Chapter 236: Siege of the Golden Lion!!
"You picked your timing well!!"
Golden Lion Shiki's savage grin looked especially sinister beneath the flashing lightning.
He didn't even turn around. Just as Sanji's kick—wrapped in violent crackling lightning—was about to strike the back of his neck—
Shiki tilted his head slightly to the left, as if he had already foreseen the attack.
A hair's breadth apart.
Sanji's kick, powerful enough to shatter steel and vaporize seawater, tore past Shiki's flowing golden hair amid blazing blue-white arcs of electricity.
Several severed strands were instantly vaporized by the raging lightning, leaving behind only a faint trail of burnt smoke.
"But… you're too slow!!"
Shiki's voice dripped with naked mockery.
Only then did he fully turn around, his hawk-like eyes locking onto Sanji's body as the latter momentarily stiffened from missing his strike.
"No matter how fast you are, you can't outrun Observation Haki."
Laughing wildly, the two meito at his feet—Oto and Kogarashi—let out clear metallic hums as the edges of the Great Grade Blades gleamed beneath the dark thunderclouds.
"All resistance… is meaningless!!"
Before the words had even faded—
His arms crossed and slashed outward!
"Lion Strike: Twin Lions!!"
Pure swordsmanship erupted.
Two enormous golden crescent slashes, each stretching dozens of meters long and condensed almost into solid form, tore through the sky like twin rising moons.
They crossed toward Sanji with terrifying force, sealing off every possible escape route.
Everything in their path was split apart—even the falling raindrops were neatly severed in half, while the cloud layer below was carved open into two bottomless ravines.
But at the instant the golden slashes were about to consume Sanji—
BZZZT—CRACK!
Sanji's body suddenly dispersed into blue-white lightning.
The two terrifying slashes crossed through the scattering electricity, silently cutting a floating hill in the far distance into four perfectly smooth pieces.
Several hundred meters away, ionized particles rapidly gathered and reassembled.
Sanji's figure slowly materialized once more.
He raised his head and stared at the golden figure standing motionless in the distance, brows tightly furrowed.
"Future Sight…?"
Sanji muttered under his breath, his voice carrying shock, realization, and deeper vigilance.
That attack just now had been timed perfectly—Shiki's attention had briefly shifted toward the Thousand Sunny. Sanji had unleashed his current maximum speed and explosive power.
Yet Shiki's effortless head tilt had clearly shown that he had already "seen" the attack beforehand.
Shiki didn't pursue.
He merely floated there, watching Sanji resume his fighting stance with amused interest, like a predator enjoying the final struggle of trapped prey.
"So the brats of the new era aren't all brainless idiots after all."
He grinned, revealing rows of pale teeth.
"To recognize Future Sight… you're a little stronger than the trash below."
"ROOM."
A calm, almost emotionless voice echoed from the edge of the battlefield.
The moment the word was spoken, a hemispherical transparent barrier filled with flowing blue energy waves expanded without warning.
Its range far exceeded normal limits, enveloping Shiki, Sanji, and a vast stretch of airspace above.
The light around its edges warped as though space itself had been severed into an independent domain.
"Hm?!"
The grin on Shiki's face froze.
He immediately sensed the subtle shift in spatial laws around him, as though he had stepped into another world.
Almost simultaneously with ROOM's expansion—
The air directly above Shiki rippled like water.
Yamato's tall figure suddenly appeared out of nowhere, as if swapped directly from the void itself.
"When did—?! A spatial ability?!"
For the first time, genuine surprise flashed across Shiki's eyes.
Not only did the enemy possess the rare Ope Ope no Mi, but the precision, range, and tactical coordination of its usage far exceeded his expectations.
There was no time for further thought.
CRACKLE—!!!
Yamato gripped her kanabo with both hands as black-and-purple Conqueror's Haki lightning exploded around it like raging thunder dragons.
"Thunder Bagua!!!"
