Rustle— The pages of the catalogue flipped toward the back, where a bright red color spread had been inserted between the normal pages.
[Special Watch List — ONLY ALIVE] “Red Hair Pirates?
A newly formed pirate crew?
Why haven’t I heard anything about them…” “Whoa!
Captain Red-Haired Shanks, bounty: two hundred and thirty million Berries!!” “Good grief, is this guy really that strong?
His bounty is already over a hundred million!” “Vice-captain, Sword Demon Hickman D.
Gavin… bounty: FI-FIFTY MILLION BERRIES?!” His sharp, cracked shout carried a long way.
“Captain!
Did something happen?!” Several Marines rushed over with weapons in their arms.
“N-No, no, it’s nothing.
Go back to what you were doing.” Purin Purin barely forced out a smile, then headed toward the first floor while staring hard at the picture of Hickman D.
Gavin.
The background of the image was a dark night sky.
A man wrapped in golden flames of light hung in midair, and the blade in his hand, covered in a golden glow, had been captured at the exact moment before he swung it.
Those features seemed, probably, maybe, almost exactly the same as the bounty hunter he had just received earlier… The same man?
Several beads of cold sweat rolled down Purin Purin’s forehead.
He sat back in the reception seat and carefully read through Gavin’s background information.
[The last bloodline of the Hickman Kingdom, the last prince!] [In his first battle against the Divine Blade Pirates, he defeated the entire crew by himself in a short time and instantly killed Divine Blade Jax with a massive cleaver-like blade.
Afterward, he was invited by Red-Haired Shanks and joined the Red Hair Pirates.] [In his second battle against the Ripper Pirates, he once again defeated the entire crew alone and split their ship apart with a single slash after the battle ended.
At present, no surviving members of the Ripper Pirates have been found.
Hickman D.
Gavin has an extremely violent and cruel temperament and is suspected to possess the strength of a top-class swordsman.
All branches are advised to proceed with caution!] [ONLY ALIVE!] ‘He could only be captured alive!’ ‘Gulp.’ Purin Purin tremblingly took out the Den Den Mushi and dialed his superior’s number.
Buru buru buru~~ Kacha— “This is Thompson.
Who is this?” “Reporting, Commodore Thompson!
This is Captain Purin Purin, temporary officer in charge of the Cober Town office!” Purin Purin quickly explained that they had received the newly updated catalogue from Headquarters, then reported the information about the Red Hair Pirates as well.
“You’re saying the Red Hair Pirates, the crew Headquarters specifically told us to watch, have appeared on Rodriguez Island, where Cober Town is located?!” Purin Purin nodded hard.
“Yes, Commodore!
Should we take action?” The Den Den Mushi showed a hesitant expression, as if the person on the other end was struggling with the decision.
After a long while, Thompson finally continued, “No, Captain.
The forces at that office aren’t enough to defeat pirates that powerful.
I’ll personally lead a team there.
Your only job is to keep track of their movements!” “Yes, Commodore Thompson!” Kacha— The Den Den Mushi hung up.
After taking several deep breaths, a firm look flashed through Purin Purin’s eyes.
“This is exactly the time to carry out my own justice.
I, Purin Purin, will never disappoint my superior or justice itself!” …
Down at the shore, dusk was coming on.
Gold shimmered across the sea, and from far off the whole coast looked like a dream country paved in molten metal.
“You lot took your time!
A whole day out there, and this is what I get?” Snake leaned over the railing, glaring at the three figures coming up the shore—then stopped short.
Behind them trailed Shanks, shoulders slumped, wearing the gloom of a man the world had personally wronged.
“…What happened to Shanks?” Gavin, a bulging backpack over one shoulder, gave a low chuckle.
“What do you think?
He asked a girl to sleep with—” he caught himself, “—sorry, to hold hands with him.
Turned down flat.” “No, no, Vice-Captain, you skipped the best part.” Hongo wore the same grin.
He cleared his throat and slid into a shrill, breathy impression.
“‘Ewww, no way.
I don’t date little kids.'” A beat, then a shift into something sultry.
“‘Heyyy, handsome—my family’s out fishing tonight, gone till morning.
I’ll be all alone.
And I get so scared.
Won’t you come keep me company?'” “BWAHAHAHA—!” Hongo dropped the backpack, doubled over, and started slapping the hull hard enough to leave marks.
“You should’ve seen his face!
Like somebody force-fed him a shit!
WAHAHAHA—!” Laughing like a madman, Hongo completely missed the fact that Shanks was now standing right behind him.
A few veins stood out at his temple.
His face was calm.
Perfectly, terribly calm.
“Squeak—squeak—squeeeak—!” Monster bounced up and down in a panic, but Hongo took the monkey’s alarm for excitement.
“See, Monster, you get it too, right?
Hilarious!
Shame we didn’t have a picture Den Den Mushi back there—I’d have framed it.
Passed it down for generations.” He wiped a tear from the corner of his eye.
