The Billion-Beli Monster! Red-Haired Shanks Descended on Foosha Village!

Dense footsteps came from the distant streets.

The royal city's patrols had been alerted by the commotion here.

Large numbers of fully armed soldiers were rushing over.

Sabo was not panicked in the slightest.

He even had the leisure to straighten his cape.

"Tell your noble friends."

"There's a pair of eyes watching them in the darkness."

"Don't do bad things."

After delivering what he considered an extremely intimidating line,

Sabo pushed off with both feet.

He kicked through the air repeatedly.

Like a black owl, he soared into the sky.

After a few leaps, he vanished among the royal city's towering buildings.

By the time the patrol arrived,

they saw only devastation everywhere, along with Viscount Charles clutching his broken leg and howling in pain.

The captain's scalp went numb.

Attacking a noble in the heart of the royal city—

that was unprecedented.

From that day onward, a legend began to spread throughout the Goa Kingdom.

A ghost in a top hat.

He specialized in punishing brutal nobles late at night.

The commoners privately called him the "Justice Knight."

Meanwhile, the nobles lived in constant fear, even holding far fewer nighttime balls.

At that moment,

on the highest rock of Mount Colubo,

Kahn sat with his eyes closed.

He was not asleep.

Even at night, as long as there was moonlight,

he could still absorb faint reflected solar energy.

Though the efficiency was extremely low, it was better than nothing.

His Super-Hearing remained active at all times.

Everything that happened in Goa Kingdom's inner city

reached his ears with perfect clarity.

Including the sound of Sabo breaking people's bones.

And those cringeworthy, embarrassingly melodramatic lines.

The corner of Kahn's mouth could not help but curl upward.

This kid

really had treated the Goa Kingdom as his beginner village.

Still, that was fine.

With attachments and conviction, his Haki would awaken more smoothly.

In the original story, Sabo had gone to sea to escape.

In the end, he was bombarded by the Celestial Dragons and lost his memories.

This time,

with Kahn's intervention,

Sabo had found his mission.

He was not running away.

He was fighting.

Fighting for this sick city.

Perhaps in only a few years,

without waiting for the Revolutionary Army to arrive,

Sabo alone would be able to turn this kingdom's rotten ruling class upside down.

Kahn turned over and shifted into a more comfortable position.

Life in Foosha Village was getting more and more interesting.

That idiot Luffy was still sleeping soundly.

That Fire Fist who dreamed of becoming the Pirate King was still scavenging junk to buy a ship.

And that noble brat who should have died at sea

had now become the Goa Kingdom's Top-Hat Hero.

Kahn yawned.

No matter how much they caused trouble,

all he needed to do was be an invincible Sun God.

Dawn was approaching.

He would be able to recharge at full power again.

What a troublesome bunch of brats.

The midday sun was scorching.

The highest rock on Mount Colubo had been baked until it was blistering hot.

Kahn lay atop it bare-chested.

Even his breathing had become incredibly slow.

With every heartbeat, he squeezed the solar energy he had absorbed into the deepest parts of his cells.

The charging process for Kryptonians was dull and tedious.

But the sensation of his strength expanding every second was simply addictive.

At his current level, even if he took an attack from a Marine Admiral head-on, his skin would probably not even break.

And in the bushes several dozen meters below the rock,

two little heads covered in leaves were huddled together.

Ace and Sabo.

The two little brats were sneaking around, their voices lowered to barely audible whispers.

"Where did you run off to again last night?"

Ace nudged Sabo in the ribs with his elbow.

"I got up to take a piss in the middle of the night and found your bed empty."

Ace eyed him suspiciously, convinced that his best friend had done something big behind his back.

Sabo pressed down the top hat on his head.

The dark circles beneath his eyes were a little heavy now, but his spirits were unusually high.

"I did something big."

Sabo deliberately lowered his voice in a mysterious tone.

"I beat up that fat baron in High Town who always liked whipping commoners."

"I also swiped a stack of Beli from his money pouch."

Sabo pulled out a handful of gold coins from his pocket and waved them before Ace's eyes.

Ace's eyes widened instantly.

He grabbed Sabo's hand.

"You bastard!"

"You went to High Town to rob money without calling me!"

Ace was furious. They had been saving for a ship with such difficulty.

Yet this guy had found such an easy way to get rich.

"Keep it down!"

Sabo hurriedly covered Ace's mouth.

"Kahn is still up there. If he hears us, we'll get scolded again."

"And besides, that wasn't robbing."

"I'm the Justice Knight. That was robbing the rich to help the poor, while incidentally padding our pirate fund."

Sabo solemnly corrected Ace's choice of words.

Kahn rolled his eyes atop the rock.

His Super-Hearing had already caught every word of the two brats' conspiracy.

