Destiny's Son
The death of Shiki, the Golden Lion—or, more accurately, the news of his defeat and mysterious disappearance—quickly spread across the world.
Due to the collapse of the archipelago, the sight was truly spectacular.
Unless it was sheer coincidence that no ships or people were within an unknown number of nautical miles, it would have been impossible for no one to notice the scene of the falling archipelago.
As soon as people saw the image of the archipelago falling, they reported it to the Marines.
The fleet, led by Marine Admiral Borsalino (Kizaru), quickly determined that this archipelago falling from the sky was the base of the Golden Lion.
On the island fragments, or some of the islands still floating on the sea, Kizaru found the lion emblem of the Golden Lion and the flag of the Flying Pirates.
Kizaru, with his vast knowledge, quickly deduced the reason behind the island's fall.
Someone had either defeated or killed the Golden Lion.
Kizaru didn't know much about the Float-Float Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, or the legendary pirate who had once caused chaos at Marineford.
But having read the *Devil Fruit Encyclopedia*, Kizaru knew that only when the user of this fruit is defeated or killed, the inorganic matter held aloft by its powers regain its "freedom."
Thus, Kizaru was convinced that Shiki was either dead or unconscious.
Kizaru then ordered a large number of non-Devil Fruit users and soldiers with strong swimming abilities to dive into the sea to search for the Golden Lion. Meanwhile, he and the soldiers with weaker water abilities searched the islands floating on the sea.
Despite their efforts, Kizaru and his fleet found no trace of the unconscious Golden Lion, his body, or even any remains.
Kizaru concluded that the mysterious individual or group who had defeated the Golden Lions had either kidnapped him or taken his body.
Since no one had traded Shiki's body for the bounty, his mysterious disappearance not only spread worldwide but also became one of the biggest mysteries of the year.
However, Kizaru believed this mystery would not remain unsolved for long.
Because Kahn extracted Shiki's bloodline factor and kept his body frozen.
Kahn was planning to use Shiki's bloodline factor to create a perfect specimen.
Soon, the mystery of Shiki's disappearance would be unravelled.
After all, before his disappearance, Shiki had only appeared once. He had not revealed his "East Blue Destruction Plan," nor had he made any public efforts to rebuild the Flying Pirates. As time passed and Shiki remained unseen, the World Government and Marine Headquarters lowered their alert level.
At the same time, a major event in the second half of 1520 in the Sea Circle Calendar stole the spotlight from the mysterious disappearance of the Golden Lion, causing a global sensation.
The headline was shocking: "All members wanted—the culprits behind the destruction of the 'Judicial Island' Enies Lobby—'Straw Hat Pirates!'"
The cover featured a photo of Enies Lobby engulfed in flames, and a sloop in the distance, but the emblem of the Straw Hat Pirates was still visible.
However, the content of this news is very official and could only deceive ordinary people who don't have deep knowledge.
The forces with strong intelligence networks, or those with exceptional intel capabilities, knew the truth almost immediately.
The real cause of the destruction of Enies Lobby wasn't due to the actions of the Straw Hat Pirates but rather the result of a Buster Call.
Yet, the one who initiated the Buster Call wasn't any of the three Admirals, the Fleet Admiral, or the Five Elders who hold such authority over the Marines. Instead, it was Spandam of CP9.
He had temporarily obtained Buster Call clearance from one of the Admirals and launched it on Enies Lobby, the base he managed.
And why? Because of a group of pirates.
That group was none other than the Straw Hat Pirates.
What makes the situation even more laughable is that the Buster Call, designed to wipe out everything, failed to eliminate the pirates. In fact, they managed to escape.
To cover up this embarrassing scandal involving both CP9 and the Marines, the World Government had no choice but to shift the blame onto the Straw Hat Pirates.
As a result, this once little-known crew from East Blue, whose captain and vice-captain were the only ones with bounties, suddenly became famous worldwide.
The bounty for "Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy skyrocketed to 380 million berries.
"Pirate Hunter" Roronoa Zoro's bounty soared to 150 million berries.
Chef "Black Leg" Sanji received his first bounty of 130 million berries. With these three at the helm, they instantly became this year's supernovas.
Additionally, Franky, the shipwright and key reason the crew infiltrated Enies Lobby, earned a bounty of 55 million berries.
"Sniper King" Usopp gained a bounty of 30 million berries.
And then there was Tony Tony Chopper, the Straw Hat Pirates' pet and doctor, who hilariously had a mere bounty of 100 berries—double his original first bounty in the series.
With just five members and one pet, their combined bounty exceeded 700 million berries, with three of them already standing as supernovas of the year.
Even though Nami and Robin were missing from the crew, the Straw Hat Pirates had become even more notorious than before.
Much of this was due to the butterfly effect caused by Kahn.
In the original timeline, Spandam temporarily obtained Buster Call authorization from Admiral Aokiji, intending to test the Straw Hat Pirates and capture Robin.
The Straw Hat Pirates had broken into Ennes Lobby to rescue Robin.
But in this life, Robin had already become one of the major players in the New World, and Aokiji had no particular reason to involve himself with the Straw Hat Pirates or give Spandam the Buster Call Golden Den Den Mushi.
Yet somehow, Spandam still managed to acquire Buster Call clearance.
Where did this authority come from?
It all traces back to the mysterious disappearance of the Golden Lion not long ago.
In the original timeline, the Straw Hat Pirates encountered Shiki, the Golden Lion, on their way to the Sabaody Archipelago after leaving the Devil's Triangle.
The Golden Lion's base was located between the Devil's Triangle and Water 7.
When the islands fell, Kizaru not only brought his fleet but also sent Spandam and CP agents to assist.
As a result, Kizaru temporarily granted Spandam one-time permission to use the Buster Call.
The Straw Hat Pirates, in this timeline, clashed with Franky over a different matter.
In the original story, the conflict arose when the Franky Family stole the berries the Straw Hats had earned from selling gold.
But in this life, Kahn had already emptied the Golden Land to construct the "Grandine New World."
So, even if the Straw Hats happened upon Skypiea, they were just adventuring there with no direct enmity toward Franky.
On the contrary, Usopp's love for the Going Merry touched Franky, which quickly led to a close bond between him and the crew. Franky was then chosen by Luffy to be the shipwright for the Straw Hat Pirates.
Once Luffy makes up his mind, he's stubborn. To save Franky, who was believed to be captured by CP9 due to possessing the blueprints for Pluton, Luffy led the Straw Hats, along with the Franky Family, into Enies Lobby to rescue him, much like in the original story.
This was the version of the Enies Lobby incident experienced by the Straw Hat Pirates in this timeline.
When Kahn learned about it all, what else could he do but sigh and say, "Liberation fighters, the Son of Destiny is truly extraordinary"?
Kahn didn't even doubt that if an Admiral had intervened, Luffy might have awakened the Rubber-Rubber Fruit early—no, the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika.
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