Elsewhere, Is, with his Sharingan activated, was still engaged in fierce combat with Golden Lion.
However, by now, Is had already mastered nearly all of Golden Lion's swordsmanship and gained a solid grasp of his abilities.
Smack!
Is placed his palm against the ground.
Countless sheets of paper instantly spread across the surface.
Rumble!!!
Behind Golden Lion, the ground erupted as a gigantic lion's head formed from countless pieces of paper.
"You've mastered my ability!"
Golden Lion stared in shock at the enormous lion's head made of paper behind him.
He had never expected Is to be capable of producing a lion's head so similar to his own techniques.
"I've harvested about everything there is to harvest."
Is nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the lion's head rising from the ground.
At this point, he had fully mastered Golden Lion's swordsmanship, along with part of his ability.
After all, he wasn't the user of the Float-Float Fruit. Some aspects of Golden Lion's powers simply couldn't be replicated no matter how much he studied them.
Golden Lion swung his blades and destroyed the giant lion's head behind him before retreating backward through the air, watching Is with vigilance.
"You can leave now, Shiki."
The sword in Is's hand gradually broke apart into sheets of paper that drifted away with the wind.
"You're letting me go?"
Golden Lion asked in disbelief.
Just moments ago, Is had refused to let him leave. Why had he suddenly changed his mind?
"Of course."
Is answered casually.
He had already learned everything he could from Golden Lion's abilities and swordsmanship.
As far as Is was concerned, Golden Lion no longer had any value to him.
There was no reason to keep him here.
Golden Lion stared intently into Is's eyes.
Even now, he found it difficult to believe.
"You're really letting me leave?"
"Don't want to leave?" Is asked with a smile.
"No, no, no. Why are you suddenly willing to let me go?"
No matter how he thought about it, Golden Lion couldn't understand Is's motives.
He even suspected that Is was playing some kind of trick on him.
Maybe Is was only pretending to let him go, waiting for him to turn around before launching a surprise attack.
As a result, when Is unexpectedly granted him freedom, he found himself hesitant to leave.
"If I let you go, you'll owe me a favor. That's a deal where I lose nothing."
Is spoke calmly.
Golden Lion's strength was beneath his own, so Is had no concerns about him becoming a threat.
With his cheat-like abilities, his growth rate was astonishingly fast.
Anyone weaker than him now would never surpass him in the future.
"Fine. I owe you a favor, Is!"
Golden Lion nodded.
After giving Is one last wary glance, he immediately flew away.
Yet even while fleeing, he repeatedly looked back to check whether Is was secretly pursuing him.
He knew Is possessed abilities that could conceal his presence.
If Is chose to launch a surprise attack while he wasn't paying attention, things would end badly.
However, after flying all the way to the horizon and seeing that Is still hadn't followed him, Golden Lion finally relaxed.
He accelerated and quickly escaped this troublesome place.
Not long after Golden Lion left, several Marine warships appeared on the sea.
The vessels steadily approached until they finally reached the island's shore.
"Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is, how is the battle situation?"
Sengoku jumped from the warship onto the island and immediately asked.
"Do you really think we'd end up at a disadvantage?"
Is replied calmly.
"Who were you fighting just now, Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is?" Sengoku pressed further.
Looking at the devastation covering the area, it was obvious that Is had recently been engaged in battle.
"Shiki."
Is answered without concealment.
"Shiki?"
Sengoku looked around but found no trace of the Golden Lion.
"Where is he now?"
"He already escaped."
"He managed to escape from you?"
Sengoku sounded genuinely surprised.
The world universally acknowledged Is's tremendous strength.
The idea that Golden Lion could escape from him was unexpected.
Then again, after giving it some thought, perhaps it wasn't so strange.
Golden Lion might not be as strong as Is, but he was still the user of the Float-Float Fruit.
His ability to flee was among the best in the world.
Escaping successfully wasn't entirely unreasonable.
"Where are the other pirates, Saint Aurelius D. Virel Is?" Tsuru asked as she stepped beside Sengoku.
"They should still be somewhere on the island."
Is turned his gaze toward the distance.
He had been focused on fighting Golden Lion and hadn't paid much attention to everyone else.
It had to be said that this island was incredibly massive.
Its durability was equally astonishing.
Despite being bombarded repeatedly by so many powerful fighters, the island still hadn't sunk.
If God Valley had possessed such resilience, perhaps it wouldn't have disappeared beneath the sea.
"Let's go, Garp! Time to arrest them!"
Sengoku shouted toward Garp, who was busy eating snacks behind him.
"Coming!"
Garp stuffed the remaining snacks into his pocket and hurried after him.
A considerable number of Marine powerhouses had arrived this time.
Marine Admiral Sengoku.
Marine Admiral Zephyr.
Vice Admiral Garp.
Vice Admiral Tsuru.
Along with countless elite Marine Vice Admirals.
Their purpose in coming here was simple—
To deal with the pirates who had gathered to compete for the Pluton battleship blueprints.
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