Boom!
A blinding crimson beam burst from the mouth of the Tyrannosaurus Rex!
In an instant, the entire world was filled with red light. The scorching heat swept forward, and the air distorted and steamed along the beam's path.
Shano hadn't expected this at all.
His hands were still gripping the dinosaur's tail, and it was already too late to dodge. He simply raised the tail to block, while instantly coating both arms with Armament Haki.
Zzzzz—!
The crimson beam slammed into the tail, instantly charring and cracking the scales, exposing the vertebrae beneath. The air filled with the smell of burnt flesh and rising smoke.
"Roooar!!"
The Tyrannosaurus howled in pain, and its thick tail thrashed violently.
Shano's arms sizzled from the residual heat, even though the Armament Haki absorbed most of the damage. His skin was glowing red.
So hot!
Shano gritted his teeth in pain and glanced at his arms—large patches of skin were peeling like flaking paint.
That feeling... it was far too familiar.
The temperature and destructive force of Hanazuna's attack were on par with Akainu's magma at point-blank range!
What the hell?
You're just a beaver!
Why can a T-Rex spit dragon breath!?
If he hadn't reacted fast and used the opponent's own tail to shield himself…
His arms would probably have melted into bone by now!
"Like spitting fire, huh?!"
His temper flared too. With veins bulging on his arms, he held the dinosaur's tail tightly, no matter how hard Hanazuna thrashed.
Then—
With a massive heave, Shano lifted the entire Tyrannosaurus above his head. No need to slam it around—he started spinning it like a helicopter rotor.
He could feel it clearly:
Ever since the beam attack, Hanazuna's energy had weakened significantly. And now, under this whirlwind torture, his strength visibly drained.
Whoosh whoosh!
The rotation speed increased rapidly, surpassing a hundred spins in seconds.
Hanazuna's furious roars turned into pained whimpers, his already battered tail nearly torn off by the force.
"Get up there!"
Boom!!!
The dinosaur was suddenly flung into the sky, its massive body hurled upward like a meteor by the combined force of inertia and centrifugal force!
Fifty meters… one hundred meters… the altitude climbed rapidly—
Shano looked up.
Then in the next moment, his knees bent slightly—boom!—the ground exploded beneath him as he launched into the air like a cannonball!
Whoosh whoosh whoosh!
With several flickers, he instantly caught up and soared above the Tyrannosaurus. His right leg lifted high, and the black sheen of Armament Haki surged from his ankle to cover his whole lower leg.
"Like breathing fire? Then do it again, I dare you!"
With a wicked grin, Shano dropped down, his right leg hacking down like a battle axe!
"Tempest Kick: Ripple Meteor!"
Thud—!!!
The kick landed hard on the T-Rex's stomach. A visible ring-shaped shockwave exploded outward.
The chest and belly scales of the dinosaur caved in and shattered. The impact almost displaced his internal organs.
Hanazuna's eyes turned blood-red in agony. He twisted around to bite, but Shano tanked it with Iron Body. The dinosaur's sharp teeth scraped his Haki-covered shoulder, sending sparks flying.
"No more fire, but still got the strength to bite?"
Shano's grin grew darker. "That trick won't threaten me anymore!"
It's time!
He pulled back his right fist, an overwhelming aura spiraling around it. The muscles in his arm bulged massively, veins writhing like serpents.
Final blow!
"Elbaf's Spear—"
Hearing this whispered phrase beside his ear, Hanazuna's eyes shot open in disbelief.
No way!
This guy… how can he use the same move as Big Bro Kaido?!
"Sovereign Nation!!!"
BOOM!
Hanazuna couldn't even react. The roaring storm of punch-force slammed full into his gut!
"ROOAAAAAR!!!"
With a miserable howl, the T-Rex's limbs went limp, and his massive body plummeted at even greater speed than before!
BOOM RUMBLE—!!!
Like a meteorite, the Tyrannosaurus crashed into the desert. The terrifying impact sent a towering wave of sand exploding skyward!
It looked like a miniature mushroom cloud. Shockwaves rippled outward in a circle. A sandstorm tsunami surged into the sky, blotting out the sun!
