“Red-Haired Shanks?”
The old village chief, Woop Slap, froze.
Although he had never heard of this pirate’s name, anyone who could make Raizen take them so seriously was definitely not ordinary.
With that in mind, Woop Slap immediately dragged Luffy and the other two away.
He also called out to the rest of the villagers, urging them to leave so they wouldn’t get in Raizen’s way.
With Nidai Onimaru strapped to his waist, Raizen transformed into his half-dragon form and rode the wind toward Red-Haired Shanks’ pirate ship.
When it came to Red-Haired Shanks, Raizen found him incredibly hard to judge.
In a few years, this man would possess the strongest Conqueror’s Haki among the Four Emperors and master Observation Killing, an extremely advanced application of Conqueror’s Haki.
Yet, despite all that power, he blindly believed in myths like Nika and Joy Boy.
Conqueror’s Haki represented one’s own will and spirit.
For a powerhouse who believed in destiny rather than himself to possess such overwhelming Conqueror’s Haki…
it was simply baffling.
Furthermore, in Raizen’s eyes, the so-called freedom these people pursued was absolutely terrible.
Freedom without limits was no different from absolute evil!
They were just a bunch of people packaging their evil deeds as so-called freedom.
Who were they trying to fool?
That was why he needed to become stronger.
He needed to become unrivaled, seize the throne as the king of the world, and then change this thoroughly rotten world!
Meanwhile, on Red-Haired Shanks’ pirate ship, Shanks and his vice-captain, Benn Beckman, who had been laughing and joking just moments ago, stood up simultaneously.
A red glint flashed in their eyes.
“Captain, it looks like a monster is heading our way.”
Cold sweat trickled down Benn Beckman’s forehead.
“This overwhelming, tyrannical aura…
How could such a powerhouse appear in the East Blue?”
Shanks’ expression was equally solemn.
“This is the hometown of the Marine Hero, Garp, after all.
I suppose it’s not too surprising for a powerhouse like this to be stationed here?
Yasopp, does this ring any bells?”
“Huh?” The sniper, Yasopp, helplessly threw his hands up after being called out.
“I have no idea.
Could it be Garp himself?”
He had left his hometown so many years ago that his knowledge of the East Blue wasn’t much better than Shanks’.
“No, it’s not Garp.
Garp’s aura is much stronger than this.
It’s not Bogard, either.”
Shanks gripped Gryphon with his left hand, his Observation Haki locked onto the figure flying toward them.
As a former apprentice on the Pirate King Roger’s ship, he had seen his fair share of grand spectacles and had naturally crossed paths with Garp.
Although the person flying toward them possessed a similarly tyrannical aura—perhaps even stronger than his own current strength—it still hadn’t reached Garp’s level.
Near the edge of the ship’s rail sat a girl of about nine years old, wearing headphones and sporting half-red, half-pink hair.
Resting her chin in her hands, she watched her father and family members acting so tense and couldn’t help but ask,
“Shanks, are we in trouble?”
Shanks turned his head and offered a gentle smile.
“Not at all, Uta.
Go back to the cabin and get some rest.
By the time you wake up, everything will be fine.”
“Really?”
“Really.”
“Alright then.
Shanks, you better not be lying to me.
When you guys get back, I’ll sing a song for you!”
“Ah, hearing you say that, Uta, I suddenly feel incredibly motivated.”
Uta walked away slowly, turning back to look at them with every step, until she finally disappeared into the cabin.
After watching Uta enter the cabin, Shanks’ smile faded.
He looked up at the figure who had already come to a halt in midair.
Raizen stood in the sky with his arms crossed, his sharp gaze looking down at Shanks.
“The infamous Red-Haired Shanks just put on quite the show of family harmony right in front of me.”
Saying that, Raizen suddenly sneered.
“Pirates acting like this…
it truly makes me sick.”
Raizen had originally intended to use Sea Hunt to shred Shanks’ pirate ship to pieces, but he changed his mind when he saw Uta.
The little girl was a pitiful soul.
Her parents had been murdered by pirates, and she had been abducted.
The pirates who took her then ran into Red-Haired Shanks, which led to the two-year-old Uta being adopted by him.
Because of this, she grew up believing that being a pirate was an honorable profession.
To put it bluntly, she was just another kid poisoned by Shanks’ pirate ideology.
Her family had been torn apart by pirates, yet she joined a pirate crew herself, even going so far as to revere the profession because of Red-Haired Shanks.
It was absolutely laughable.
But regardless, Uta was innocent.
He wasn’t going to drag her into this.
“Hey there, brother.
Are you a Marine?
You look pretty young.
I wonder if you could do me a favor and give me face, so we can just peacefully coexist?”
Shanks’ tone was relaxed, as if he were greeting an old friend.
“Shanks, you saw it just now, didn’t you?”
Raizen didn’t answer directly.
Instead, he recounted the scene from earlier.
“Because of your arrival, the entire Foosha Village fled in panic, and the merchant ships scattered without a trace.
And now, you actually have the nerve to talk about peaceful coexistence.
Shanks…”
“Did you really think your face holds any weight here?!”
As his words fell, a powerful, gold-and-red wave of Conqueror’s Haki erupted, aimed squarely at the members of the Red Hair Pirates!
*Damn Red-Haired Shanks.
Did he really think I would just let him waltz in here without a care?*
“Not good!”
Shanks never expected the man in front of him to unleash Conqueror’s Haki at the slightest disagreement.
Black-and-red lightning immediately erupted around Shanks, clashing against Raizen’s gold-and-red Haki.
As expected of Garp’s hometown.
To think a random person they bumped into would possess such intense Conqueror’s Haki.
He had only wanted to stop here for some supplies.
Benn Beckman’s expression lost its previous calm, his eyes widening.
“This gold-and-red Conqueror’s Haki reminds me of someone.
I think I know who he is.”
Yasopp looked at him.
“Who?”
The rest of the crew also turned to look, brimming with curiosity.
Benn Beckman took a deep breath, removed the cigarette from his mouth, and let out a long sigh.
“The Marine’s monster Supernova, Garp’s disciple.
The monster who awakened his Conqueror’s Haki in Totto Land half a year ago and single-handedly fought against the Four Emperors’ Big Mom—Bordeaux Raizen!”
“As far as I know, he is the only person in the world with gold-and-red Conqueror’s Haki!”
The surrounding crew members’ pupils shrank drastically.
They looked up at Raizen hovering in midair.
The portly Lucky Roux even stopped eating the meat in his hand, his gaze turning somewhat dazed.
“No wonder a monster like this appeared in the East Blue.
So he’s Garp’s disciple.
It looks like we’re in for some major trouble.”
But they weren’t the only ones who heard this.
Uta, who was hiding in the cabin, heard it too.
Uta was nine years old this year, right at the age of being lively and restless.
Although she had listened to Shanks and gone into the cabin, she had pressed herself against the door, peeking through the crack to observe the situation outside.
Benn Beckman’s words had reached Uta’s ears without missing a single syllable.
“Marine Supernova…
a monster…
fought against the Four Emperors…”
Uta muttered, her expression filled with worry.
“Shanks…
you’ll be okay, right?”