New World, Merveille.
This was Shiki's main base—a place known as a hidden realm, even harder to attack than Wano.
After all, Wano could still be reached by climbing the waterfall current.
Merveille, however, was completely different. It towered over the landscape, a lone column vanishing into the clouds.
Unless one took the internal elevator Shiki had built not long ago, or possessed the ability to fly, there was no way to get up.
But if you came looking for trouble, would you dare ride Shiki's elevator?
Were you not afraid he would simply drop you to your death?
Because of that, after Shiki had established himself in the New World for so many years, his main base had almost never suffered any trouble.
But in the past two days, an accident had arrived.
Captain John the Treasure Hunter had led his men to secretly sneak into the waters around Merveille. Without declaring war, he launched a surprise attack and caught the Flying Pirates off guard.
John was a Paramecia user of the Magnet-Magnet Fruit.
This ability was extremely powerful—especially against weapon masters.
Back in God Valley, John had used this ability to seize treasure across a wide area. Even though that large-scale move had not been aimed at anyone in particular, it had almost made Gaban lose his grip on his battle axes. That alone showed how strong the ability was.
And by coincidence, Shiki happened to be one of the greatest weapon masters on the sea, specializing in swordsmanship.
So in a sense, John had a special advantage against Shiki.
However, even though John was powerful and his ability restrained Shiki's swordsmanship to some extent, in the New World, Shiki was the pirate overlord.
John was not.
That already proved many things.
Above Merveille.
The palace complex Shiki had spent a fortune building had now collapsed by at least two-thirds, reduced to ruins. All kinds of scattered metal had fallen everywhere and buried the area. Smoke and flames had yet to fully fade.
Among the ruins, Silver Axe stood bare-chested, wearing sunglasses. There was a gunshot wound on his shoulder, and his abdomen had been cut open, revealing a faint layer of fat beneath the blood.
His foot was currently stepping on "Velociraptor" Jaykoth, a pirate with a bounty as high as 446 million Berries.
This man was one of Captain John's subordinates and a well-known figure in the New World.
This time, he had followed John to Merveille and launched a surprise attack on Shiki's Flying Pirates. Halfway through, Silver Axe had taken him on. After a fierce battle, Jaykoth had been defeated here.
"I surrender!" Jaykoth endured the pain from his body. Seeing Silver Axe raise his axe as if to cut off his head, he quickly shouted, "I am willing to join the Flying Pirates and swear loyalty to Boss Shiki. Give me a chance—do not kill me!"
"If I remember correctly, you were that bastard John's sworn brother, weren't you?" Silver Axe pressed the giant axe in his hand against Jaykoth's neck and questioned him coldly.
Jaykoth was clearly very dissatisfied with John as well. He gritted his teeth and said, "That was true before. But over the past two years, that guy has become greedier and greedier. The treasure everyone risked their lives to plunder together—he always finds excuses to take more for himself, sometimes even taking everything. If this goes on, who would accept it?"
"Then why did you come with him to Merveille if you knew it would get you killed?" Silver Axe applied a little force, letting the sharp edge of the axe draw a thin line of blood across Jaykoth's neck.
"Boss Shiki opened his gates wide and refused no one. Anyone willing to drink the adopted-son sake with him could receive a Flying Pirates flag. Over the years, he gathered countless people under him. John told me that everyone who came to pledge themselves under Big Brother Shiki would prepare tribute and gifts, so Merveille had to be filled with mountains of gold and silver… I lost my head for a moment…" Jaykoth hurriedly explained.
He believed he was strong and was also a veteran pirate.
Now that he was willing to join the Flying Pirates, they would surely not refuse him.
After all, Boss Shiki was ambitious. At a glance, he was the kind of ruthless man who dared do anything except good deeds.
Currently, the wave of the Three Emperors in the New World was growing stronger and stronger.
On the surface, many silver-tier fighters were challenging Shiki, Newgate, and Valthior to compete for the title of the Three Emperors.
But if one thought carefully, an existence like a Pirate Emperor could only leave one final winner in the New World.
And that winner would naturally become the new Pirate King.
So there was no doubt that Shiki needed to strengthen his forces in order to guard against and contend with the Valthior Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates.
As for Jaykoth, he should be qualified to become an officer, right?
This was also one of the reasons he had followed John to Merveille.
If John won, then there was no need to say more—he would occupy Merveille and replace Shiki as a Pirate Emperor.
If John lost, then Jaykoth had already long resented and grown tired of John's stinginess and greed. Changing bosses was not a bad thing.
Besides, for pirates, this was completely normal. Don't even mention things like betrayal being shameful—pirates talking about loyalty? What a joke.
Existences like the Roger Pirates or the Whitebeard Pirates might value things like loyalty.
But to fierce, cruel, and ambitious people like Shiki, Charlotte Linlin, and Kaido, pirates were just a group brought together by profit—teams that would use any means necessary to achieve their goals.
As long as you were qualified and capable, who cared whether you were shameless or despicable?
If you wanted to join, then come.
Ambitious people like them were also confident they could keep the wolves under their command suppressed.
What if they were plotted against and overthrown?
Then that would only prove they lacked ability and had inferior methods. They were not qualified to be the wolf king. They could only blame themselves.
On any normal day, Silver Axe probably would have accepted Jaykoth's plea and given him a chance to join the Flying Pirates.
