The group had only just stepped onto that soft cloud beach, and they had not yet had time to recover from the crossing just now.
A slow, unhurried round of applause suddenly rang out in front of them.
Clap, clap, clap!
The applause was steady in rhythm, neither rushed nor slow, yet it seemed like heavy hammers striking hard against everyone's hearts.
Shanks's smile froze in an instant.
Crocodile abruptly raised his head, yellow sand surging from his palm.
Robin instantly crossed her arms as well, ready to counterattack with her ability at any moment.
But in the next instant, a chill abruptly rose up their spines.
With their Observation Haki, they had actually failed to sense anything about this sudden applause.
It was as if that person had never existed in this world at all, and only at the moment he revealed himself did he suddenly appear within their perception.
"Who is it?!"
Shanks shouted sharply, jerking his gaze forward.
However, the instant that figure entered his eyes.
His entire body stood frozen on the spot, as though struck by lightning.
It was an old man.
A head of long silvery-white hair hung loosely over his shoulders, several strands falling before his forehead and swaying slightly in the sea breeze.
His face was weathered yet still heroic, his brow carrying a sharpness and composure honed through countless battles, while a faint curve hung at the corner of his mouth.
That face was battered by time, yet the handsome contours of his youth could still be seen.
A high, straight nose, a sharply defined jaw, and those deep eyes...
Wait.
Those eyes.
Shanks's pupils abruptly contracted.
Those eyes were completely black.
There were no whites, no texture or shine of pupils, only pure blackness.
That black was so deep it