Above the void, the Golden Lion, flung away by Benedict, endured intense pain as he slowly opened his eyes.
It hurt, so much that breathing was difficult.
Even the slightest movement of his sinews sent excruciating pain through his broken bones, causing him to break out in a cold sweat.
Yet, at this very moment, Golden Lion Shiki ignored the searing pain and let out a loud laugh.
As long as Benedict died, he had won.
"Kyahahaha!"
His laughter was loud, arrogant, and unrestrained, audible to all.
Benedict's madness and his terrifying power reminded him of Rocks from back in the day.
Although there was still a significant gap compared to Rocks, even so, he was already a deadly threat.
Especially that last blow; if he hadn't reacted at the critical moment of life and death, he would have been dead or completely knocked out by now.
There would be no current triumphant laughter.
Golden Lion Shiki was absolutely certain that Benedict was dead.
The forbidden technique of draining life force for immense power guaranteed death.
But a moment of laughter was a moment of joy.
His stomach, battered by the intense blows, could not withstand Shiki's antics. It immediately contracted, and Golden Lion Shiki clutched his abdomen with both hands, eyes wide, his face twitching uncontrollably. He tried to shout to vent the unbearable pain, but only garbled sounds escaped, amplifying his suffering to the extreme.
Simultaneously, Benedict's figure was rapidly falling towards the sea.
Wang Zhi's gaze fixed on the falling figure, wishing the warship beneath his feet could teleport a thousand miles to catch Benedict.
However, the warship couldn't, and neither could he.
He was not a warrior known for his speed; he couldn't run across the sea or dash through the void like Benedict.
On one side, a figure stirred, creating waves as it moved, astonishingly fast.
Wang Zhi didn't know who this person was. The figure, cloaked in black, was heading towards their falling Marshal, Benedict.
"Dragon Ascends!"
Wang Zhi dared not be careless. Since he couldn't catch up, he decided to intercept any potential enemy.
Leaping forward, he swung his Crescent Moon Blade upwards, and in an instant, a golden blade light streaked towards the distant figure.
Rayleigh, the 'King of the Underworld,' who was rapidly running across the sea, felt the incoming blade light. He glanced over, suddenly accelerated, and with a zigzagging movement, instantly dodged the fierce blade light.
Although Wang Zhi's attack posed a certain threat, 'King of the Underworld' Rayleigh did not dwell on it.
Compared to this, saving Benedict was undoubtedly more important.
After all, he couldn't maintain his speed on the sea for long.
If possible, he wouldn't mind swimming over.
Alas, time did not permit.
Wang Zhi watched as Rayleigh dodged his attack and created distance. He found himself unable to make another move.
"Who was that just now?" Silver Axe asked, looking at Rayleigh's retreating figure and then at the falling Benedict, his voice laced with hesitation.
"Don't know!" Wang Zhi replied calmly with three words.
In the distance.
Golden Lion, still in agony, also noticed Rayleigh's presence.
As an old acquaintance, he recognized 'King of the Underworld' Rayleigh's aura through his Observation Haki.
"Hmph!"
Golden Lion Shiki grunted, enduring the pain, then took out a vial of purple liquid and downed it.
This was a berserker drug called IQ, developed by the Flying Pirates after extensive experiments on a hidden island.
Upon ingestion, it would allow animals and humans to unleash tremendous power for a short period, inducing certain physical evolution and providing powerful healing effects.
However, excessive consumption could lead to side effects, causing one to lose all reason and become a war machine.
Furthermore, the effect lasted only for an hour. If one survived beyond that hour, they would enter a day-long period of extreme weakness. During this period, any existing injuries would be amplified in pain, and severe injuries could even lead to death by explosion.
Therefore, he would only take it in dire circumstances.
But now, he had no choice.
As soon as the potion entered his mouth, its effects became evident.
His broken bones began to heal rapidly. He, who should have been severely wounded and on the brink of death, was once again tenaciously revived.
"Lion's Might: Ground Wave."
Golden Lion Shiki would not allow Rayleigh to rescue Benedict at this moment.
Even knowing that Benedict's injuries were irreversible, he had to intervene.
What he needed was confirmation that Benedict was dead.
Numerous water lions surged from the sea. Rayleigh's expression changed slightly. He could no longer afford to conceal anything and quickly drew his sword, which he hadn't used in a long time.
As one of the world's foremost swordsmen, and a master of all three types of Haki, Rayleigh's combat power far surpassed that of an Admiral; he was a formidable existence.
Moreover, this Rayleigh was not the old man he would become twenty years later.
Sword light flashed, and several water lions obstructing his path were instantly destroyed by sword energy.
Rayleigh's gaze flickered to the side, and his sword struck again.
In just a moment, the water lions unleashed by Golden Lion were all annihilated.
Seeing this, Golden Lion Shiki's expression turned grim. He swooped down, attacking again, and roared, "Rayleigh, King of the Underworld, are you going to oppose me as well?"
The wind howled as more water lions coalesced, continuously assaulting Rayleigh. He roared, "Since you're seeking death, then you die too!"
"You're not that brat. I want to see how long you can last on the sea."
As Shiki spoke, Benedict's body had already plunged into the turbulent sea.
Seeing this, Rayleigh's expression became grim once more.
His plan was to catch Benedict before he hit the sea and then use falling debris, corpses, trees, and other objects as leverage to return to the Genbu Naval Base.
But now that Benedict had fallen into the sea, even if he dove in, Golden Lion Shiki would absolutely not allow him to succeed.
And now, Golden Lion Shiki was giving him no chance at all. After the water lions attacked, Golden Lion himself, wielding his twin swords, appeared.
Facing this man, he dared not be careless in the slightest.
Clang, clang, clang, clang!
Their swords collided. With each strike, Rayleigh's body sank deeper into the sea. No matter how he braced himself, he would eventually be submerged.
At that point, facing Golden Lion, he would have almost no power to resist.
"Dragon Ascends!"
Just then, Wang Zhi, aboard the warship, finally arrived and launched an attack on Golden Lion.
Rayleigh seized this opportunity to immediately leap onto the warship and shouted to Silver Axe and the others, "Your Marshal has fallen into the sea! Quickly have someone go down and retrieve him."
Dozens of special forces soldiers did not hesitate and leaped into the sea, intending to pull Benedict out.
Golden Lion exchanged over a dozen blows with Wang Zhi, then was sent flying by a powerful strike from Wang Zhi. Wang Zhi then returned to the warship.
Golden Lion floated in mid-air, his gaze fixed on Rayleigh and Wang Zhi. If they joined forces, although he wouldn't fear them, in his current state, even if he managed to take down both of them in the end, he would likely be heavily wounded.
But the arrow was nocked, and he had to fire.
The Flying Pirates' current operation left them no room for retreat.
The Genbu Naval Base had to be destroyed.
"Kyahahaha, I am Golden Lion Shiki."
"The Overlord of the Sea."
"Come at me together."