"How did you end up in a place like this?"
Shanks sat at the bar with a bottle in hand. When he saw the young man entering the tavern, surprise first flickered across his face, followed by a faint smile as he asked calmly.
The young man who had appeared in the Windmill Village tavern was none other than Tsugikuni Yoriichi, who had left the North Blue and come here.
After bringing Tesoro's forces under his command, he had rushed nonstop to the East Blue to verify the information he had heard about the Rubber Fruit.
Yoriichi's New Marines did not have a particularly strong intelligence network in the East Blue. If he wanted to learn the whereabouts of that Devil Fruit, Shanks and the Iron Wall Pirates would surely be able to provide quite a bit of valuable intelligence.
Shanks was now a government-recognized Shichibukai and would no longer be hunted by the Marines. The Kingdom of Goa had also become one of the Iron Wall Pirates' bases.
Although Yoriichi could not fully confirm why a pirate like Shanks had remained in the East Blue, in his judgment, the Rubber Fruit was certainly one of Shanks' objectives for staying there.
Before obtaining the Rubber Fruit, Shanks would not leave so easily.
Under the watchful eyes of the pirates, Yoriichi slowly walked to the bar and sat on a stool beside Shanks. Then he looked at Makino behind the counter and asked gently,
"Ma'am, do you have juice? I'll have a glass of juice. And if it's convenient, bring me something filling too."
As he spoke, Yoriichi removed the long sword from his waist and propped it against his side.
"Yes, please wait a moment."
Makino stared fixedly at Yoriichi. She had already recognized him. After taking a deep breath