"I say, Captain, are you all right?"
After pulling the drenched Shanks from the sea, one of the ship's officers asked him.
Shanks was not a Devil Fruit user, so seawater did not weaken him. He had merely been exhausted by his clash with Whitebeard. Even if no one on the ship had rescued him, he would have eventually drifted to a nearby island.
"I'm fine. Whitebeard truly deserves to be called a great pirate on par with the captain. Even after giving it everything I had, I still couldn't defeat him." Leaning against Benn Beckman, Shanks smiled nonchalantly.
He flicked the longsword in his hand. As the Armament Haki faded, a conspicuous notch was revealed in the blade.
BOOM!
A heaven-shaking roar came from the distant horizon. Flames of every color shattered amid the vibrations and fell like fragmented meteors, like fireworks blooming across the sky—brilliant and lethal.
Benn Beckman snorted coldly. Conqueror's Haki burst from his body, forming a barrier before the ship and blocking every incoming flame.
As the vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Benn Beckman's progress over the years had been anything but minor. If he truly fought, he was stronger than most Marine vice admirals.
Before and after entering the New World, he had fought Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru, all of whom had already become admirals. At least for a short time, none of them had managed to suppress him.
"Speaking of which, who are these newly emerged pirates? That little girl is ridiculously strong. She's actually keeping Whitebeard on the defensive?" The chubby man gnawing on roasted meat looked up.
The distant sky had already turned crimson. Most of the dark clouds had dispersed beneath the firelight, while enormous waves and multicolored flames created a strangely dazzling scene. A phoenix attacked Whitebeard from