Just then, the door of the bar was pushed open from the inside.
The man with red hair walked out from the door.
Behind him, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates followed closely.
"Shanks, Shanks—"
Uta gasped for breath.
"The pirates are here!"
Luffy shouted loudly, "Uta said it's the Yellow Flying Insect Ship!"
"It's the Golden Dragon Ship, you idiot!"
Uta pushed him with irritation. "And this is something I need to tell Shanks!"
The girl quickly added, "Shanks! Ian the Skyfire is here!!"
"Is that so?"
Shanks smiled faintly, bent down, and rubbed the heads of the two kids. "I see, thank you for the information."
"Hehe!"
Luffy proudly grinned, puffing his chest out.
"Shanks!"
Uta then shouted, "I want to fight alongside you too!"
"Fight?"
Shanks chuckled, "There's no fight, you two go play somewhere else."
"Eh?"
The two kids were stunned.
"Let's go," Shanks flicked his black cloak behind him. "Let's meet Ian the Skyfire, the one we've wanted to meet for so long. And also,"
"Let's welcome an old friend."
"Oh!"
With that, the Red-Haired Pirates moved in a grand procession toward the coastline.
Uta and Luffy exchanged a glance, then without hesitation, followed.
They were very curious!
The giant ship slowly approached, gradually closing in on the harbor.
Mihawk looked at the familiar pirate ship docked at the pier, a bit surprised. "Has Red-Haired been staying here all this time?"
He scanned the area, confirming that it was just a small, ordinary village.
"Probably looking for something," Ian chuckled softly.
"Are you here to find Ace, or are you here to find Nika?"
That remains unknown.
"Red-Haired Pirate Crew!"
Behind him, Jack's expression was serious. "This is not to be taken lightly."
"Are they really that strong?"
Zoro, who had just boarded the ship, still didn't know much about the sea.
"The Red-Haired Pirates are the pirate crew closest to the emperors of the seas."
Black Maria explained. "Their captain, Red-Haired Shanks, is a true powerhouse, comparable to Mihawk."
"Oh!"
Zoro instantly understood. "So, they're not as strong as Mihawk, right?"
Mihawk twitched his eye.
Kid, you'd better get stronger soon so you can challenge me.
The Golden Dragon stopped steadily at the dock.
Then, a group of people walked along the main street of the village and made their way to the dock.
Ian's gaze was fixed on the man at the front, wearing a straw hat.
His outfit was simple—a white shirt and brown wide-legged pants, but…
"Haki radiates from him."
Ian smirked.
The red-haired man placed his hand on the hilt of his sword, then lifted his head. Their gazes met.
A smile blossomed on both their faces.
In the next moment.
Ian leaped into the air, golden flames surrounding him. Surtur, perched on his shoulder, instinctively flew into his hand.
The golden god swung the golden sword down.
The red-haired swordsman's famous blade unsheathed, and an exaggerated black lightning exploded from the sword, striking in all directions.
Boom!!
The golden sword collided with the famous black blade, and a violent wind spread in all directions.
Behind Red-Haired Shanks, Ben Beckman slowly raised his right hand. The Haki surged and formed a shield, blocking the shockwave heading toward Windmill Village.
"Oh!!"
Luffy, who had been quietly following behind, stared at the scene with wide eyes, "So amazing!!"
"Shanks!!"
Uta, on the other hand, seemed a bit nervous.
Even she knew how strong Ian the Skyfire was!
His bounty was nearly twice that of Shanks!
Although she didn't believe for a second that Shanks would lose, she still couldn't help but worry.
After a brief clash, the two separated with a single touch.
Red-Haired Shanks took a few steps back, while Ian, using the momentum, lightly floated down and regained his human form, landing on the side of the ship.
"Impressive Haki," Ian praised. "As expected of Red-Haired Shanks."
But still, it was a bit of a shame.
Shanks wasn't quite the right person for this.
Shanks smiled and replied, "Your strength, though, is just ridiculously strong. Anyway..."
"Do you want a drink?"
It was unclear how those two sentences came about.
"Sure."
Ian nodded with a smile.
Since Shanks didn't want to fight, and there was no need to fight anyway, there was no point in continuing.
"Mihawk, what about you?"
Shanks then looked over at the figure of Hawkeye Mihawk, who stood not far from Ian.
"I'm not interested in bad liquor," Mihawk grunted.
"Hahahaha! I guarantee you'll be satisfied!"
Soon after, at the village's bar...
"Miss Makino!"
Shanks, already somewhat tipsy, shouted, "Bring all the alcohol!"
