Shanks, Who Do You Think You Are Asking Me to Join Your Crew

What the hell!!

In the distance on the beach, Buggy, holding a barrel of supplies, nearly popped his eyeballs right out of his head.

His jaw dropped down exaggeratedly, slamming heavily onto the top of his own foot. The pain sent tears streaming from his eyes, but he forgot even to cry out.

That guy Shanks... actually got pushed back by a kid?!

Buggy knew Shanks's strength all too well; he was a monster who could trade blows with Captain Roger!

And now, he was taking a beating in front of a six-year-old child?

Since when did the waters of the East Blue get this deep?!

At that moment, Shanks, standing upon the reef, also snapped out of his brief shock.

He put away his previous devil-may-care condescension, and the look he gave Lei En gained a rare, intense trace of gravity and fervor.

"That slash just now..."

Shanks shook his still-tasting-numb right hand and slid his famous blade, Griffin, back into its scabbard.

"That completely unflashy yet utterly tyrannical way of exerting force was simply like..."

Shanks did not say the words "Captain Roger," but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

He burst into hearty, bold laughter, as if he hadn't been the one who just got the worst of it.

"Hahaha! Truly interesting! Too interesting!"

Shanks hopped onto the reef in two strides, walked up to Lei En, and stared at him with burning eyes like a big boy who had just spotted a beloved toy.

"Hey, kid! What's your name?"

Lei En rolled his eyes dramatically, hoisted Yubashiri onto his shoulder, and replied with a displeased tone.

"My name is Lei En. Also, stop calling me a kid every second. I'm the man who's going to become the master of this ocean."

If any ordinary child had said such words, it would certainly have invited laughter.

Yet Shanks, who had just witnessed Lei En's sword strike, felt that hearing those words come from him was entirely fitting.

"Lei En, is it? Good name!"

Shanks suddenly reached out his right hand, firmly pressing it onto Lei En's shoulder as his tone turned exceptionally enthusiastic.

"Lei En! Come onto my ship!"

His eyes shimmered with the brilliance of a starry sea, and his voice was full of bewitching temptation.

"Let's head to the Grand Line together! Go witness the most magnificent scenery in this world, and fight against the top monsters out there! What do you say?!"

Faced with this enthusiastic invitation from a future Emperor, any pirate on this vast sea would probably have been so excited as to drop to their knees on the spot.

However, Lei En's reaction nearly threw out Shanks's back.

"Not interested."

Lei En refused cleanly and decisively, without even half a second of hesitation.

He brushed Shanks's hand away in disgust, looking at the other man as if he were an idiot.

"Go on your ship? Do I have a hole in my brain?"

Lei En curled his lip, activating his ultimate deadpan roasting mode.

"Look at your goofy face; in the future, you'll definitely be an idiot who gets his arm bitten off by a Sea King just to save some foolish kid."

"I refuse to serve a disabled guy missing an arm. It's too embarrassing."

As soon as those words came out, Buggy in the distance burst out laughing, clutching his stomach and rolling around on the beach.

"Hahaha! Shanks, you're getting yours today! Even a kid thinks you're a fool!"

Shanks wore a look of utter exasperation, the corners of his mouth twitching wildly.

He simply could not fathom how his dashing, charismatic image had devolved into some armless fool in this kid's eyes.

"Hey, hey, I'm a really strong pirate!" Shanks tried to salvage a bit of his dignity.

"Strong?"

Lei En let out a sneer, sizing Shanks up from top to bottom with a look of such utter contempt that it could grind a person's self-esteem into the dirt.

"You can't even block one of my strikes, and you dare call yourself strong?"

He lifted his chin and let out a terribly haughty, cold huff.

"You want to recruit me? Who do you think you are, red-head."

With those words, the air went completely silent.

arrogant.

So damn arrogant!

Buggy didn't even dare laugh anymore, watching Shanks nervously for fear that he would draw his blade in a fit of rage and start killing.

Unexpectedly, however, Shanks didn't get angry.

After freezing for a few seconds, he suddenly clutched his stomach and burst into an even more exaggerated roar of laughter than before.

"Hahaha!! You little brat! Your tongue is venomous!"

Shanks laughed so hard tears spilled from his eyes, gazing at Lei En as if looking at an uncarved piece of priceless jade.

He wasn't angry because he saw in this kid an extremely rare, untamable kingly disposition!

Such a person was born to stand at the absolute peak; how could they ever willingly submit to others?

"Alright, alright, since you aren't willing, then forget it."

Shanks wiped away the tears of mirth from the corners of his eyes, pressing the matter no further.

He walked onto the beach, picked up his half-eaten apple, and waved at Lei En.

"Lei En, right? I'll remember you."

Shanks turned and walked toward the dilapidated sailboat, sunlight spilling over his red hair and making his departing figure appear exceptionally unrestrained.

"Little monster, I'll wait for you in the New World! Don't make me wait too long!"

Watching Shanks's ship gradually sail away from the port, Lei En curled his lip.

"Tch, who wants to go looking for you? Wouldn't it be great if I just built a Heavenly Court myself?"

He put away Yubashiri and stretched.

"I'm starving. Time to head back and see if Kuina's roasted meat is ready."

Lei En muttered, turning around to follow the coastline back toward Shimotsuki Village.

Yet the moment he turned, his Observation Haki—made extraordinarily sharp by his fusion with peak swordsmanship—abruptly emitted a harsh alarm!

A gaze of extreme sharpness and coldness, akin to a hawk locking onto its prey in the dark of night, zeroed in without warning straight onto his back!

This presence was even purer and deadlier than Shanks's had been just moments before!

Lei En's movements instantly froze, and he felt goosebumps break out across his back.

He slowly turned his head, gazing out at the shimmering surface of the sea.

In broad daylight, which deity is this coming to look for trouble?