Because this piece of news was simply too explosive,
newspapers all across the world worked overtime through the night, urgently printing and distributing special editions, covering the story in overwhelming detail.
And so.
Over the next few days.
The News Coos flapped their wings, carrying the freshly printed reports, flying cheerfully out of the major news agencies. Newspapers scattered across the four seas like snow, stirring up a massive storm…
…
East Blue, Windmill Village.
"Hey, Shanks, here's your change."
At the market, Aunt Louise called out to Shanks just as he turned away, complaining,
"You really are a blockhead. How can you forget every single time? Tell me, how many times has this been just this month?"
"Ah, sorry, ma'am."
The red-haired young man took the coins, scratched his head, and laughed loudly.
"Next time for sure, next time I'll definitely remember."
"Tch, I don't believe that."
Aunt Louise rolled her eyes at him.
"Why don't you let Beckman and the others do the shopping? You're the captain—how can you still be running errands like this?"
"Well, it's not like I've got anything better to do. I came to Windmill Village for a vacation anyway."
Shanks let out an awkward chuckle, chatted a bit more, then waved and walked away.
Along the way,
every villager he passed showed no trace of fear—
instead, each smiled and greeted him warmly.
Shanks returned every greeting with a smile, feeling a bit sentimental.
Back in February, when Yasopp said he wanted to return home to see his son Usopp, Shanks brought the crew to the East Blue—and by chance ended up stopping at Windmill Village.
Counting precisely, he'd known these villagers for just over a month.
At the beginning, the villagers certainly hadn't treated him like this.
To them, a pirate crew suddenly docking near their village was nothing but trouble—they nearly ran to the nearest Marine base for help.
Luckily, as time passed, the villagers realized that everyone in the Red-Hair Pirates was actually pretty easy to get along with—not the bloodthirsty pillagers they feared.
And once someone leaked Shanks' status as a Warlord of the Sea , their hostility gradually faded, and they warmed up to him.
"Warlord of the Sea, huh…"
Shanks touched the stubble on his chin and clicked his tongue twice.
It was a handy title—especially because several vicious Warlord of the Sea had been taken down by Nao and replaced—
so the Warlord of the Sea now had a mostly positive reputation among common folk, which saved them a lot of trouble.
But ultimately…
He'd only agreed to sign the Warlord treaty because his family negotiated with the Marine to bail him out.
He'd been forced into that position.
It wasn't a title he wanted to wear forever.
If anything, he wanted to return to the New World, challenge and spar with the emperors who ruled from the top of the world.
Who knew—maybe one day he might stand shoulder to shoulder with them and become a Yonko himself?
"Four Emperors, huh…"
Shanks chuckled.
People had gotten so used to the term "Three Emperors" that "Four Emperors" still sounded a bit strange.
Yep… before the end of the year, he'd set back out, return to the New World, and continue the adventure.
He made up his mind.
As for why he planned to wait until the end of the year…
His steps stopped.
Shanks looked up at the swinging wooden doors of the bar before him.
Well… he had a reason he couldn't leave just yet.
For the past month, he'd been sleeping on his ship at night,
but spent most of his daytime in this small bar—the only one in Windmill Village—drinking and hanging out with his crew.
As the saying goes:
The drunken man's heart is not in the wine… but in the barmaid.
The biggest reason why he wanted to stay longer—aside from the peaceful villagers and beautiful scenery—
was Makino.
The gentle, strong young woman had made this man—single for more than twenty years—feel his heart move for the very first time…
Of course, he had real business for staying here, too.
Just as he pushed open the saloon doors, Shanks' gaze was immediately drawn to the small black-haired kid leaning over the bar counter.
Monkey D. Luffy.
The first time he met this kid, Shanks felt as if he were seeing Captain Roger again.
His intuition told him that this inconspicuous little boy absolutely had the potential to become the Pirate King someday.
And he, Shanks, had the duty to guide him onto the path of freedom and dreams.
Unfortunately… whenever Shanks thought about what he'd experienced over the past month, he couldn't help but grimace.
Although the brat had grown close to him and they'd become pretty good friends—
the moment Shanks brought up pirates, Luffy would show a look of pure disdain.
