Shanks and Teach's figures crossed paths, leaving three bloody gashes in the air.
Time seemed to stand still for a moment. Shanks covered his injured left eye with his hand, his expression unchanged.
His mindset was still very stable. Having grown up on the sea, although he hadn't suffered any serious injuries before, he had seen many such scenes.
Since he chose to form the Red Hair Pirates, Shanks was mentally prepared for the current situation.
In fact, in his estimation, only having three scars on his face was already a stroke of luck.
The wind, carrying the salty smell of the sea and the scent of dust, blew across the shattered dock.
Shanks lowered the hand covering his eye; blood had already stained half of his cheek.
Yet, he acted as if nothing had happened, even flashing a reassuring smile to his distant companions.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the visual den den mushi.
Blake suddenly sat up straight on the sofa, his expression rapidly shifting from surprise to excitement.
"Did you get that on camera?"
He asked the intelligence officer on the other side of the Den Den Mushi with some excitement:
"That moment just now, especially when Teach used his claws to scar Shanks's face!"
After adapting for so long, the intelligence officer found that the aftermath of their battle was unlikely to affect this side, so he regained his composure and calmly said:
"No problem, Boss. I've filmed it completely. Any shot you want is fine!"
Blake showed a satisfied smile. He didn't know what effect this photo would have in the future, but that didn't stop him from taking it for now.
He had known that Shanks would have three scars on his left eye, and that Teach had left them. So, when he learned that a fat Blake man appeared on Thersfield Island, Blake suspected this was the battle where Shanks got injured.
After all, Oda seemed to have buried a big plot hole with Shanks; every time he appeared, either his face clearly had scars, or he used angles and body language to cover his eyes, making people wonder when he actually got injured.
Unlike Blake's foresight, the maids all gasped in surprise, especially Hancock, whose face turned gloomy.
For a moment, she even wanted to give up her identity as a battle maid.
Hancock couldn't imagine what would happen if someone scratched her face; she felt she might go crazy.
Others had similar thoughts, and Mandy subconsciously touched the scar on her own face.
Long ago, when pirates invaded the Wobukangding Kingdom and Mandy was captured and became a Slave, a scar was left above her eyebrow.
However, later, due to her outstanding appearance and temperament, the Slave merchant, in order to sell her for a good price, deliberately put in great effort to transform the scar at the corner of her eye into the World Government's emblem, which paradoxically gave her a unique beauty.
After so many years, Blake had never commented on her scar, and Mandy gradually relaxed, even forgetting the existence of the scar herself.
It wasn't until today, seeing Shanks's face torn open by Teach with three gashes, especially in a similar position to her scar, that it brought back her memories.
Regardless of men or women, those who truly don't care about their appearance are, after all, a minority.
Blake noticed everyone's expressions, smiled, pulled Mandy over, and comforted her in his arms:
"It's alright, your starting point is much higher than those people on the sea."
"As long as you cultivate well, your strength will definitely be stronger than theirs in the future, and you won't have to worry about getting injured again."
He lowered his head and kissed the faint golden mark at the corner of Mandy's eye:
"Don't take it to heart; you have your own charm."
Mandy's perpetually icy face rarely showed a blush, and she lowered her head slightly.
While Blake was still flirting, the Red Hair Pirates were not so calm.
The dust flying on the dock hadn't completely settled, and their smiles suddenly froze.
The transformation from 'heehee' to 'no heehee' was instantaneous.
"Blood..."
Lucky Roux's chicken drumstick bone snapped with a 'crunch' in his hand.
On his usually jovial round face, a nearly blank expression appeared for the first time:
"Captain... he's bleeding?"
Lucky Roux seemed unable to comprehend the scene he was witnessing.
Since setting sail, Shanks had always been invincible.
Even during the last massive chase by Celestial Dragons, everyone was only unwilling to conflict with the World Government and didn't want to cause trouble, which made them annoyed, but deep down, they didn't feel fear.
And now, the silence of this usually most boisterous fat man spoke more to the Red Hair Pirates' shock than any gasp.
It was the bewilderment of seeing an undefeated legend broken.
Yasopp almost dropped his beloved gun:
"That fat Blake man actually managed to take Captain's sword strike head-on and even injure him?!"
At this moment, the formerly relaxed atmosphere of the Red Hair Pirates instantly became tense. They all dropped their wine cups and stood up.
Just as they were about to step forward, their strides suddenly halted—
Because they saw Shanks raise his hand to wipe away the blood still flowing down to his chin, and he flashed his characteristic hearty smile in their direction:
"Don't be nervous, it's just a small injury."
"This bastard..."
Beckman cursed under his breath, sat back on the wine barrel, re-lit a cigarette, and held back Uta, who wanted to rush over, his voice coming through the smoke:
"Why are you all panicking? This little injury is nothing to the Captain!"
But his words held no persuasive power for Uta. Her small fists tightly clutched Beckman's clothes, and she cried out with a sob:
"But... but Shanks, he's bleeding so much!"
This cry was full of childish worry, yet it unexpectedly diffused the heavy atmosphere.
Shanks felt the burning pain on his face, smiled, waved at Uta, and then turned his gaze back to Teach not far away:
"It seems you haven't wasted these years; your strength has reached this level?"
His words were indeed a genuine sigh of admiration.
You see, Shanks grew up in the Roger Pirates, surrounded by an endless stream of experts, and almost everyone was willing to help him.
He even went to Mary Geoise a while ago, received guidance from Garling, and sparred with Shamrock to learn from each other's strengths.
And Teach?
Judging from his lack of a bounty so far, he was definitely an unknown presence in the Whitebeard Pirates.
Yet, the opponent not only fought him to a standstill but even made him suffer a minor loss.
"Zehahahaha..."
Teach laughed while locking his Observation Haki onto the Red Hair Pirates, fearing that they might disregard martial ethics and rush over to gang up on him.
Seeing that these people didn't seem to intend to charge forward and help, his smile grew wider.
Teach liked opponents with such chivalrous spirit the most:
"Red Hair! How about you consider giving me that Devil Fruit?"
-------------------------
If you enjoy this story, you can read 70+ advanced chapters on Patreon!
Webnovel will keep getting 1 new chapter every day but Patreon readers can stay far ahead.
Maybe it's not a big deal now… maybe it will be later.
[email protected]/Rexlent
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"