Whooshhh!
Sand collapsed inward across several kilometers, forming a massive crater hundreds of meters wide. The rim spilled sand inward like a waterfall.
From the center of the crater, scorching heat continued to rise, distorting the air.
When the dust settled, the Tyrannosaurus had returned to human form.
Hanazuna lay in the center, soaked in blood.
His chest was caved in, arms twisted at grotesque angles, and blood mixed with organ fragments dripped from his mouth.
Cough… cough cough…
After a long struggle, Hanazuna finally propped himself up.
In his blurred vision, a tall figure was walking slowly across the sand, looking down at him.
"See? I told you—when I say I'm ending it, I mean it. You just didn't believe me."
Hanazuna forced his eyes open and finally saw the boy clearly.
Though the black-haired teen was drenched in blood, and his arms charred and mangled from the heat, his aura was even more fearsome than at the start.
His dark eyes still burned with a terrifying fighting spirit.
Clearly, he still had energy to spare.
Which meant…
In terms of power, speed, combat technique—and even the durability he was so proud of—this guy outclassed him in every way.
"…I lost."
Hanazuna gave up completely. He collapsed, laughing bitterly.
"Just my luck, huh? Came to Alabasta to collect a debt and ran into a monster like you… Tch. No point complaining. Do it."
"Don't worry, I'll make it quick," Shano said calmly.
"Thanks."
Hanazuna grinned weakly and closed his eyes, quietly waiting for death.
Shano drew the katana from his back and stepped forward, expression calm.
That's the allure of this sea.
No matter the faction, whether noble or vile, steadfast or wicked—anyone who made a name for themselves here had the guts to face death with pride.
Of course, there were always a few shameless exceptions.
But Hanazuna clearly wasn't one of them.
...
A few minutes later—
Shano, covered in blood, climbed out of the pit and made his way to the riverbank.
The banks of the Sandora River were silent.
Whether it was the residents of the Oasis City on the opposite shore, or the sailors and merchants on the trade ships, all of them widened their eyes, staring fixedly at the black-haired boy's figure.
"Won... won?"
Someone spoke with a trembling voice.
The next second—
"WE WON!!!"
The entire riverbank instantly erupted into deafening cheers!
"So strong! That was a former Shichibukai with a bounty of 500 million berries! And he was defeated that quickly!"
"Hanafuda is dead! The Hanafuda Pirates are completely finished! We're saved!"
"Lord Shano! Lord Shano!"
The sailors on the merchant ships excitedly waved their hats. Some even dropped to their knees on the deck, bowing heavily in the direction of the riverbank.
"Thank you! Thank you for saving us!"
"If it weren't for you stepping in, we wouldn't have made it out, we all would've died here!"
"Long live the Curtainfall Pirates!"
"You idiot! Didn't you hear Lord Shano say it earlier? It's an adventure group!"
"Oh, right right right—long live the Curtainfall Adventurers!"
The cheers surged across the riverbank like waves. Some people even jumped into the river, desperately swimming toward the shore, wanting to get a closer look at the young hero.
However, not everyone felt this way.
Across the river, Shano clearly noticed—
Many of the local residents of Alabasta still looked at him with fear and wariness in their eyes, even with some hatred mixed in.
He had just defeated Hanafuda, who was about to go on a rampage, and saved them. And yet, this was their reaction?
Shano shrugged. He had already expected this.
After all, this was Alabasta. The last national hero of this country, Crocodile, had just recently died at his hands.
Old Croc had been active in Alabasta for years, hunting down pirates and building up a good reputation. Naturally, among the locals, there were many die-hard fans of his.
And the battle between Shano and Hanafuda, in the eyes of these people, probably just looked like a fight between villains—like one evil eating another.
Shano didn't mind.
This was the result of the people being deceived and manipulated by a hidden hand.
The truth behind it all—one day, it would be revealed.
No.
To be exact, it seemed like that day was today.
As if sensing something, he turned his head to the left.
Over there, by the riverside, besides his own companions, there was another group of people who had been waiting for him for a while.
