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Chapter 295: Shocking Red Hair! Not Becoming the Pirate King? Luffy's New Goal: King of Myriad Heavens Dungeons!
Outside the tavern door, the air seemed to solidify. The Pirate Emperor who once shook the New World now looked like an abandoned golden retriever. Red-Haired Shanks' hand was still gripping that cold brass doorknob. That expression of "life has lost its meaning" made Yasopp behind him laugh until he nearly cramped up.
"Boss, that's about enough."
Benn Beckman blew out a smoke ring, delivering the finishing blow with a poker face.
"If you don't go in soon, Miss Makino is going to be fetching foot-washing water for that Boss Blake."
Crack.
Shanks seemed to hear the sound of his own heart breaking.
But he was, after all, the man with the most face on this sea. And a monster who had develop Conqueror's Haki to its peak. After experiencing a short three seconds of "breakdown," "despair," and "reconstruction." Shanks took a deep breath.
That was the lifelong development of a powerhouse. It was also the precursor to the awakening of the legendary "Face-Face Fruit."
He suddenly straightened his hunched back. His originally messy red hair moved without wind, instantly restoring its former flamboyance. Those eyes that had held tears just moments ago became sharp and profound once again.
As long as I'm not awkward, the awkward ones are others.
As long as I pretend I didn't hear anything, Makino is still that gentle Makino.
"Lads!"
The corners of Shanks' mouth lifted, hanging that signature heroic smile. As if the man who wanted to cry just now wasn't him at all.
"Since we've come to an old friend's territory."
"Let's go ask for a drink!"
"Let's go!"
Bang!
The tavern door was pushed open by this powerful hand. Afternoon sunlight spilled in through the gap, elongating Shanks' tall figure.
The noise inside the tavern paused for a split second. All eyes focused on the doorway.
Behind the bar, Makino was wiping a glass with a cloth. Hearing the commotion, she looked up, a surprised and warm smile appearing on her face.
"Ah, Captain Shanks!"
"Long time no see. I didn't expect you to come back at a time like this."
Her tone was natural, her attitude affectionate. Like seeing an old neighbor who hadn't returned in years. There was no ambiguity, only pure friendship.
Shanks felt another pang of pain in his heart.
But the smile on his face didn't budge; it even became brighter.
"Hahaha! Makino!"
"I've been missing the wine you brew every day in the New World!"
"Quick, bring out your best rum!"
Shanks strode into the tavern, even flourishing his cape with extreme panache. That unhurried demeanor. That domineering aura of ruling the world. One completely couldn't tell he was a man who had just suffered the blow of "heartbreak" at the door.
Beckman followed behind, shaking his head helplessly. His captain was the definition of "suffering just to keep up appearances."
"Shanks!!!"
Just then. A childish voice full of vitality exploded from a corner like a cannonball.
Immediately after. A small figure wearing a straw hat, clutching a giant piece of meat on a bone, catapulted directly over.
"Wah! It really is Shanks!"
"You're finally back!"
Luffy's mouth was stuffed with meat, but that didn't stop him from stretching his rubber arms and hanging onto Shanks like a monkey.
Shanks looked down at the brat in his arms. The haze in his eyes from Makino's blow dissipated significantly. He reached out his remaining right hand, pressed it on Luffy's straw hat, and ruffled it vigorously.
"Yo, Luffy."
"Looks like you've grown quite a bit."
"And..."
Shanks' gaze focused slightly. As one of the Four Emperors, how keen was his perception? He clearly felt that the Luffy hanging on him right now, although still that boisterous brat... Had a completely different power surging within his body.
That wasn't Chakra, nor was it Haki. But a blazing vitality that seemed capable of burning everything. It was the power of the "Pyro" Vision.
"That's for sure!"
Luffy jumped down from Shanks, wiping the grease from his mouth triumphantly. He stood on a table, hands on his hips, posing in what he thought was a cool stance.
"I'm super strong right now!"
"Even Grandpa can't catch me anymore!"
Just as Luffy's voice fell. Two other figures stood up from the table.
Ace tipped his cowboy hat, his face carrying a bit of rebelliousness, but mostly vigilance. He quietly blocked in front of Luffy, sparks faintly jumping on his body.
Sabo elegantly adjusted his cravat, gripping the pipe on his back, a breeze seeming to spiral around him.
"This guy Luffy has been getting a bit big-headed lately."
Shanks looked at the three brothers before him. The surprise in his eyes grew thicker.
If it were before, these three brats were just children full of potential in his eyes.
But now. Even without deliberately releasing their aura. The energy fluctuations radiating from these three brats actually made him, an Emperor, take notice.
"It seems..."
"That rumor is true."
"Is this the change brought by that 'dungeon'?"
Shanks muttered to himself.
He turned his head, looking at Luffy again, the corner of his mouth hooking into a playful arc.
"Since you've become so strong."
"Do you still want to be the Pirate King?"
"Back then, someone was crying and shouting about finding ten partners and going to the end of the Grand Line."
This was a probe. And a confirmation.
Shanks wanted to know if, in this changing situation full of "otherworldly power"... Luffy's original intention had been shaken.
However. Luffy's answer once again exceeded his expectations.
"Pirate King?"
Luffy tilted his head, seeming to ponder the weight of this term. Then, he revealed a mouthful of white teeth, grinning heartlessly.
"Of course I want to be!"
"But, Shanks."
"Big Bro Blake said that the Pirate King is just the freest person in this world."
"My goal has changed!"
Luffy suddenly clenched his fist, and a layer of crimson flames ignited on his arm. That wasn't the Flame-Flame Fruit. But pure Pyro elemental power, compressed to the extreme under the stretchiness of rubber.
"I want to clear all the dungeons!"
"I want to go to the Naruto world to eat ramen!"
"I want to go to Teyvat and catch that dragon called Dvalin!"
"And go to that world full of giants and send them all flying!"
"I want to be—"
"The King of Myriad Heavens Dungeons!"
BOOM!
Accompanying Luffy's bold words. A "kingly qualification," though immature yet extremely domineering, exploded with him as the center. Within this Conqueror's Haki, there was even a trace of pressure from an otherworldly god.
The glass of the entire tavern was buzzing.
The officers of the Red Hair Pirates changed their expressions one after another. The chicken leg in Lucky Roux's hand fell to the floor. Yasopp's eyes widened as if he had seen a ghost. Even Benn Beckman's hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly.
"This brat..."
"Conqueror's!!??"
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