free!"

He deliberately dragged out the word "free," blinking playfully as boundless light shone in his grin.

The atmosphere inside the tavern subtly changed.

"And besides…"

Luffy continued, his voice suddenly calm.

That calmness carried more weight than any passionate speech.

"Leaving our hometowns for the Marines to protect?"

"I've never been the type to do that."

The words were simple.

Yet everyone fell silent.

Because they knew this wasn't empty talk.

It was a belief this man had proven over and over through his actions.

Protecting the people he cared about.

Defending the places precious to him.

That was the truest meaning of freedom.

Watching the scene unfold, Shakky smiled softly.

She extinguished her cigarette before pulling an old logbook from deep within the shelves behind the bar.

"I'll give you the exact coordinates and predicted route to the East Blue."

"And one more thing—"

Her gaze settled on Luffy with the approval of an elder evaluating the next generation.

"Golden Lion Shiki's abilities are extremely unique."

"He can make islands float and create entire aerial territories."

"If he intends to attack the East Blue, there's a high chance he'll use methods like that."

"You should prepare yourselves for aerial combat."

Luffy nodded.

His grin remained bright, but his eyes had already sharpened.

"Got it."

He turned toward his crew and spread his arms wide.

"Then—"

"LET'S GO!"

Usopp suddenly jumped up shouting, his voice still trembling slightly despite the excitement on his face.

"To the East Blue!" Chopper cheered, waving his tiny hooves.

"I need to inspect the Sunny's flight systems in advance."

Franky had already begun planning modifications in his head.

"If we're fighting in the sky, I'll need to adjust the menu."

Sanji exhaled smoke while mentally preparing recipes suitable for high-altitude combat.

Zoro picked up his swords.

"Perfect timing to test my new techniques."

Watching them all, Nami finally sighed—

though the sigh was filled with laughter.

Pulling out her navigator's logbook, she immediately began calculating routes at incredible speed.

"The fastest course from Sabaody to the East Blue would be…"

Robin spoke softly.

"I remember the Revolutionary Army archives contain detailed information on Golden Lion Shiki's powers."

"We can ask Sabo to retrieve the files."

Brook bowed elegantly.

"It would be my honor to fight to protect all of your hometowns."

"Yohohohoho~"

Luffy looked at his crew, his grin widening further.

He lowered the brim of his straw hat and walked toward the tavern entrance.

Sunlight poured in from outside, outlining him in gold.

"Let's move out!"

he shouted joyfully.

"To the East Blue—"

"And we'll send that golden-haired lion's ambitions flying!"

The tavern doors swung open.

Sea breeze rushed inward carrying the scent of salt—

and freedom.

Standing behind the counter, Shakky watched the young pirates depart and quietly murmured to herself:

"The remnants of the old era… and the rising sun of the new one…"

"What kind of sparks will fly when they finally collide?"

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