Before Shanks had even finished speaking, Teach's massive body erupted with astonishing power, charging forward like a cannonball, his right fist, wreathed in Armament Haki, striking straight at Shanks' face.
"Protect Uta!"
Although Teach's attack was somewhat unexpected, Shanks had remained vigilant the entire time.
Almost at the same moment Teach rushed over, Shanks reached out and pushed Uta, who was beside him, toward Beckman and the other crew members.
Uta landed securely in Beckman's arms, and the crew of the Red Hair Pirates gathered around.
They had absolute confidence in Shanks, so they had no intention of ganging up on him, opting instead to watch the spectacle with great interest.
Uta's little face was flushed red; she grabbed the monkey beside her, clutching its fur tightly, her eyes wide, feeling both afraid and excited:
"Will Shanks... be okay?"
"Don't worry, little Uta, Shanks is very strong."
Lime Jones grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth:
"Why don't we guess how many minutes that Black Fatty can last?"
"Ten minutes?" Hongou estimated.
"Five minutes at most!" Lucky Roux swallowed the meat in his mouth with effort and shouted:
"I bet five mugs of beer!"
"Hey, hey, you guys are looking down on him too much, aren't you?" Yasopp couldn't help but laugh:
"Since he's someone the Captain fought back when he was on the Roger Pirates, this must be that great battle between the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates that the Captain mentioned earlier, right?"
"He's someone from Whitebeard's ship, after all... I bet three minutes!"
Uta nodded, though she was still a bit confused; she only understood that Shanks was very strong and could beat that Black Fatty.
Speaking of which, Yasopp was quite carefree; his child had been beaten half to death, and his wife had been taken away by Blake, yet he still didn't know and was in the mood to gamble here.
However, it was easy to see from the attitude of the Red Hair Pirates that they didn't really take Teach seriously.
After all... this was a guy who didn't even have a bounty.
In the heart of the vortex that was the Whitebeard Pirates, a group closely watched by the Marine, a pirate without a bounty was surely just a complete loser, right?
Even judging from the conversation between Teach and Shanks, this Black Fatty might have some ability, but Lucky Roux and the others didn't take it to heart.
They acknowledged that Teach might have some skills, but he likely lacked any real substance—otherwise, why would he have no bounty?
Just as everyone was discussing this, the two on the other side had already begun to clash.
Shanks flipped his wrist, and the blade of griffin precisely met Teach's fist.
Boom!
The moment the attacks collided, a deafening roar tore through the air, and shockwaves exploded in all directions.
The surrounding abandoned ships were swept away as if by a giant's hand, instantly turning into a sky full of wood splinters.
The impact force penetrated the ground, rapidly spreading backward along the pier—
Amidst the deafening sound of breaking, the buildings along the shore collapsed accordingly, and at the connection between the pier and the cliff, a huge crack appeared out of thin air, rapidly spreading upward, instantly piercing through the entire cliff face.
Teach did not stop after his first strike failed; his flintlock pistol in his left hand spat fire, and specially made bullets, wreathed in Armament Haki, poured out like a sudden downpour.
Shanks swung his sword calmly, his slashes acting like an invisible barrier, blocking all the bullets.
Each bullet that was struck down exploded into a deep crater on the ground.
At this moment, Teach was not only a master of physical combat; it was clear that he was also a marksman.
However, it was a pity that a marksman's abilities had limited effect in such ultra-short-range close-quarters combat.
Unless there was an absolute gap in strength, like between Beckman and Kid, someone using a gun would clearly not have an advantage in close combat against someone using a sword.
Teach also realized this and decisively threw away the gun that had run out of bullets, choosing to continue the close-quarters struggle.
Shanks held his sword with one hand, every slash carrying a sharp sound that tore through the air.
Teach's offensive, however, became increasingly ferocious—
Fists, elbows, knees—his entire body became a weapon.
Crack!
A crack extending nearly a hundred meters suddenly appeared in the pier area, and seawater flooded in frantically.
The entire island of Thersfield trembled, and the residents on the island, thinking an earthquake had occurred, scrambled to find potential shelters.
The muscles in Shanks' sword-wielding arm tensed suddenly, and he held griffin horizontally in front of him. He looked at the Black Fatty in front of him with that ferocious grin, and suddenly, he smiled too:
"Since you've chosen the most direct way..."
"Then I don't need to be polite either!"
The sound of the blade breaking through the air rang out!
When the two figures collided again, the ground of the entire pier area cracked in response, and the waves were forced to surge backward by the suddenly rising aura.
Teach shook his numb fist, a glint of excitement flashing in his eyes:
"Zehahaha..."
"Looks like you've made quite some progress over the years!"
"But that's what makes it more interesting, isn't it? Zehahaha..."
Shanks frowned; he was somewhat unaccustomed to Teach's behavior of laughing at every turn.
However, this level of psychological attack could not affect his fighting will, and he immediately restored his calm expression, focusing intently as he continued to engage in combat with Teach.
...
Mary Geoise, Blake Manor.
"Oh? They've already started?"
Blake was very satisfied that this intelligence agent could roughly describe the scene of the battle even while in a state of panic, but he still reminded him:
"Use the visual den den mushi!"
"Oh, oh! I'll turn it on right away! Turning it on now!"
The intelligence agent scrambled to get it working, and before long, the situation on Thersfield Island appeared on the screen in front of Blake.
Watching the two streaks of lightning colliding on the island, Blake's eyes lit up, and he beckoned everyone to come over:
"Come over and take a look; this is the strength level of the top powerhouses of the new generation."
"If any of you can defeat them, you could also be considered a great hero on the open sea."
Hearing Blake's voice, everyone gathered around, with the Battle Maids being the most eager.
Koala watched the torn sky on the screen without blinking, her eyes solemn.
She felt that her own strength might be slightly inferior to these two.
Both sides of the battle not only possessed Conqueror's Haki but were also quite proficient in applying it.
However, if it really came to a fight, Koala wouldn't be afraid of them.
Over all these years, Koala's development of the Glint-Glint Fruit had also reached a quite profound level; relying on her fruit ability and physical techniques, Koala considered herself a competitor on the same level as them.
Kuina, on the other hand, was watching Shanks on the screen with shining eyes; she felt that his sword style was very suitable for her, and she also wanted to become a sword powerhouse like Shanks.
She also subconsciously paid attention to Mandy's expression.
Mandy's expression was one of no expression; she remained in that calm, unruffled state.
Among all the maids, Mandy, who possessed Great Swordsman-level swordsmanship and an awakened Ice-Ice Fruit, was the strongest of them all.
Last time they clashed in the East Blue, both sides had a relatively clear understanding of each other's strength.
In terms of swordsmanship, the two could be considered evenly matched.
Shanks' advantage was his use of Haoshoku, while Mandy's advantage was combining the Ice-Ice Fruit with her swordsmanship; in a one-on-one fight, even Blake found it difficult to judge who would win.
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