Alone and Infinite.

Chapter 374 Awakening: The Golden Lion!
It seemed as if an extremely powerful storm was gathering in the room, followed by tiny black and red lightning bolts forming around the body.

When the storm is compressed to its limit, it instantly spreads outwards.

The door, as fragile as a piece of paper, deformed rapidly, detached from the hinges, and flew far away.

Li Xia's hair fluttered in the wind, and her eyes seemed to be flashing with a scarlet light.

An indescribable fear descended like a giant mountain from the sky, pressing down on everyone's hearts.

Li Xia is neither bloodthirsty nor indiscriminate in killing, but he has taken thousands of lives. When he unleashes his Overlord Haki, the killing intent that is usually suppressed by the Eight-Nine Arcane Arts and the National Martial Arts' Ceasefire technique erupts instantly.

His Conqueror's Haki is completely different from Awoo's and Kurotan's. Due to his strong willpower and mysterious influence, his Conqueror's Haki is extremely powerful.

Although he's far from being as good as Roger Shanks, he's definitely no worse than Luffy and Doflamingo from Dressrosa.

If we had to use a level to describe it, it would be what One Piece fans call the 'top-tier Yonko commander level'.

The smile on the golden lion's face had vanished; this powerful aura seemed to have reawakened his long-dormant ambition.

He stood there coldly, completely ignoring the pirates around him who were stunned by his domineering aura and collapsed to the ground with their eyes rolled back.

When the surging momentum finally subsided, less than one in ten people were still standing.

"Conqueror's Haki"

The golden lion narrowed its eyes, and suddenly burst into laughter again:
"Looks like I underestimated you. To possess such Conqueror's Haki, you're no nobody in the Navy. Kid, state your name!"

Li Xia felt his blood boiling and leaping with excitement; the activation of the Overlord's Haki seemed to ignite a fire within his body.

A fierce fighting spirit emanated from both sides; it was a yearning, a yearning for battle and slaughter.

He crouched down slightly, and a smile appeared on his face as well.
"Wright D. Shah!"

"Hehehehe, I should thank you. All the subordinates who were stunned by this kind of Conqueror's Haki are useless!"

The golden lion slowly floated into the air, its expression suddenly turning ferocious:

"Compared to the strong individuals I've encountered, kid, your Conqueror's Haki is far from sufficient!"

He kicked his legs exaggeratedly in mid-air, and the two famous swords, 'Sakura-ju' and 'Kumo', tied to his feet flashed with an eerie light.

A series of slashes cut through the air with a dense 'hissing' sound as they hurtled towards Li Xia.

"Zi La"

A bolt of lightning crackled and leaped into Li Xia's outstretched hand.

Several worlds ago, he faced the first Void Abyss monster he encountered, the Sword Demon, with its dense barrage of slashes.

He still had to dodge somewhat awkwardly.

But now, should I avoid his sharp edge?
Ye Ji exploded into silver flowers in front of him, and the shimmering white slashes instantly detached from the spear blade and rushed towards each other.

The shockwave generated by the collision of the slashes instantly stirred up a huge cloud of dust, engulfing the entire room. But soon the dust and walls were scattered by the deviated slashes, leaving the room teetering on the brink of collapse.

Golden Lion and Li Xia faced each other from a distance. The previous round of slashes seemed more like a test, to see if the other had the strength to fight.

Golden Lion was probing Li Xia's strength, while Li Xia was also assessing how much power Golden Lion still possessed compared to his peak.

"Fighting like this isn't very interesting. How about we go somewhere more open?"

The golden lion grinned maliciously and pointed his thumb into the distance:

"If you can keep up, then go ahead and get on!"

His body shot into the sky and flew towards the top of the mountain.

Li Xia turned his head to Heitan and Aowu and said:
"Go find Luffy and his crew, and together we'll stop all the remaining pirates. With Nami around, they'll listen to us."

Xiao Long and Hei Tan nodded together. It seemed that their boss had already investigated Jin Shi Zi and didn't need their help.

After saying that, Li Xia slightly bent his knees and rushed into the sky.

Having already floated high in the sky, the golden lion, with a smug look on its face, glanced at the mansion, which was clearly in chaos, and curled its lip in disdain.

His ability to fly is one of his greatest strengths. The Golden Lion's favorite thing is to float high in the sky and look down at the panicked crowd below.

Seeing that those people clearly hated him to the core, yet were completely helpless against him who could fly.

Like that navy officer we just talked about, he's clearly quite capable; he's probably a talent secretly trained by the navy.

But what can you do about yourself?

Once he takes to the skies, Shiki the Golden Lion will be free forever!

"Hehehehehe————"

"Golden Lion, let's continue."

The laughter stopped abruptly, and the Golden Lion looked at Li Xia, who was also floating in front of him, with some disbelief.

Suddenly, I felt a little flustered. Was this—Moonwalk?
No, Moonwalk requires constant stepping, which is extremely physically demanding and makes it impossible to stay airborne for long.

Or perhaps—the power of a Devil Fruit.

He wanted to say something more, but Li Xia had already lost interest in continuing the conversation.

This old lion has probably lost all its former ambition and has started to resort to scheming and trickery, even trying to delay the battle through dialogue.

Twenty years ago, he wouldn't have acted this way. He would have simply picked up those two world-renowned swords, looked indifferent, and slashed down directly.

The stillness of the night drew a strikingly bright arc across the night sky, lingering on the retina like a crescent moon.

"when!"

