Red-Haired Shanks, Ruffled in the Wind (Please Favorite and Recommend!)

Wu De's thoughts on the Marines were simple:

The Marines' top brass were indeed terrible, but it had to be said that there were still quite a few righteous people among them.

And the existence of those Marines did serve to deter pirates.

As he walked along the path, Wu De conveniently bought several skewers of grilled meat from a roadside stall.

"What's wrong?" Wu De glanced at Bellemere beside him.

Bellemere watched Wu De drag a pirate captain along with one hand while gnawing on a skewer with the other. She was thoroughly impressed and had nothing to say, so she could only give Wu De a thumbs-up.

"Making a mountain out of a molehill." Wu De understood, but did not care.

When he was young in his previous life, he had been standing in the woods in his village when he stepped into a pit and fell in, even stepping on bones. He had still climbed out as if nothing had happened.

When his older brother pulled out a white finger from the pit and tossed it so that it landed right in front of him, all he had done was give the stupid old man a taunting laugh that practically begged for a beating.

Back in school, the people in their dorm would stay up late chatting and telling ghost stories. He had loved listening to them.

He glanced at the pirate captain. What was there to fear about such a "harmless" fellow who could be exchanged for money?

"The path of the strong requires a big heart. It's no big deal~" Wu De said with a laugh.

"Huh? Kiss..." Bellemere's face flushed. What was he even talking about?

"The pronunciations are still different, right..." Wu De scratched his head. How could I be this dumb?

One was [keis], while the other was [kis]. They were especially close, though...

They reached the Marine base and exchanged the pirate captain for money.

Wu De left directly, heading out to clear the pirates around the Oykot Kingdom and Branch 144.

Aside from the familiar Krieg, every name in the intelligence report belonged to a stranger.

A great pirate named Elton had risen to prominence over the past few years. He led a large pirate fleet that had long operated in the waters around the Oykot Kingdom and Goa Kingdom.

Krieg was only a twenty-two-year-old young man at present, serving as Elton's trusted subordinate.

"Excellent. I'll flush you all out." Wu De stood aboard the ship and raised the sails.

On the shore, Marine Captain Vincent watched him sail away and waved.

"Branch 144. What a great name." Wu De glanced at the island, then sailed away toward the pirates.

One hundred forty-four sounded like "you die, die." It was clearly meant to curse others to death, so how could they all be wiped out?~

Several days later, on the shore of an island.

A man wearing a straw hat sat on the beach, clutching grilled meat in one hand and gulping down liquor.

Red hair spilled out from beneath the brim. He looked with great interest at the two ships slowly approaching across the distant sea.

"Ah, it would be even better if I could find a few more fun companions." Shanks sat on the beach and smiled.

The two ships continued to draw closer. Before they even reached the island, they had already started fighting.

One side had an entire ship of pirates, while the other had only one person.

Shanks watched carefully while sensing the auras of both sides and observing the battle.

"How interesting. Could it be that guy!?"

Many years ago, he had caught a hurried glimpse in Loguetown of the blurry outline of an invisible figure in the rain.

Shanks had always kept that incredible fellow in mind.

Yet in the four years since, he had never heard of anyone in the East Blue who fit that description.

Just now, his Observation Haki had sensed a strange aura.

It was invisible, but when he carefully sensed it, he could discover that presence.

"It isn't simple invisibility..." Shanks sensed another identical aura and looked excitedly into the distance.

On the sea, aboard the pirate ship.

After hearing the information from the pirate, Wu De raised the long blade in his hand.

The blade flashed with cold light as it came down.

Fresh blood sprayed through the air, and the last pirate lost his breath.

He searched the pirate ship for money, stuffed it into a bag, and returned to his own vessel.

"Hey, how about a drink~"

"Huh?"

Wu De's small sailboat slowly approached the shore. He dropped anchor and came to the beach.

He had never expected to run into Shanks on an uninhabited island while pursuing pirates—a man who had abandoned his companions and come out alone to enjoy himself.

Shanks was extremely interested in this fellow. His split-off body could turn invisible. What kind of ability was that? How interesting!

