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No one could have anticipated this scene. It was inconceivable that Shanks had already reached such a terrifying height of power.
The shock was absolute.
Once again, the entire Thunder God Sea was plunged into a haunting, heavy silence. It was quiet enough to be skin-crawling. Only the members of the Red Hair Pirates wore brilliant grins, acting as if this outcome was the most natural thing in the world.
"Big news... This is the mother of all headlines!!!"
Morgans was the first to snap out of the daze. He was shaking with adrenaline. Witnessing a clash of this magnitude—a literal passing of the torch from the old era to the new, ending with the fall of a legend—was worth more to him than his own life.
As a newsman, a scoop of this caliber was his obsession.
Morgans began to shout and rave like a madman, completely ignoring the predatory glares coming from Shiryu and the other Thunder God captains.
"A monster born from the struggle for hegemony! The man who eliminated the legend, 'Red Count' Patrick Redfield!!"
Ignoring all risk, he brandished his transponder snail to snap photos of the carnage. He immediately contacted the World Economic Journal, narrating the events in their entirety to draft a headline that would send shockwaves across the globe.
It was easy to predict: after this battle for the pinnacle of pirate power, the Red Hair Pirates would rise like a comet, stunning the world. If Shanks continued to lead his crew to challenge the overlords and seize territory, his coronation as an Emperor of the Sea was inevitable.
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"That was exquisite, Shanks!"
A familiar voice boomed from the heavens, drawing every eye upward. Lightning snaked through the leaden, overcast sky, crackling with an overbearing, oppressive pressure.
That familiar weight... that terrifying aura...
"Captain!!" Shiryu bit down on his cigar and looked toward the clouds, his expression one of pure ferocity and excitement.
"Captain Arthur!!"
"It's the Thunder Emperor... He's alive! Did the Navy lie to us...?" The surviving rebels spiraled from disbelief into total despair. If the Thunder Emperor was back, they were dead men walking.
"Hahahahahaha! Arthur! I knew a man like you wouldn't go down that easily!" Shanks had just finished his duel with Redfield, and his fighting spirit hadn't faded; if anything, Arthur's sudden return made it surge even higher.
He looked ready for an even more legendary clash.
Thunderclouds swirled as bolts of lightning converged toward the sea. Arthur's figure flickered from ethereal to solid, slowly manifesting in mid-air. Compared to a year ago, he hadn't changed at all—save for his eyes. Having mastered the ability to see the future, his gaze was now piercingly bright, as if he could see through every secret in existence.
"Shiryu, you've had a rough time." Arthur took in the scene, instantly piecing together the events based on what he'd seen in the newspapers. He nodded to Shiryu, satisfied with his performance. He had never been disappointed in the man.
Then, Arthur turned his gaze toward Shanks.
"Shanks... invading another man's territory usually means war. But since you helped Shiryu stabilize the internal rebellion while I was away, I'll honor that debt. However..."
Arthur's voice grew cold. "If you want to stand at the top of the New World, finishing off Redfield isn't enough. You need the other rulers to acknowledge your sovereignty."
"Go and fight. Fight until the status of the Red Hair Pirates is ironclad. Then, bring your crew to challenge my Thunder God Pirates!!"
In Arthur's eyes, Shanks had reached the peak of individual strength, but he was still missing something. A true overlord needs to build "momentum." By defeating Redfield, Shanks had sparked that fire; now he needed to use that momentum to steamroll through the rest of the New World.
"That was the plan!!"
Shanks' battle aura gradually receded. With a single leap, he landed back on the Red Force. Amidst the boisterous cheers of his crew, they set sail.
He was off to begin the next stage of his conquest: forcing every power in the New World to recognize his rule. Only then would he return to the Thunder God Sea to fulfill the promise he made years ago. Arthur had given him the nod, but the other "Emperors" wouldn't be so generous. To be a King, one must carve their way through the fire.
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Stussy arrived late, using Moonwalk to catch up. She landed beside Arthur, drenched in sweat and breathing hard. She didn't have Arthur's flight speed, and keeping up with him had taken every ounce of her strength.
Arthur ignored her. Right now, he had a mess to clean up.
He descended onto Thunder God Island. The seven loyalist captains surrounded him, and the rest of the fleet began to close in. The surviving rebels sat in terrified silence, paralyzed by Arthur's suffocating presence.
"Shiryu, I'm back late. But you did a hell of a job."
Shiryu remained stoic. He gestured toward World, Morgans, and the various survivors. "Captain, how do we handle them?"
"They're useless trash. They have no value left," Arthur said, glancing at the shivering pirates. "Take them out."
Hearing the order to kill, Shiryu broke into a bloodthirsty, cruel grin. He unsheathed the Seven Star Sword and lunged.
The rebels weren't about to lie down and die. Even knowing resistance was futile, they drew their weapons in a desperate final stand.
Once again, blood soaked the Thunder God Sea. Under the leadership of Shiryu and the other captains, the rebel army was systematically exterminated, their bodies dumped into the abyss to feed the fish.
Once the traitors were dealt with, the fleet moved toward the edges of the territory to wipe out the opportunistic pirates who had encroached during the chaos. Restoring order was going to take some time.
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The captains had departed, and the rebels were dead. Thunder God Island became eerily quiet.
Only Stussy remained by Arthur's side. she watched with interest at the "corpse" of Redfield, the vacant, broken shell of Byrnndi World, and the awkwardly terrified Morgans.
Under Arthur's overwhelming pressure, no one dared to speak.
"Thunder Emperor, about this time..." Morgans tried to find his voice, preparing to offer a desperate explanation.
"Shut up!" Arthur cut him off instantly.
He didn't have time for a bottom-feeder like Morgans. Instead, he looked down with a sneer at the "dead" Redfield lying on the ground.
"Losing your life force just makes you old, Redfield. It doesn't kill you. The Vampire Fruit isn't something that fails just because your heart gets poked... Quit playing dead!"
No matter the injury—as long as the head wasn't obliterated—the Vampire Fruit allowed its user to enter a state of suspended animation, slowly regenerating as long as they had a dark place or a coffin to rest in.
Whether Redfield was actually dead or just faking, Arthur had no intention of letting him—or World and Gairam—slip through his fingers.
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