"What?! That's the Golden Lion! How did he end up flying out of Skull Castle like that..."
"Wait... is he fighting Whitebeard or something?!"
The street erupted in confused chatter. Golden Lion Shiki heard every word as he lay in the rubble. His expression twitched.
That little brat Ares had flung him straight into public view.
He looked up at the looming Skull Castle and cursed under his breath. "Bastard! Drinks my booze and tosses me out like a ragdoll! That damn little"
Before he could finish, a deafening roar cracked through the air like a thunderclap.
"I want more booze!!!"
The sheer force of the voice sent shockwaves through the street. The windows of Skull Castle shattered one after another with sharp, echoing bursts.
Panic spread.
People clutched their ears. Some went pale, overwhelmed by the sheer power of the sound.
"Whose voice was that?!"
"That roar just shattered windows! What kind of monster...?!"
"We're at the base of the Rocks Pirates! No way someone dares stir up trouble here!"
"Just the volume alone... what freak did that?!"
Only one man knew what was really happening: Shiki.
He muttered in disbelief, "No way... he got drunk and lost control?!"
He knew he had to act.
"Gotta stop that idiot before he tears the whole place down. If he ruins Skull Castle, Xebec's going to kill me."
With a whoosh, Shiki shot back toward the castle, his body darting through the sky.
And then
BOOM!!!
The entire wall of the castle exploded outward in a shower of stone and debris.
There stood Ares, his muscular frame glowing with tension and drunken fury.
His bleary eyes locked onto Shiki as multiple images of him overlapped. "Golden Lion!! I want more booze!!"
The drunken roar erupted like a gale, blowing Shiki's cigar smoke backward with its sheer volume and alcoholic haze.
Shiki's eye twitched. This idiot was wasted.
He grumbled, "Of all the things... I just wanted him to taste alcohol, not fall in love with it."
He sighed, clearly regretting his decision. "If I don't stop him now, we're going to have a crater where Skull Castle used to be."
He didn't draw his blade. Instead, he zipped forward using his Float-Float Fruit powers.
His fist clenched.
With a sharp buzz, his forearm turned jet black as Armament Haki surged across his skin.
Shiki smirked. "Didn't you want to learn about Armament Haki, brat?"
"Let me give you a firsthand demonstration!"
He drove his fist at Ares's head with a thunderous whoosh.
BOOM!!!
Ares's towering body flew backward from the blow, smashing through furniture and flooring, finally crashing into a wall that collapsed under the impact.
Shiki blew out smoke with a smug grin. "That, kid, is Armament Haki. I could make even Kaido bleed with that punch."
He flew toward the rubble.
But before he got there
CRACK!
The stones burst apart. Ares rose.
"Huh, you're still standing " Shiki started.
But his face fell in the next instant. Ares's massive fist was already flying toward him.
BOOM!!!
The punch landed square on Shiki's face. His jaw contorted. The cigar shot out of his mouth.
He was launched like a cannonball, flying through the same broken wall again.
BOOM!!!
The second crash hit the street even harder than the first.
The bystanders froze.
The infamous Golden Lion, one of the Rocks Pirates' top brass, had been... punched?
Again?!
Every witness had the same stunned thought:
Who the hell is this guy?!
He'd knocked the Golden Lion flying. Twice.
"Bastard!!!!"
Shiki staggered out of the crater, fuming. That punch… that strength… it wasn't normal.
A pulsing purple bruise was forming near his eye, tinged with blood.
He looked ridiculous his badass aura ruined, his cigar gone.
He had just wanted to teach the kid a lesson and scold him for drinking all his precious booze.
Instead, he got wrecked.
In front of everyone.
The humiliation would spread like wildfire across Hachinosu Island.
Furious, Shiki snarled at the onlookers. "Shut up!!!"
A shockwave burst from him as his Conqueror's Haki exploded outward like a hurricane.
People collapsed on the spot, their minds overwhelmed.
Silence fell like a guillotine.
Those still conscious were paralyzed with fear. Sweat poured from every pore.
Shiki's golden mane puffed up like an angry cat's.
Then the sunlight vanished.
Everyone looked up.
A massive figure blocked out the sun.
From above came a drunken, enraged voice that shook the sky.
"Bastard!!! You dared sucker punch me!!!"
Ares's thoughts were a chaotic mess. Shiki's Haki punch had left him reeling, and his drunken state only made things worse.
He muttered, confused, "Trying to take my first blood...?"
First blood? What's that?
His brain jumped tracks again.
He screamed in rage, wild and furious.
"Golden-haired lion!! Prepare to die!!"
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