At the front of the group stood a blue-haired girl, who looked around twelve or thirteen. She was staring at him without blinking. When she saw him look over, she immediately got excited and started waving both arms wildly:
"Lord Shano, over here! This way, this way!"
Vivi?
Shano raised an eyebrow.
Earlier, during Hanafuda's loud phone call, everyone on the riverbank had heard clearly, so he already knew Vivi would be coming on behalf of the royal family.
But this reaction... seemed a bit odd.
This was their first time meeting, wasn't it?
Why was she acting like a fangirl who had just met her idol?
———
Shano's confusion was quickly cleared up.
After the two sides met and briefly introduced themselves, Vivi immediately stuck to him.
One moment popping up on his left, then blocking his path on the right, asking question after question.
"Lord Shano! You're so young, only a few years older than me! I'll call you big brother, okay?"
"Big Brother Shano, how are you so strong? You can throw around a T-rex like it's nothing! So amazing!"
"Big Brother Shano, what should I do to become strong like you? Can you teach me?"
"Eh eh eh! Don't walk so fast, Big Brother Shano! You haven't answered my question yet!"
"..."
Shano was getting a headache from the little one's chatter.
He'd rather fight Hanafuda again than go through this kind of torment.
He couldn't help turning to the kingdom guard captain beside him.
"Uh, uncle, you're Ikalem, right? Is your princess always like this?"
"Ah, no, Lord Shano…"
Ikalem wiped his sweat, smiling awkwardly. "Don't be fooled by Princess Vivi's young age. She's actually very mature, strong, and responsible. This time, with the king bedridden, she took the initiative to stand up and take on this mission, even though she knew it was dangerous…"
"Then why…"
"Maybe because the princess was too worried along the way, afraid the port residents had already suffered under Hanafuda's hands."
Ikalem spread his hands. "But then, carrying that overwhelming worry, she arrived only to see Hanafuda already completely subdued by you…"
"So the tension in her body suddenly released, and all that relief turned instantly into admiration and reverence."
Ikalem understood his princess's feelings very well.
Even he had felt something similar.
Compared to Vivi, who hadn't been exposed to much information from the outside world, he had already heard plenty about how terrifying Hanafuda, one of the Shichibukai, really was.
That was a man who'd made a fearsome name for himself in the New World!
And the result?
Just as he arrived, still full of anxiety, he saw that massive and terrifying T-rex being thrown around like a toy—completely unable to fight back.
And before long, it was completely defeated.
The crisis looming over their nation vanished just like that.
And the one who did it, was a clean-cut, handsome young man who looked no more than seventeen or eighteen.
Witnessing that kind of overwhelming power firsthand—who wouldn't be full of awe and admiration?
Even someone his age couldn't help wanting to clear his throat and burst into song in praise of the boy!
"La la, la——"
Hearing the deep male tenor beside him—
Shano felt even more of a headache, rubbing his temples.
Right. He nearly forgot this uncle was an opera fanatic. Even in the original timeline, when undercover in Baroque Works, he couldn't go a day without singing.
But thanks to Ikalem's explanation, it all made sense now.
Vivi was still young, and with such emotional ups and downs, it was easy to be influenced by things like hero worship, the suspension bridge effect, the Tyndall effect, and... the Pythagorean theorem or whatever.
The result—seeing him once, she turned into a fangirl with stars in her eyes.
"Speaking of which, you people are pretty bold, huh? Just for that reason, you dared come up and approach me?"
Shano shook his head. "Don't forget, I'm also a pirate with a 540 million berries bounty. Your national hero Crocodile died by my hand, too."
"A person who can defeat two Shichibukai in a row—how powerful must that be? If you truly had bad intentions toward our country, then no matter how much we prepared or guarded against it, what would be the point?"
Ikalem stopped warming up his voice and spoke solemnly:
"Besides, through this interaction and conversation, your words and actions—your character and conduct—they've proven our judgment was right."
"Someone like you, willing to help strangers in need, and saving so many merchant ships and local residents—you're nothing like the vicious criminal the newspapers describe!"
"Instead of trembling in fear and guarding ourselves, it's better to speak honestly and meet openly. That's the way we people of the desert in Alabasta have always treated our guests!"