The two fought for a full day and night. By the next morning, Luffy had already gone back with Makino, eaten dinner, slept, and returned to watch, and they were still fighting.
"So... so strong."
"One day, I'll be as strong as Shanks and the others, then find the One Piece and become the Pirate King."
Bang!
Thud!
While the fierce battle raged over there, Beckman and the others had long since lost their initial tension.
The two were evenly matched, and it didn't look as though anything serious would happen. Once they tired themselves out, they would stop.
"Come on, Lucky Roux, let's have another drink."
"Sure. Cheers, Carlmand."
Carlmand had long since run over to join the other Red Hair Pirates, drinking, eating meat, and watching the fight.
Over the course of the day, the two sides had talked quite a bit. Learning that this was the pair's first voyage, and that they had only been at sea for a few days, had shocked them.
Starting at sea already at the peak-were rookies these days really this terrifying?
As they fought, Shanks and Kazu occasionally glanced at the spectators.
The rich aromas of liquor and roasting meat had long since left both of them drooling.
"Damn it, that bastard Carlmand. I'm definitely putting him through some serious training when we get back."
Kazu had long since wanted to stop fighting too. Not only was he exhausted, but the food and drink were driving him crazy.
"Hey, Shanks, let's each take a step back, then settle this in one move."
"The loser drinks three bottles in a row. You game?"
Kazu's suggestion was exactly what Shanks wanted. He didn't want to keep fighting either, but his dignity as a swordsman and captain was at stake.
And with three bottles of liquor on the line...
As a veteran drunkard, Shanks felt he could accept either outcome.
"No problem, Kazu."
After fighting him for a whole day, Shanks had long since learned Kazu's name.
They each stepped back, putting more than ten meters between them. Just as their feet touched the ground...
Kazu suddenly swung his fist at empty air.
"Space Swap!"
This time, Kazu didn't swap himself. Instead, he swapped the space in front of him with the space Shanks occupied.
"What?!"
Shanks had still been wondering what Kazu was doing when, the very next moment, Kazu's fist exchanged a close and friendly greeting with his face.
Bang!!!
Kazu's punch struck Shanks in the eye, sending him flying.
After flying more than ten meters, Shanks skidded several more meters across the ground.
"Kazu, you bastard! You went back on your word!"
Shanks got up, baring his teeth as he covered his eye with his only remaining hand, his right, and angrily accused Kazu.
Kazu spread his hands with an aggrieved look. "Hey, hey, we agreed to each take a step back and then settle it in one move."
"I never said how long we'd wait before making that move!"
"An hour later or a second later, it's still that one move. You've only got yourself to blame for losing focus."
Shanks had no answer to that. Besides, Kazu hadn't used Armament Haki just now. It had only been an ordinary punch.
Shanks looked a mess, but he hadn't actually suffered much physical damage. The damage to his intelligence was greater.
"Well, I guess you've got a point."
There was nothing wrong with Kazu's argument, and Shanks couldn't find anything to say against it.
Indeed, he hadn't expected Kazu to be able to swap not only himself, but also Shanks, bringing him right in front of Kazu.
That sneaky bastard. We'd been fighting all day, and he never used it like that. Was he saving it for this one hit?
"Hey, Carlmand, did you save any liquor and meat for your dear captain?"
Carlmand hadn't expected Kazu and Shanks to stop so suddenly. He had been too busy eating and drinking himself to remember to get anything for Kazu.
In a panic, he snatched the orange juice from Luffy's hands and offered it to him.
"Captain, you need to replenish your vitamins after strenuous exercise. I saved this especially for you. What do you think? Pretty thoughtful of me, right?"
Before Kazu could speak, Luffy erupted.
"You bastard, that's my juice! Give it back!"
Carlmand had had no choice. In that instant, Luffy had been the easiest target. Everyone else was a drunkard who guarded their liquor more fiercely than anyone.
"Now, now, don't get mad, Luffy. How about I treat you to some meat?"
With that, while Luffy wasn't looking, Carlmand quickly picked up the meat from Luffy's plate and handed it to him.
"Heeheehee, okay. I forgive you, then."
"Meat, meat, meat, meat!"
Luffy gobbled down the meat in no time, then looked down at his plate...
Huh?
Where's my meat???
Beckman and the others were utterly speechless. No wonder they sailed on the same ship. They were both sneaky bastards, even tricking a seven-year-old child.
The Red Hair Pirates had originally planned to set sail yesterday, but Kazu and Carlmand's arrival ended up keeping them there for another three days.
That was right: one day of fighting, followed by two days of partying.
Luffy was too young to drink, so he drank juice for several days straight, enjoying all the juice he could want.
"Huh?!"
"You're saying you're Whitebeard's son?"
"Are you a new division commander he took into his crew?"
Shanks had drunk quite a lot and was already tipsy. During their conversation, Kazu briefly mentioned his past, instantly sobering Shanks halfway up.
After all, they were old rivals. Back when he sailed on Captain Roger's ship, they were always fighting and partying with the Whitebeard Pirates.
Now that he had struck out on his own, Whitebeard remained a towering mountain before pirates like them.
"Hahaha, no."
"I'm his biological son."
"I just haven't met this father of mine yet, and he doesn't know I exist."
"Didn't I just tell you? I lived with my mother and never left the East Blue before I turned eighteen."
Kazu looked relaxed, feeling no pressure at all about revealing his origins.
Was he supposed to fear being hunted by Whitebeard's enemies?
Or being captured and used to threaten Whitebeard?
He was already very strong. Once his Observation Haki evolved, he learned Conqueror's Haki coating, and he developed his Devil Fruit abilities further, he felt he wouldn't be much weaker than Whitebeard himself.
"What?!"
"Whitebeard actually has a biological son?!"
Kazu had just said that he lived and trained in the mountains with his mother, and that he was Whitebeard's son. Shanks had thought he was merely a godson Whitebeard had taken in while wandering around the East Blue.
After all, Kazu's potential was limitless. It was only natural that Whitebeard would take a liking to him.
He hadn't expected the truth to be even more explosive than he had imagined.
Whitebeard, who traveled the world taking in sons and searching for the feeling of family, had actually failed to find his own biological son.
Just thinking about it made Shanks want to laugh.