"Okay."
The tavern owner was a little scared.
Now, her small tavern was packed with truly formidable monsters.
Red-Haired Shanks, Hawkeye Mihawk, and Ian the Skyfire.
Under the emperor, the strongest batch of pirates is almost all gathered here.
"So, you're all here to find Shiki?"
Shanks casually asked while handing drinks to Ian and Mihawk, a playful smile on his face.
"One of the strongest swordsmen of the last era," Mihawk's lips curled into a faint smile. "Of course, he's a worthy opponent not to be missed."
"Shiki-san went too far with his antics," Ian shrugged. "Our business has been severely affected."
That wasn't made up. The East Blue was a major sales market for the Beast Pirates' weapons.
Now, everyone was too scared of Shiki to have any time for fighting.
"Hahaha, actually, I've been looking for him too," Shanks burped. "He really did go a little overboard."
"You've been looking for him?" Mihawk was somewhat surprised. "Are you hiding here, looking for him?"
"Hahaha," Shanks laughed heartily without caring. "I have my own sources of information."
Ian's lips curled slightly.
He probably teamed up with the government, using the World Government's intelligence channels.
"However, I really didn't expect that we'd be able to drink and chat like this," Ian suddenly said. "When Rayleigh first met me, he nearly wanted to kill me."
"That's true," Shanks put down the bottle in his hand, his eyes subtly shifting. "Oden was indeed a good friend of mine."
The atmosphere in the tavern suddenly changed.
Outside the tavern...
"That guy seems pretty impressive!"
Luffy dumbly spoke up suddenly.
The members of the Red-Haired Pirates kept watch over the tavern, not letting them in. They could only chat outside.
"Shanks is definitely stronger!"
In Uta's mind, Shanks was the strongest.
"Impossible!"
Another voice suddenly rang out. "Red-Haired Shanks and Mihawk have similar strength, but Ian is stronger than Mihawk! So, of course, Ian is stronger than Red-Haired Shanks!"
A very clear chain of logic.
"What!"
Uta immediately became furious, turning her head angrily.
Then she saw a green-haired head, someone about her age, and a slightly older blue-haired girl beside her.
"Of course!"
Zoro said matter-of-factly. "Did Shanks beat Mihawk?"
"This—"
Uta was momentarily at a loss for words.
She had witnessed the duel between Shanks and Mihawk firsthand, and it had indeed ended in a draw.
"Do you want to get beaten up?"
Unable to think of a counterargument, Uta became angry, raising her fist.
"Come and try!"
Zoro was not backing down.
"Luffy! Come help!"
"Kuina! Don't come help!"
Both heard the other's voice and were stunned for a moment.
What a despicable woman!
What an innocent kid!
Both of them thought this.
Then, they fought!
At the same time, in the mountains outside Windmill Village.
"Ace! Stop messing around! We've looked enough! We need to run!"
A chubby woman was carrying a kid on her shoulder, followed by a group of ragtag people, all hastily running down the mountain.
"Do you know how dangerous the situation is right now?"
"Dadan! Let go of me!"
The little ghost on the woman's shoulder was still struggling desperately. "I need to save Sabo!"
"Save what?!"
The woman snapped. "Right now, we need to save ourselves!"
"I thought your little troublemaker friend was in some kind of dangerous situation. We searched the city for so long, and it turns out that kid's actually a noble! He's already with his parents and other nobles, escaping on a ship! He's much safer than we are!"
"We need to get to sea as soon as possible! Who knows when the Golden Lion will show up!"
"No way!"
The little ghost insisted. "Sabo's parents treat him horribly! I have to go save him!"
"Who cares about that? I just want to stay alive!"
Dadan ignored the ghost and loudly commanded her subordinates. "You all, hurry up and get down the mountain. We're heading to Windmill Village to get a ship!"
"Yes!"
The subordinates responded loudly.
Dadan couldn't help but sigh inwardly.
Times have changed, huh? Even mountain bandits are being forced to go to sea.
Garp, you old bastard, what are you doing? Why haven't you dealt with that Golden Lion guy yet?
How am I supposed to feel at ease taking care of your grandchild if you don't handle this?
As they hurried down the mountain, far above in the East Blue sky...
"Hehehehehe, which country should I visit next?"
Shiki flipped through a thick stack of documents.
Suddenly, he noticed a particular country.
"Hmm? Celestial Dragons? Was I originally planning to visit this country? Interesting, the most beautiful country in the East Blue? Hehehehe! Then I'll just destroy it myself."
**********
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