The Promise with the Red-Haired Pirates

The next day, the Life Tavern. A group of people were drinking and chatting in the tavern.

"Have you heard? A huge event happened here yesterday afternoon," a potbellied fat man said mysteriously, covering his mouth with his hand.

"What huge event? Don't keep us in suspense," a thin man next to him asked.

"Do you know the Belis Pirates? Yesterday, the captain Belis and several crew members were killed here by two boys around 10 years old."

"The Belis you're talking about couldn't possibly be—"

"That's right, it's the exact Belis Pirates captain Belis you're thinking of, with a bounty as high as 5 million Beli. This is exclusive news my friend at the tavern told me, so don't tell anyone else."

"I heard the Marines wanted to catch him for a long time, but I never expected him to stumble here. Who on earth are those two boys?"

"Don't worry! I definitely won't tell anyone else."

After the fat man left, the thin man went over to another group of people who were drinking and said quietly, "Have you heard? A huge event happened here yesterday afternoon."

Not many days later, such a rumor circulated around Yunlai Town: the captain of the Belis Pirates, who had a bounty as high as 5 million, and several key crew members died in a place called the Life Tavern.

According to relevant sources, the person who killed Belis turned out to be a little kid.

Of course, none of this mattered to Ryan right now. At this moment, Ryan was lying on the ground, panting heavily.

"Still fighting?"

Shanks, wearing a straw hat nearby, looked down at Ryan with a beaming smile.

Ryan looked up at the sky feebly. Ever since he challenged the Red Hair Pirates a few days ago, he had been getting beaten up every single day.

Especially against Shanks, he got utterly crushed every time; he truly didn't have the slightest power to fight back.

Shanks kept Ryan completely restrained. Swordsmanship, Haki, physical combat skills, and combat experience—Shanks was vastly superior to Ryan in every single aspect.

It was fair to say that Shanks was an upgraded version of Ryan. If Ryan was level 1, then Shanks right now was probably around level 3, so there was simply no way to fight him.

Originally, Ryan thought that since Shanks hadn't become an Emperor yet, he probably wouldn't be that strong.

However, after Ryan experienced fighting Shanks in person, he realized how terribly wrong he had been.

Although Shanks was not as strong as his future self, he probably wasn't far from his peak period—especially since Shanks still had both of his arms intact right now.

If you wanted to say that losing an arm didn't have much of an impact on a powerhouse, you would be making a huge mistake. Just look at Golden Lion Shiki as a reference: the Golden Lion, who lost both legs, could never display his formidable swordsmanship prowess again.

A man who was once mentioned alongside Roger and Whitebeard as one of the three great pirates was actually defeated in a theatrical movie by Luffy, who couldn't even use Haki.

Although main character plot armor played a part, it was undeniable that the legless Golden Lion's strength had weakened far too much. Coupled with his advancing age and a body vastly inferior to before, that was why he was defeated by Luffy.

On the other hand, the Red Hair of later years lost an arm, and specifically his left arm at that. You must remember that before losing his arm, Shanks had always wielded his sword with his left hand. Even with that handicap, he could still firmly secure his position as an Emperor, and Red Hair's strength was unquestionable.

An arm had a tremendous impact on a swordsman. The strength of wielding a sword with one hand versus two hands was simply not on the same level.

This also resulted in the later Red Hair never reaching his true peak in the absolute sense.

Ryan believed that if he hadn't lost an arm, Shanks probably would have been the strongest among the Four Emperors at the time.

A man whose swordsmanship rivaled the World's Strongest Swordsman, coupled with that heaven-sent Conqueror's Haki—Shanks wielding a sword with both hands while using Conqueror's Haki Infusion would have had unimaginable offensive power. Add in the fact that Shanks hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, and one could say he had no weaknesses.

Ryan waved his hand and said, "I'm done fighting. Let's leave our next duel for the future. Once I feel I'm getting close, I'll come challenge you."

Ryan originally wanted to farm attribute points from the Red Hair Pirates, but in the end, he was bitterly disappointed. Even after pulling out all the stops, Ryan couldn't beat Benn Beckman—not to mention that Benn Beckman was only slightly weaker than Shanks.

As for the others, he could fight them to a draw and trade blows evenly, but falling just short of defeating them. Wanting to beat them required Ryan to be able to control his own power one hundred percent.

Through these few days of sparring, Ryan's control rose from his previous seventy percent to the current seventy-five percent, an improvement of half a level.

However, Ryan wasn't completely without gains; Ryan had managed to defeat one person, and that person was Yasopp. Yasopp brought Ryan 20,000 points of attribute values.

The battle between Ryan and Yasopp was quite interesting because Yasopp was a sniper whose close-quarters combat ability wasn't strong.

Therefore, he kept his distance from Ryan right from the start. Dealing with Yasopp was very simple for Ryan: he used swordsman-level swordsmanship to slash out Flying Slash, rapidly closed the distance right in front of Yasopp, and then ended the battle with a single move of Kamusari.

