Brook looked at the young overlord—Golden Lion Shiki—and was stunned by his praise. Did his words really have that much impact? Even Brook couldn’t believe it.
At that mont, Shiki’s golden mane fluttered like a Super Saiyan transformation, his powerful aura exploding around him. His control over the Float-Float Fruit had clearly ascended to a new level.
“Get up, damn it!!”
With Shiki’s furious shout, the entire island trembled. The sea churned wildly beneath O’Hara, and deep in the island’s foundation, the massive roots of the Tree of Knowledge began to tear apart. Seawater flooded in like a mad tide.
Shoddy houses collapsed into rubble under the violent shaking. Books from the Tree of Knowledge rained down, scattering across the floor, turning the sacred library into chaos.
The deafening rumble felt like an earthquake. Panicked residents fled from their hos, screaming and stumbling. Despite the pirate threat, their instincts told them to head to open ground.
O’Hara was rarely hit by earthquakes—almost never in fact. So why now, right after these damn pirates showed up?
So scholars, more observant than others, looked at the nearby floating Golden Island and made the connection. Could it be... their island was going to float too?
Their ho—O’Hara—was going to be taken hostage?
The idea chilled their bones. Were they all going to be enslaved? Carried off across the sea like cargo? Killed and left to rot in so foreign land?
anwhile, the Hell Pirates who had been reading inside the Tree of Knowledge rushed outside, eager to witness the mont O’Hara left the ground.
Dr. Kutu, the Tree’s head director, stood frozen. He never imagined that pirates would go this far—not just looting, but stealing the entire island along with its people.
And he was powerless to stop it.
He stared in shock and despair.
“Why? Why must O’Hara suffer like this?” Dr. Kutu muttered, lips trembling and turning purple. He dropped to his knees and gazed up at the blue sky. “This island of human wisdom, five thousand years of knowledge, and it ends with ?”
The quake continued. Most of the Hell Pirates stood behind Brook, watching Shiki perform his grand display.
Seeing his crewmates gather, Shiki grinned and struck a heroic pose, giving it even more juice—eager to make this mont unforgettable.
Antonio, always quick on the draw, whipped out his cara Den Den Mushi and snapped multiple shots of Shiki from different angles, capturing his most majestic poses.
Nearby, the O’Hara residents and scholars were beginning to gather. They wanted to stop the pirates—desperately—but fear kept them frozen in place. The power gap was enormous.
“What? You trying sothing?”
Kaido stepped forward, dragging his massive golden-alloy mace behind him. His voice dripped with contempt. “I can flatten all of you ants by myself.”
His killing intent radiated like a storm. The islanders flinched, retreating instinctively. No one dared step forward.
“Go back to your houses!” Kaido barked, eyes flashing. “Or don’t bla if you end up in the dirt!”
Since joining the Hell Pirates, Kaido hadn’t seen real combat. His bounty was still sitting at zero. These little scholars provoking him? He was more than ready to unleash so chaos.
“Hahaha!” Shiki roared with laughter. “Little Kaido, lem show you what real Conqueror’s Haki looks like!”
As he spoke, Shiki’s aura burst forth like a tidal wave.
A mont later, islanders began to drop like dominoes, collapsing from the overwhelming spiritual pressure.
Kaido’s eyes widened. He looked like he’d seen a ghost. “The hell—he didn’t even touch ‘em?”
Even Vegapunk, the upstart scientist, looked envious. The ability to crush crowds without a single blow? That wasn’t science. That was divine power.
The captain once said only one in a million people could awaken Conqueror’s Haki, and it couldn’t be taught.
Vegapunk didn’t buy that. He believed everything could be explained by science and was now obsessed with cracking the “awakening” code behind Conqueror’s Haki.
Kaido, anwhile, was srized. According to Brook and Fisher Tiger, the top four fighters of the crew had all awakened Conqueror’s Haki. Brook’s own power— Hades Energy —was otherworldly.
Kaido now had a new obsession.
He wanted it. Bad.
Even Shakky, Tiger, and the others were hyped up, believing in a wild theory: the act of killing a Celestial Dragon could trigger the awakening of Conqueror’s Haki.
Tiger had secretly shared this idea with Kaido, hyping him up for a future assault on the Celestial Dragons.
Now, after witnessing Shiki’s overwhelming power firsthand, Kaido made a vow deep in his heart—he would awaken his own Conqueror’s Haki. He’d follow Tiger and shatter the world nobles into dust.
Shiki, basking in Kaido’s admiration, laughed even louder. His arms bulged, veins popping, as he raised both hands to the sky.
“RISE!!”
With that final shout, O’Hara broke free from the ocean’s grip.
Massive chunks of earth and seawater tumbled into the ocean below. A gaping cavity was left behind, filling with crashing waves.
O’Hara… had taken flight.
“It’s flying… O’Hara is really flying!” Dr. Kutu stood at the gates of the Tree of Knowledge, gazing skyward. Was this divine power? Could a man really do this?
Many scholars and doctors were dazed. What now? Could they ever return to their holands? Or were they now prisoners on a pirate-controlled island?
“Hahahaha!” Shiki let out a triumphant bellow. “You see that?! That’s my power!!”
Newgate and Redfield rolled their eyes.
Sure, they couldn’t float an island. But they could definitely destroy one. The power of the Tremor Fruit and Thunder Fruit could easily erase landmasses like this from the map.
“Take a break, Shiki,” Brook said with a grin. “Once we fuse O’Hara with Golden Island, we’re heading back to the New World.”
Brook was in high spirits. Their journey through the Grand Line and West Blue was a resounding success. They’d recruited Vegapunk, taken in Kaido, acquired the Fortress Fruit, and now had O’Hara’s treasure trove of knowledge.
