_________ POV Narration_________
Shiki and Francisco continued their journey, with the new spear stashed safely inside the mansion on the island they were travelling with.
The Golden Lion had played with it extensively, and he seemed quite satisfied with the weapon itself, but he also had quite a few questions regarding it.
'What the hell is this thing made out of?'
Francisco casually answered that it was obviously made out of the bone of a large animal, the hilt seemed to be made out of an extremely strong and enhanced type of wood that neither of them could recognize.
Shiki could tell by himself that the spear was made out of bone, but the toughness of that bone was what concerned him.
He had tested its sharpness, and not even his blades could leave a scratch on it. Rather, it was the opposite, one of his swords was scratched when clashing with the bone spear.
At that point, even Francisco was surprised. The both of them became quite curious, but they really had no way of telling what type of bone was being used.
There was no indication of who could have created that blade and what methods they could've used to create it.
Francisco decided that he would just end up looking into it whenever he got the chance.
By now, Francisco and Shiki were already close to the Holy Land, frighteningly close in fact.
"Follow the plan Shiki..." Francisco said as he looked at the Holy Land in the distance below.
"If they truly have a way to turn off my devil fruit besides sea stone, then I can't really afford to leave the island floating..." Shiki shrugged a bit as he spoke, his island not slowing down at all as he came closer to the holy land.
"Well, parking it on the sea isn't really an option, how about resting it on a cloud?... Don't tell me..." Francisco then noticed that they were already over the island, too late to hide their approach anymore.
Bellow, the ones protecting the holy land were already alerted of an island flying above their heads.
"Well, there goes the stealthy option..." Francisco commented as he eyed his partner with a frustrated gaze.
"Bah! Who cares?! Brace for impact!" Immediately, the island came crashing down onto the holy land.
In the holy land, a heavily muscled old man with spiky white hair and a beard looked up with a scowl on his face.
"Which suicidal bastard is dropping an entire island on us?"
The old man was wearing a sleeveless dark shirt adorned with medals, dark green armbands, a light yellow scarf, and a white and dark grey Marine coat draped over his shoulders.
It was none other than Kong, the World Government's Commander-in-Chief.
Beside him arrived a tanned middle-aged man with wavy black hair. Wearing nothing but a pair of black pants with a floral pattern and a marine coat of his own.
The newly appointed Fleet Admiral, Aramaki.
"Probably some misers thinking they can ambush us..." Aramaki scowled a bit when seeing the island, his hands immediately extending upwards and turning into many wooden tendrils that grasped at the island and tried to stop it.
"Don't think so... This looks like Shiki's work..." Kong immediately recognized the legendary pirate's fruit.
"The Golden Lion? Didn't he croak already?" Aramaki was visibly surprised to hear that name. The government was even close to retracting his bounty because of his inactivity.
"People like him never go out quietly, Aramaki..." Kong wasn't quite as quick to believe that Shiki had died. To him, the Golden Lion had only been planning something.
And by the looks of it, his plan involved attacking the Holy Land.
Aramaki looked up with narrowed eyes, as the branches he had built started snapping one by one, the island continuing to press down on his arms.
"I don't think I can stop this completely by myself..." He gulped a bit as the tendrils of wood creaked heavily under pressure.
"Don't worry... I'll take care of it." Kong stepped forward, his body transforming a bit as he looked up.
His body grew larger, his muscles fuller, his gait became wider and white fur seemed to grow all over his body.
He immediately became taller than most giants, his hands already grasping at the island still threatening to drop onto the Holy Land.
"Hmph, you won't get far with just this much, Shiki!" The old Commander-in-Chief shouted as he then turned his body slightly, and threw the falling island to the side, forcibly landing it on the Red Line that surrounded the Holy Land.
Just as that island was flung away, two figures dropped from it right into the middle of the Holy Land.
"This is going to be fun!" Shiki's golden hair flew in the wind as he grabbed onto Francsico and floated in place.
"This is going to be messy... But I guess messy can mean fun under the right circumstances." Francisco couldn't help but smile when seeing the number of people that had already gathered to 'greet' them.