Of course, Ryan wouldn't think Yasopp wasn't strong. How could a senior officer of the Red Hair Pirates not be strong?

It was just that head-on combat was far too unkind to snipers; a sniper's battlefield was not in direct engagement, but rather in long-range strikes and one-hit kills.

After all, Yasopp was not a close-quarters gunman like Benn Beckman.

That's right, Benn Beckman was a rare close-quarters gunman in the pirate world. The future Benn Beckman relied on top-tier physical skills, mastery of all three types of Haki, and the gun in his hand to firmly establish himself as the strongest first mate of the Emperor crews.

Seeing this scene, Gaban laughed heartily and said, "Ryan, you're still young. As long as you have your master teaching you, in just a few more years, you'll be able to beat this brat Shanks."

Hearing this, Beli, who was standing to the side, said excitedly, "Master Gaban, what about me? Look at me, in a few more years, can I beat Ryan and Big Brother Shanks?"

Looking at Beli's excited appearance, Gaban poured cold water on him from the side.

"Barring any accidents, you should have a chance to beat both of them in another 100 years. However—"

"However what?"

Gaban stroked his chin and said, "If you can catch some lucky breaks, you might have a chance of winning within your lifetime. For example, finding a Devil Fruit that is extremely suitable for you. Or encountering some other fortuitous adventures."

Shanks chimed in from the side as well, "That's right, the world is so huge, there are always some treasures and methods that can enhance a person's strength."

Lucky Roux and Yasopp started stirring up trouble again.

"Keep it up, Beli."

"I have high hopes for you, Beli."

"Take down that cocky little punk Ryan."

Ryan was left speechless. It was clearly you guys who provoked me first. Originally, whenever Ryan sparred with them and got defeated by them, he would frequently be mocked and teased by them.

Later on, every time Ryan bumped into them, he would drop a line.

"I'm already 9 years old this year, why am I so weak that I can't even beat you guys? I need to keep working hard and strive to defeat you before I turn 10."

Just like that, through the love-hate relationship between Ryan and the officers of the Red Hair Pirates over the past few days, feelings warmed up rapidly, other things aside.

Even though they didn't say it out loud, the Red Hair Pirates all rather liked this cocky little brat.

Shanks suddenly walked up to Gaban and said, "Senior Gaban, thank you for your hospitality these past few days. It's time for us to set sail as well. Seeing Captain Roger's sword handed down to Ryan, I can finally rest easy."

"It hasn't brought shame to this sword, either."

With that, Shanks gave a grand wave of his hand. "Little ones, set sail! Let's turn the New World upside down!"

"Follow the boss and crush Whitebeard!"

"One Piece, our Red Hair Pirates are coming!"

The group marched imposingly toward the port, where Shanks and his crew's ship was docked. As they walked, Shanks suddenly stopped.

Looking at Ryan, who still looked somewhat tender and youthful right now, he pondered for a moment and said to Ryan, "Ryan, what do you think of this straw hat of mine?"

Hearing this, Ryan felt a shock in his heart. What did Shanks mean by this?

Was he treating him like Monkey D. Luffy! If he had known, he wouldn't have boasted so much in front of Shanks.

Ryan contemplated for a moment, looked at Shanks, and said seriously, "The things I want, I will go take for myself."

Hearing this, Shanks was momentarily stunned, then laughed out loud. "I underestimated you after all."

"And don't you guys go losing to anyone before I beat you, otherwise I'll lose all my face. Just wait for me to come to the New World and beat you!"

Looking at the Red Hair Pirates before him, Ryan said loudly.

"Is this issuing a challenge?" Shanks adjusted his straw hat.

"No, this is a promise between us. Before I meet you guys, I won't lose to anyone either."

Ryan said solemnly, and then extended his little finger toward Shanks.

Although he didn't understand, Shanks also extended his own little finger, and then it hooked tightly together with Ryan's little finger. Then Ryan pressed his thumb against Shanks's thumb.

It was as if some mysterious ritual had been completed.

"Is the promise established just like that?" Shanks asked curiously.

"Yes, promise established!"

Shanks turned around and shouted loudly to the crowd of the Red Hair Pirates.

"Did you little ones hear that? Make sure you don't look down on Ryan, otherwise as your boss, I'll lose face."

"Boss, you didn't have any face to begin with."

"Bwahaha, let's go. Weigh anchor!"

Ever since then, such a pirate crew appeared in the New World. Captain Shanks wanted everyone he met to give him face, and legends said that those who didn't give him face ended up dying very miserably.

Moments later, Ryan and his trio waved goodbye to the Red Hair Pirates. Ryan watched Shanks and the others depart, and looking out at the boundless ocean, Ryan suddenly wanted to set sail right now.

Gaban noticed Ryan's expression from the side. Seeming to guess what Ryan was thinking in his heart, he smiled faintly, "It's still too far for you to set sail given your current strength and age. At the very least, you have to graduate from my place before you can go roam the great ocean, otherwise it's too easy to throw your life away."