Shiki's battle instincts surged to their peak.
Oto, coated in both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki Infusion, kicked upward to intercept.
"Lion: Thousand Slice Valley!!"
BOOOOOOM—!!!
Conqueror's Haki collided violently, causing the ROOM barrier to tremble violently.
The clash between overwhelming force and swordsmanship sent Shiki's blood surging as he was blasted backward.
"Kaido's technique! What's your relationship with Kaido?!"
he roared.
But even as he shouted, his sharp gaze swept toward Law in the distance—the spotted-hat brat maintaining the ROOM.
That kid… the Ope Ope no Mi user!
"None of your business!!"
Yamato gritted her teeth and answered defiantly.
The skin around her palms split open from the impact, blood staining her sleeves.
And at the exact instant Shiki was caught off guard by the spatial tactics—his balance disrupted, his focus briefly divided between Yamato and Law—
WHOOSH—!!
Zoro, transformed into a black demon swordsman, burst into the edge of the ROOM.
Law had perfectly adjusted his appearance timing and location.
His target was the opening Shiki exposed while blocking Yamato.
"Three Sword Style: Purgatory Oni Giri!!"
"Annoying insects! Lion's Majesty: Earth Scroll!!"
Shiki roared angrily.
With his left hand, he manipulated the earth into a gigantic lion that lunged toward Zoro while his body retreated again.
But just as he attempted to widen the distance and redirect part of his fury toward Law—
"Injection Shot."
Law's calm voice rang out once more.
He slightly raised a finger.
Along Shiki's retreat path, the air within ROOM suddenly compressed into a single point before bursting outward like it had been sliced apart by an invisible scalpel.
An almost invisible shockwave shot toward the center of Shiki's back at incredible speed and with deadly precision.
Shiki's Observation Haki screamed a warning.
He was forced to divide his attention once again and twist aside to evade the sinister attack.
And in that infinitesimal instant—
"Diable Jambe: Flanchet Strike!!"
Sanji appeared at Shiki's flank like a phantom.
Shiki's pupils shrank.
Kogarashi hurriedly rose to block.
BANG!
"Takt."
Law moved his fingers like the conductor of a symphony.
Zoro, who had just sliced apart part of the earth lion, vanished instantly within ROOM.
The next moment, he appeared in Shiki's blind spot from another angle, blades descending once more.
Yamato forcefully suppressed her surging blood as lightning wrapped around her kanabo again.
Together with Zoro's slash, she attacked from yet another direction.
Law's ROOM had become a precise and merciless operating table—
And Shiki was the patient upon it.
Spatial swaps. Barrier lockdowns. Internal shockwaves. Position adjustments.
The Ope Ope no Mi's power was pushed to its absolute limit.
The attacks of the Straw Hats' three strongest fighters were chained together in impossible ways—accelerated, strengthened, and interconnected into a relentless web of fatal combination attacks from every direction.
At last, Shiki completely abandoned his arrogance.
Roaring furiously, he swung both swords wildly as dark-red Conqueror's Haki erupted explosively from his body, violently battering the ROOM barrier while simultaneously countering attacks from all sides.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM—!!!
The interior of ROOM was instantly flooded with slashes, kicks, kanabo strikes, shockwaves, and exploding bursts of light.
The blue barrier warped violently, as if it could shatter at any moment.
When the aftermath finally subsided—
Shiki still stood tall.
But several tears had appeared in his golden coat, and his breathing had become slightly uneven.
The enormous earth lion beneath him had been mostly destroyed during the chaotic battle.
Meanwhile, Zoro, Yamato, and Sanji had each retreated some distance away.
All three bore injuries and breathed heavily—
Yet the fighting spirit in their eyes burned even fiercer than before.
In the distance, Law maintained ROOM with a pale expression. Maintaining such a massive and high-intensity spatial domain was clearly draining him heavily.
Slowly, Shiki lifted his head.