But today—
Silver Axe held his battle axe against Jaykoth's throat with one hand, while holding a brooch broken into two pieces in the other.
After a moment of silence, he looked at Jaykoth and showed him the brooch.
"Do you know what this is?"
"Huh?" Jaykoth looked at it in confusion, hesitated, and said, "Some kind of jewelry? An ornament?"
"It is called the Tear of the Mountain Goddess. It was made by Master Baronia and once sold for 3.7 billion Berries at an auction in the Vini Kingdom of the East Blue. Later, it was offered to the Five Elders' family in Mary Geoise—the Jaygarcia family—and became part of a Celestial Dragon's collection. Eight years ago, that Celestial Dragon personally gave it to me, and it became a symbol of our friendship… Well, although we have fought plenty of times too, that was only because of our positions. In my heart, I have always considered him my friend. And yet…"
At this point, a vicious gleam flashed in Silver Axe's eyes behind his sunglasses. Then he pressed down hard with the battle axe in his hand.
The sharp blade quickly sliced through Jaykoth's throat, then his neck.
A moment later, his head separated from his body.
"And yet you damned bastard actually joined John in launching a surprise attack on Merveille and broke my brooch. After committing such a grave crime, you still dare beg me for mercy? Your and John's heads together are not even worth 3.7 billion Berries!"
Silver Axe furiously kicked Jaykoth's head away like a ball, cursing through gritted teeth.
One had to know that every time Silver Axe went out to fight, he would put the brooch away in advance and leave it at home.
He was afraid that if he brought it outside and someone accidentally damaged such a precious thing, he would not even have anywhere to cry.
After all, this was not something one could buy just because one had money. One also needed the right channels.
Jewelry and treasures of this level were created for tribute. After they were made, they either ended up in the hands of great nobles or in the hands of the Celestial Dragons of Mary Geoise. Ordinary people could not even see them, let alone buy them.
In short, Silver Axe treasured this brooch extremely much.
Merveille itself could be considered very safe, so Silver Axe had not been too alert here. Shiki had happened to be holding a banquet earlier, so Silver Axe had dressed in a suit and put on his beloved brooch to attend.
But before he even reached the banquet hall, the damn fighting started.
And the brooch was broken.
How could he not be furious?
After killing Jaykoth, Silver Axe carefully put the broken brooch into his pants pocket with a pained expression. Then he shouldered his battle axe, turned toward Shiki's side, and said in an extremely unhappy tone, "What else do you have to say to that bastard? Why waste words? Just cut him down!"
In the distance, beneath a large tree, Shiki stood before the trunk with a cigar between his teeth.
At this moment, his hands were empty. His two famous swords, Kogarashi and Oto, were not in his hands.
They were in John's body.
Captain John the Treasure Hunter now looked like a decoration. Kogarashi and Oto had pierced through his shoulders from left and right, pinning him to the tree.
Speaking of which, Shiki's two swords had recently been listed among the fifty Skillful Grade Blades.
Considering Shiki's strength and status, that really did seem a little lacking in prestige. But for some reason, Shiki did not care at all. He still loved these two swords very much.
"Hah…"
Shiki exhaled a mouthful of smoke, raised a hand to wipe the blood from his cheek, and looked coldly at John hanging on the tree.
"You hear that? Kyo hates you too… Sure enough, I am not the only one who finds you unpleasant, John…"
Back when they were on Rocks's ship, Shiki had two people he hated.
One was Silver Axe Kyo.
The other was John.
However, his dislike for Silver Axe was actually just their peculiar way of getting along. Silver Axe and Shiki often cursed each other's ancestors for eighteen generations and drew blades or swung axes at each other over the slightest disagreement. But in truth, Shiki had never intended to kill Silver Axe, and Silver Axe ultimately chose to follow Shiki.
Toward John, however, Shiki felt nothing but pure disgust.
It was because the man was far too greedy.
Shiki himself was already greedy enough, yet John was even worse.
So when they had been on Rocks's ship, the two had often clashed.
Later, after the crew split apart, they disliked each other and stopped interacting. That had been fine.
But now, John had suddenly attacked Merveille.
Shiki fought him fiercely for two days and finally nailed him to this tree.
"Rocks's… treasure… is it… in your hands…?" John's aura was weak, but he still could not help asking.
Teach's young face flashed through Shiki's mind.
After a moment, Shiki smiled.
"That is right. But it is something you will never be qualified to touch…"
The instant his voice fell, Shiki suddenly clenched his hand.
The tree rapidly twisted, completely swallowing and wrapping around John's body. Then, with a bang, it exploded into fireworks of blood, flesh, and wood chips.
Silver Axe walked over with a gloomy face. Seeing this, Shiki asked, "How are the casualties?"
"Devastating!" Silver Axe said in a low voice.
"Huh? How devastating?" Shiki's expression tightened.
"My brooch worth 3.7 billion Berries was broken!" Silver Axe said seriously.
Shiki: "..."
Are we talking about the same thing?
Just then, Barbel, his body wrapped in bloodstained bandages, walked over from the distance and looked at Shiki.
"Linlin and Kaido joined forces—and lost to Valthior."
"Jihahahahaha!" Shiki burst into laughter.
"What is there to be surprised about? Valthior is a man I acknowledge as qualified to sit at the same table as me and Newgate!"
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