Princess Shirahoshi watched as the masses of Fish-Men fled in every direction. Noting that the Straw Hat crew, Jinbe, and Aeridar remained unmoved, staring up at the sky, she followed their gaze in confusion.

"That is..."

Shirahoshi spotted a black speck falling from the Noah.

"Aaahhh—!"

Accompanied by a panic-stricken scream, the black speck rapidly enlarged. It was a massive humanoid monster, comparable in size to the Kraken. He had a thick black beard, dense hair covering his chest and abdomen, a bare torso, fins on his back, and webbed hands. His legs were short, his mouth was enormous, and his teeth were sparse.

It was none other than the "Large Monk," Wadatsumi, whose fame rivaled that of the Kraken!

BOOM!

Wadatsumi slammed heavily into Gyoncorde Plaza. The earth shuddered, air currents rolled outward, and flying debris knocked over countless pirates of the New Fish-Man crew.

"It hurts! My foot slipped!"

Wadatsumi sat on the ground, clutching a bump on his head larger than his own skull, wailing in pain.

"You’re Decken’s subordinate, Wadatsumi!" Zeo recognized him immediately.

"Ah—"

Wadatsumi, still mid-wail, suddenly remembered something. Ignoring the pain, he scrambled to his feet and shouted toward the sky: "Captain Vander Decken, I fell off! Stop the ship! I don’t want to die!"

Wadatsumi’s arrival and desperate cries confirmed everyone’s fears: the one controlling the Noah was the infamous Fish-Man pirate, Vander Decken IX.

The members of the New Fish-Man Pirates were baffled. The Flying Pirates led by Decken were supposed to be in an alliance with them. Why was he making such a massive move, one that looked like it would destroy Fish-Man Island entirely?

Rumble...

"Damn it... Curse you, Jinbe!"

A large rock was overturned as Hody Jones, gritting his teeth, forced himself back to his feet.

"Is it because of the Energy Steroids? His body has become so much tougher!" Jinbe frowned, deeply suspicious of the sudden spike in Hody’s physical resilience.

"No, it’s not just that the drugs strengthened his body. They’re squeezing out his latent potential, allowing him to recover rapidly from heavy trauma so he can endure even greater force," Aeridar said, shaking his head with a look of total boredom.

Jinbe blinked in surprise. "Since when did you become an expert in biology or medicine?"

"I studied human biology for a few years," Aeridar shrugged, speaking casually.

Hody Jones looked up at the Noah, his face darkening. "Vander Decken... that crazy pirate. This wasn’t part of the plan!"

If this wasn’t part of the plan, it meant Decken had betrayed him. At that thought, Hody’s expression grew even more twisted.

"Ba-ho-ho-ho! Ba-ho-ho-ho! Shirahoshi, accept my love! Ba-ho-ho-ho!"

At that moment, a fit of mad laughter drifted down from the colossal Noah. "Did you hear me, Shirahoshi?! Ba-ho-ho-ho!"

Everyone squinted upward. The four-legged Vander Decken IX stood at the bow, looking smaller than an ant from this distance.

"That’s—!"

Shirahoshi’s face paled. She recognized him instantly; after years of nightmares, it was impossible to forget.

"Princess Shirahoshi! It really is Decken. He must have ’thrown’ the Noah just like he throws letters and axes!" Jinbe said, shocked. "The power of the Mark-Mark Fruit... we underestimated this man!"

Vander Decken IX continued to loudly proclaim his "love" for Shirahoshi with insane laughter, seemingly having abandoned even his subordinate, Wadatsumi.

CRASH!

A heavy, thick chain plummeted into the plaza, smashing a massive crater into the ground.

Jinbe looked at the heavy chain with a grim expression. After a moment, he turned to Aeridar with total gravity. "Aeridar-dono, you are the only one with the power to stop the Noah!"

"..."

Aeridar glanced at Jinbe and said flatly, "You don’t need to tell me. I don’t want to see Fish-Man Island destroyed either. However..."

Before he could finish, Aeridar vanished, leaving only a slight ripple in the air.

Almost simultaneously, he reappeared in front of Hody Jones. Hody instinctively raised his crimson trident to block.

CLANG—!