Wu De: See that? I found Red-Haired Shanks before he lost his arm. Time to take a commemorative picture. Click~

And so, the two idiots met.

"Four years ago, we met in Loguetown, right?" Shanks recalled what seemed to have been a hurried glimpse of a boy holding an umbrella.

"Yeah. You were crying really hard." Wu De nodded and accepted the cup of liquor Shanks handed him.

"Ahahaha, you really have a good memory." Shanks laughed merrily.

So, to be precise, they had hurriedly glimpsed each other twice.

"Your ability is really interesting. Is it a Devil Fruit ability?" Shanks pointed at the air beside him.

"No." Wu De shook his head. Since his Observation Haki could sense Kuroh's aura, he had later thought about it as well. "You could say it's simply a part of me."

Coming back to life after death was the most powerful ability of all.

"That really is interesting." Shanks sensed that aura. "Wu De, become my companion."

"No." Wu De shook his head and refused.

"Oh?" Shanks looked at him curiously.

"I'm going to become a Marine." Wu De replied.

"I see, hahahaha!" Shanks threw his head back laughing, raised his cup, and clinked it against Wu De's.

A future Yonko and a fish-man who was about to join the Marines were sitting together drinking and chatting. It was truly an unimaginable scene.

Shanks simply did not care. As long as their personalities meshed, they could drink together.

Wu De: To be honest, I want to fight him!

"Oh? A fight? Sure."

After they finished drinking, Shanks listened to Wu De's request and agreed out of curiosity.

"You can go for the kill, because I can't be killed." Wu De drew his blade with one hand and faced Shanks.

Shanks was only a few years older than him. Wu De wanted to test the gap between them and experience Haki for himself.

"Sure!" Shanks replied.

That must be his true ability, then, he thought.

Shanks held Gryphon in his hand. It was his sword, an elegant Western-style blade resembling a griffin.

"Come on!"

"Sure!"

Shanks stood where he was, smiling as Wu De charged toward him. He turned sideways and easily dodged.

Without hesitation, he rotated his wrist around the hilt and thrust the sharp blade toward Wu De's body.

Kuroh suddenly rushed over. With his back to Shanks, he lashed out with a fierce kick.

Bang! Bang!

Two consecutive kicks landed. Shanks raised his sword to defend, then quickly grabbed Kuroh and prepared to throw him away.

Kuroh gripped his flintlock pistol and fired directly at Shanks.

The bullet tore through the air, but Shanks dodged it by tilting his head.

This was where Wu De differed slightly from the winged IBM powerhouse among the fish-men who also had wings.

One had wings but no arms, while the other had wings and both arms.

Whoosh!

Kuroh beat his wings and rapidly rose into the air, dragging Shanks up with him.

Shanks hurriedly let go. Suspended in midair, he faced the pincer attack from Kuroh above and Wu De below.

Wu De swung his blade straight at Shanks's head, while Kuroh held a gun in one hand and drew his sword with the other.

However, the gap between them was still far too great.

Gryphon slashed toward Wu De as Shanks clenched his other hand into a fist and struck Kuroh with Armament Haki.

Pfft!

Shanks cut Wu De's weapon in two with a single slash, then pierced his flesh with the blade.

Wu De merely grunted, his expression calm as he threw a punch at Shanks.

Shanks's Armament Haki-coated fist sent Kuroh flying, then collided with Wu De's fist.

Wu De truly felt the might of Armament Haki.

With a crack, bones broke and tendons snapped.

"Watch closely. This is my ability."

Pfft!

Blood sprayed through the air. Even though Shanks had been prepared, he was still dumbfounded.

"Hey, hey, hey! You idiot, what are you doing!?"

He had drawn a dagger and stabbed himself to death. Damn it!

Shanks's mind short-circuited at that moment, leaving him completely ruffled in the wind.

Even if he guessed for a hundred more years, he never would have imagined such a... brutally ridiculous situation!

Black particles appeared across Wu De's body. The next moment, he revived at full health, his bones as though they had never broken.

"Ah..." Shanks's eyes widened. He rubbed his temples, his head aching.

After holding it in for a long while, all he could say was, "That sure saves on medicine~"