Aramaki's branches had already started reaching out to the two of them. Shiki simply scowled when seeing them, his leg whipping to the side, sending a flying slash that cut all of the branches apart.
The flying slash continued and cut through quite a few of the buildings around him, the chunks of wood turning into shrapnel as they bombarded the homes of the Celestial Dragons in the Holy Land.
Francisco waved his arm on the other side, creating a flying slash that did much the same, though it did not travel as far, since the First Mate had been too lazy to take out his blade.
Kong immediately noticed them as well, his giant body turning with unnatural speed and trying to slap them away instantly.
Shiki immediately pulled Francisco down and dodged under the slap, which sent another shockwave into the Holy Land, collapsing quite a few buildings with sheer force.
"Kong is as strong as always huh?" Francisco whistled a bit with a lazy smile, though he found it a bit odd that the Commander in Chief was willing to damage the Holy Land to that extent.
"SHIKI! DON'T THINK YOU'RE GETTING OUT OF THIS ALIVE" Kong's voice boomed throughout the Holy Land, causing many of the guards and marines below to cover their ears as well.
The mere shockwave from his voice broke all of the windows and mirrors in the vicinity.
"Jihahahaha! The overgrown primate is as intimidating as always!" The Golden Lion was still not afraid by any stretch of the imagination.
Shiki's legs quickly started cutting towards the guard below. They quickly tried to send flying slashes of their own, but they stood no chance against the golden slashes of the flying lion.
The cannon fodder was quickly blown away, and trees started growing out of the ground and shielding the rest of them.
"Get it together folks! We can't afford to allow some dusty pirates to walk in here so brazenly!" Amaraki immediately tried to take control of the situation, and Shiki grinned at the wooden Fleet Admiral's commands.
"You thi-" Shiki's words were immediately stopped by a slap to the head, which made him bite his tongue and crash down into the earth.
The figure that slapped him gently landed right by his side.
"Stick to the plan Shiki! I see you're getting excited, but it is my job to hold them here."
"Sheesh, talk about a mood killer..." Shiki rubbed his head as he got up, uninjured but somewhat mad.
"Go get what we came for, I'll take care of things here." Francisco waved off his old friend as he reached for his blade and took it out.
The marines and celestial guards had already formed a large circle around the two of them at that point, and they had almost burst into laughter when seeing Francisco's blade in all of its blunt glory.
Kong wasn't exactly in the mood for jokes though, the giant brought down his white-furred fist on the two of them with rage.
Both Shiki and Francisco dodged to the side, not willing to take that punch head-on. The entire island trembled at the strength of the giant Commander in chief.
Dirt and earth shot up instantly when that fist touched the ground, pushing Francisco and Shiki further away from it.
The people on the side quickly tried to slash, stab and shoot their weapons at the two dodging pirates. Shiki and Francisco just smiled when seeing their attempts.
Francisco swung his blunt cutlass once and batted away all of their strikes with ease.
Shiki dodged a few of them but ended up taking out the two blades strapped to his waist and slashing a cross into all of the incoming attacks, landing on his bladed feet without any issue.
Shiki looked towards his friend and nodded, before starting to fly off to find their target.
"Maybe it's better to thin the herd first!" Francisco decided to cover his retreat in the only way he could.
Francisco's eyes seemed to instantly turn bloodshot, his Conqueror's Haki spreading throughout the island.
A red wave of aura that caused the sky to look gloomier than usual, all of the people that felt it also felt their spines tremble, and everyone that couldn't withstand it instantly fell to the ground.
The birds in the vicinity all seemed to collapse as well, falling from the sky instantly. The celestial guards were foaming at the mouth, and the marines strong enough to withstand it was even forced to take a knee.
The only two that managed to stand straight in the face of it were Aramaki and Kong.
Kong's eyes immediately widened in recognition, as a white Conqueror's Haki burst forth from him, the clash that followed instantly caused the sky to darken, red lightning clashed with white, and the people around were forced to look on in fear.
Shiki took that opportunity and flew away while everyone was distracted, intent on finding Kuma, and freeing all of the slaves that he could.
