The World Ought to Be Cruel and Beautiful!

Just as the Momonga finished speaking, a golden beam of light flashed across the distant horizon. The next second, the golden light arrived beside the Momonga, and Borsalino stepped out from the golden light, saying, "Momonga, it's been a long time."

The Momonga's face twitched slightly as he said, "Mr. Borsalino, you didn't fly all the way from Punk Hazard, did you?"

"How could that be? What if it fell into the sea? My warship is right behind us," Borsalino said with a smile and a wave of his hand.

After saying this, his attention was drawn to the fierce battle ahead. After observing for a moment, Borsalino said, "The Red Hair Pirates and the Shichibukai? This is truly a rare sight. It looks like the Red Hair Pirates are about to collapse..."

That's right, at this moment Smoker had forcibly boarded the Red Force, suppressed Raki Lu, and blasted Yasopp into the sea.

The cabins on the deck of the Red Force were all blown up, and two masts were broken. It looked like the ship was about to be destroyed.

The Momonga nodded and said, "Red-Hair has offended my Admiral. There's nowhere for him to hide in this New World. If he's lucky enough to escape, the Admiral doesn't intend to hold it against him. But it seems he's not so lucky now."

In the current situation, there's no way Red-Hair can escape. Not only is Smoker beating Lucky Roux and has the absolute advantage in the battle, but Momonga and Borsalino are also right here. If Smoker can't win, those two Marines won't let Red-Hair get away.

Borsalino is a genuine Admiral -level fighter. How could he possibly lose to Red-Hair, who was severely injured and lost an arm before even reaching his peak and didn't even have a weapon?

Borsalino nodded at first, then said, "Before I set off, Saint Saturn had just left Punk Hazard..."

"Saint Saturn!?" The Momonga somewhat surprised and puzzled. Why bring up the Five Elders all of a sudden?

As Scientific Defense God, Lucy Saint Saturn does occasionally leave the Holy Land of Mary Geoise to go to Punk Hazard, the secret research base of the Marines, to conduct some forbidden experiments. His level is different from that of Borsalino, the 'doctor' being studied, and he can even have pleasant conversations with Dr. Vegapunk in some areas!

"Yes, Saint Saturn." Borsalino responded first, then said, "He also heard about the Red Hair Pirates and revealed some secrets to me, such as the identity of Red-Hair Shanks, which is very likely..."

"What is it?" the Momonga asked curiously.

"It's very likely Celestial Dragons ..." Borsalino said softly after keeping everyone in suspense.

"Huh!?" The Momonga was stunned, exclaiming in disbelief, "How is this possible? Wasn't he an apprentice on Roger Pirates ship? How could he be connected to those Celestial Dragons from the Holy Land?"

"To trace this matter back to the time when the Rocks Pirates attacked God's Canyon... It is said that during that war, Figarland Saint Figarland, a member of the God's Knights, lost a child. Currently, the Five Elders suspect that Shanks, the Red-Hair - Shanks, is that child, since the time and age match up. Also, after the God's Canyon incident, a baby suddenly appeared in Roger Pirates..." Borsalino said softly.

The Momonga swallowed hard and asked, "So, what's the situation now?"

"Hahahaha..." Borsalino laughed and patted the Momonga on the shoulder Shanks, saying, "Don't worry about anything. Saint Saturn doesn't care about these things. He said that if Red-Hair could achieve something, then perhaps they would still value him, and his bloodline identity would have some value. But in his current situation, he has no value at all. Saint Figarland hasn't mentioned him either, so don't worry. Just treat him as an ordinary pirate."

After hearing this, the Momonga breathed a sigh of relief and was no longer worried.

The Five Elders and the Celestial Dragons of Mary Geoise are very selective in their dealings with people. If Red-Hair makes a name for himself and has high value in winning people over, then his suspected Celestial Dragons bloodline will be taken seriously. In fact, let alone suspected, if Red-Hair is powerful enough, regardless of whether he is actually Celestial Dragons or not, the Figarland clan will definitely be willing to admit that he is the lost child of the Three Kingdoms!

If he has no value, then let alone whether he is a suspect or not, even if he really is, the Five Elders and the Figarland clan would not easily recognize a member of the Roger Pirates, a defeated pirate, as a member of their Celestial Dragons.

