Falling Corpse

Three days later.

Outside the city of St. Martin.

The training ground was bathed in a gentle breeze and bright sunshine.

"Shinshu Senju!"

A colossal Buddha statue, over ten thousand meters tall and adorned with countless wooden arms, appeared in the training ground.

"Top Transformed Buddha!"

All of the Buddha statue's arms struck out frantically, converging their attacks on a single point.

"Boom, boom, boom!"

After a tremendous impact, a massive deep pit appeared at the point of attack!

Indeed, the one using the Devil Fruit power was Arthur.

After three days of experimentation.

Arthur discovered that as long as his shadow was on him, he could simultaneously use two Devil Fruit powers.

Once his shadow and he were separated, he could only use one power at a time.

During these three days, he had also developed numerous wooden abilities.

Most of them were derived from the Wood Release technique, inspired by Senju Hashirama!

However, it was a pity that the Wood-Wood Fruit was fundamentally different from Wood Release. Although he had derived most of the techniques, there were still some he couldn't figure out!

Techniques like "Advent of a World of Flowering Trees" or "Nativity of a World of Trees" couldn't be deduced because his fruit was the Wood-Wood Fruit, and it couldn't produce flowers or leaves.

"Phew..."

After a long session of practicing his abilities, Arthur took a deep breath, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and then separated his shadow, continuing to practice using it.

He needed physical stamina to train his abilities in person, but his shadow had unlimited stamina.

"Four Pillar House Technique!"

A complex wooden house appeared before him.

Just as Arthur was about to go inside and rest for a while, his expression suddenly changed.

A strong sense of danger descended upon him!

Huh!?

Arthur narrowed his eyes, activated his Observation Haki, and foresaw the future!

He took a few steps back, retreating lightly.

The next second.

"Boom!"

A massive block of ice fell from the sky, smashing precisely where he had been standing, creating a small crater.

Upon closer inspection, Arthur found that inside the ice block was the well-preserved body of Yamamoto Shigekuni, along with a fully assembled, spliced sword emitting a faint crimson glow—the former owner's famed sword, Ryujin Jakka!

Shiki wasn't dead!

That was Arthur's first thought!

Then, he turned his gaze to the sky, squinting his eyes. Using his Observation Haki, he carefully examined the area and found more than ten black dots floating in the blue sky.

"Kenbunshoku Haki!"

Arthur's Observation Haki instantly covered the entire St. Martin Island, and the black dots in the sky were also enveloped by this Haki.

At the same time.

In the sky, more than ten floating islands could be seen.

Controlling these islands was the legendary pirate, Shiki the Golden Lion!

This time, he came to deliver the body, and after doing so, he was ready to leave. Therefore, he only brought a few islands for defense, leaving even his main island behind!

On one of the islands, after delivering the body and preparing to leave, Shiki furrowed his brow slightly, feeling as if someone was spying on him.

But soon, he shook his head with a smile, thinking that he must be getting old to have such hallucinations!

After all, he was in high altitude!

How could someone be spying on him?

The closest island to him was St. Martin Island below, but even the nearest island was quite a distance away!

As far as he knew, even Roger hadn't mastered Observation Haki to this extent!

Then, he casually controlled the islands to depart!

Seeing him leaving, Arthur had an idea and retracted his shadow!

"Hiss!"

His wings suddenly spread open, tearing his clothes apart.

"Huff, huff!"

Flapping his wings, he silently followed behind.

What Arthur lacked the most was actual combat!

Shiki happened to be a suitable opponent, and his strength matched Arthur's!

However, if they fought directly over St. Martin Island, the aftermath of their battle could cause damage. So Arthur followed discreetly, planning to engage from a distance!

The two flew for a while, one behind the other. Just after leaving the waters of the Kingdom of St. Martin, Shiki stopped, sensing that something was amiss.

A feeling of being watched lingered in his mind.

Even if he was getting old, he couldn't possibly have such a prolonged hallucination, right?

So, he came to a halt.

Releasing his Observation Haki, he carefully scanned his surroundings with his gaze.

But the Haki didn't detect any person; his eyes, however, did.

In the far distance on the horizon, a figure with white wings fluttering slowly appeared!

A Skypiean!

That was Shiki's first thought.

Then, he quickly denied it!

He had encountered many Skypieans during his long days floating in the sky, but their wings were completely different from the wings of the person before him!

So it must be a Devil Fruit user!

While Shiki was lost in his thoughts, Arthur landed in front of him!

"Kid, who are you?" Shiki asked with a deep voice, looking at Arthur who appeared before him.

"You just dropped my grandfather's body, and you're asking me who I am?" Arthur looked at Shiki with a strange expression.

"Oh, so you're the grandson!" Upon hearing this, Shiki's mind clicked, and he suddenly understood.

Huh!?

Hearing that, Arthur felt that something was off?

After pondering for a moment, he realized.

Damn it!

What does he mean, "I'm the grandson"?

Just as Arthur was about to get angry, Shiki spoke again, waving his hand in a mentoring manner, "You're here to avenge your grandfather, right? Come on, since you're his grandson, I won't kill you. I'll just teach you a lesson!"

"Avenge him, why would I avenge him?" Arthur was puzzled for a moment, not realizing that Yamamoto Genryusai Shigekuni was already dead in his eyes. But then, he understood and spoke the truth, "Oh, no, I'm not here to avenge him. I just want to beat you up a bit. The revenge thing, my grandfather will take care of himself!"

"Oh no, he's gone mad!"

That was Shiki's first thought!

He looked at Arthur with a pitiful expression, sighed, and waved his hand, "Well, I didn't expect you to have such a good relationship with your grandfather that you'd go mad because of it. Go on, I won't teach you a lesson this time!"

Um...

If Shigekuni weren't in seclusion these days, Arthur really wanted to call him out and then pin Shiki down on the ground to see his expression!

But forget it, there's no need to waste more time on Shiki; he should just fight directly!

Arthur touched his forehead, and a specially made ironclad seastone coin suddenly appeared in his hand. He flicked the coin lightly, sending it into the air.

"Zap, zap!"

As the coin fell, a bolt of lightning appeared around Arthur.

"Railgun!"

"Boom!"

Danger!

Extreme danger!

A massive sense of crisis hit Shiki, and without much thought, he quickly dodged the attack.

Unfortunately, he was still too slow.

Or rather, the Railgun was too fast!

A flash of electricity grazed Shiki's arm, creating a huge wound on his right arm.

Being grazed by the seastone, Shiki stumbled in the air, almost falling, and at the same time, the islands he was controlling all trembled, nearly plummeting!

Luckily, Shiki reacted quickly and stabilized the islands.

With a horrified expression, he looked at Arthur and said, "Who are you?"

If Shiki hadn't had vast combat experience, he would have been taken down by the seemingly underestimated Arthur.

"Didn't I tell you already? I am Yamamoto Shigekuni's grandson. Did the ship's wheel you're wearing cause brain damage, leading to memory loss? You forgot what I just said?" Arthur looked at Shiki with a pitying expression.

"Ha, he's even mocking me!"

Shiki said coldly, "Hmph, I was planning to let you go, but I didn't expect you to be so ungrateful. Then, you shall die!"

"Zanpa!"

Shiki's body twisted, and his feet immediately delivered a powerful slash.

"Rankyaku!"

Arthur smiled slightly, swung his right foot forcefully, and released an equally strong slash.

"Boom!"

The two clashed, creating a tremendous shockwave.