“Those are some nice eyes.
I’m starting to like you more and more, Captain Gion.” Gavin’s gaze swept over the rank on her inner shirt.
Shinso retracted, returning to its short-blade form.
He lifted the blade, clashing with Konpira several more times before Shanks’s voice rang out alongside a sudden burst of Haki.
“Marines!
Do me a favor and let’s call today’s fight here!” “If we keep going, your subordinates won’t get away as neatly as they did before.” As soon as he said that, the Marines who had fainted earlier began to wake up.
Once they recovered, they immediately raised their guns and aimed at the two pirates.
At the same time, several familiar pirate faces came running from not far away, their weapons pointing straight at the Marines.
“Captain!” “Gavin!!” “Are you two okay?
Sorry we’re late!” “Damn Marines, let’s go!
Kill—” “Wait, Bonk!” Shanks, whose face was bruised and swollen, shouted loudly.
“That’s enough!
This fight ends here.
If we keep going, not only the Marines but we’ll also suffer casualties!” “Hongo, take Gavin back and treat him!!” But Gavin shook off Hongo, who had run over to support him.
Instead, he walked to Shanks’s side and stood shoulder to shoulder with him, facing the Marines.
“What?
Still want to fight, Marines?” “Gavin.” Shanks gently shook his head.
“Enough.
We need to set sail.
Don’t forget our next plan.
Pass out here, and that whole plan could change.”” The plan?
South Blue… The golden spiritual pressure around Gavin slowly faded.
He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths before barely managing to suppress the frantic desire to keep fighting.
He sheathed his Zanpakutō and turned toward the Red Force.
“Let’s go, Shanks!
We’ll save the outcome of this fight and those two Marines’ lives for the Grand Line.” Shanks gave the Marines one last deep look, then walked toward his pirate ship.
A few Marines were about to pull their triggers, but Gion raised a hand and stopped them.
“Enough.” “But Captain!” “I said enough!
Or did you not hear me the first time?!” Gion turned her head and frowned at the Marine captain.
“During the fight just now, those two pirates never aimed at you.
They even moved the battlefield away from crowded areas.
Are you telling me you didn’t notice that?!” “That man, Hickman D.
Gavin, vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates… I can’t stop him.
If this fight continues…” “You will die.
Not one of you will survive.” The Marines fell silent, and their fingers loosened slightly on their triggers.
“Now, take Captain Tokikake, who’s on the verge of death, and get him treated.
Everyone stays on alert in case the pirates attack the Marine base!” “Yes, Captain!” Only then did the Marines realize that the man standing behind Gion had his head hanging low—he’d already slipped into unconsciousness.
“Captain Tokikake!!” “Damn it, where are the medics?!
Move, and stop that bleeding!” Cough… Gion spat several mouthfuls of bloody phlegm off to the side, her eyes weighed down with grim thought.
Never in her wildest imaginings had she pictured two elites sent down from Headquarters getting wrecked in the tiny little East Blue.
Buru buru buru~~ Buru buru buru~~ Buru buru— Kacha.
The moment the Den Den Mushi connected, thunderous explosions came from the other side.
“Gion-chan?” “Tsuru-nee…” Gion had only just spoken when several violent coughs shook her body.
The Den Den Mushi frowned, and Tsuru immediately asked about her condition.
“I’m fine.
Tokikake and I ran into the Red Hair Pirates.
We fought to a draw—no, we lost.
If they hadn’t held back from the beginning, we’d probably be dead by now.” “Headquarters underestimated the bounties for Red-Haired Shanks and Sword Demon Hickman D.
Gavin.” “With their strength, even in Paradise, they could carve out a place for themselves.
I suspect they have some kind of plan in East Blue.” The Den Den Mushi fell silent.
Only after the explosions on the other end faded did Tsuru’s voice come again.
“Tell me the details.
Everything from the moment you met them to the battle itself.” “Sorry, Tsuru-nee.
I’m afraid I need treatment first.” Gion suddenly felt her body going weak, and even her eyelids were becoming hard to keep open.
“Tokikake is near death, and I’m badly injured.
I’ll have a News Coo send the Visual Den Den Mushi back to Headquarters later with the details of the fight.” Kacha.
“Gion-san!” Several female Marines rushed over, placed Gion on a stretcher, and hurried toward the town.
Just before she fell unconscious, Gion instinctively looked back toward the harbor.
At that exact moment, she saw the Red Force raise its sails and leave.
“We’ll meet again, Hickman D.
Gavin…” “Next time, I’ll cut you down for sure…” …
Red Force The noise on the ship was no smaller than the commotion at the harbor.
Hongo was covered in sweat as he cleaned the filth from the sword wound across Gavin’s chest and abdomen.
“Shanks, who were those two people?!
