The New World: Red-Haired Pirates' Base
An oppressive, dead-heavy silence filled the air.
It was wrong.
This island was never quiet.
It was a place of roaring laughter, drunken songs, and endless celebration.
Now, the only sound was the faint, electronic click-clack of the giant Den Den Mushi at the center of the camp.
Every single member of the Red-Haired Pirates, from the top commanders to the newest rookies, was gathered in a tight, tense ring around it.
The snail's eyes projected the live images from Marineford—the executions, the global addresses, the launch of the New Marine fleet.
The overwhelming, world-breaking power they had just witnessed hung over them like the Sword of Damocles.
It was a pressure, a physical weight in the air, that no one had ever felt before.
Not even when facing other Emperors.
Lucky Roux, a man who famously never stopped eating or smiling, was frozen.
His lips, usually spread in a wide grin around a chicken leg, were pursed into a tight, thin line.
A half-eaten, massive piece of roasted meat was forgotten in his hand, grease dripping unheeded onto his shirt.
Yasopp, leaning against a mast, wasn't telling a single joke.
"..."
Ben Beckman stood just behind Shanks, his brow furrowed so deep it looked like a scar.
He lit a new cigarette from the butt of his last one, his gaze never leaving the screen.
"..."
And Shanks... Shanks just remained silent.
He simply stared, unblinking, at the projection.
His mind wasn't even on Akainu's magma or the thousands of ships.
He was focused on the waves.
The colossal, impossible waves that had swallowed Kaido's entire fleet whole.
The sky-obscuring, continent-drowning tsunami that had been summoned from a calm sea.
'It was... so familiar.' Shanks's thoughts, pulled by an invisible string, drifted back over twenty years.
The Battle of Edd War.
The final, desperate confrontation between his crew, the Roger Pirates, and the overwhelming armada of the "Golden Lion" Shiki.
They had been hopelessly outnumbered, outgunned, and cornered.
They were facing certain annihilation.
Death.
And then, at that critical, final moment... a "miracle" happened.
A storm.
Not just a storm, but a cataclysm.
A sudden, violent, biblical tempest that came from nowhere.
Gale-force winds, torrential rain, and monstrous, city-sized waves...
That world-ending power, that act of God, completely destroyed Shiki's proud Flying Pirates.
Half his fleet was sent to the bottom of the sea in an instant.
From that battle, the Roger Pirates emerged against all odds, saved by the sea itself.
It was the victory that forged the legend of the Pirate King.
And now...
This exact, horrifying, déjà vu scene was playing out again.
Except this time, it wasn't a "miracle." It wasn't a "sudden storm."
This time, it was a man.
This time, it was "Kaido of the Beasts," the unkillable creature, being swallowed by those same waves.
"Haaah..."
Shanks let out a long, slow breath.
His expression was complicated, a mix of awe and a deep, unsettling dread.
Anyone with a brain could tell those waves had specifically targeted the Beasts Pirates.
What kind of natural phenomenon would be so conveniently precise? This was no act of God.
This was man-made.
'Could the New Marine really create disasters of this scale... at will?'
'No wonder...'
No wonder Mihawk had stopped him.
He'd been on his way to intercept Kaido, to stop him from going to Marineford, and Mihawk had appeared out of nowhere to block his path.
Shanks had thought it was just a duel, a rival's challenge.
But now he understood.
Mihawk hadn't been protecting Kaido from Shanks.
He had been protecting Shanks from the New Marine.
He was sending a message: Stay away. You have no idea what you're dealing with.
'So this... this is the reason.'
'Mike...'
Shanks remembered Mihawk mentioning some newly promoted "monster" captain in the Marines, but he never, ever expected...
He'd rise so fast. To become the supreme leader even.
That natural disaster... that power to command the ocean... it was almost certainly his doing.
How else? How else could he possibly keep those other monsters in the New Marine in line?
And speaking of monsters...