No matter how patiently he tried to persuade him, Luffy never showed even the slightest interest.
Damn it!
It was all because he'd arrived too late—
that damn White Dragon had already formed a bond and promise with Luffy first.
Now the kid wouldn't listen to anything Shanks said, and would randomly yell things like,
"I'm the man who's going to become the best Marine."
"Shanks?"
A girl's soft laugh suddenly sounded, pulling Shanks back to reality.
"What are you standing there thinking about the moment you walk in?"
Zoned out again?
Shanks scratched his head with an awkward grin and didn't explain.
He walked up to the bar and finally realized that Luffy, still leaning there, was completely absorbed in reading a newspaper, eyes full of barely contained excitement.
"What's up, Luffy? Rare to see you this focused. What're you reading?"
Shanks sat down smiling, ruffled Luffy's hair, and looked toward the bar.
"A bottle of wine, please, Miss Makino."
"Sherry? The usual?"
"The usual."
Makino smiled, shook her head at his eccentric habits, and turned to fetch the bottle from the shelf.
For the past month, Shanks had ordered a bottle of sherry every day and then sat there for half the day—she was long used to it.
"Shanks."
"Shanks?"
Luffy called him twice with no response.
When he looked up, he saw Shanks staring blankly at Makino's back as she bent down, so he tugged his arm in annoyance:
"Hey! Shanks! Did you hear me?"
"Huh?"
Shanks snapped back to himself and looked at Luffy in a fluster.
"What is it?"
"You told me before that a long time ago, you fought Uncle Nao, right?"
Luffy grinned. "And then he beat you up without mercy, and you couldn't even fight back?"
"Hey hey hey, you're remembering it wrong, aren't you? It wasn't that exaggerated."
Shanks pouted, muttering, "Yeah, I did lose, but that was ages ago. I was only eighteen or nineteen back then. Of course I couldn't beat him at that—"
He trailed off, suddenly realizing Nao was only a year older than him.
So he coughed and changed the subject.
"Why're you asking all of a sudden? Don't look down on me too much, Luffy. I haven't seen him for years. If it were now, that guy might not even be my match!"
"Hahaha! Captain Idiot is bragging again!"
"Makino hasn't come back with the wine yet, she didn't hear you. Hey! Shanks, speak louder!"
At a nearby table, Lucky Roo, Yasopp, and the others burst out laughing, stirring things up.
Shanks' face turned bright red. He sneaked a glance at Makino's back, then turned around and shouted sharply:
"Shut up already! Can't you idiots see where we are?!"
"For real?"
Luffy stared at Shanks, eyes full of doubt.
"I think you are bragging. Uncle Nao's so strong—how could someone like you not lose to him?"
What do you mean someone like me! I'm a really strong big shot too, okay!?
Three black lines popped onto Shanks' forehead. He was just about to retort when he froze, frowning:
"You're asking all this so suddenly… Luffy, is there news about that man in the paper again?"
"Yup." Luffy nodded and slid the newspaper over.
"Just bought it. It's on the front page. Take a look."
Front page…
Shanks' eyelid twitched. He practically had PTSD from that phrase.
But the moment he picked up the newspaper and saw the headline and photo, his eyes widened, and he let out a cry of pure disbelief:
"HUH???"
His shout immediately drew the rest of the Red-Hair pirates over.
They crowded around, craning their necks to look. And then—
HSSSS——
A chorus of sharp inhales echoed through the tavern.
"Hey, hey, hey, no way? That, that's Big Mom! She was actually killed outright?"
"And even with all those people helping her… she still couldn't win? That guy… has he already become this terrifying?"
"Hey! Captain! The Charlotte Family is finished. One of the Sea Emperor positions is vacant. How about we go back right now…"
"Idiot! You want Shanks to go back to the New World now and become the next Big Mom? He'd die!"
…
In the midst of the uproar, Shanks remained silent.
His eyes were locked on the figure in the photo—standing in the sky like a god of thunder—his expression heavier than ever before.
Unlike his noisy subordinates, once he recovered from the shock, he immediately understood the true weight of what had happened.