The golden lion crossed its legs and barely managed to block the attack, but its body was sent flying backward by the immense force.

Li Xia raised his left arm and casually tapped his index finger a few times in mid-air.

Several beams of light, each as thick as a pencil, burst forth from his fingertips, instantly blocking the Golden Lion's dodge routes in all directions.

A red light flashed in the golden lion's eyes, and its body twisted at an incredible angle several times, actually managing to twist a gap out of the narrow passage.

Oh? Observation Haki?
That's true; Observation Haki is indeed less affected by age than Armament Haki.

The scene fell silent once more, with only the cold wind blowing from the mountaintop carrying snowflakes that drifted past the two of them. Before they could land on their bodies, the snowflakes were pushed away by an invisible aura.

Strange light-based flight ability
What flashed through Golden Lion's mind was Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit. Could it be that Kizaru died and the fruit was eaten by this new Marine?
Yes, this kid is still very young, but his strength is ridiculously strong. He may have eaten the Glint-Glint Fruit and is being groomed to be a future Marine Admiral.

A hint of apprehension flashed in the Golden Lion's eyes. If it really was the Glint-Glint Fruit, how to deal with this kid was indeed a problem.

But so what?

I am the Golden Lion!

"Lion's Might - Earth Roll"

The golden lion roared, and soil and rocks on the mountain below detached from the ground and shot rapidly into the sky.

Under the control of the Golden Lion, they coalesced into giant lion heads, roaring as they charged toward Li Xia's position.

Another rock collector —

However, his left hand gripped the cold hilt of the Murakumo-no-Tsurugi hanging at his lower back.
"Chong"

The clear, melodious sword cry drowned out the lion's roar, and the silvery-white slash illuminated the entire mountaintop.

Suddenly, the Night Silence in Li Xia's hand transformed into a bolt of electricity and shot towards the Golden Lion.

The golden lion, somewhat dazed by that slash, felt as if it had been electrocuted.

Suddenly, he turned his head to the side, narrowly dodging the rapidly approaching Night Silence.

A cold smile reappeared on his face: "Merely—"

Before he finished speaking, Li Xia's figure suddenly disappeared from the spot, directly crossing a distance of over a hundred meters and appearing behind the golden lion.

Flying Thunder God!
Immediately afterwards, he clenched his right fist, and a cold, dazzling black covered his entire arm.

Tiny black and red lightning bolts silently coiled and faded on his arm.

The golden lion's pupils suddenly contracted, and its body tensed instinctively.

This posture—

"Fist Bone Impact!"

"Armament Haki: Full Hardening!"

The falling snowflakes seemed to linger in the air for a moment, and a flash of light appeared in the night sky, instantly illuminating the entire mountaintop.

Amidst the blinding light, the distinctive black and red lightning of the Overlord's Haki streaked across the night sky with a piercing sound like the cry of a thousand birds.

The roar shook the snow-capped mountaintop, and the thick snow rolled downhill, eventually forming a massive avalanche.

A powerful shockwave, mixed with snowflakes, surged outwards wildly, instantly clearing the sky above the entire mountaintop.

The enormous noise even silenced the manor below where the fighting was raging.

Black Charcoal withdrew its cat paw from the pirate's head, which was as soft as a noodle, and turned with Awoo to stare intently at the mountain peak.

Luffy and his crew, who were happily blasting cannons, put down their cannons and looked towards the mountaintop in the direction of Aowu and Kurotan.

Without the year-round heavy snow, the night sky was unusually clear.

Beneath the crescent moon, which appeared unusually large due to its close proximity, a figure was slowly retracting his fist.

Meanwhile, another tall figure suddenly leaned back and fell downwards.

"Is this the sound of Xia fighting the Golden Lion?"

Luffy looked up at the night sky, his face filled with an indescribable longing, the desire for battle buried deep in his blood boiling.

"Luffy"

Nami, her body covered in large scars, weakly raised her head, looked at Luffy with pleading eyes, and shook her head with difficulty:

"no, do not want."

Luffy lowered his head, and after a long while, he let out a long breath. A smile appeared on his face. His feelings for his comrades were intense, suppressing everything else.

"Nami, get some rest. I won't leave!"

Li Xia slowly withdrew his fist, his gaze fixed on the falling golden lion.

There was a vague sense of unease spreading through the air.

"Hey kid!"

The falling golden lion suddenly stopped, lying on its back in mid-air, its voice no longer carrying the arrogance it had before.

On the contrary, he exuded a composure and domineering aura that he had never shown before.

"That bone punch... was your teacher Garp?"

Before Li Xia could answer, the Golden Lion suddenly chuckled softly, which then turned into a deafening roar of laughter that shook the heavens.

Hahahaha, what am I doing?!
How dare they try to become the king of the world with such a ridiculous thing?

Twenty years have passed, we guys are old now, and a new era is dawning.

Even that kid Garp has started training a successor.

Under Li Xia's gaze, the Golden Lion suddenly reached out and grabbed the rudder, which was slightly loose due to the vibration, and yanked it off.

Blood gushed out, staining his lion-like golden, disheveled hair and haori crimson.

He bent down and slammed his hand on the broken leg, instantly shattering the two cuts. The two longswords that had been tied to his legs in place of his feet were now in his hands.

The golden lion slowly raised his head, blood streaming down his cheeks, and grinned, revealing a disdainful smile:

"Hey, kid!"
"My life is at stake. Bring it on, try and throw me off the ship of this new era!"

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1. Monthly pass 2. Recommendation vote

(End of this chapter)