This novel is finished, and I have posted all the advanced chapters on my Patreon https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395
The news that the Marines were preparing for a decisive battle against the Sea Kings could not be hidden from those with sharp ears. The shocking revelation that two Ancient Weapons had emerged made the seas enter a period of tense, unusual silence.
Aside from the necessary turbulence caused by Marine forces methodically sweeping away the remnants of the Hundred Beasts Pirates, the Four Seas and the first half of the Grand Line were models of tranquility.
The reason it was only almost tranquil was that, deep in the New World, another equally eye-catching event was unfolding. The Straw Hat Pirates and the Red Hair Pirates had officially met, and the two sides had agreed to a full-scale battle in three days!
In this day and age, someone still dares to challenge a Yonko just to make a name for themselves?
Countless pirates and ambitious figures, harboring such doubts, immediately turned their attention to the looming conflict.
The Red Force
This was the territory of the Red Hair Pirates. Or rather, it used to be.
Smoker's rogue personality meant he was never one to play by the rules. Under his orders, Marine battleships frequently entered and exited the waters managed by the Red Hair Pirates.
Sometimes they landed on islands to help famine-stricken civilians; sometimes they chased off sporadic pirate crews who had wandered in. In short, they never acted like outsiders.
At most, whenever they spotted the iconic flagship, the Red Force, they would execute a wide, immediate detour, giving Shanks and his crew no excuse to launch an attack. Relying on the superior speed of their battleships, they would slip away long before a confrontation could occur.
Shanks knew full well that Smoker was deliberately provoking him.
Placing someone like Smoker, an infamous troublemaker even within the Marines, a headstrong fool nearly identical to Garp in temperament if not in strength, at the G-11 base closest to the interior of the New World was Rowen and Akainu's deliberate way of creating an excuse to eliminate both him and Kaido.
In the past, the Marines feared war with the Yonko. The Marines had vast responsibilities, maintaining order across the globe, while the Yonko, with nothing to lose, were naturally unafraid of conflict.
But now, the dynamic had flipped.
The Marines were practically eager to go to war, to eradicate these dangerous tumors on the world stage once and for all.
On the deck of the Red Force, the Red Hair Pirates' sniper, Yasopp, approached Shanks. Shanks simply jerked his chin toward a nearby bottle.
Picking it up, Yasopp took a couple of swigs and said with a bitter smile, "That kid… he has quite a lot of resentment toward us."
As he spoke, he touched the dried bloodstain on his cheek.
It was a mark left by Usopp's Gunpowder Star grazing him. After years without seeing each other, father and son had reunited, only for the reunion to begin with a declaration of war.
"Well, that's because you never told him that his mother supported you going out to sea back then."
A teasing smile touched the corner of Shanks' mouth as he shrugged.
"So in his eyes, it's you, the father, who abandoned them. Of course he hates you."
Hearing this, Yasopp's bitter smile deepened, his eyes growing moist.
"Banchina… I wronged her."
Shanks said nothing in response.
There was no right or wrong in this matter. On one side was a husband who yearned for the sea; on the other was a husband willing to live under an assumed name to care for his gravely ill wife.
In order not to burden her husband, Banchina had chosen to hide the truth about her illness and encouraged him to go to sea in front of Usopp, only to cause Usopp's deep-seated hatred toward his father.
Who could truly say Yasopp was wrong?
If Yasopp had been the type to cold-heartedly abandon his family just to sail, Shanks would never have let him aboard.
More important than Shanks's invitation to him was the fact that joining the crew had also been the final wish of Yasopp's terminally ill wife, entrusting him to Shanks, asking him to take Yasopp away before she died.
After a long silence, Shanks finally broke the quiet.
"We're all getting old, Yasopp… after this battle is over, you should go back and see them."
"And you?" Yasopp looked at him seriously. "Where are you planning to go, Captain?"
Shanks did not answer, merely gazing silently at the turbulent sea.
He had always been waiting, waiting for Luffy to grow. Even after deciding to take the initiative and act, he still waited… until today.
Because everyone knew that he only had this one chance.
After this, that man on the throne would never allow him another move.
No matter how strong a Yonko was, they were still not the Pirate King; they were not the victor.
With his limited influence, he had only one chance to let his light shine in full brilliance, and to entrust the inherited will to Luffy.
Receiving no answer, Yasopp quietly shook his head and sighed.
"Sometimes I really wonder… does doing this still have any meaning?"
"Look at what the Marine branches under the Soryu (Azure Dragon)'s administration are doing. Ordinary people are living better than before, isn't that enough?"