Shanks's gaze shifted to the figure of Whitebeard, standing tall and proud on the execution platform.
He wasn't hooked to machines. He wasn't coughing up blood. He looked... strong.
Not long ago, Shanks had shared a cup of sake with him, tried to warn him about Ace.
The Whitebeard he met then was a dying old man, a titan on the verge of collapse.
But the one on screen...
Kaido's dying, rage-filled wail couldn't have been wrong...
'You've returned to your peak?!'
The New Marine... they had found a way.
A way to restore Whitebeard to his prime. The man who cracked the sky, back to his full, earth-shattering strength.
In his prime, he was truly a super-monster among monsters.
Yet...
Even so, even Whitebeard in his prime... was only standing on the third tier of the platform.
Above him, on the second tier... were the Marine's monsters from the old era.
Sengoku. Garp. Zephyr.
'...could they also...?'
As a former apprentice on the Pirate King's ship, Shanks knew exactly what those old-timers were.
He had seen Garp and his captain, Roger, try to kill each other for decades.
He knew their strength.
If they had also returned to their prime...
"..."
Shanks rubbed his temples, a splitting headache coming on.
This was a nightmare.
A prime Garp, a prime Sengoku, and a prime Whitebeard, all on the same side... all following the orders of a man who could drown a Yonko.
The New Marine... Were they planning to suppress the entire sea by sheer, overwhelming, impossible force?
The answer was, yes, obviously.
"Shanks..."
Beckman's voice was low, barely a whisper, meant only for the two of them.
He exhaled a long, lazy smoke ring, but his gaze was sharper and colder than a sniper's bullet.
"Should we... start thinking about an exit strategy?"
Shanks didn't move.
"The sea... it's about to change, Captain. And this time, I don't think they're asking."
Beckman's meaning couldn't have been clearer.
He was the brains. He was the strategist. And he had just run the calculations.
If you can't beat them... you join them.
If the New Marine dared to lay all their cards on the table like this, in front of the entire world, it meant they were fully prepared.
They weren't afraid of any backlash.
Not from the World Government, and certainly not from the remaining pirates.
This put the Red-Haired Pirates in an impossible position.
Resist?
Just look at what happened to Kaido.
A cautionary tale, publicly executed without a single survivor left.
Annihilated.
"..."
Shanks remained silent, his eyes flickering, re-evaluating everything.
He saw things clearly.
The New Marine's stance, their propaganda, their raw power... they intended to completely reshape the world.
Pirates of the old era—his era—would either be wiped out... or assimilated.
Fight? What a joke.
He was one of the Four Emperors.
He was confident in his Haki, confident in his crew.
But he wasn't a fool.
He wasn't some greenhorn rookie fresh off the boat.
Given the New Marine's current power, any single Emperor who dared challenge them would be courting death.
A suicide run.
If all the original Four Emperors had united, maybe.
Just maybe, they could have fought them to a standstill.
But now?
The Whitebeard Pirates had been recruited. The Beasts Pirates had been annihilated.
That left... only him. And Big Mom.
"Join..." Shanks said, the word tasting like ash in his mouth.
He unconsciously touched the empty sleeve where his left arm used to be.
"They won't just let us 'join,' Captain," Beckman murmured, reading his mind.
"We're a Yonko. We're a symbol of the very era they just declared war on. Our friendship with Mihawk alone won't be enough. We'd need... a proper offering. A sign of loyalty."
A sign... that they were no longer an Emperor.
And the New Marine wouldn't settle for anything less than...
Shanks's gaze met Beckman's.
In that single, silent exchange, the horrifying, grim-but-necessary plan was formed.
There were only two Emperors left.
The New Marine would probably only accept one defector.
The other would be made an example of.
It was a race.
"Yeah," Beckman nodded, his face grim. "It's our only way out, Captain."
A full-scale clash with the Big Mom Pirates.
They would have to present the head of another Emperor as their offering.