His gaze swept across the three fighters floating in the air.
Finally, it settled on Law.
For the first time, his eyes held true seriousness—
And the excitement of meeting worthy opponents.
"The Ope Ope no Mi… 'Surgeon of Death' Trafalgar Law."
He licked his dry lips.
"And Kaido's successor, a Three Sword Style swordsman, and a Goro Goro no Mi user…!"
"Jihahahaha!!!"
Suddenly, he burst into wild laughter filled with savage battle intent.
"So the new era really has produced a few decent thorns!"
"But you think tricks like this are enough to stop me?!"
"You're still a hundred years too early!!!"
Meanwhile, in the shattered banquet hall and connected corridors below, battle unfolded at another efficient pace.
Gunfire erupted as bullets tore through the smoke-filled air.
Robin gracefully turned her body like a willow swaying in the wind, a bullet grazing past the collar of her suit.
She didn't even glance at the shooter.
Her crossed arms had already bloomed into trails of flower petals.
"Three Fleur: Clutch."
Her voice was gentle—
Yet carried the weight of absolute judgment.
In the next instant, the hundreds of pirates charging at the front suddenly froze.
Three powerful pale arms bloomed from each of their shoulders, twisting at impossible angles to lock their necks, shoulders, and wrists.
CRACK!
CRACK!
CRACK!
A horrifying chorus of snapping bones exploded almost simultaneously.
The pirates collapsed en masse like puppets with their strings cut, unable even to scream before crumpling to the ground in agony.
"M-Monster! That woman's a monster!!"
The pirates behind them faltered in terror at the horrifying efficiency of the massacre.
But greed and brutality quickly overwhelmed fear.
Several massive pirate captains roared and charged from different directions, blades aimed directly at Robin's vitals.
Robin remained expressionless.
Those deep eyes capable of reading the Poneglyphs reflected not even the slightest ripple.
She didn't even change posture.
Her left arm extended outward while her right fist slowly drew back to her waist.
Invisible pressure condensed in the air.
When the nearest blade was less than a foot from her hair—
"Fish-Man Karate: 3,000 Brick Fist."
Her fist thrust forward silently.
BOOOOOM—!!!
A visible shockwave exploded outward in a fan-shaped blast.
The charging pirate captains were smashed head-on like they'd been struck by invisible war hammers.
Their chest armor caved inward as blood sprayed from their mouths and they were blasted backward.
Dozens of pirates behind them were hurled into distant walls, embedded deep into shattered stone.
As the dust settled, Robin calmly withdrew her fist and brushed nonexistent dust from her sleeve before turning toward the next battlefield.
"Yohohoho~"
A cheerful tune echoed through another debris-filled corridor alongside the crisp clatter of bones.
Brook walked gracefully through a crowd of confused pirates with elegant, swift dance-like steps, cane sword in hand as though attending a grand banquet.
"What the hell is with that skeleton?!"
"Quit screwing around and kill him!"
Initially stunned, the pirates quickly became enraged by his casual stroll.
Roaring furiously, they turned and charged him with blades and guns raised high.
Brook never stopped walking.
He didn't even look back.
"Goodness. Don't you people know the manners required to let a gentleman finish his walk in peace?"
Just as the first blade was about to touch his spine—
"Humming Sword: Arrow Notch Slash."
Brook continued walking as he completed the motion of sheathing his sword.
Click.
The sound of the cane sword returning to its sheath became the trigger.
Behind him, every pirate froze mid-motion.
Then thin icy-blue lines appeared across their necks, chests, and vital points.
CRACK… CRACK…
Extreme cold rapidly spread outward from the wounds, freezing flesh, life, and even the savage expressions on their faces.
One after another, frozen statues silently stood within the dark corridor, preserving eternal stillness and a single instant of slaughter.
Brook adjusted his cravat lightly and hummed the remainder of his tune as he walked toward the next area requiring "silence."
