One Piece: Hell Pirates Chapter 55: The Thoughts of Shiki the Golden Lion

The Golden Lion Shiki bit down on the cigar in his mouth, shifting it around restlessly—clear proof that he wasn’t at ease. He had entered the New World alone, only to be relentlessly hunted by the reigning overlord, Rocks.

Even the Flying Pirates had been disbanded, leaving him—once the leader of the Overlord Candidate —with a title that now felt hollow. Yet, despite that, even the Navy acknowledged his ability to escape from Rocks.

His bounty had increased ti and again, rising from 440 million to 500 million berries. But now, looking at the bounties of Brook’s Hell Pirates, his own bounty seed like a joke. It was the sa as a rookie’s. Was Brook really that strong?

Back in the Sabaody Archipelago, Brook had barely managed to hold his ground against his subordinates. Yet now, his crew mbers had bounties on par with Shiki himself?

"Captain Shiki, our na isn’t feared like before. Recruiting strong crew mbers has beco difficult. Why don’t we join the Hell Pirates? Captain Brook has so history with you, after all…"

Scaredo cautiously suggested, worried he’d be beaten for even bringing it up.

"How dare you suggest such a thing?! I wield Conqueror’s Haki! I am a natural-born king!"

The Golden Lion Shiki glared at Scaredo, eyes burning with rage like an enraged beast. If not for Scaredo’s unwavering loyalty, he might have killed him on the spot.

"But Captain, Brook now has two top-tier Haki users under his command—Thunder Red Earl Redfield and the Iron Balloon Charlotte Linlin. They’re monsters in their own right! And their ship… it can fly!"

Scaredo was clearly envious of the Hell Pirates' strength. Their crew was filled with elites, their potential seed limitless, and Brook himself was a man of wisdom and mystery.

"No! I will rely on my own strength to surpass them and beco the strongest!"

The Golden Lion Shiki couldn't accept the idea of submitting to another. He longed for powerful comrades, but not at the cost of his pride!

"But Captain, our current situation isn’t looking good! Haven’t you heard the saying? ‘If you can't beat them, join them.’

Hundreds of years ago, the wielder of the Thunder-Thunder Fruit, the God of Thunder Durant, was defeated by the strongest pirate crew of his era—the Warriors Pirates. He then joined them and eventually rose to beco their captain, ruling the seas for years.

If we join the Hell Pirates, Captain, you’ll have ti to grow stronger than Brook. And when that happens, you could end up leading them. Who knows? Maybe even the other Haki users will follow you!"

"Captain, don’t you believe in yourself? Or do you think you’re weaker than the God of Thunder Durant?"

Scaredo’s words lingered in Shiki’s mind like a spell. If you can't beat him, join him… Grow stronger… Take over leadership…

As for why they wouldn't join the Rocks Pirates instead? That was simple. They despised them. The Rocks Pirates had destroyed everything they had. They would never bow to Rocks.

And besides, Shiki had so history with Brook. If he surpassed Brook, then a smart man like him might willingly step aside. That way, taking control would be much easier.

The more Shiki thought about it, the more tempting the idea beca. But a lingering sense of pride held him back.

"This isn’t right. That would make a dishonorable pirate. I have my own pirate code!"

Shiki still believed in surpassing Brook through his own strength. If Brook refused to step down, it would be troubleso!

"Captain, Brook is a wise man. He wouldn’t handle things that way. And besides, by the ti you’ve grown stronger, we will have already established ourselves within the Hell Pirates. The pirate world is ruled by strength. If you prove yourself, so of Brook’s strongest subordinates might even follow you instead!

If we decide to set out on our own again, I doubt Brook would stop us. We could even maintain an alliance with the Hell Pirates."

Scaredo’s analysis was entirely based on the idea that Shiki would surpass Brook. If that happened, he could attract powerful followers, making it easy to separate and rebuild his own fleet.

But if Shiki couldn’t surpass Brook, then he would have no choice but to remain in the Hell Pirates.

That wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. If Brook’s crew was stronger than Shiki’s, then staying in the Hell Pirates was simply acknowledging reality. Even Scaredo himself was beginning to think that joining them would be better than their miserable days on the run.

Fortunately, the World Dark News Agency had been wiped out by the Rocks Pirates, aning no Vulture News Bird was tailing them. That, at least, made their escape easier, and the three dominant pirate groups were no longer focused on them.

In a strange way, Rocks had unknowingly done them a favor!

"This… actually sounds like a good plan. I can use the Hell Pirates to regain my strength. And if I leave later, Brook won’t make things difficult for ."

Though he hated the idea of living under soone else’s banner, he knew the alternative was worse. If he joined one of the three dominant pirate groups, leaving would be impossible. But with Brook, their friendship ant he had more flexibility.

The perfect scenario? Gaining so much strength that even a man as sharp as Brook would recognize his power, willingly stepping aside. Then, with the full force of the Hell Pirates, he could crush Rocks and beco the new overlord. The legendary Flying Pirates would rise again!

Shiki could already envision Brook acknowledging his strength, following his lead, and together, they would take down Rocks!

“Hahahaha~”

Shiki burst into laughter, his eyes filled with ambition. anwhile, Scaredo, standing beside him, wore a complicated expression.

"Captain, I hope you truly surpass Brook one day and don’t just end up as his subordinate forever..."

But then, as Scaredo thought about Shiki’s intelligence, he suddenly had second thoughts about his suggestion.

Did I just trick Captain Shiki into joining the Hell Pirates and becoming Brook’s crew for life…?

He shook his head, reassuring himself. No, no, I only made a suggestion. The captain’s fate is still in his own hands… I just hope he can truly live up to his title as the Golden Lion and rise to beco the king of the seas!