“The future Pirate King, ‘Red-Haired’ Shanks—crushed by a village girl!
Even the World Economic News would come to blows over that headline—” Something in the silence finally reached him.
He looked around at the frozen faces.
“…What?
It’s funny!
Why’s nobody laughing?” Gavin pointed, very gently, at the space right behind Hongo—where Shanks had finished sinking into something dark and cold—and shook his head with the solemn pity of a man at a graveside.
“Hongo…..
Given the tragedy about to happen here, I’ll take your night watch tonight.
Consider it my way of making up for the training I missed today.” “Tragedy?
Are there enemies?” Hongo turned around, curious—and looked straight into the two hollow pits of Shanks’s eyes.
“Hongo.
Was it that funny?” “Heh hehe.
S-shanks.
Heartlessly rejected by a girl.
Again.
Hehe…” Shanks drew Gryphon from his hip, slow and deliberate.
His trembling left hand brushed along the flat of the blade, almost tenderly.
“Yeah.
I think I’ll just kill you since its cleaner that way.
If Rayleigh and the others ever hear about this, they’ll laugh at me till the day I die.” ‘Kill him.
Kill him.
Kill him…’ The words spilled out in a low, unbroken murmur from beneath his lowered head.
Gavin strolled past.
“My condolences, Hongo.” Snake ambled by on the other side.
“Goodluck, Hongo.” Bonk Punch drifted past with Monster on his shoulder.
“…Survive, Hongo.” “Squeak…” “Ahaha—ahahaha—Captain, I was joking!
Talking about myself, obviously!” Sweat pouring down his face, Hongo edged backward with a stiff grin.
“Girls turn me down all the time!
Say I’m too short, too!
Rough life for a guy like me, right?
Ha!
Ha ha!” “Ohhh.
So it isn’t just the girls.
My own crew thinks I’m a short, pathetic little—” Shanks’s voice dropped another full register.
A safe distance down the deck, Gavin was hauling a stack of stools out of the cabin and handing them around to two men and a monkey.
“Sunflower seeds?
Peanuts?
Grabbed some on the market street.” Two hands and one paw shot out at the same moment, took their snacks, and turned expectant faces toward the show.
Shanks’s head snapped up, a bright, completely fake smile splitting his face.
“Hey, Hongo.
Could I trouble you for one small favor?” Hongo nodded like his life depended on it—which, arguably, it did.
“Anything, Captain!” “Let me cut you.
Just once.
That’s all.” He didn’t wait for an answer, he was already sinking into his stance!
Conqueror’s Haki burst off him, a shimmer of it straining to wrap around the steel—only to fade at the last second, for reasons no one could name.
“Roger taught me a great sword technique.
Let me test it on you!” “Divine Departure!” Gavin’s snack froze halfway to his mouth.
He stared, genuinely baffled.
‘Hold on—he actually got Conqueror’s haki to start coating the blade out of pure spite?
Over this?’ He turned to the others, half in awe.
“Hongo might be a real genius!” Snake and Bonk Punch traded a long, complicated look.
Their vice-captain was a menace!
“DON’T RUN, HONGO!
EVIL!
MUST!
BE!
CLEANSED!” Over the racket, Gavin tipped his head back toward the darkening sky and let out a slow, wistful sigh.
“Haaah.
So this is life.” He ate a peanut.
“Shanks and Hongo.
what a bunch spirited young men.” Then he cupped a hand to his mouth.
“Hey!
Shanks!
Hongo hasn’t even drawn a weapon!
Classic sign he’s looking down on you!” As things climbed well past any hope of calming down, Snake slipped aside and started setting up the meat grill.
Bonk Punch took Monster and ducked into the galley for ingredients.
They’d made a firm decision to stay clear of the whole mess.
One tap from Shanks was survivable.
But if the vice-captain got interested and unslung that enormous cleaver of his— Snake and Bonk Punch, back with the ingredients, caught each other’s eye and reached the same silent conclusion.
‘Treasure your life.
Stay far away from Gavin.’ …
The chase didn’t last long.
For all the running and shouting, the outcome was never really in doubt.
Hongo lost.
To his credit, Shanks held back.
A few solid whacks with the flat of his blade, nothing more.
By the time it was over, the ship had taken more punishment than Hongo had—which was saying something.
Bang.
Bang.
Bang.
The steady knock of a hammer carried across the deck.
Hongo crouched over a split plank, a fresh crop of lumps rising on his scalp, muttering to himself as he drove each nail home.
“This isn’t fair.
I’m the victim here.
So why am I the one fixing the boat—” “It was obviously that idiot Shanks who—” Shanks set down his wine cup without looking over.
“Who did what, now?” “…Nothing.
I said joining your crew is the greatest stroke of luck in my life.” Hongo ground his teeth, grabbed a nail, and hammered it into one of the fresh gashes Shanks had cut into the hull.
“H-heh.
So happy.
I’m so happy!”