The hell did he mean, robbing the rich to help the poor?

Sabo had truly gone too far down the vigilante path to turn back now.

Recently, the Goa Kingdom's nobles probably had to sleep with one eye open.

But Kahn could not be bothered to interfere.

As long as they did not kill anyone and draw a Marine Admiral here, they could mess around however they liked.

He would consider it early training for the future Revolutionary Army's Chief of Staff.

Just as Kahn was about to turn over and continue sleeping,

his sharp ears caught something unusual.

It was the sound of waves.

But not natural waves.

It was the thunderous roar of a massive ship cutting through the sea.

More importantly,

there were dozens of exceptionally powerful heartbeats aboard that ship.

One of those heartbeats was steady and powerful, each beat carrying a strange rhythm.

Like a lion waking from its slumber.

Kahn sat upright.

There was no second presence of that level anywhere in the East Blue.

Had he finally arrived?

The man who would lead Luffy to the sea.

Red-Haired Shanks.

A great pirate currently carrying a bounty of 1.04 billion Beli.

This future Four Emperors had finally sailed his ship into this unremarkable beginner village.

Kahn leaped down from the rock.

He did not use his ability to fly, instead letting gravity pull him downward.

Just before he hit the ground, he lightly tapped the air with his toes.

All the force vanished.

He landed steadily behind Ace and Sabo.

The two guilty little brats jumped straight up in fright.

"Kahn!"

"How come you don't make any sound when you walk?!"

Ace quickly stuffed the gold coins in Sabo's hand into his own pants.

The practiced motion was almost pitiful to watch.

Kahn glanced at them.

"Stop hiding it. I don't care about that little money."

"Come on. An important person has arrived in the village."

Kahn strode down the mountain on his long legs.

Ace and Sabo exchanged a glance before hurrying after him.

"An important person?"

"How important?"

"More important than that old bastard Garp?"

Ace asked curiously.

In his mind, Garp was the ceiling of combat power in this world.

"He's different."

Kahn did not explain further.

The Marine Hero and the future Four Emperors walked entirely different paths.

As they passed the mountainside, Kahn casually plucked Luffy down from a tree, where he had been hanging while raiding a bird's nest.

Five-year-old Luffy was already a little monkey of a brat.

"Let me go!"

"I want to eat bird eggs!"

Luffy struggled with all four limbs.

Kahn tucked him directly under his arm.

"I'm taking you to eat Makino's grilled meat. It's way better than bird eggs."

The moment he heard the word "meat," Luffy stopped struggling.

Drool immediately ran down the corner of his mouth.

At Foosha Village's harbor.

A three-masted sailing ship with a red dragon carved onto its prow lay quietly moored by the shore.

The Red Force.

Its pirate flag snapped loudly in the sea breeze.

It bore a skull with three red scars slashed across its left eye.

The villagers at the harbor had long since fled into their homes in terror.

In this peaceful little village, the word "pirate" meant disaster.

Yet the Red-Haired Pirates showed no sign of ill intent.

The crew chatted and laughed as they walked down the gangplank.

The man at the front wore a white shirt and patterned cropped pants.

He had an extremely casual pair of sandals on his feet.

On his head sat that Straw Hat, a symbol of inheritance.

His red hair was striking beneath the sunlight.

Shanks.

He wore a carefree grin, looking nothing like the vicious man with a bounty of a billion.

Following behind him.

Was the first mate, Ben Beckman, a cigarette hanging from his mouth and always looking as though he had not fully woken up.

The sniper Yasopp, carrying a long rifle.

And Lucky Roux, the fat man who was always gnawing on a piece of bone-in meat.

This group had a relaxed air about them, yet they seemed perfectly unified.

Anyone who knew their stuff could tell at a glance.

These were monsters who had truly weathered great storms.

"Boss, so this is Foosha Village."

Yasopp looked around.

"It looks like a pretty poor place. There isn't even a decent tavern."

Shanks burst out laughing.

"Don't be so picky."

"After sailing for so long, we're lucky to find a place where we can drink."

He sniffed the air.

"I smell alcohol."

Shanks led the way into the village.

Their destination was Foosha Village's only tavern.

The tavern door was pushed open.

The bell chimed brightly.

Makino was wiping down the bar when she saw a group of pirates enter, swords at their waists and guns in hand.

Her face went a little pale, but she forced herself to remain calm.

"W-Welcome."

Shanks walked up to the bar and took off his Straw Hat, setting it on the counter.

"Miss, don't be nervous."

"We're just here for a drink."

He gave what he believed was a very friendly smile.

Seeing that he truly did not seem like the sort of vicious criminal she had imagined, Makino relaxed slightly.

"What would you like to order?"

"Bring out all the best liquor you have!"