Doflamingo is True Celestial Dragon of the Yellow Banner descended to Earth. Under such circumstances, the people of Mary Geoise would not be willing for him to return to Mary Geoise and regain his Celestial Dragons status, let alone Shanks only has a suspected identity.

If the situation were different, Doflamingo wasn't one of the Shichibukai, but rather like Charlotte Linlin, Four Emperors with immense influence in the New World, having developed Dressrosa into something akin to Whole Totto Land, and possessing world-class strength, then needless to say, the Donquixote Family of Mary Geoise would be more than happy for him to regain his Celestial Dragons status.

The Five Elders will certainly be happy to see this happen and will strongly support it!

Therefore, Saint Saturn didn't take Red-Hair seriously at all. Not to mention that he wasn't Four Emperors- level pirate, given his current situation and the fact that he had offended Ortolan, even if it were just for Ortolan's sake, the Five Elders wouldn't acknowledge Shanks's suspected Celestial Dragons bloodline.

On the other side, aboard the Red Force, which was practically a total wreck, Smoker, his hand flashing with shattering power, punched Raki Lue hard in the stomach.

Those firm abdominal muscles instantly turned into bloody rotten flesh. Raki Lu looked pained and ferocious, trying to retaliate, but he didn't have time. The next second, Smoker kicked him in the face, kicking him directly off the Red Force and into the sea.

Then, without intending to cause any more trouble for Lucky Roux, he casually lifted a few wooden planks from the deck and jumped into the ship. Soon after, the sounds of fierce fighting, mixed with some gunshots, came from inside. Quickly, several corpses were torn from the hull and thrown into the sea; they were some of the Red Hair Pirates' combatants.

Smoker kicked down the door of a cabin and strode in. He then saw Shanks, the one-armed man, lying on the bed, seemingly still unconscious, his brows furrowed.

At this moment, Shanks' injuries had stabilized, but his condition was still clearly not improving. There were plaster casts and bandages on his chest, and his breathing was weak.

"That guy Ortolan really went all out..." Smoker said gleefully, looking at Shanks' miserable state.

Seemingly sensing the danger emanating from Smoker, Shanks' brow twitched slightly, and then he suddenly opened his eyes. He immediately saw Smoker covered in blood and the broken door, and realized that their Red Force had been invaded!

The next second, I instinctively saw Shanks' fierce expression, as if he wanted to unleash his Haki.

In an instant, his powerful Conqueror's Haki burst forth. When Smoker suddenly sensed this powerful Conqueror's Haki, his expression tightened, and he raised his hand warily.

The next moment, Shanks' Conqueror's Haki shattered, his face turned pale, then immediately turned sickly red, and bright red blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.

Watching this scene, Smoker's face showed a hint of sadness, as if he were witnessing a fellow rabbit mourning the death of a fox. He said softly, "Has your Haki and conviction been shattered?"

Upon hearing this, Shanks' eyes flashed with pain, and his body trembled slightly.

After a moment, he asked, "Where are my companions?"

"Thrown into the sea, we don't know if he's dead or alive..." Smoker shrugged.

"Then... then Beckman?" Shanks asked Smoker, as if trying to confirm something.

"Ben Beckman?" Smoker raised an eyebrow. "He's dead on Hachinosu Island."

Upon hearing this, Shanks' expression quickly went blank, and the pain in his eyes disappeared, replaced by an emptiness.

Seeing this, Smoker called out a few more times, but Shanks remained as still as a wooden statue, offering no response. In the end, he shook his head helplessly, gathered a wisp of shattering power in his hand, and walked toward Shanks.

A moment later, Smoker reappeared on the deck, a straw Straw Hat now in his hand.

Smoker glanced at the warships not far out at sea and waved to them.

Then, his gaze fell upon the boundless blue sea. As if recalling something, he murmured softly, "On this sea, there are heroes like Shiki who died gloriously, and there are also losers like you, as insignificant as weeds, who died numbly... This sea is truly cruel."

After a moment of silent contemplation, Smoker suddenly grinned and said, "That's exactly why this sea is so alluring. The world should be both cruel and beautiful!"