Defeating Big Mom, alone, despite being surrounded—
and doing it in less than a single night.
Only someone at his level could truly grasp how terrifyingly powerful that was.
Nao's current strength had likely surpassed even an Emperor and Admirals.
If he continued sweeping through the New World at this pace, he wouldn't just rewrite the balance of power.
He would—
Completely end the Great Pirate Era.
The wheels of the era's tide were already turning.
No one could stop them. Not Big Mom, not Kaido.
And even the world's strongest pirate crew—Whitebeard's…
Shanks remained silent.
As someone who had once sailed with the Roger Pirates, he had witnessed Whitebeard's peak strength firsthand.
Logically, he should be more inclined to believe in Whitebeard.
But for some reason—
A faint intuition whispered to him:
If the remaining pirates didn't unite, then even the Whitebeard Pirates alone would have extremely slim chances against Nao…
Was he exaggerating too much?
Shanks rubbed his head and took a sip of sherry, narrowing his eyes in thought.
But at that moment, the sound of the tavern's saloon doors swinging open came from behind.
The next second, Luffy suddenly leaped up from his seat, shouting with delighted surprise:
"Grandpa? Why are you back!"
…Huh?
Luffy's grandpa?
Shanks blinked, instinctively putting down his glass and turning around—only to see a very familiar white-haired old man carrying a huge sack of food, smiling as he greeted Luffy.
At that exact moment, as if sensing Shanks' gaze, the old man turned his head with the same cheerful smile.
Their eyes met in midair.
The tavern's atmosphere froze instantly.
The next moment—
"What's wrong, Grandpa?"
Under Luffy's puzzled stare, Garp wordlessly set down the bulging sack of food.
Then, step by step, he walked toward the bar and slowly rolled up his sleeves…
…
Calm Belt, Amazon Lily.
Within the palace of Amazon Lily—the nation known as the "Land of Women."
The former former former empress, Gloriosa—known among the citizens simply as "Granny Nyon"—leaned on her cane as she stood there, tirelessly trying to persuade the figure seated on the throne.
"Hancock! No matter what, you must revoke that order. Listen to me for once! Agatha and the others must absolutely not be executed!"
Her voice was frail and hoarse, clearly from long hours of arguing.
But her expression remained firm—she had no intention of giving up.
"Don't forget, Amazon Lily's largest source of income has always been spoils from raiding at sea! It's a tradition going back to the founding of our country!"
"But ever since you ascended to the throne, you insisted on banning raids on merchant ships, ordering everyone to target only pirates. Because of that, our people's standard of living has dropped drastically these past years."
"If not for Kikyo and the others accidentally discovering several Devil Fruits that can conjure food out of thin air two years ago—and the farmland being forcibly expanded several times—our island would've been in famine already!"
"You're a Warlord of the Sea now, Hancock! You have the legal right to plunder! Not using it is a complete waste! Agatha and the others were thinking of the nation's welfare and only robbed two merchant ships on the way. The Marines didn't even care. Nothing came of it! Why must you make such a big deal out of this?!"
"Why?"
The beautiful woman on the throne was quietly trimming her nails with a small knife.
Her long black hair styled in a traditional headdress, deep sapphire eyes, snake-shaped earrings, and a dangerously alluring figure—
She was none other than the Pirate Empress, Boa Hancock, the world's most beautiful woman and one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea.
Hearing the elderly woman's nonstop nagging beside her, Hancock finally lifted her head slightly.
She gave Granny Nyon a casual glance and spoke in a tone of indifference:
"Since you know that I am the Empress, then the orders I give must be obeyed. Those who dare defy them naturally must pay the price."
"But there's no need to kill them, Hancock!"
Granny Nyon thumped her cane angrily against the floor.
"Punishing them is fine—two years in prison is enough! Agatha has been our strongest warrior for ten years! If you kill her outright, not only will our strength suffer, but the people will be furious! Many already disapprove of you!"
"It doesn't matter."
Boa Hancock set down her nail file.
Her slender fingers slid lightly across her red lips, her gaze dreamy as she murmured:
"Even if the nation is destroyed by my own hands, everyone will still forgive me… because I… am simply too beautiful."
...
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