That, coupled with Shanks's connections, was the only way.
Only then would they have a shot at survival.
Otherwise, once the New Marine finished dealing with the World Government and turned their full, undivided attention to "purging" the remaining pirates...
It'd be too late.
Right as that cold, bloody realization settled over them, a crew member rushed over, panting, holding out a ringing Den Den Mushi.
"Captain! It's... It's Big Mom! She says it's urgent!"
"Huh?"
Shanks raised an eyebrow. Big Mom? Now?
He and Beckman shared another look. The timing was almost... poetic.
Unless...
"Hello?"
Before Shanks could even speak, Big Mom's high-pitched, frantic voice crackled through the snail.
"Red-Haired BRAT! You saw it, didn't you?! You saw the broadcast!"
She wasn't even doing her "Mamamama" laugh.
She sounded... scared.
"I knew something was off—I could smell it! The Marines were acting too weird, but I never expected... Mamamama... That New Marine punk... that Mike! He has such guts!"
"Everything happened so fast... and just like that, Kaido's gone! Wiped out! Can you believe it?!"
"..."
"Let's team up!"
Big Mom's tone suddenly shifted, dropping to a low, urgent hiss.
"Red-Haired brat, listen to me! In this situation, only by joining forces... can we... can we even hope to survive! You don't think that kid Mike is going to let us off the hook, do you?! We're next!"
"..."
A glint flashed in Shanks's eyes.
For Big Mom, the most selfish, greedy, and untrusting person on the seas, to suddenly propose an alliance... This was very interesting.
She was clearly terrified.
And she was right.
Agreeing to this "alliance" would be the perfect opportunity.
The perfect way to get close to her and her commanders, all in one place... If he could launch a surprise attack during their "secret" meeting...
It would undoubtedly save many of his own crew from a bloody, drawn-out war.
Thinking this through, Shanks put on his most 'concerned' voice.
"Linlin..." he said slowly, pretending to ponder. "You're right. Indeed... in this current situation, going solo won't work. We... we need to join forces."
"Mamamama! Then it's settled, Red-Haired brat!" Big Mom's voice sounded relieved, and still incredibly urgent.
"Let's meet. Immediately! No time to waste!"
"Agreed. No time to waste."
The two quickly decided on a location and a time for their "alliance."
....
Totto Land: Whole Cake Chateau
"Katakuri!"
Big Mom slammed the Den Den Mushi down.
She turned to her tall, taciturn son standing beside her, a trace of pure, vicious ruthlessness flashing in her eyes.
"That red-haired fool! He bought it! Immediately! Summon all the Sweet Commanders! Summon the entire fleet!"
"At the agreed-upon location... we are going to annihilate the entire Red-Haired Pirates! Bring me Shanks's head!"
"Yes, Mama."
Katakuri responded expressionlessly, his one visible eye turn cold.
He turned and left with large, powerful strides.
This plan, after all, was the one he had proposed.
None of those who sit firmly on the throne of the Four Emperors are fools.
Everyone wants a seat aboard the massive, unstoppable ship that is the New Marine.
But space is limited.
With only two of the Four Emperors remaining, even if the New Marine was willing to accept a surrender, there's only room for one high-profile "reformed" pirate.
As for the other?
Heh. They would be the final, symbolic sacrifice to end the Great Pirate Era.
Facing the immense, existential pressure brought by the New Marine, both remaining Emperors of the New World are scheming... to eliminate the other... and present them as a gift, hoping to cling to this new, overwhelmingly powerful ally.
....
"Heh—"
Shanks hung up the Den Den Mushi, a faint, cold, and meaningful smile playing at the corners of his lips.
He looked at his first mate.
"Beckman. Get Mihawk on the line."
Beckman nodded, already pulling out a separate, secure Den Den Mushi.
"Now's the time," Shanks said, looking out at the sea. "When connections really prove their worth."
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Shanks Rat-rat fruit working on nonstop!