The entire Red Hair Pirates crew stayed quiet.
Even after “Hickman D.
Gavin” finished beating the other man up, no one said a word.
“Oh?
Did my overwhelming aura scare you so badly you can’t speak?” “Red-Haired Shanks” sneered several times, resting his right hand on the green sword hilt at his waist.
“You don’t need to be afraid.
I, Red-Haired Shanks, may be the overlord of East Blue, but I don’t kill everyone I meet.
My ship happens to be short a few errand boys.” “There are six of you in total… Hm?
Why do you guys have a monkey too?” “Squeak!!” As soon as he finished speaking, a small pirate wearing a monkey costume hopped over and climbed onto “Shanks’s” shoulder.
“Good, good, that’s my obedient Monster.
We’re in the middle of serious business just now, so run along and ask Bonk for some rum.” Gavin gave Shanks a poke and murmured, “Hey, Shanks—get this.
The guy actually does look a bit like you.
Same dumb face and all.” Monster jumped from Bonk Punch onto Gavin’s shoulder and anxiously pointed at the “monkey” across from them, squeaking nonstop.
“I know, Monster.
That’s not you.
Our Monster would never look that lame.” Bang!
Shanks suddenly shifted to the right, placing himself in front of Monster as he raised his sword and blocked the giant cleaver coming down from the fake Gavin.
His eyes sharpened instantly.
“You dare to attack my crewmate, pirate?!” “Who the hell do you think I am?!” “Gavin” put strength into both hands, trying to drive the blade straight into Shanks’s body.
But with that beanpole body of his, how could he possibly overpower Shanks?
“Gavin, Bonk, clear them out.
Throw everyone except the red-haired one into the sea.” ‘Gavin?’ The fake Gavin froze.
And right then, the fake Snake who had been beaten earlier spoke in a trembling voice that almost sounded like he was about to cry.
“Vice-captain… we ran into the real ones!” “This ship is the legendary Red Force!” “We ran into the real Red Hair Pirates!!!” The atmosphere froze instantly.
“Gavin” slowly turned his head and looked toward the black-haired man across from him.
At that moment, Gavin drew his Zanpakutō with his right hand, still wearing that sunny smile.
“Shoot to Kill, Shinso.” Boom— A silver-white beam shot out and pierced straight through “Gavin.” Gavin lightly moved his right hand.
The extended Shinso didn’t draw back—instead it held its length and swept out sideways.
With just one slash, half of the pirates who had come aboard died on the spot.
‘Shunpo.’ Gavin leapt into the air above the enemy ship, aimed Shinso at the bow, and extended it again.
With a low shout, he pulled with his right hand and split the entire ship cleanly in two.
Then he kicked off the ruined ship and returned to the Red Force.
By then, the fight on their side had already ended.
Aside from “Red-Haired Shanks,” all the other pirates had been bundled up by Shanks and the others and tossed into the sea.
Gryphon returned to its sheath, and Shanks sneered as he tapped the other version of himself with the scabbard.
“Not a bad little act, I’ll give you that.
So go on—when exactly did Red-Haired Shanks become the overlord of East Blue?” “You… you flatter me.
My name is Benitez.
No!
You can just call me Ben-tan.” “Red-Haired Shanks”—or rather, Benitez now—did not wait for the real Shanks to ask anything.
He immediately spilled the whole story, including how he had gone out to sea in the first place.
“Actually, I was just an ordinary fisherman from the countryside.
But because of a group of bandits, my hometown was destroyed.
I had no choice but to go out to sea…” Benitez began telling his past with snot and tears streaming down his face.
“At first, I didn’t even know what Red-Haired Shanks was.
Then one day, that beanpole guy Lord Gavin killed suddenly found me.
He said he was willing to take me in, and he even praised me as a genius actor.” “He said since I was born with red hair, if I debuted as an actor, I’d definitely earn a ton of Berries.” “Then he had me act as a pirate called Shanks and recruited some underlings…” Benitez’s voice grew quieter and quieter.
The reason was simple.
All around him rose the muffled pfft-pfft of people fighting for their lives to hold back laughter, while the real Shanks face in front of him grew darker and darker.
“Pfft!!
Hahahaha~~!” Looking at fake Shanks Benitez’s wronged expression, then matching it with the real Shanks’s constipated face, Gavin could not hold it in anymore.
