Chapter 181: The Old Madman and the Mad Dog
Bannila Island is an island that experiences perpetual snowfall, perpetually winter-like. It was once a kingdom. However, after being occupied by the Beasts Pirates two years ago, it became their main base. The kingdom’s military strength wasn’t particularly formidable to begin with, so Kaido effortlessly wiped out all unnecessary inhabitants on the island, claiming it for himself.
From a thousand meters above, through specialized Den Den Mushi monitors pointed at the ground, a snow-covered island below could be clearly seen.
Alucard stood by the entrance, facing the falling snow that drifted inside, while the Golden Lion sat in the main seat at the highest point of the cockpit. "Good. Land just like that. Let’s go to Bannila Island."
"Speaking of which, I’ve never fought that kid Kaido before," Shiki said, his battle spirit evident. "This time, let me handle it."
Ever since finalizing the plan to attack Mariejois three years ago, he had been using star-struck pirates in "Paradise" as sacrifices to restore his strength, constantly annihilating them.
All things considered, he had dealt with far too many weaklings. He was extremely interested in Kaido, who was as renowned as Alucard, and couldn’t wait to fight him.
Alucard watched the snowflakes swirling in the sky, his back to Shiki, his mouth slightly agape, revealing two rows of pointed fangs. "That guy is indeed a mad dog who speaks with his fists instead of his tongue, but don’t push him too hard. He’s crucial to the plan."
"Jihahahaha! If he died that easily, he wouldn’t deserve his reputation," the Golden Lion roared with laughter.
It was still afternoon.
The guards responsible for defending Bannila Island suddenly felt the sky darken. They instinctively looked up, their mouths agape in utter astonishment.
In the sky, more than five large battleships were slowly descending directly above Bannila Island. Leading them was a ship whose base was an island and whose top was a ship, featuring a giant golden lion’s head.
The Golden Lion, like Whitebeard’s Moby Dick, was an incredibly famous pirate ship, not to mention the newly hoisted, extremely conspicuous Golden Lion Pirates flag.
The Beasts Pirates crew members below gaped. A few "thumps" echoed from the deck as Shiki slowly floated from the ship’s prow to the city wall of the island’s city.
"Ahhh! The Gold-Gold-Golden Lion!!"
"Gyaah! Help!!"
Although the Golden Lion had been operating in "Paradise" for the past three years, he was already a legendary great pirate. Even these Beasts Pirates, as arrogant as they usually were, couldn’t help but scream in fright upon seeing a legendary figure like the Golden Lion.
"So noisy! You brats!" Shiki’s sword aura erupted, causing cracks to appear in the stone bricks of the city wall. He stood proudly in mid-air. "Kaido! Get your ass out here, old man’s looking for you!"
Golden Lion Shiki, even before Roger became the Pirate King, was a monster with a higher bounty than Roger, largely due to his Devil Fruit ability. His fleet of tens of thousands could appear and disappear without a trace, hidden in the sky, undetectable by anyone.
However, as the Beasts Pirates’ main base island, Bannila Island naturally had surveillance in many locations. Whether it was by planting spies within enemy pirate crews or forming reconnaissance teams nearby, Shiki’s method of descent was simply too conspicuous. He was immediately discovered by Government personnel and reported.
"K-Kaido-sama isn’t on the island right now!" a Beasts Pirates crew member mustered his courage and shouted up at Shiki.
"Hmmmm~" Shiki hummed a long note, then suddenly descended a certain distance and placed his hand on the city wall.
Boom!
Shiki curled his finger upwards. Suddenly, the hundreds of meters long city wall roared to life, and many Beasts Pirates crew members standing on top were thrown off.
Suddenly, the city wall seemed like living animals, coiling into countless lion heads, each glaring ferociously as they roared and charged into the city. Along with the earth-shattering commotion, Shiki’s wild laughter resonated. "Jihahahaha! If you don’t want to be slaughtered, hurry up and inform Kaido! Tell him to come back and have a fight with me!"
The Beasts Pirates were still in their developmental stage, far from reaching maturity. Under Shiki’s fierce attack, the situation became one-sided even before the entire Golden Lion Pirate Fleet had a chance to engage.
Countless bats descended from the sky, merging on a giant pine tree to reform Alucard’s original appearance.
Looking at the constantly roaring snow-lion heads and stone-lion heads in the distance, Alucard stood atop the massive pine tree, over ten meters tall, and looked up, saying, "An old madman against a mad dog. This fight will be interesting..."
...
Marine Headquarters.
"Shiki declares war on Kaido?!" Sengoku sat in his office. When he heard the news from the Den Den Mushi, he spewed out all the tea in his mouth.
He quickly pulled out a tissue and wiped his mouth, then glanced at Garp, who had snuck into his office to steal senbei. Sengoku said seriously, "Are you certain?"
"Yes, from observations in the outer seas, the giant lion heads and golden sword energy appearing on Bannila Island are special moves only Golden Lion Shiki can use." The Den Den Mushi on the desk had a serious expression. "Admiral Sengoku, what should we do now...?"
"No hurry. Don’t forget the order the Government just issued recently." Sengoku wiped his mouth clean. "This is perfect. Let those two great pirates fight it out. For now, we just need to quietly await the battle’s outcome and then make our judgment."
"Understood. The reconnaissance fleet will further monitor this battle." With a "click," the Den Den Mushi closed its eyes and hung up.
"That Shiki sure hasn’t lost his touch, his old sword still sharp," Garp said, chewing on a senbei. "Even Whitebeard has settled down a lot; he’s the only one of the old generation of pirates who’s still so fired up."
"Garp! Those are my senbei! Get out!" Sengoku roared.
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