[BONUS 2] Shiki: Why Are You Two Teaming Up?

Boom!

At the bow of the Moby Dick, Whitebeard locked his gaze on Shiki in the distant sky, clenching his right fist as the power of vibration was unleashed once more, a white light shield rapidly expanding around his fist.

However, in mid-air, Shiki seemed not to notice, not even turning his head, and continued to charge at Kenji with his sword.

The sword, imbued with Conqueror's Haki, cut a lightning-fast trajectory through the air.

Facing the aggressive slash, Kenji frowned and clenched his fists, feeling a bit helpless inside.

"Whitebeard is looking for a fight with you, isn't he? Hey! Look closely, he's about to hit you!" He even reminded him a few times.

Seeing Shiki remain unmoved, his gaze firm as he charged forward with his sword, Kenji completely lost his temper, feeling speechless and a deep sense of confusion.

"Why is he so persistent? Did I really go too far back then?"

To be honest, Shiki's relentless pursuit, even to the point of disregarding everything else just to cut him down, was so insane that it made Kenji doubt himself.

However, despite his speechlessness, Kenji was not afraid of Shiki's aggressive slash.

He shook his fists, and Armament Haki instantly wrapped around and strengthened his arms, a dark, deep Haki glow flowing over his body.

Kenji did not directly use the Emission from a distance. That technique wasn't very effective against Legendary Pirate-level powerhouses.

Moreover, Shiki on the other side was using the power of Conqueror's Haki.

"Conqueror's Haki Enhancement, a power that only a few top Conqueror's Haki users can master…" Kenji's eyes flickered as he looked at the Conqueror's Haki glow flowing on the blade opposite him.

Although he had some hope, at this moment, battle intent surged even more.

"Is Armament Haki necessarily inferior to Conqueror's Haki?"

Amidst surging emotions, the Armament Haki within him erupted violently, and in just an instant, the flowing Haki glow enveloped Kenji's entire body.

Immediately after, his fists, wrapped in a dense Haki glow, struck out with 'inhuman' strength.

"Such power…"

Shiki sensed something, his Observation Haki detecting that something was amiss.

He instinctively released more Haki, and the Conqueror's Haki wrapped around his sword instantly thickened, the scattered lightning-like Haki traces around him becoming a dense spiderweb.

This time, Shiki did not wait for his sword to collide with Kenji. He detonated the slash from a distance.

Zzzzzzzz!!!

A series of grating sounds, like metal scraping against each other, emanated.

The sword, flowing with Conqueror's Haki, struck Kenji's Armament Haki heavy punches from a distance.

The grating sound was precisely the sound of the slashes slashing through the Armament Haki fists from afar.

"I can't even touch his body…"

Kenji felt his fists being continuously impacted by the slashes, yet his Armament Haki couldn't truly hit Shiki.

He couldn't even hit his twin swords, which meant that no matter how astonishing his punching power was, it would be difficult to unleash 100% of its effect.

If he used Emission, then the effect of 'Sea Beast Power' would be difficult to manifest.

"Conqueror's Haki…heh, it really is 'noble'!"

After several close-quarters combat experiences with Legendary Pirates, Kenji had to admit this point.

Different types of Haki have their hierarchies, Conqueror's Haki is indeed nobler than the others.

Haki reigns supreme over all, and Conqueror's Haki reigns supreme over ordinary Haki.

"However, even with just Armament Haki, I'm not without the power to retaliate." Kenji's eyes were firm, and the Armament Haki glow on his fists became even more intense.

At this moment, Shiki, looking at Kenji's fists and body trembling continuously under the impact of the Conqueror's Haki, showed a triumphant expression in his eyes.

"Gurararara! Conqueror's Haki Enhancement is not something mere Armament Haki can contend with!"

"Is that so?"

Kenji suddenly curved his lips into a smile, looking at Shiki behind the Haki glow with a half-smile.

Before his words fell, Kenji's arms suddenly erupted with power.

In an instant, Shiki felt a colossal, unstoppable force, like a tsunami, crashing towards him.

He was sent flying by this immense force, his body spinning uncontrollably in mid-air, and even using his Float-Float Fruit ability, he couldn't stop his backward trajectory for a moment.

"Great strength creates miracles, kid!"

Kenji shook his fists at Shiki, who was flying backward, remaining in place without pursuing him.

Because Whitebeard's vibration power had arrived!

Shiki, who was flying backward at high speed, crashed head-on into the vibration wave unleashed by Whitebeard's devil fruit power from below.

And this was precisely the situation Kenji had planned for. Sending Shiki flying with great force was not just to knock him away.

Crack... Crack... Crack!!!

A series of spiderweb-like vibration cracks rapidly spread through the air.

And Shiki, at this moment, crashed into these vibration cracks.

"Ugh!"

The intense vibrational force continuously battered Shiki's body, his internal blood churning and boiling.

However, as a Legendary Pirate, Shiki ultimately endured, even swallowing the mouthful of hot blood that had risen to his throat.

"You two actually dared…"

Shiki looked back at Whitebeard at the bow of the Moby Dick, his heart ablaze with fury, bloodshot eyes appearing in his pupils.

However, he couldn't speak loudly, because if he spoke even a little louder, the hot blood stuck in his throat would gush out.

At that point, the sight of a Legendary Pirate spitting up blood would be too unsightly.

"Newgate, we'll settle our score later!" Shiki said to Whitebeard in a low voice.

"Now, don't block my way… I finally got this chance today!"

Shiki just wanted to get revenge on Kenji at this moment, and his tone when speaking to Whitebeard became much more polite.

"Gurararara! Are you apologizing to me, Shiki!" Whitebeard grinned, his battle intent showing no signs of weakening.

Just then, Kenji arrived using Geppo, sidestepping Shiki, and said to Whitebeard, "Newgate, I won't stop you from beating Shiki."

"He recently attacked Kubo Island, the island you protect, right?"

Hearing this, Whitebeard's eyes flickered, revealing killing intent. "Gurararara! That is indeed a good suggestion!"

But Shiki was furious, angrily saying, "Hey! What's going on with you two?"

"Since when can the Marine and pirates team up?"