Uta, Do You Want to Join the Marines? (Two-in-One)
Silence.
Utter silence.
The moment words like Celestial Dragon Shanks reached Shanks's ears, his expression immediately turned extremely ugly.
"How did you know?"
Shanks let his hands hang before him, every muscle in his body tensing as he stared straight at Tsugikuni Yoriichi and asked in a low voice.
The deepest secret buried within his heart had actually been exposed by the man before him in a single sentence.
No matter what, Shanks could not accept such a thing.
There were very few people in this world who knew of Shanks's origins. Aside from some informed members of the Roger Pirates, the only others who knew were likely certain people within the World Government.
But Shanks could guarantee that among those who knew his background, Tsugikuni Yoriichi, this Marine, was absolutely not one of them.
And Shanks believed that neither the Roger Pirates nor those people in the World Government would possibly reveal his origins to Tsugikuni Yoriichi.
It was hardly something good enough to be worth telling an outsider.
"Just as I thought."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi murmured inwardly, a faint smile appearing on his face. Without looking at Shanks's current expression, he turned his gaze toward the Absolute Waste Terminal below the hill.
"You don't need to worry about how I know."
"You only need to know my terms for the exchange."
"Of course, whether you agree is up to you."
"As the price for refusing me, I'll send you to Enies Lobby, then watch you enter Impel Down."
Tsugikuni Yoriichi openly threatened him, still wearing a faint smile as though he had no concern that Shanks would refuse.
The initiative was not in Shanks's hands. He had no bargaining chip to trade with him at all.
"..."
"What do you