Shanks suddenly turned his head.
" Uchiha Xin!"
Conqueror's Haki erupted from his body.
Black and red lightning spread outwards.
Giant waves surged up on the sea again.
"Tell your men to stop!"
" Beckman is dead!"
How many more people are you planning to kill?
Uchiha Xin withdrew his gaze.
"From the moment you came to us, you should have been prepared for deaths."
"The entire Red Hair Pirates are mobilized."
"Was it just to see me off?"
Shanks gripped the hilt of his sword.
His aura began to rise steadily.
I'll say it again.
"Make them stop."
"Otherwise, only one side will be able to leave here today."
Uchiha Xin looked at him but did not answer.
Shanks slowly drew his sword with his right hand.
The blade leaves its sheath.
The blade is covered with Advanced Armament Haki.
The Conqueror's Haki also wrapped around it.
Black and red lightning exploded around the blade.
Shanks wasn't going to delay any longer.
Beckman has died in battle.
The remaining crew members were also completely subdued.
Continuing to talk to Uchiha Xin will only make the situation back home more dangerous.
He must act quickly.
Robin and Perona will naturally stop once Uchiha Xin is defeated.
I didn't want to go to war with you.
Shanks grips the swords with both hands.
You forced me to this point.
Uchiha Xin couldn't help but laugh when he heard this.
"You have proactively blocked off the sea area."
"Actively land on the island."
"They asked me to stop."
"Now that a first mate has died, it's become the case that I forced you to start a war?"
" Shanks, do all pirates like to distort the truth?"
Shanks did not continue arguing.
The Haki emanating from the blade grew stronger and stronger.
The nearby sea surface could no longer withstand the force of the outflow.
Cracks extended outwards from the water's surface.
Uchiha Xin was too lazy to say anything more.
boom!
A power far exceeding what had just erupted from his body.
The Three Types of Haki operate simultaneously.
Armament Haki, Observation Haki, and Conqueror's Haki began to merge.
A domineering purplish-black Haki rose from Uchiha Xin's body.
There are no clear boundaries.
The three Haki were completely integrated into one.
King's Haki!
The moment the oppressive force descended, the sea surface suddenly sank.
It wasn't blown apart by an impact.
Instead, the entire sea area was forcibly pressed downwards by a force.
The water level only stopped dropping after the water level had fallen several meters.
The space within a radius of several thousand meters simultaneously becomes heavier.
The air seemed to freeze.
The waves cannot rise.
Even the water droplets that splashed into the air were pushed back to the surface of the sea.
Shanks' body sank.
The Geppo on my feet became completely ineffective.
He slammed his feet into the seawater.
The sea level did not submerge their bodies.
The immense pressure compressed the seawater into a nearly solid plane.
Shanks stood on it, but his legs felt as if they were carrying the entire island on his back.
Shoulders slumped.
Knees bent.
The hand holding the knife also became sluggish.
"What kind of Haki is this?"
Shanks unleashed his Conqueror's Haki to its fullest extent.
Black and red lightning burst forth from his body, attempting to tear apart the surrounding pressure.
The moment the two streams of Conqueror's Haki clashed, the result was already apparent.
Shanks's Haki only extended outwards by less than ten meters.
King's Haki pressed back from all directions.
Large swathes of black and red lightning shattered.
The ten-meter space that had just appeared was also quickly compressed.
In the end, less than a meter remained.
Shanks ' Conqueror's Haki was completely suppressed back around his body.
The gap between the two cannot be bridged by any skill.
It's like a child standing in front of a giant.
Even with all their might, they could only barely break free from a small portion of the suppression.
Shanks gritted his teeth.
Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and physical strength erupt simultaneously.
The domineering Haki covering the blade vibrated continuously.
The sea beneath our feet cracked open once more.
He finally raised his blade and aimed it at Uchiha Xin.
With just a simple movement, his arm made a soft cracking sound.
"No wonder the Navy calls you the Thunder Emperor."
"This Haki surpasses that of most of the powerful individuals I've ever encountered."
Shanks' breathing became labored.
"But the greater the power, the greater the damage it can cause."
You have no bottom line.
"They don't care about the lives of ordinary people either."
"If you are allowed to continue growing, you will destroy the entire ocean."
"Today, I must kill you here!"
Uchiha Xin thought he'd heard a joke.
"Pirates want to kill me for the sake of the sea?"
Are you worthy?
Shanks gripped the knife even tighter.
"At least I wouldn't destroy an island casually."
"We won't vent our anger on the lives of tens of thousands of people."
"Is this what you call justice?"
Uchiha Xin sneered.
"When you raise your pirate flag and set sail to plunder, why do you never care about the lives of ordinary people?"
How do pirates survive?
"By farming?"
"By doing manual labor?"
"Still relying on transporting goods for people?"
Shanks did not answer.
Uchiha Xin continued:
"Where did all the food you eat, the wine you drink, the timber you use to repair your ships, and the money you use to buy weapons come from?"
"Don't tell me the Red Hair Pirates never steal."
"And don't tell me that you occupied the territory and collected money because others willingly offered themselves up."
Shanks' expression darkened further.
"We are indeed pirates."
"But the Red Hair Pirates have their own rules."
"Do not harm the innocent."
Do not oppress the weak.
Uchiha Xin interrupted him directly.
"Can a few rules for plunder wash away the blood on our bodies?"
"When you fight with other pirates for territory, aren't the people who die innocent?"
"If you steal the supplies and those who lose their belongings can't survive, that's none of your business?"
"All pirates live off ill-gotten gains."
"The only difference is that some people kill directly, while others delegate the dirty work to others."
Reality is not a comic book.
Pirates aren't just people who throw parties and chase their dreams.
Every pirate ship needs a lot of supplies.
food.
freshwater.
arms.
vessel.
drug.
These things don't appear out of thin air.
Even a reputable pirate crew cannot maintain a large force by empty-handed means.
Whitebeard occupied a large number of islands.
Red-Haired have his own territory.
They certainly don't kill indiscriminately like ordinary pirates.
However, the expansion of power, the struggle for territory, and the source of wealth still come with death.
Once the pirate flag is raised, they've already sided with the plunderers.
What Uchiha Xin detested most was that these people, who clearly relied on plunder to establish themselves, still put on a show of upholding justice.
"You can wreak havoc on the sea."
"We can occupy the island."
"It can attack the navy."
"When it's someone else's turn to act, they start talking about innocence, order, and balance."
" Shanks, you're not much different from the World Government."
They all just want everything to go according to their own plans.
Shanks remained silent for a moment, then slowly raised the blade.
No matter how you see me, I cannot let you get away with this today.
" Uchiha Xin, this world isn't as simple as you think."
"The Navy, the Four Emperors, and the World Government are not the entirety of the sea's power."
"There are terrifying forces in this world far beyond your imagination."
"If you continue to act recklessly, you'll only bring about your own demise sooner or later."