He hugged Bonk Punch and Monster and burst into loud laughter.
“I thought Shanks had gotten so famous that everyone in East Blue knew him and imitators started appearing.
Turns out it was just some opportunistic scammer!
This is really… cough!” Under Shanks’s death glare, Gavin quickly swallowed his laughter and put on a serious face.
“So, Benitez, how many days have you been at sea?” Seeing all the six people turn their eyes toward him, Benitez’s face turned slightly red, and he stammered.
“N-Nine days.
Actually, my home isn’t far ahead.
This ship used to belong to our village chief.
Beanpole and the others took me in.” ‘Took him in?’ Gavin raised an eyebrow.
That was probably the second step, wasn’t it?
For a schemer who had planned everything in advance, if he appeared in front of people, there had to be groundwork laid before that.
For example, that so-called Beanpole might very well have been the bandit who destroyed Benitez’s village.
Judging by the nearly hundred pirates on that ship, if they all had swords, guns, and cannons, they might really have been able to take down an ordinary little village.
If Gavin had not used Shinso and cut the ship apart before they could react, the Red Force might have been treated to a round of cannon fire.
“Shanks, keep him.
We’re short an errand-running apprentice anyway.” Gavin knew Shanks had already thought about taking him in.
Otherwise, he would have thrown this big, dumb guy into the sea along with the others.
Benitez was simple, sturdily built, and—for better or worse—there seemed to be a thread of fate running through this whole encounter.
Shanks would never let a chance like this slip away!
“And the rest of you?” Shanks turned to Bonk and the others.
“Us?” They glanced around at one another, then finally gave a collective shrug, as though it made no difference either way.
“We’ll go with whatever the captain and vice-captain say.
You two make the call.” Shanks looked back at the big fool in front of him, his expression returning to its usual honest grin.
“Your name’s Benitez, right?
Since you’ve got nowhere to go, do you want to join us?” Benitez froze.
His eyes gradually widened, and he fell back onto the deck with an exaggerated expression.
“You mean… I can join you?!” Shanks smiled and nodded, crouching down as he extended his right hand.
“We happen to be short an apprentice crewmate to handle chores.
I hope you’re hardworking enough.” “Please don’t worry!
I absolutely won’t disappoint you or everyone else!” Benitez grabbed Shanks’s hand and stood up, showing a simple, honest smile.
“Hello, everyone.
My name is Benitez!
Please take care of me from now on.” “He really does give off the same vibe as Shanks.
And with that hair, the resemblance is even worse.
Tsk, tsk, tsk.” As everyone greeted one another, Gavin sighed in amazement and turned away, shouting up at Yasopp, who had climbed into the lookout.
“Yasopp, can you see the island?” Up in the lookout, Yasopp was holding a monocular telescope and scanning the surroundings.
“I can see a blurry shadow.
We’ll probably arrive tomorrow.
But are we really going straight there to resupply?” “It’s Loguetown.
Isn’t there a Marine from the Grand Line stationed there?
Should we disguise ourselves?” “Shanks?” Gavin looked toward the captain.
“No need.
Gavin and I will stay behind to watch the ship.
The rest of you can use the remaining Berries to stock up on supplies.” Shanks beckoned to Gavin and walked toward their usual sparring area.
“Come on, Gavin.
Before tomorrow’s big battle arrives, let’s do some special training for Observation Haki.” Gavin did not refuse.
He took a black cloth strip from his pocket, tied it over his eyes, and stood across from Shanks.
They had been doing training like this for a while now.
At first, Gavin had known nothing and could only get beaten one-sidedly.
Now, he could occasionally dodge part of Shanks’s attacks.
As for the “sensing presence” that Shanks talked about, Gavin could already manage it.
It was just inconsistent.
Sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not.
He still could not control it as smoothly as Shanks, as if it were an extension of his own arm.
Even so, Shanks had sighed in amazement at Gavin’s talent more than once.
“You really are a monster.
I’ve been training this Haki since I was a kid, and even then it’s only just now, at this age, that I can use it smoothly.” Gryphon, still sheathed, kept lashing out toward Gavin, and one after another he slipped every blow.
“A monster among monsters, that’s what you are.”