"It is in that direction and should not be far away."
In the sky, Shin dragged Shimotsuki Ryuma and rushed forward like a meteor.
Soon, several black spots appeared in his vision. As they got closer, those black spots gradually expanded into small islands suspended in the air.
"An island in the sky... It really is the territory of Golden Lion Shiki!"
Just as Shin and Ryuma were about to land on the island, a burst of laughter echoed from above.
Shin narrowed his eyes slightly and hurled Ryuma toward the source of the laughter. Then, in a flash of lightning, he appeared on the island's edge.
Soon, the sound of battle erupted from the direction where Shiki's laughter had come from.
"Old blond man, I'm back! Take this!"
A thunderous impact followed, making the entire island tremble. Shin glanced in the direction of the commotion and walked over unhurriedly.
When he arrived at the battlefield, Shin saw the Golden Lion. However, to his surprise, there were numerous sword-inflicted wounds on Shiki's body, some of which had only recently been bandaged.
Clearly, despite Shimotsuki Ryuma's acrophobia, knocking him out of the sky had not come without a price for the Golden Lion.
"Damn bastard, why are you here again?" The Golden Lion, floating midair, raised his foot and unleashed a flying slash, blocking Shimotsuki Ryuma's attack before frowning and speaking.
"I brought him here," Shin said as he stepped into the battlefield. "Senior Golden Lion, I've heard of your name for a long time, but seeing you in person is different from your reputation."
The Golden Lion barely spared Shin a glance. Having been in the sky for so many years, his intelligence on the outside world was outdated. How could he know who Shin was?
"Who the hell are you? And what gives you the right to judge me, the great Golden Lion?"
"Lion's Threat: Earth Bind!"
Rather than responding with words, Shiki launched a massive lion-shaped energy wave!
Shin sneered, raised his fist, and struck. With a deafening bang, the lion-shaped energy was shattered instantly. The resulting shockwave surged toward Shiki.
Startled, the Golden Lion reacted swiftly. With a flash of his blades, he managed to cut through the shockwave, but the force pushed him back several steps. His face darkened as he prepared to unleash another attack.
"Lion's Threat—"
"Black Hole: Planetary Devastation."
Before Shiki could finish his move, Shin acted decisively. Black energy flickered in his hands, condensing into a sphere radiating an infinite gravitational pull.
While the Float-Float Fruit allowed objects to levitate with ease, granting its user control over floating masses, it had a fatal weakness—it provided no anchoring to resist external forces.
This was one of the main reasons the Golden Lion had been so easily defeated in his naval battle against the Marines years ago. His floating ability was vulnerable to disruptions.
As a result, the floating islands under Shiki's control were even more susceptible to the gravitational pull of Shin's black hole than land, sea, or islands attached to the earth. Like ships caught in a whirlpool, they were sucked into the black void.
Even the Golden Lion himself, despite his desperate struggle, couldn't escape the limitations of his Devil Fruit. In an instant, he was dragged into the crushing darkness.
Meanwhile, Shimotsuki Ryuma, leaping through the air, continuously unleashed flying slashes to resist the gravitational pull. In the end, he barely escaped the black hole's range.
However, once the Golden Lion and his islands vanished, Ryuma suddenly realized the ground beneath him was gone. Staring into the vast emptiness below, his legs trembled, and he let out a terrified scream.
"Ahhhhhhh!!!"
With Shin's help, Ryuma finally landed on an isolated island.
"Finally, I'm back on solid ground! I never want to fight someone who can fly again in my life!" Shimotsuki Ryuma, still shaken, sighed in relief and muttered.
"With your strength and endurance, shouldn't you be able to step on the air and stabilize yourself?" Shin rolled his eyes.
"What do you know? The moment I looked down, my legs turned to jelly. There's no way I could step on air!" Ryuma retorted animatedly.
"Then there's nothing you can do. You could use Armament Haki to protect yourself as you crash. Generally speaking, at an altitude of one or two thousand meters, your level of Haki should protect you from serious injuries."
"Uh... But the higher I fall, the emptier I feel inside. I can't even concentrate enough to use Haki..."
Shin was speechless. He had always heard that acrophobia was an irrational fear, unrelated to courage. However, he never expected that in the world of One Piece, even a powerful swordsman could suffer from it.
"By the way, did you just kill the Golden Lion in one move? I thought his strength would make him harder to deal with," Ryuma asked after regaining his composure.
"He was unlucky! My ability directly counters Float-Float Fruit," Shin replied. The current Golden Lion was already a shadow of his former self.
Even at his peak, he wouldn't have been Shin's match, and with the added advantage of countering his powers, the outcome was inevitable.
"I recall the Golden Lion having quite a few people on his floating islands," Ryuma noted with a frown.
Shin nodded. "Don't worry, they were just sucked into the dark dimension. When the time comes, I'll release the islands in a suitable location."
As for returning the islands to their original positions, that was beyond Shin's ability. Fortunately, in this world, most people rarely leave their home islands. Even if the islands had shifted, it wouldn't cause too many problems.
Thankfully, Shin had not compressed the islands into stone orbs using his gravitational force; otherwise, none of those people would have survived.
Still, this encounter had yielded valuable rewards. The Float-Float Fruit's ability was a perfect match for his Azure Dragon form, enhancing his aerial mobility and combat prowess.
Acquiring such a top-tier Paramecia Devil Fruit was a considerable boost to Shin's strength. He wouldn't mind facing another ten or so opponents like the Golden Lion!
Later, Shin found a shallow sea area. He released all the floating islands except for the one the Golden Lion had used to produce IQ-enhanced beasts.
[Note: Shiki uses a plant named IQ to research a serum that would enhance animals.]
Additionally, the materials and personnel the Golden Lion had gathered for research over the years were all placed under Shin's control using implanted chips. He then sent them to Punk Hazard to contribute to further research.