[BONUS 4] Sengoku Enters The Fray

Being on the same ship, news spread extremely fast.

When the first pirate discovered the miserable state of Shiki in the distance, the second, then the third...

In just over ten seconds, all the pirates on the ship discovered this fact that made them despair.

"Boss Shiki is getting beaten... Who's going to save us then?"

A group of pirates stood far apart, trembling at the sight of Kenji. However, very quickly, an unexpected change occurred.

Kenji stood at the ship's edge, scanning the entire scene, assessing the overall battle situation, when he suddenly heard a pirate shouting, his voice filled with surprise and emotion.

"Look! Boss Shiki is here! He's here to save us!"

"Wuwuwu! Boss Shiki, we will... follow you forever!"

The pirates on the ship were moved to tears, each one crying like a child weighing several hundred pounds.

Kenji was equally surprised, turning his head to look, and indeed saw Shiki in the distance, flying rapidly towards him.

He even saw that the flames on Shiki's body had not extinguished, accompanied by lightning and thunder all around, a trail of sparks and lightning.

"Is he... really here to save his subordinates?" Kenji looked at the furious Shiki, then turned to glance at the group of weeping pirates behind him.

Not long after, his confusion was resolved. He saw Shiki with blood at the corner of his mouth, his golden hair at the back of his head stained with large patches of blood, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Kenji, and he let out an angry roar.

"Kenji! Today, I will not let you escape!"

"...So he's here for me?" Facing Shiki's firm and resolute gaze, Kenji felt utterly puzzled.

"I say, why do you have to fight me to the death? Do we have such a deep hatred between us?"

Shiki seemed not to hear these words, remaining unmoved.

Seeing this, Kenji shook his head helplessly, waving his hand, saying, "You have no chance of winning this war, don't waste your energy anymore."

"Why don't you stop causing trouble every day? Isn't it good to be alive?"

Listening to Kenji's 'earnest' tone, which gradually corresponded and overlapped with scenes from his memory many years ago, Shiki immediately flew into a rage.

"It's that attitude again! Damn you!"

Kenji felt inexplicably baffled. "What's wrong all of a sudden? He's losing it again after just a few words?"

"Hahahaha! Don't pretend, I remember it clearly!" Shiki's eyes widened suddenly, and he roared in anger.

"It was because of you back then that I went to sea several years late!"

Kenji was startled by the words, thought for a moment, and nodded in realization. "You mean back then in Loguetown... You were a pirate, I was a Marine, wasn't it only right for me to subdue you?"

"Heh heh! I heard you didn't stop Roger back then!"

"Isn't that normal? Roger and Rayleigh were already over twenty and strong when they went to sea, while you were still underage when you went to sea! Who else would I beat if not you?"

"...Hmph! In short, because of your obstruction back then... If I could have gone to sea a few years earlier, then the Captain of the Rocks Pirates would definitely have been me."

"Hm, even if you went to sea illegally as a minor, you couldn't have been the Captain of the Rocks Pirates... Their name is 'Rocks Pirates' and not 'Golden Lion Pirates', right?"

"..."

After a 'deep and friendly' exchange, Shiki momentarily became speechless, lost in thought.

Kenji looked at him frowning in thought and struggling, feeling speechless in his heart—

When I beat you, kid, I advised you to learn more, but you didn't listen. Now you can't even understand a simple truth.

"Without Rocks, you couldn't form a crew. With Rocks, you, Shiki, couldn't be the Captain of the Rocks Pirates!"

Shiki clearly couldn't quite grasp this truth.

In Kenji's opinion, ultimately, it was because Shiki was born too late, and growth takes time.

"Now, you should have figured it out, right?" Kenji's tone was calm, and he waved his hand casually.

"If you still can't figure it out, go back and think about it slowly."

He was preparing to send him away, then go back to claim his generous system rewards.

As for fighting a Legendary Pirate to the death, Kenji was unprepared at the moment and had no intention of doing so.

He had awakened the system, and he could become stronger by doing missions, it just needed a little time.

Why fight a strong enemy on a battlefield with unfavorable terrain?

Across from him, Shiki's anger had subsided considerably, and even the golden hair at the back of his head had 'calmed down'.

However, his eyes still held hatred, as the resentment buried deep in his heart for many years would not completely dissipate with just a few simple words.

Kenji was not one of those protagonist type characters.

Of course, Shiki's killing intent had dissipated a lot at this moment.

At least in the future vision Kenji saw, Shiki wouldn't attack him for a while.

"Hm, this incident should be over soon... Speaking of which, why has Whitebeard been quiet for so long?"

Kenji had just let out a sigh of relief when he was startled by a scene in his future vision.

Originally, he had been wondering why Whitebeard had charged into the battlefield so aggressively, only to suddenly go silent after not fighting for long—

If Whitebeard had continued to output damage, Kenji wouldn't mind teaming up to send Shiki on his way, but if he had to fight Shiki to the death by himself, that certainly wouldn't be appropriate.

It wasn't until he saw certain scenes of the future that Kenji understood the reason for Whitebeard's sudden silence.

"That Sengoku guy..." Subconsciously, Kenji suddenly turned his head, looking down at the distant sea.

Due to the gloomy and dark sky, and the storm curtain obscuring visibility, it was difficult to see clearly in the distance.

But looking far away at this moment, one could still vaguely see a golden light flickering within the rain curtain.

Not long after, a series of 'rumbling' sounds came from the distant sea, as if giant waves were surging.

Such a commotion could not be hidden from the strong individuals on the battlefield. Shiki also noticed the changes in the sea below, frowning as he looked over.

Finally, the distant rain curtain was broken, and a giant wave tens of meters high surged towards the battlefield.

However, upon closer inspection, one would notice that this giant wave was heading directly towards the Moby Dick.

Behind the giant wave, there was a patch of intensely bright golden light, difficult to discern clearly.

Kenji, Shiki, and other top powerhouses had already recognized the incoming person through their Observation Haki.

"Sengoku!"

Shiki's expression was solemn, and he quietly floated upwards, increasing the distance.

Almost at the same moment, at the bow of the Moby Dick below, Whitebeard gripped his great naginata - Murakumogiri, manifesting Conqueror's Haki Enhancement, then fiercely slashed forward at the towering giant wave.

Whoosh—!!

The great naginata unleashed a giant slash, directly cutting through the giant wave, and the two halves of the wave passed by the Moby Dick.

At this moment, the golden light behind the giant wave revealed its true form.

It was a tall, majestic, glittering golden Buddha.

Admiral Sengoku had arrived!