"I understand!"

Pulling Beli, Ryan said to Gaban, "We're going to go check on Uncle Carter. Starting tomorrow, we'll begin the second phase of training."

"Alright, go ahead."

Ryan and Beli pushed open those familiar, dilapidated gates and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Uncle Carter, we're back to visit you!"

Carter, who was resting in his room, heard the voice and walked out. Seeing that it was Ryan and Beli, he immediately wrapped his arms around them in a huge embrace.

"The two of you have grown taller." Seeing Ryan and Beli, whom he hadn't seen for a year, Carter was overjoyed. After all, the two boys were raised by Carter himself.

Looking at the two of them, Carter suddenly realized, "Wait a minute, aren't the two of you training over at Gaban's place? How come you ran back now? Could it be that you couldn't handle the hardship and got chased back?"

Beli hurriedly explained, "It's like this: our first phase of training is already over, and next we're preparing for the second phase, so Teacher Gaban gave the two of us a holiday."

"So that's how it is. Then I wronged the two of you."

"Sit down, and by the way, the two of you can tell me what you learned over at Gaban's side. I feel like both of you have gotten a lot stronger. Especially Ryan—the change I feel from you is particularly huge."

Ryan:...

Beli:...

The three of them chatted all the way until evening, perhaps related to not having seen each other in a long time. Carter and Beli, in particular, seemed to have an endless stream of things to say.

Seeing that the sky had turned dark, Carter said to Ryan and the two of them, "It's so late now, the two of you can stay and eat here with me. Gaban won't say anything if you go back tomorrow morning. Your old beds and rooms are still left right where they were."

Ryan thought for a moment and said, "No problem, I haven't eaten Uncle Carter's cooking in so long, I've missed it a bit."

After finishing dinner, Ryan and Beli lay down in bed.

Thinking of everything that had happened to him, Ryan felt like it was a lifetime ago. First, he inexplicably transmigrated into the pirate world, and then he got to know big shots like Gaban and Shanks.

Since he had come to the pirate world, he would definitely leave his own footprints and legends in this world. After all, he was a man destined to become the strongest main character.

The next morning, Ryan and Beli returned to Gaban's residence in Yunlai Town, only for the two of them to witness a jaw-dropping scene.

At that moment, Gaban was engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand combat battle in the courtyard with a middle-aged uncle wearing glasses. [Readers, please keep your minds out of the gutter.]

Ryan looked at the person sparring in fist and foot techniques with Gaban and said in surprise, "Dark King Rayleigh?"

Hearing Ryan's voice, both Gaban and Rayleigh stopped and looked over. In particular, Rayleigh stared fixedly at Ryan, as if trying to see right through him.

Seeing that the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Gaban said, "Ahem, Ryan, let me introduce you. This is the swordsmanship teacher I found for you. Though it looks like you already know him."

Ryan introduced, "Shanks mentioned Rayleigh-senpai's appearance to me before, and seeing that he could go toe-to-toe with Teacher Gaban, I more or less guessed it."

"Oh, so that's how it is. I thought the two of you knew each other beforehand."

"We certainly do know each other. I even held you when you were little. I remember you were just a little punk following behind Roger and Rouge back then," Rayleigh said calmly with great poise.

"Is that so?"

"It is."

Hearing this, Ryan hugged Rayleigh's thigh and said joyfully, "With this connection, Rayleigh-senpai, you've got to teach me swordsmanship properly. My swordsmanship talent is super strong, you know."

Ryan knew that Rayleigh wasn't just a Great Swordsman; he was also an exceptionally good teacher. The fact that Luffy could grow so fast in the later stages was inseparable from Rayleigh's two years of guidance.

Just because a powerhouse was strong didn't mean they knew how to teach people. There were two vivid examples in the pirate world: one was Zephyr of the Marines, who was strong himself and taught students even more brilliantly.

The other was the negative example, Whitebeard. He was the strongest in the world, but his ability to teach people could only be described as atrocious.

The various commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates were not lacking in talent—Logia users, Mythical Zoan users, they were basically a gathering of geniuses. Yet he failed to teach a single person who could hold down the fort.

However, this might also be related to Whitebeard's personality, as he always protected his sons too well.

So now that he had a good teacher to instruct him, Ryan was not going to miss this opportunity.

Seeing Ryan latching onto him, Rayleigh had black lines all over his head and scolded Gaban, the number three of the ship: "Look at you, Gaban. How did you manage to teach such a good piece of timber into this state?"

Ryan also looked suspiciously at Gaban. It seemed that after spending a long time with Gaban, his own skin had gotten thicker as well.

Seeing the two of them looking at him with weird gazes, Gaban suppressed the displeasure in his heart. "Over the next two years, Rayleigh will take Ryan to cultivate swordsmanship and Haki, and Beli will follow me to study. I'm planning to pass my dual-axe supreme techniques down to Beli."