"One Piece: Sign-In at the Start to Get Ryūjin Jakka"

As soon as Garp gave the order, the three Navy ships—moving at full speed—raced toward Roya.

Roya had clearly sensed the Navy's presence as well.

Especially the dog-headed warship among them—he recognized it as Garp's personal battleship.

"Ship ahead, halt immediately and cooperate with inspection."

The three Navy ships repeatedly shouted through Den Den Mushi loudspeakers toward Roya.

Hearing them, Roya pulled his cloak lower.

"Now's not the time to play with you people."

There were only two days left until the sign-in deadline at Vielmeu. According to Roya's own estimation, Shiki had likely already reached Vielmeu by now—and may have even activated his Devil Fruit powers to make the island float in the sky.

He didn't have time to waste on the Navy.

Not even for Garp.

With that thought, Roya's hand rested on his sword hilt, slowly drawing Ryūjin Jakka.

"All things in creation, turn to ash—Ryūjin Jakka!"

As the words left his lips, the ancient blade erupted in fearsome flames. The very air seemed to distort under the intense heat.

Spiritual pressure surged forth like a tidal wave, and an aura akin to Conqueror's Haki exploded outward!

Any Navy soldier who felt that pressure collapsed instantly, unconscious.

Gale-force winds rose. Waves roared.

Dark clouds churned across the sky!

Even Garp's pupils shrank.

"This guy's Conqueror's Haki… it's that strong?!"

Just as Garp muttered those words, Roya slashed his sword through the air from left to right.

Flames burst forth, weighing down like ten thousand tons, crashing into the sea and sending massive waves soaring skyward.

The waves actually boosted Roya's ship, pushing it faster, while simultaneously slowing down the Navy vessels.

And then, between Roya and the Navy ships, a massive wall of fire rose up.

The flame barrier raged across the sea, stretching for dozens of miles, engulfing the horizon in a fiery blaze.

It completely cut off the Navy's path—Garp had no way to abandon his ship and pursue.

"That little brat! Don't let me catch you, or I'll beat the hell out of you!"

Garp clenched his massive fist and shouted toward Roya's retreating figure.

But Roya was already long gone, surfing the waves, far out of earshot.

Garp's brow furrowed. More than the flames, what concerned him was that Roya had fled in the same direction as Shiki!

With that realization, Garp immediately pulled out a Den Den Mushi and contacted Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

Garp: "Sengoku, I've run into that mysterious guy."

Sengoku: "That mystery man?! Did you catch him? What does he look like?"

Garp: "No to both. He threw up a wall of fire and blocked us off. What's worse, he's heading straight toward where Shiki went. I'm worried there's a connection between them. If those two team up, we'll be facing a major new force on the sea!"

Sengoku's heart sank at those words.

"I understand. I'll personally lead reinforcements. No matter what, hold them off until I get there."

Garp grinned.

"Leave it to me, Sengoku. Just get your ass over here quick!"

After hanging up, Garp looked in the direction Roya had gone and burst into laughter.

"Whoever you are—this time, you're not getting away!"

Roya was unaware of the Navy's actions.

He was focused on navigating the sea using the simple map Olvia had drawn for him, making adjustments as needed.

As he got closer, Roya became less anxious instead of more.

Finally, on the last day before the sign-in deadline, he spotted the island of Vielmeu.

But before he could even step onto the island, a strong stench of blood drifted through the air.

The thick, pungent smell made Roya's nose wrinkle slightly.

"This much blood… how many people had to die to make the air smell like this?"

He anchored his ship near the island and stepped ashore. Just then, the system's voice rang out in his mind:

Ding! Congratulations, sign-in successful. Reward: Zodiac Talisman – Rooster!

This talisman allows the user to float in mid-air and control objects' movement. Its functions are similar to the Golden Lion's Float-Float Fruit (Fuwa Fuwa no Mi).

Roya retrieved the Rooster Talisman from his system inventory and examined it, then gripped it tightly and focused on levitating.

A blue glow shimmered around his body and flashed briefly—then Roya floated into the air.

"So this is what it feels like to float…"

He quickly got the hang of using the talisman and began gliding through the sky.

Rising higher and higher, Roya finally saw where that overwhelming stench of blood was coming from.

It was Vielmeu Village, nestled in the jungle.

Corpses were strewn everywhere. Blood soaked the land. The scene was like a hellish purgatory.

Controlling his movement, Roya descended into the ruined village—hovering instead of walking, because the ground was covered in blood. Sword slashes carved deep trails across the earth.

The trails of blood and blade led into the jungle, where a tall, wild man with golden hair that trailed on the ground was slaughtering relentlessly using the swords on his legs.

Sword aura raged in all directions, tearing through the air.

Each slash took another life.

"Jihahahaha! This world is ruled by the strong! The weak are nothing but prey! Now that I've taken a liking to this island, you all can just disappear!"

Shiki the Golden Lion's eyes were bloodshot with madness.

Having just escaped Impel Down, he had lost both legs but had replaced them with his two named swords, Oto and Kogarashi, now serving as prosthetic limbs.

Since he wasn't yet used to them, he chose Vielmeu's villagers as practice targets.

He was using their blood to sharpen his swordplay, hoping to regain his full combat power as fast as possible.

At the same time, he had his eye on the island—especially its IQ plants.

His plan was to wipe out the population and take over the island as his base.

From there, he'd recruit other pirates.

Shiki could already picture it: in the near future, his name would once again shake the seas.

But just then, Shiki suddenly turned his head—staring at a figure in the distant jungle…