A sharp ringing sound echoed. Hody Jones felt a massive shockwave ripple through his body, and a circle of intense wind blasted outward. He was sent flying backward, his feet carving two thousand-meter-long trenches into the ground.

"This strength—!"

Hody’s eyes widened in disbelief. His hands were vibrating so violently from the impact he almost dropped his weapon.

"...I’ll leave this guy for you to clean up. But deliver him to me alive; I want to kill him with my own hands," Aeridar said, retracting his fist.

Jinbe looked at Hody, then back at Aeridar. His expression hardened as he gritted his teeth. "I’ll make the call. Once Hody Jones is captured, he will be turned over to the Chris Pirates!"

"Deal."

As soon as the words left his lips, Aeridar shot into the sky, flying toward the Noah.

The Straw Hat crew stood there, staring at Jinbe with wide eyes until he started to feel self-conscious.

"Um... is it really okay to leave it to him?" Nami asked, weakly raising her hand.

"Chris T. Aeridar, known as ’Golden Ring.’ Aside from Marshall D. Teach, he is one of the only two multi-ability users in the world. He possesses the powers of the Impact-Impact Fruit and the Float-Float Fruit. There are even rumors that he possesses a third ability, though that hasn’t been confirmed," Robin explained before Jinbe could speak.

"A multi-ability user?!"

"I thought you could only eat one Devil Fruit!"

The Straw Hats were shocked.

"Indeed, one can only eat one. But both Blackbeard Teach and Golden Ring Aeridar possess the means to plunder abilities from others," Robin explained calmly.

"Blackbeard’s Tremor-Tremor power was indeed stolen from Whitebeard. I saw it myself," Luffy said, his face dead serious.

"How terrifying... Devil Fruit powers can be stolen?!"

Nami, Usopp, Chopper, and Brook huddled together in fear.

"Hey, what are you two afraid of? You aren’t even ability users!" Zoro deadpanned, watching Nami and Usopp with a black line over his head.

"Even in fear, Nami-san is so beautiful!" Sanji’s eyes turned into pink hearts, his body wiggling like a noodle.

"Oh yeah! I’m not an ability user!" Nami and Usopp realized at the same time.

"So, Robin, how is Aeridar going to stop the Noah? Is he going to destroy it?" Luffy asked.

"I’ll answer that," Jinbe stepped forward. "Besides his original Impact power, Aeridar-dono plundered the Float-Float Fruit from the Flying Pirate, Golden Lion!"

"Golden Lion! The Float-Float Fruit!"

Except for Luffy, Chopper, and Brook, who looked confused, and Robin, who remained calm, the rest were stunned.

"Who’s that?" Luffy asked, scratching his head.

"No matter how ignorant you are, there has to be a limit!" Jinbe’s lip twitched.

"Shiki. A man with titles like ’Golden Lion’ and ’The Flying Pirate.’ Before the Great Pirate Era, he was a man who stood on equal footing with the Pirate King and Whitebeard," Robin explained, her expression turning serious at the mention of Shiki.

"A man equal to the Pirate King and Whitebeard!" Luffy’s eyes widened in disbelief.

Roger was his dream, and he had seen Whitebeard’s might at Marineford; even in old age, the man was a monster. Now, there was a third name to that tier.

"Exactly. And yet, a man like that was killed by Aeridar-dono years ago, and his ability was stolen!" Jinbe said gravely. "The Float-Float Fruit allows the user to make anything float. If Aeridar-dono wished, he could make all of Fish-Man Island take flight!"

Hiss...

The Straw Hats sucked in a breath of cold air. Some had heard the legends of the Golden Lion, but they hadn’t known the specifics of his power. Hearing it now was hair-raising.

"You’re... you’re joking, right?" Nami stuttered.

"Floating an entire island... is that even human?" Usopp’s legs were shaking.

"Gulp... so we’ve basically been standing in the palm of his hand this whole time?" Sanji swallowed hard, looking down at the ground beneath his feet.

"I remember now! That small island that appeared at Marineford... that guy was really controlling it!" Luffy recalled the scene at the Paramount War. He had been shocked then, but in his rush to save Ace, he had pushed it to the back of his mind.

"Wahhh! Luffy, let’s just leave early!" Chopper cried, hugging Luffy’s leg.