Nika

Extreme cold descended. The biting chill spread across the rain-soaked warship, turning the entire vessel white.

The frigid air expanded, freezing the sea for hundreds of meters in every direction and making it sway in the wind and rain like a floating island.

Stairs of ice connected the two sailing ships. To the horror of the CP agents, shadowy figures raced up them one after another. Though they looked no different from ordinary nobodies, each radiated a terrifying presence.

Shanks led the way, Western-style sword in hand. He leaped from the middle of the icy stairs and landed on the snow-covered deck, kicking up a cloud of powdery snow.

A man in a suit, with pink hair and stark-white horns, gritted his teeth at the sight. After shaking the rain and snow from his hair, he steeled himself and charged forward.

"Shave!" The CP9 agent vanished in an instant using one of the Rokushiki techniques. To the Red-Haired Pirates' admiration, he charged straight at Shanks.

In the next moment, the agent's fingers flashed before Shanks's eyes, his attack—powerful enough to split gold and shatter stone—aimed straight at his throat.

Shanks was briefly taken aback, then laughed without a trace of gravitas.

He raised his sword and easily blocked the CP9 agent's strike. Then he lifted his rain-soaked head and gave his opponent a mischievous grin.

"Hand over the treasure on your ship. This is a robbery!"

"!!" Fosford's expression changed dramatically. Furious, he shouted, "Pirates! This ship belongs to the World Government. You won't get away with this!"

Shanks watched the agent shift from attacking to struggling to defend himself. His smile turned dangerous.

"You're making this difficult for me, Agent!"

With that, Shanks put his strength into one hand and knocked his opponent back. As the agent staggered to his feet, Shanks swung again.

The sharp blade tore through the wind and rain, cutting through the air with unstoppable force before plunging into flesh.

"Pfft..."

The flash of the blade was gone in an instant, leaving a spray of blood across Fosford's body.

Fosford's face twisted in agony, his eyes rolling back. The tremendous force sent him flying into the massive main mast, snapping it in two, before he crashed onto the deck.

Afterward, Shanks sheathed his sword and began searching the ship for suspicious-looking wooden crates.

Elsewhere, a giant beast cloaked in white fur trudged through the snow. Each step left a broad sheet of ice behind.

Lightning flashed, briefly illuminating its horrifying form and allowing many of the soldiers and agents to glimpse its full appearance.

Its stark-white skull was exposed. Huge antlers, sharp and twisted, resembled a pair of withered, contorted hands.

But after only one glance, their faces blanched, their pupils dilated, and their hearts began to pound.

"What... what is that thing?!"

"Don't eat me!!"

"Mom!!" Its scarlet eyes swept over them. Overcome by a fear meant to prey on humans, the elite agents and soldiers instantly broke down, babbling incoherently.

In her Wendigo Form, Yelena showed none of her usual gentleness. She was utterly terrifying.

Facing agents who had lost their minds to fear, she showed no mercy. Her scythe-sharp claws swept across them, instantly tearing them into pieces.

Blood sprayed. Chunks of flesh flew.

Black-clad agents armed with swords, knives, and guns were ripped apart by her scythe-like claws, collapsing silently onto the deck.

The CP agents from various departments had no chance of resisting Yelena in her Wendigo Form. In the end, they could only die beneath the weight of their overwhelming fear.

Before long, Yelena had cleared away the remaining enemies before the Red-Haired Pirates entered the ship.

Her eyes swept over the corpses of the CP agents covering the deck, their blood staining the snow in broad swathes. A glimmer of surprise passed through her red eyes.

These agents were far from weak in the East Sea. Yet when they faced her, their fear of humans had robbed them of their fighting spirit. Yelena found that surprising.

Then Yelena returned to her human form and stepped over the corpses in the snow, carrying her warhammer as she headed back to the Red Force.

On the way, she slowly raised the Long-Handled Warhammer and brought it down on the head of the pink-haired man, whose horns matched her own.

"Pfft..." Bone and flesh flew, a crimson rose blooming amid the snow. The agent, who had been on the verge of waking, fell into eternal sleep.

Afterward, she shook the blood from her warhammer, crossed the stairs, and returned to Louis's side.

Louis looked at Yelena with a strange expression. He recalled the unusual state he had sensed through Observation Haki while she was fighting, then asked, "Is your lung acting up again?"

Yelena calmly shook her head and replied softly, "No. It just felt strange tearing those agents apart. I never imagined it would be so easy to kill them."

She felt that the fear-inducing ability the Wendigo radiated against humans might be something she could develop further.

Louis heard that and let the matter drop. The improvement from a Zoan Devil Fruit was quite noticeable.

Soon, Shanks and the others returned from the warship, their arms full of bags and bundles.

At sea, no one could guarantee they would reach a place to restock before their supplies ran out. So they had gathered plenty of things from the warship that could be useful during their voyage.

They had even collected several precious sets of Seastone Shackles from the ship's hold. Unlike the ones Luffy would later wear while still managing to carry a giant boulder at a run, these were standard-issue restraints capable of depriving users of their ability to fight back.

At the front of the group, Shanks held a small treasure chest in his arms. Louis guessed that it contained the Zoan-type Human-Human Fruit, Mythical Zoan, Nika Form—the one the World Government had disguised as the Gomu Gomu no Mi.

"Whoosh..." Louis glanced at it, then looked away and ignited the flames on his back.

Beside him, Yelena seemed to realize something. She controlled her ability, melting the ice that connected the two ships and formed the stairs between them.

Elsewhere, the helmsman smiled as he turned the sailing ship away from the warship that was about to be destroyed.

After a while, the flames on Louis's back surged higher. Golden fire coiled around his arm, then spiraled together in his palm.

In the next instant, the twisting, leaping flames took shape and stretched out, becoming an irregular golden spear.

Then Louis raised his arm and hurled the Blazing Spear in his hand.

The searing spear shot past, piercing the air and evaporating the rain along its path before plunging into the warship like a bolt of lightning.

Cracks spread across the warship. Golden light poured through them. Then the entire vessel swelled and exploded, its dazzling brilliance lighting up the darkened sky and sea.

With a deafening roar, the blast wave spread rapidly, scattering the rain overhead and turning it into a cloud of misty droplets.

Beneath a clear sky, a three-masted sailing ship bearing a skull framed by crossed swords cut through the waves.

Beside a pile of large treasure chests, Shanks crouched and opened the lid of a small one.

Just then, Uta came up behind him and craned her neck, curiously peering at what was inside.

"Shanks, what are you doing?"

"Is this for me, too?"

The straw hat hid half of Shanks's face, making his eyes impossible to see, but the corners of his mouth were faintly turned upward.

Facing his daughter's question, he smiled at Uta. "Even though you're my daughter, this is the one thing I can't give you."