Watching Whitebeard's resolute expression, Red-Haired Shanks fell silent for a moment before saying, "Whitebeard, you're right. Looks like I was worrying over nothing. It's getting late—I should be heading back."
"Not seeing you off!" Whitebeard replied casually before turning and leaving as well.
As the men from both sides split up and boarded their ships, Benn Beckman, who had remained behind to cover their retreat, also stepped onto the deck.
Once the Red Force had left the harbor, Benn Beckman finally spoke.
"Captain, did it work?"
The inexplicable question instantly put everyone present on edge.
Red-Haired Shanks, standing on the bow deck, shook his head. "Not completely. I'm still ten percent short of perfectly replicating Whitebeard's power. It looks like I'll need more time."
"As for the Five Emperors Qin Yu who suddenly appeared, it was the same as when I encountered Thunder Dragon Laxus—I couldn't establish a connection with him. It felt as though he wasn't affected by my Rule-Rule Fruit ability."
"Even the Rule-Rule Fruit's power doesn't work?" Benn Beckman asked, surprise written across his face as he held a cigar between his teeth.
As Red-Haired's right-hand man, he knew full well just how abnormal the Rule-Rule Fruit was. Otherwise, Red-Haired would not have been unable to resist the temptation, breaking Gol D. Roger's warning and choosing to eat a Devil Fruit.
Nor would he have laid a trap in Windmill Village more than ten years ago, causing Luffy to eat the Gum-Gum Fruit and making Garp fall into the rules written by his Fruit ability afterward.
In order to save Luffy, who had wandered into the sea by mistake, he had allowed the Lord of the Coast to take one of his arms.
If not for the weakness of being unable to swim, then with Red-Haired's strength