Now ca the next stage: raising these seeds into giants—shaping them into forces that would shake the world.
------------------
Kaido lit up when he heard Brook’s words. He was itching to fight again—and finally get his first bounty.
“No need to rest. Now that we’re airborne, things are gonna be a lot easier. This island’s under my control!” Golden Lion Shiki declared, wiping sweat from his forehead. With a dramatic wave of his hand, the Golden Island drifted closer and slamd into O’Hara, causing the two islands to shudder from the impact.
Chunks of soil flew into the air at the point of contact. The two landmasses squeezed against each other and slowly began to rge, forming a gourd-shaped super island. O’Hara remained the larger of the two.
Even though the effort drained Shiki to his core, he kept his posture upright. No shaky hands, no unsteady breath, no glazed eyes. On the outside, he looked completely in control.
“I’m heading back to grab a box of cigars,” he said coolly. Without waiting for a reply, he used his last bit of energy to zip back to his golden airship. As soon as he got into his room and shut the door, he collapsed onto the floor, panting heavily.
“Damn… I’m wiped out,” he gasped, slumping down with zero regard for his image. “But man, I killed it out there. Bet those fools are all impressed! Hahaha!”
His whole body was trembling. He had definitely overdone it. But still—this kind of extre use had pushed his Float-Float Fruit to a new level. Turns out you had to push your limits to evolve.
After about ten minutes of laying on the floor, Shiki forced himself to his feet and headed to the kitchen to refuel.
He didn’t expect to run into Stussy the mont he stepped into the hallway.
She’d just woken up from the island’s tremor, her face pale and groggy. Shiki looked equally rough—tired, drained, not his usual flamboyant self. Both froze, caught off-guard by the sight of each other in such a state.
Shit, Shiki thought. All my life I’ve been a powerhouse, and now she’s seeing like this? Hope this doesn’t ruin my image…
Stussy, anwhile, panicked internally. Wait… did he figure out I lost my womanhood now? Did he catch on?!
“Hey, Stussy, your… relatives are visiting, yeah?” Shiki said awkwardly, still trying to maintain so pride. “Don’t wander around too much. Just rest.”
With that, he quickly ducked into the kitchen and shut the door behind him.
Stussy blushed hard. She knew exactly what he ant—he had clearly misunderstood. But that was fine with her. Without correcting him, she went straight back to her room, pretending like she hadn’t been up at all.
anwhile, Shiki devoured everything he could find in the kitchen, trying to regain his strength. Outside, the crew had been waiting forever—and were starting to get suspicious about how long it was taking him to grab a cigar.
Brook saw through the act. Yeah, he’s wiped out. But his pride won’t let him admit it. Gotta let him recover so he can keep pretending to be a badass.
Once the two islands were firmly connected, Brook spoke up, taking over temporarily.
“Alright. The islands are rged. Kaido, go help maintain order with the O’Hara residents. We move out tomorrow. Redfield, Vegapunk—you two are in charge of guarding the Tree of Knowledge. Make sure those scholars don’t do anything stupid like burning irreplaceable books.”
Brook had no intention of letting Shiki burn himself out again. A little rest would keep him showboating in top form later.
Redfield and Vegapunk nodded and returned to the tree imdiately. They understood the risk—so of those radical scholars might destroy important records out of panic.
Outside, O’Hara’s residents, who had been knocked out cold by Shiki’s overwhelming Haki earlier, were being carried ho by their families. They had no choice but to accept the terrifying truth: their island was now floating.
As for Big Mom, she casually flipped through her massive bestiary of rare creatures, her interest in the rging islands already fading. The others also dispersed to handle their respective tasks.
Brook went to find Dr. Kutu, the Director of the Tree of Knowledge. He needed to talk so sense into him—and fast.
When Shiki eventually floated back outside, cigar in mouth, ready to bask in admiration… everyone was gone.
He blinked. “Wait, where the hell did they all go? My grand return… wasted?”
“Gurarara! Shiki, back already?” Whitebeard shouted from nearby. “Brother Brook said we leave tomorrow. Go take a break or sothing.”
“Tch. I’ll let it slide,” Shiki muttered. “Brother Brook said there’ll be a big banner unveiling or whatever. I’ve got plenty more chances to show off.”
With that, he flew back to his room and passed out, snoring like a log.
---
Tree of Knowledge – Director's Office
Brook sat across from Dr. Kutu, his posture calm and cold. Behind the director stood Nico Barroby and Charles Perrault, both PhDs in archaeology.
“Let be blunt,” Brook began. “Your little ga of researching forbidden texts has probably caught the World Governnt’s attention. Keep sending archaeologists out to sea, and you’ll drag all of O’Hara to its grave.”
He leaned back, legs crossed.
“I’m not your enemy. In fact, I’m doing you—and all the other innocent scholars here—a favor.”
The World Governnt likely already had their eye on O’Hara’s archaeology ships. So far, they hadn’t acted, probably because the Tree of Knowledge still held so academic value. Scholars from all over the world ca here every year. But if soone crossed the line—specifically, digging too deep into the blank century—that would change in a heartbeat.
“Pirate Brook, don’t try to intimidate us!” Nico Barroby snapped. “Uncovering the lost century is our duty as historians. We won’t be silenced!”
Brook sighed. Typical.
“You think uncovering history will protect you? What’re you gonna do—fight the World Governnt with textbooks and dusty glasses? You guys can’t even handle a trip out to sea.”
Then his tone shifted, more persuasive now.
“But if you co with , if you work under my protection… you might actually get the chance to finish your research. I know the locations of several Poneglyphs—ancient texts from the Void Century.”
Intimidation only got you so far. What these eggheads needed was motivation—a carrot, not just the stick. And Brook had the perfect lure.
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