"In the future, fewer and fewer people will probably go out to sea, because the freedom they desire is right there beside them."
"But he doesn't care about what happened during the Void Century, does he?" Shanks suddenly asked in return, his voice low.
Yasopp fell silent.
Indeed, the Soryu (Azure Dragon) wasn't merely indifferent, he simply didn't care.
That feeling, even colder than contempt, was called utter disregard.
"This will eventually become a hidden danger," Shanks said solemnly. "What's unimportant to him is dignity and a bottom line to others!"
"Rather than letting another Age of Pirates erupt someday in the future, it's better for us pirates to bring everything to an end ourselves."
"The debts we owe, only we can repay them."
Yasopp was stunned for a moment, then said, "But the Soryu (Azure Dragon) definitely doesn't want to see that happen."
"Tch, what's it got to do with me?" Shanks snorted disdainfully, a flash of the pirate captain in his eyes. "If everything went exactly the way he wanted, what the hell would I still be doing as a pirate?"
Shanks' expression made Yasopp's mouth twitch into a genuine smile.
Alright… that was quintessentially Shanks.
This kind of seemingly mischievous, almost wicked behavior, done purely out of a rebellious sense of humor, really shouldn't have appeared in such a serious discussion.
But…
This was 'Red-Haired' Shanks!
"Then I'll cause trouble with you one last time, Captain!"
Shanks simply smiled, his gaze distant. "...Thank you, old friend."
…
Holy Land, Mary Geoise
"My lord, news has arrived from the New World."
Bald Zero stood at the doorway, bowing respectfully.
As long as Rowen and Imu had not yet decided a victor, he would remain Rowen's absolute retainer. As a veteran who had served through three eras, Bald Zero understood very well where his loyalties must lie.
"Oh? And the result?"
Rowen took a puff of his cigar, seemingly unconcerned with how the battle had unfolded.
After organizing his words, Bald Zero reported,
"The Straw Hat Pirates suffered a total defeat. Captain Monkey D. Luffy was on the brink of death and was rescued by his father, Dragon."
"Mm. And then?"
Rowen wasn't surprised by this outcome.
No matter how strong Luffy was, he still wasn't a match for a Yonko. Forget Shanks, even Big Mom, whom Rowen had killed years ago, could have beaten them senseless.
When there were no exploitable weaknesses, even the protagonist's luck couldn't overcome the absolute chasm in raw strength.
The logic was simple: strength was something you earned in proportion to what you put in.
Though the Straw Hats were the rising stars who had survived countless hardships, any Yonko had endured far more life-and-death battles than they ever had.
That accumulated "quality," forged by decades of time and cemented by countless victories, was fundamentally different from any opponent they had previously overcome.
Otherwise, why would a Yonko be called the backbone of pirates?
They could be beaten into pain, but never broken!
That was what deserved to be called a backbone!
"And then…"
Bald Zero swallowed hard. "Shanks disbanded the Red Hair Pirates. He's now sailing alone aboard the Red Force, heading toward the Red Line."
Buzz…!!
As his words fell, a terrifying, silent pressure descended from the heavens.
Rowen calmly raised his head. With that single, simple motion, Bald Zero felt as if the sky itself were collapsing upon him.
"Bold move, Shanks."
It was different from Kaido disbanding his crew. That madman doing something insane was perfectly normal, especially since he did it to reclaim his true self, which even earned grudging praise in the eyes of the world.
But Shanks disbanding his crew…
That left Rowen deeply dissatisfied.
A horrifying possibility flashed through Bald Zero's mind, and his eyes widened in terror.
"Could it be that he intends to… turn himself in?!"
"That's probably exactly it," Rowen said, frowning in thought. "Otherwise, he wouldn't be able to protect the lives of his crew. He knows my temperament."
"He's forcing me to make a decision."
At those words, cold sweat instantly soaked Bald Zero's back.
What decision?
A sea with Yonko and a sea without Yonko were two entirely different worlds for the World Government!
Once Shanks surrendered, it would mean that the Yonko, the group that had ruled the New World for decades, would completely vanish. Across the entire sea, no independent force would remain capable of opposing the Holy Land.
Such a heaven-sent opportunity…
Naturally meant announcing the extermination of the Celestial Dragons.
And not just that!
Recalling Rowen's earlier reminder, and the true, deeper reason Shanks had agreed to accept the Straw Hats' challenge, Bald Zero felt his throat go dry, unable to utter a single word.
(End of Chapter)