Saving Red Hair's Arm

"Get lost!"

Shanks let out a low growl, and an invisible force burst forth, instantly freezing the Lord of the Coast, which had been about to continue its rampage.

It felt that the thing before it was not a "snack," but a natural predator that regarded it as food and could hunt it at will.

"Psh!"

A fish spear skimmed over the sea's surface and struck the Lord of the Coast with precision, nearly piercing straight through it.

Such an injury was not fatal to the Lord of the Coast's enormous body, but the pain shook it free of its fear, and it began thrashing wildly.

Unfortunately, the fish spear had several rows of metal barbs, while the rope on the other end was tied around the ship's thick mast. It could not break free at all.

"That guy seemed to have used Geppo from the Six Powers earlier... Did he really just want to save people?"

Shanks looked toward the ship, his brows knitting slightly.

Before he had entered the water, he had seen Van fire a cannonball to keep the bandits from being swallowed by the Lord of the Coast.

Now Van had attacked the Lord of the Coast again, looking as though he would not rest until he killed the beast. Shanks could not help becoming suspicious.

"Waaah..."

Luffy suddenly burst into loud sobs, his cries even drowning out the Lord of the Coast's roar.

Feeling Luffy's trembling body, Shanks withdrew his gaze and focused his attention on him.

"I should be thanking you, Luffy!"

"Miss Makino told me everything. You fought for us, didn't you?"

Luffy said nothing and simply kept crying.

"Stop crying. Aren't you a man?" Shanks teased with a smile.

"But... Shanks... your arm..." Luffy choked out between sobs.

"It's no big deal. It's only an arm. As long as you're safe, that's all that matters."

A faint smile hung on Shanks's face, and an inexplicable glint flashed in his eyes, as if he had just resolved some troublesome matter.

"Waaah..."

The guilt in Luffy's heart deepened, and he cried even louder.

Just then, a small lifeboat slowly approached. Law, who was aboard it, called out, "Hey! Want us to take you ashore?"

Shanks glanced at the large ship in the distance and smiled. "That would be greatly appreciated!"

His smile was infectious, and Law was even more startled by how calm Shanks remained despite having lost an arm.

"My name is Law. These are Penguin and Shachi. Big Brother Van sent us to rescue you."

After introducing themselves, Law and the others reached out and pulled Shanks and Luffy aboard.

"Van?" Shanks raised a brow. "I feel like I've heard that name somewhere before."

"Big Brother Van is a great pirate with an 80 million Beli bounty. You must have seen him in the newspaper."

Penguin looked proud as he spoke, then asked, "I saw your ship dock earlier. You're a pirate too, right? What's your bounty?"

"There aren't any strong pirates in the East Blue. The combined bounties of their entire pirate crew can't possibly be higher than Big Brother Van's."

Perhaps feeling that this was a little rude, Shachi praised Shanks after putting down the Red Hair Pirates. "Still, you lost an arm and you're acting like it's nothing. You must be pretty tough too."

"Hey! Don't talk nonsense!" Luffy could not help retorting. "Shanks's bounty is clearly higher than that Van you mentioned. Even Benn Beckman's bounty isn't lower than his."

"How could that be? You're definitely bragging!"

"Exactly! You were crying just now. You must be someone who likes telling tall tales!"

Penguin and Shachi stood with their hands on their hips, their faces plainly showing that they thought Luffy was lying.

Luffy refused to accept it. He glared at them, about to argue further, but Shanks's laughter interrupted him.

"Hahaha! I did have a bit of fame, but that was a year ago. Van is definitely more famous than I am now."

He was not angry. Instead, he found Penguin and Shachi interesting, and he also became curious about Van.

"You two, enough. Get them ashore first."

Law felt that Shanks was no ordinary man, so he stopped Penguin and Shachi, who were equally unwilling to back down.

The little boat quickly reached shore, while the larger ship was still locked in a tug-of-war with the severely wounded Lord of the Coast.

"Are you trying to kill that sea beast?" Shanks asked curiously.

"We have to kill it!" Luffy furiously punched toward the sea. "We have to avenge Shanks!"

"The important thing is to recover his arm," Law explained. "Big Brother Van is a doctor. As long as we find the severed arm, he can reattach it for this uncle."

"Really? Shanks's arm can be reattached?"

Luffy was overjoyed, but Shanks frowned.

Law nodded. "It can. And it can be restored exactly as it was."

"Restored exactly as it was..."

Shanks looked at his left shoulder and suddenly thought of something.

But before he could ask, a burly figure suddenly emerged from the sea beside the Lord of the Coast.

"That's Uncle Qiangbalu!" Penguin immediately said.

"Is he strong?" Luffy hurriedly asked. "Can he kill that sea beast?"

"Definitely! Uncle Qiangbalu doesn't have a bounty, but there probably aren't many pirates in the East Blue who can beat him."

As soon as Shachi finished speaking, everyone saw Qiangbalu leap high from the sea and drive a nearly three-meter-long blade into the back of the Lord of the Coast's neck.

"Roar!"

The Lord of the Coast continuously shook its head, trying to throw Qiangbalu off, but this only caused the wound to widen.

The sea had long since been dyed red with blood. The more it struggled, the faster its life force drained away.

Before long, its consciousness began to fade. At last, its head crashed onto the sea, and it completely lost the ability to resist.

Only then did Qiangbalu release the hilt and wave toward the ship.

"Not bad. I thought you wouldn't be able to hold on and would give up halfway through."

As he spoke, Van kicked the wooden ball attached to a rope at his feet toward Qiangbalu.

"If Uncle Qiangbalu hadn't helped, I definitely couldn't have held on until we won."

Baby-5 retracted the fish spear and returned to normal, though her entire body looked as if she had been drenched in sweat.

She was not injured, only severely exhausted. At her age, being able to do this much was already impressive.

Van rubbed her head and smiled. "Go rest first. I'll call you when it's time to eat."

"Okay!"

Baby-5 obediently nodded, then headed toward the cabin.

"We won!"

On the shore, Luffy jumped up in excitement, while Penguin and Shachi enthusiastically waved at the large ship.

However, the ship did not come over. Instead, it slowly sailed toward the dock. Qiangbalu also tied up the Lord of the Coast with ropes and brought it along.

"We'll go meet up with them first. You can find us at the dock."

Law called out, then returned to the small boat with Penguin and Shachi.

"Luffy, let's go too!"

Shanks smiled and led Luffy quickly toward the dock.

By the time the two arrived, the dock was already packed with people. Nearly all the Red Hair Pirates were there, along with Makino and the village chief.

They had just watched Qiangbalu drag the Lord of the Coast ashore, after which Van cut it apart and piled the meat into a small mountain.

"The meat from something that big..." Luffy swallowed. "It should be delicious, right?"

Hearing his voice, Makino immediately turned around and anxiously pulled him in front of her to inspect him.

"Luffy, are you all right?"

"I'm fine." Luffy scratched his head sheepishly. "Shanks will be fine too."

Only then did everyone notice Shanks behind him, and the crowd instantly erupted.

"Shanks, what happened to you?"

"Don't tell me it was another accident?"

"This idiot actually lost an arm here. That's seriously embarrassing..."