"You..." Kong was the first to break the silence as he returned to his regular form, narrowing his eyes at Francisco.
"Feel familiar?" Francisco finished his sentence with a smile on his face.
"Your devil fruit does give you a lot of power, but I guess it doesn't help enhance your memory." Francisco twirled his sword around spinning it to the side as he looked the Commander-in-chief in the eye.
The legendary swordsman smiled, before pulling one of his sleeves upwards and revealing a tattoo on his right shoulder.
"... Rocks pirates..." Kong immediately narrowed his eyes and scowled.
"Indeed! We are having a small reunion, though I am still sad you don't remember me... I was there that day when Xebec gave you that scar, though you were just a Vice Admiral at the time..."
"... Guzman..." Kong immediately turned into a hybrid form, his muscles bulking up as white fur started growing on his body once again.
"I don't get how the likes of you are still alive, but I do have an inkling on how you may have returned to your prime..." Kong's voice became rough, as he growled slightly at Francisco.
The Commander in Chief seemed to still be processing the situation. No one else besides him seemed to know who Francisco was though...
"Of course you do~ Now, might as well get down to business..." Francisco immediately stopped spinning his blunt cutlass, grasping it tightly and pointing it at the Commander in Chief.
Kong's eyebrows scrunched up together as he clenched his fists, knowing that he had to defend the Holy Land regardless of who was attacking it.
"Aramaki! Go after Shiki! I'll handle this one..." Kong immediately turned his head to the newly appointed Fleet Admiral, who simply nodded.
The fact that Shiki had already gotten away was concerning, as much as Kong would've liked Aramaki's help, he knew that Shiki also needed to be dealt with.
Aramaki gave Francisco one last confused look before turning and dashing in the direction Shiki had flown in.
'I hope Aramaki is actually able to handle Shiki... No, as a Fleet Admiral he needs to be able to handle Shiki. I'll focus on what's in front of me for now...'
Francisco watched Aramaki leave with a raised eyebrow. Before sighing and gripping his cutlass tighter.
'Shiki will have to deal with that beansprout... Dealing with Kong is going to take all of my attention anyway.'
Kong, the Commander-in-Chief of the World Government, a Mythical Zoan, Ape Ape Fruit - Model Yeti. One of the strongest people alive, and someone that could even face Yonko by himself.
Francisco knew better than to underestimate such an enemy.
'Even if Xebec defeated him back then, he is likely even stronger now... His Conqueror's Haki is certainly a lot stronger...'
This time it was a straightforward confrontation, Francsico knew that he couldn't rely on a surprise attack as he had done with Kaido. Kong was fully on guard and prepared to fight him.
Kong displayed his speed, tapping the ground once and appearing in front of Francisco in that very second, his fist already raised and punching down at the First Mate.
Francisco turned his body to the side, deflecting the punch to the side as sparks rose when his blunt blade came in contact with Kong's fur.
The swordsman swung his blade upwards as soon as Kong's fist touched the ground. Sparks rose once again as Kong's neck turned black just before Francsico's blade reached it.
Kong then started smashing his fists towards Francisco. What ensued was a rather strange dance, with Francisco dodging and slashing continuously the Commander in Chief.
In the end, the two jumped backwards, returning to a staredown. Francisco couldn't help but narrow his eyes a bit, each time he swung his cutlass, sparks arose, and Kong somehow tanked all of the hits with ease, with only some fur falling off his body.
Kong also stared at Francsico with narrowed eyes.
'He hasn't managed to injure me yet, but the fight has barely started... The second he starts coating his weapon in conquerors the fight will become more dangerous.'
The Commander in Chief was also weary of Francisco, despite his confidence. Kong's eyes had already spotted a large weak point though...
'That blade... If I manage to break it, then I will be able to win this... I just need to apply more pressure...'
Francisco also noticed Kong's gaze turn towards his blade, he noticed that glint in the Commander's eyes.
The Legendary Swordsman smiled when seeing that.
'Showing your intentions so blatantly... I'll gladly make you regret it!'
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Hope you liked the chapter!
Things bout to get spicy :)) Expect plenty of fighting the following chapters
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