Rayleigh: Was It You Who Beat My Crew?

He widened his eyes and stared at Mu Chen in disbelief. He had never expected his opponent to possess such astonishing strength.

But Mu Chen gave Shanks no chance to catch his breath. His feet never stopped moving as he lunged forward again, launching a flying kick at Shanks's abdomen.

Shanks had no time to adjust and could only raise his still-unrecovered left arm to block Mu Chen's attack.

The kick bent Shanks over at once. His face went deathly pale, beads of sweat rolling down his forehead as he let out a muffled groan of pain. Mu Chen quickly grabbed Shanks by the shoulders, drove his knee up, and slammed it heavily into Shanks's chin.

Shanks's head snapped back from the sudden blow, blood spilling from the corner of his mouth. He desperately shook his head, trying to clear it, but his vision remained blurred.

By then, Shanks had no strength left to fight back. His legs had gone weak, and if Mu Chen had not been holding his shoulders, he would have already collapsed to the ground.

Mu Chen lifted Shanks's entire body as easily as if he were carrying a chick.

Mu Chen sighed. At least he had not embarrassed himself. He did not like fighting, but if he had lost this one, he truly would not have been able to hold his head up.

Soon afterward, Mu Chen tied up Shanks and Buggy with a few quick motions.

A moment later, Shanks and Buggy regained consciousness. The first thing they saw was Mu Chen playing with a straw hat.

I'm finished. This time, I'm really dead.

Seeing that he and Shanks were tied up, Buggy had utterly lost the will to live.

All right, stop crying. I already told you I wouldn't do anything to you. Why don't you believe me?

Mu Chen felt rather helpless. Dealing with children was truly a headache. If he had known, he would not have scared them from the start.

Aren't you a Marine?

How could you possibly not come after us?

Shanks spoke slowly, blood unconsciously streaming from his nose. He looked utterly ridiculous.

The sight nearly made Mu Chen burst out laughing. Why did this look so much like Luffy getting beaten up?

In the end, Mu Chen could not hold back and laughed. This was not Luffy, but it was Shanks. He had actually beaten Shanks up, and Shanks looked as though he had been molded from the same cast as Luffy. It was both pitiful and hilarious.

Mu Chen's laughter immediately left Shanks and Buggy bewildered. Is something wrong with this guy's head?

Just as Mu Chen was laughing heartily, a voice slowly sounded from behind him. "Is beating up my crew really that funny?"

Hearing the voice behind him, and finding its tone strangely familiar, Mu Chen immediately looked as though he were facing a formidable enemy. In his excitement, his Sharingan activated instinctively. When he turned around, he saw a middle-aged man with blond hair, small glasses, a patterned T-shirt, and a bottle of beer in his hand.

Silvers Rayleigh! Mu Chen had never expected to truly meet this great figure. What a coincidence.

Vice Captain Rayleigh!

Vice Captain Rayleigh!

Shanks and Buggy looked as though they had spotted a lifeline. Buggy even started crying.

Rayleigh smiled and waved at Shanks and Buggy, signaling that he would handle everything.

But then Rayleigh's sharp gaze turned toward Mu Chen.

From the sound of it, you know me?

Facing such a major figure, Mu Chen knew he was no match for Rayleigh. Rayleigh was at his peak now; even Garp would probably only be able to fight him to a draw.

Ah!

Dark King Rayleigh, you're such a famous figure. Who wouldn't know you?

Mu Chen helplessly shrugged, relaxing his whole body as his Sharingan faded away.

Rayleigh had not expected Mu Chen to relax so readily.

You're a Marine?

More or less.

Rayleigh still could not understand what Mu Chen meant.

What do you mean, more or less?

It means I'm a Marine for now, but not necessarily in the future.

Rayleigh found Mu Chen's answer far too ambiguous. So was he or was he not?

What did he mean, not necessarily in the future?

All right, stop probing. I really didn't intend to do anything to these two brats. I only wanted to take a look at Pirate King Roger's straw hat.

As he spoke, Mu Chen picked up the straw hat.

Mm, just taking a look at the straw hat.

Rayleigh was confused. What exactly was going on with this young Marine?

I was only looking at the straw hat. Of course, I was also thinking of taking the chance to bully a future Emperor of the Sea. But now that you've beaten my crew, what should we do about that?

Facing Rayleigh's sharp eyes, Mu Chen remained completely unruffled and spoke calmly. "First, they attacked me first, so I was forced to fight back. Second, I'll pretend I never saw you this time. How else should we handle this?"

Mu Chen's composure made Rayleigh unable to gauge him. Then Rayleigh's tone suddenly turned icy. "What makes you think I can't kill you?"

Aren't you the same?

Even in the face of Rayleigh's threat, Mu Chen remained calm and unhurried. Rayleigh saw that Mu Chen was so composed, utterly unafraid of his threat. "Killing me isn't worth it. You've already retired, while I'm Zefa's student and have a good relationship with Uncle Garp. If you kill me, I imagine you'll have quite a headache. You don't want Garp chasing you all over the world, do you?"

Rayleigh fell into thought at Mu Chen's words. He did not understand how this young man knew he was preparing to retire. Moreover, this young man had handled a legendary pirate like him with such calm composure. No matter how he thought about it, this young man should not have possessed such deep cunning.

After all, if any other Marine of the same generation, genius or not, encountered him, there would only be two outcomes. The first was a fight to the death. The second was still to start fighting, drawing other Marines over for reinforcements. After all, this was the Sabaody Archipelago, where there was a Marine base.

Yet this young man had chosen a third option: negotiation?

What Marine negotiated with a pirate? Not to mention dragging Garp and Zefa into it.

He did have a point. Given Garp's personality, Rayleigh would probably be chased around endlessly.