How did the vice-captain end up with injuries like this?!” Glug, glug, glug~~~ “Burp~” After letting out a wine burp, Shanks no longer looked as sharp and capable as he had during the fight.
He scratched his head and gave a goofy smile.
“The credit this time goes to Gavin.
If he hadn’t helped me heavily injure that Marine right at the start, that fight really would’ve been rough.” “I have to admit, elite Marines from the Grand Line really are impressive.” “With Armament Haki at that level, if I hadn’t scraped out a little breakthrough recently, I might not have gotten through his guard at all.” “Hahaha, but they didn’t get off easy either.
Gavin’s blade isn’t something you can take lightly!” Looking at their captain laughing loudly, Bonk lowered his gaze to the vice-captain lying there with his eyes closed.
“Captain… it’s because of us, isn’t it?
We’re too weak.
Otherwise the two of you could’ve finished them.” “If we were stronger…” The smile on Shanks’s face suddenly stiffened.
But after taking several gulps of wine, he returned to normal.
“Don’t overthink it.
You guys still have a lot of room to grow.
Don’t compare yourselves to me or Gavin.” “You all know my background.
I trained on the Pirate King’s ship since I was little.
As for Gavin…” “The pain of losing his country, the hatred of having his people wiped out—how many of you could endure that?” “Even if you endured it, who among you could stay as calm and quiet about it as Gavin?” “You’re always curious about the vice-captain’s strength, but you forget what he once went through.
I don’t know what your families are like now, but Gavin…” Shanks let out a soft sigh, drew a crumpled newspaper from inside his coat, and tossed it out.
Wine slid down his throat and into his stomach.
“The pain he carries is absolutely no less than yours.” Bonk picked up the newspaper, and the little monkey lying on his shoulder looked at it too.
This torn newspaper seemed to be the third section of some issue.
The moment the man and monkey looked at it, their eyes were drawn to the photo in the center.
The picture showed an open square where dozens of severed heads had been stacked into a small mountain.
A bloodstained crown sat perched atop the highest of them.
The features of that particular head bore a faint, unmistakable resemblance to Gavin’s.
And beside the pile, the soldiers in the shot were laughing—laughing without the faintest shred of restraint.
“This is…” “An execution,” Shanks said flatly.
“After the Hickman Kingdom fell, the king and nobles of Goa Kingdom had no intention of taking its people in.” “Everyone tied to the royal bloodline was beheaded.
The citizens of the entire country were sold off into slavery.
The slavers made a killing at the start of this year.” “Hold on, Shanks!” Yasopp, who had been listening from the side, dug at his ear and asked in disbelief.
“You said everyone in the country was sold?!
Are you sure there wasn’t a mistake somewhere?
How is that possible?
Do you know how many people an entire country has?!” “The Celestial Dragons.” Shanks remained calm, though the knuckles of the hand gripping his wine bottle had gone slightly white.
“The slaves from that country were practically sold in buy-one-get-one deals.
And the people behind the slave traders who bought them were the Celestial Dragons.” “Those high and mighty Celestial Dragons.” “Otherwise, why do you think this matter was suppressed so quickly?” “Goa Kingdom seems to be preparing to become a member nation of the World Government.
This war could be considered a way of testing the waters.” “Have I got it right, Gavin?” Gavin opened his eyes.
His gaze held six parts grimness, three parts bewilderment, and one part raw pain.
The grimness needed no explanation.
He had finally seen the tip of the iceberg when it came to the madness of the Celestial Dragons.
They could casually classify all civilians of a defeated nation as slaves.
Even lunatics and madmen might not be able to do something that deranged.
As for the confusion… Did the original owner of this body truly have a grudge that ran this deep?!
Listening to Shanks, Gavin more or less understood why he had transmigrated into this body.
So the original owner had died while fleeing, and Gavin had taken over the body—along with the revenge that came with it?
And that last, single part of pain, of course, was owed entirely to the fact that… The operation was being done without any anesthetic!
“Mmph!!” Hongo clamped a hand over Gavin’s mouth, cutting off the words he’d been about to get out, his own face brimming with intense emotion.
“I understand, Vice-Captain.
So your past was as cruel as all that.
Not only is your whole family gone—even your country’s been wiped from the earth.
Sob… sob…” The corner of Gavin’s mouth twitched, but he had no way to refute it.
From a certain angle, his entire family in this life really had, every last one of them, gone off to a better place… “Hongo, if you’re going to stitch the wound, hurry up.
You can cry after the surgery!” “Shanks, please give me some alcohol as anesthesia.
Also, Hongo, do you seriously perform surgery without anesthetic?!” Shanks walked over, unhurried, and crouched down beside Gavin.
He lifted his right hand, sheathed it in Conqueror’s Haki, and brought it down in a full-force chop.
“Don’t waste some good wine!
I happen to be an expert in physical anesthesia.” “GAVIN!!!” “VICE-CAPTAIN!!!”