After asking around, Brook and his crew finally gathered information about the Sky Island in the New World. Near the waters of Doraganzo Arlan Island, massive human-shaped black shadows occasionally appeared in the clouds.

Many pirates and locals believed these were nothing more than mirages—after all, such gigantic beings couldn't possibly exist in the world.

But Brook knew better. This was most likely the massive shadows cast by the residents of Sky Island. A similar phenonon had been observed near Jaya Island in the Grand Line, scaring many pirate and rchant ships passing through.

Even in the original story, Luffy and his two companions—who were fearless by nature—rowed their boat frantically to escape from those enormous silhouettes, as if they would be crushed in the next second.

"Yohohoho~! Now this is the kind of adventure I live for!"

Brook lounged under the sun in his beach chair, sunglasses on, fully enjoying his break. Without the constant surveillance of the vulture news birds, and with top dogs like Rocks too occupied to chase down the Flying Pirates, things had settled down for a while.

The three so-called pseudo-overlords were too busy guarding their own territories against the true overlords to bother with them. The admirals in the New World were also under Antonio’s watch, and both the Seagull News Agency and the Economic News Agency had infiltrated the region, slowly taking over the intelligence and journalism industry.

With so many threats montarily removed, even Brook had grown a little lax. If not for the fact that his three main fighters were skyrocketing in strength, forcing him to keep up, he might have just chosen to kick back and enjoy life.

"Captain Brook! Bad news! Doraganzo Island used to be under the control of the Rocks Pirates. After the Dark News Incident, the captain stationed there was taken out. Now, Teach Ewald, one of the three new overlords, has seized it! Luckily, only one of his officers is stationed there for now."

Antonio, after piecing together underground intelligence from More Thomas and intercepted secrets, relayed the latest information to Brook.

"It looks like we can’t avoid a direct confrontation with the forces of the New World..."

The New World’s territories had already been divided among the major powers. Anyone looking to claim land would have to fight for it.

The Sky Island above the New World might be hovering 10,000 ters over Doraganzo Arlan Island, but just like Jaya Island below the Grand Line's Sky Island, controlling the island beneath it was crucial. Without it, getting up and down safely would be a nightmare.

After all, Brook was planning to station the World Economic News Agency’s personnel on the New World Sky Island. He was even considering setting up a base on Doraganzo Arlan. Without control of the island, nothing could move forward.

Before the Dark News Incident, Teach Ewald’s bounty had already reached 1.15 billion berries. Afterward, the World Governnt bumped it up to 1.5 billion, officially making him one of the six overlords of the New World.

Although he was still leagues behind true powerhouses like Rocks and Diger, the Hell Pirates weren’t in a position to take him on directly.

However, they had one major advantage—their mid- and high-level fighters were far stronger than those of the pseudo-overlords.

The three pseudo-overlords had built their empires around a single dominant figure. Their crews lacked depth, with very few true elites. In contrast, real overlord crews were structured like pyramids—strong warriors at every level, with new talent constantly erging.

Of course, this was the result of years of suppression. Without stable territories, these pseudo-overlords couldn’t recruit top-tier crew mbers. Their existing fighters were constantly being whittled down in clashes with true overlords, making it impossible to replenish their ranks.

Now that they finally had land to their nas, they could start recruiting, but it would take ti before they built up a solid roster of skilled fighters.

These pseudo-overlord groups were much like Kidd and Law, who each had a 3-billion-berry bounty but barely any noteworthy subordinates.

Kidd had only Killer to rely on, who had been force-fed a defective artificial Devil Fruit, turning him into a Smiler. As for Law, his strongest subordinate was Bepo, the white bear.

Brook glanced at Redfield, Edward Newgate, and Charlotte Linlin aboard his ship. Every one of them was a potential Overlord. Even Hiruba had the potential to beco the world’s strongest sniper.

"In that case, let’s check out Doraganzo Arlan first. If there really is a Sky Island above it, we’ll claim that first. We can always move on to taking the island itself afterward."

He wanted to confirm the Sky Island’s existence before picking a fight with Teach Ewald. It would be foolish to start a war, only to find out there was nothing above.

"Understood, Captain Brook~!"

Under the control of shipwright Tom and Redfield, the golden ship Erebus began to ascend upon reaching Doraganzo Arlan’s waters, searching for the rumored Sky Island.

---

anwhile, on Doraganzo Arlan, a stunning young woman with short golden hair had been watching the skies for days, waiting for sothing—or soone—to arrive.

"Tch, are the Hell Pirates really this slow? I thought they’d track this down imdiately. Then again, they’re just a pirate crew. How could their intelligence network compare to the World Governnt’s CP organization?"

Her cold, confident voice carried an air of superiority.

Originally, Admiral Coss Davo had wanted to set up an ambush here, but Doraganzo Island was already deep within New World territory. With the recent shake-ups among the pirate factions, everyone was on high alert.

If a Marine admiral were to set foot here, they’d likely be sward by multiple overlord pirate crews. Even he might not survive the chaos.

With direct intervention out of the question, the only option was infiltration. The CP spies had been ordered to "join" the Hell Pirates, biding their ti for the perfect mont to strike.

The golden-haired woman had already made a na for herself among the island’s pirates. She was strong, elusive, and had a knack for staying hidden. Even Captain Goth, the island’s current ruler, had taken notice.

He had sent multiple recruitnt offers—so polite, so forceful. But she refused every ti, even killing a dozen of his n in the process.

Infuriated, Goth used his authority to launch a full-scale hunt for the "ungrateful wench."

Yet, she evaded capture with ease, all while waiting for her true target to arrive.

At the sa ti, she carefully built the perfect pirate persona—fair-skinned, stunningly beautiful, undeniably powerful, and seemingly down on her luck. She was playing the part of a stranded rookie pirate, just waiting for the right crew to scoop her up.

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