In the ruined front hall, Usopp occupied the top of a broken marble pillar as a sniper's nest.
Below, dozens of pirates attempted to climb upward or fire from cover.
"Hah… been a while since things got this lively."
Usopp inhaled deeply, focused light shining in his eyes.
Gone was the cowardice of his earlier days.
What remained was the calm composure forged through countless deadly battles—the bearing of a true sniper king.
He grabbed a handful of special seeds from his ammunition pouch and loaded them into his giant slingshot, Kuro Kabuto, through pure muscle memory.
"Try this… New Special Fire Star!"
He pulled back the string and aimed—not at a specific enemy, but at the airspace above them.
"Triple Gunpowder Star!!!"
The moment he released the string, the seeds shot forward.
And along their flight path, amplification rings activated one after another.
Passing through the first ring, sparks exploded as the seeds transformed into burning fledglings.
Passing through the second ring, the flames surged violently and the birds doubled in size.
Passing through the third ring, the orange-red flames completely erupted into gigantic blazing birds with wingspans exceeding three meters.
What had once merely been bullet-like projectiles underwent a complete qualitative transformation under the triple amplification—
Into a devastating bombardment rivaling heavy artillery fire.
"W-What is that?!"
"RUN—!!"
The pirates looked up in horror as blazing orange light filled their vision.
Dozens of flaming birds merged into a roaring inferno and descended upon the densest part of the crowd.
BOOOOOOOMMMMM—!!!!
Explosions and fire swallowed everything.
The scorching shockwave blasted nearby debris apart once again, leaving massive blackened craters in the stone floor.
The screams were brief and faint beneath the explosions.
When the smoke and flames finally cleared, only charred remains and a handful of severely burned survivors rolling on the ground remained.
Standing above, Usopp lowered Kuro Kabuto and wiped soot from his face.
"The power… seems stronger than expected. I'll need to adjust the spacing of the amplification rings next time."
Compared to the bizarre, flashy, or outright destructive combat styles of his crewmates—
Chopper's battlefield looked especially simple.
"Ah… everyone, please stop coming closer!"
Maintaining his Heavy Point hybrid form, Chopper looked helpless yet determined as the pirates continued charging toward him.
He disliked violence.
But to protect his friends and stop these enemies from interfering with the battle above, he had to stand his ground.
"Kung Fu Point!"
His already sturdy arms became even more flexible and explosive with power.
Combining martial arts techniques with enhanced physical strength, Chopper moved skillfully through the battlefield.
One pirate swung down a giant axe.
Chopper sidestepped lightly, placed a hoof gently on the man's wrist, then redirected and twisted the motion smoothly.
"GYAAAH!"
The pirate felt an irresistible soft force guiding him as the axe flew from his hands and his body crashed into two others behind him.
Elsewhere, three pirates thrust spears toward him simultaneously.
Instead of retreating, Chopper advanced directly into the storm of spear thrusts.
His arms moved rapidly like fluttering butterflies, redirecting and parrying each strike with deceptively gentle touches that completely disrupted their trajectories.
Then his palms lightly pressed against two pirates' chests.
BANG! BANG!
The two men were launched backward as if struck by elastic tidal waves.
Though not heavily injured, they gasped painfully and couldn't rise.
"Cha!"
Without even turning around, Chopper lightly kicked backward with a hind hoof at the side of a large pirate's knee as the man attempted a rear chokehold.
The pirate instantly lost balance and crashed screaming onto the floor.
Chopper's fighting style lacked lethal killing blows—
Yet efficiently rendered enemy after enemy incapable of fighting.
He weaved through the battlefield, neutralizing attacks and creating chaos with precise "soft force," like a dancer performing a choreography devoted entirely to subduing opponents.
"Sorry… but for Luffy and the others…"
His eyes firmed with resolve.
"Please sleep for a while!"
And he charged toward the next wave of enemies.
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