Lin Yuan did not pursue Shanks, but instead quickly parried Beckman's attacks.
Seeing his state, Lin Yuan decided not to continue and instantly transformed into a beast-human hybrid, his entire body covered in black and red scales.
"Clang clang clang!!!"
As Lin Yuan transformed, he no longer concealed his strength and charged towards Beckman.
Beckman, who had initially believed he could still threaten Lin Yuan, suddenly had his pupils shrink upon seeing this scene, because he realized that Lin Yuan was now more than ten times stronger than before.
"Boom!!!"
Suddenly, Lin Yuan unleashed a terrifying aura, causing Beckman to kneel down and drop his pistol to the ground.
"How is this possible? How can you be so strong!"
Beckman struggled to lift his head, his eyes filled with shock. He hadn't expected Lin Yuan's strength to have reached this level, leaving him utterly helpless with just his aura.
"Heh, Beckman, you don't actually think the two of you can fight me for this long, do you?"
Lin Yuan had returned to his original form and was standing in front of Beckman, but his gaze was fixed on the direction Shanks had fled, a smile playing on his lips.
"What did you say? You actually!"
Beckman felt the pressure on his body ease, but facing Lin Yuan now and the short gun in front of him, he didn't have the courage to pick it up.
As the vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates, he knew a lot, including the existence of Imu.
I learned from Shanks that Imu was able to force him to kneel simply by virtue of his power.
Benn Beckman thought Shanks was joking; after all, how could someone of their power possibly have someone so strong?
This time, however, he finally saw for himself that the young man in front of him, who was even younger than him and was known as the world's strongest, the Hidden Emperor Lin Yuan, was not on the same level as them at all.
As Lin Yuan looked around, he saw that Beckman had not found any trace of Shanks, which made him feel relieved.
However, when he saw the faint smile on Lin Yuan's face, a thought instantly arose in Beckman's mind, and he stared at Lin Yuan in horror.
"You let Shanks go on purpose!"
Lin Yuan looked at Beckman and smiled.
"No wonder Beckman is known as the greatest strategist; he figured it out so quickly. Didn't Shanks go to Mary Geoise recently?"
How did you know?!
Beckman blurted out, then instantly realized that he had been shocked by Lin Yuan's strength, which had left his thoughts somewhat disordered. However, considering that Lin Yuan knew that Shanks was a descendant of the Celestial Dragons, it wasn't impossible for him to know this as well.
Lin Yuan naturally knew that in the original story, Shanks paid homage to Imu, and was even forced to kneel under Imu's imposing presence.
However, he was unsure whether Shanks was suppressed by Imu through strength or power, so for many years he had been improving his strength until he reached this point.
"Heh, Beckman, I don't understand. I have no grudge against you, and I've even done business on your turf, helping you escape poverty."
Why would you deliberately come here to make things difficult? You claim to be the freest people, so why are you so hostile towards us?
Lin Yuan was somewhat surprised and asked the question that had been on his mind.
Logically speaking, Lin Yuan has never attacked the Red Hair Pirates over the years, except for the other three emperors. So why did they come here? Could it really be for Uta?
Beckman's face stiffened. He stood up and looked at Lin Yuan, who was so close to him, but he had no courage to make a move.
"We came here because of Uta. Gordon said you took him away!"
"Heh, looking for Uta? How laughable! You were the ones who abandoned her back then, and now you're coming back for her? Is it because of the Demon Tot Musica within her!"
Lin Yuan's tone was sarcastic and disdainful; he didn't believe Beckman at all.
"You actually know about the existence of demons, and even know their name?"
Beckman's face showed surprise, completely unconcerned about the mockery on Lin Yuan's face.
"It's just a tiny little demon. You were able to defeat it back then, so why didn't you take Uta with you?"
Beckman paused for a moment, a hint of shame on his face.
"That's because that thing was too terrifying; it destroyed an entire island!"
Lin Yuan's mockery deepened as he looked directly at Beckman, his Crimson Eyes and Golden Pupils putting immense pressure on Beckman.
"Hmph, that was over a decade ago. Although I don't know how you sealed it away, you are much stronger now than before."
"You were able to seal away demons back then, so why did you leave Uta there after your strength increased? Are you waiting for that Straw Hat Kid that Shanks values to appear?"
Upon hearing this, Beckman's pupils constricted sharply, and his heart seemed to stop for a moment.
How did Lin Yuan know? How much else does he know?
At that moment, Beckman was overwhelmed with emotion.
Lin Yuan didn't press further, but instead looked at the distant sea, a smile appearing on his face.
"Do you think Shanks can escape? Or will he drown?"
"Well!"
Beckman was dumbfounded, not understanding why Lin Yuan would say such a thing. Even he couldn't follow Lin Yuan's train of thought. How could a dignified emperor be drowned by seawater, especially since Shanks hadn't eaten Devil Fruit?
Just as Beckman was pondering, Lin Yuan's voice suddenly rang out again.
" Beckman, do you want your comrades to live?"
"Companion?!"
Beckman's thoughts were once again interrupted by Lin Yuan, but when Lin Yuan mentioned his companions, he couldn't remember them at all.
If Lin Yuan hadn't had memories of his past life, those who hadn't resisted earlier would have forgotten about Yasopp and the others. It's quite an interesting feeling.
Beckman was a little confused about Lin Yuan's meaning, but he knew that Lin Yuan wasn't talking about Shanks, but he couldn't remember any of his other companions.
Beckman glanced around, and when he saw the toys lying on the ground, a strong emotion welled up inside Beckman; he knew those were the most important people to him.
What are your conditions?
Lin Yuan ignored Beckman and instead had Sugar remove Lucky Rue's powers.
As Sugar's powers dissipated, memories of Lucky Roux instantly flooded Beckman's mind. He looked sharply at Lucky Roux, whose limbs were twisted, and couldn't help but say something.
"Latchee, how are you?"
Even after regaining his memories, Lucky Roux remained unconscious, as Erza had gone too far.
" Beckman, I'll ask you one more time, do you want to save him?"
Beckman spoke almost without hesitation.
"Hurry and save him! I'll do anything you need."
Lin Yuan chuckled, ignoring Beckman, picked up the severed arm, and walked towards Robin and the others. However, his voice carried an undeniable domineering tone.
"We'll talk about what happens next. For now, remember this: from this day forward, the Red Hair Pirates are destroyed!"