On a deserted island in the New World.
The Red Hair... no, the Straw Hat Pirates were setting up camp.
Come to think of it, Shanks had indeed inherited many of Roger's habits, such as not having a fixed territory and not having many people under him. His crew of brothers lived wherever they landed.
Of course, this was only the case for now. After Shanks became a Yonko, some things changed. While his ship, the Red Force, still carried an elite crew, he also gained more followers and occupied some territory. But those were later developments.
At this moment, most of his future companions were already with him, including Lucky Roux, Yasopp, and Ben Beckman. There wasn't much change there. However, in the original story, he should have still been in the East Blue, but now he had entered the New World ahead of schedule.
Lucky Roux and the others were busy setting up tents, while Shanks sat on a rock, holding a Vivre Card and observing it. He adjusted his position a few times but found that the Vivre Card consistently pointed in one direction. Over the past few days, he had changed his course at sea several times, and the direction of the Vivre Card had changed along with it.
After a long while, Shanks shook his head and said, "That guy is coming again..."
He was very familiar with this. The Vivre Card he held was indeed that of Dracule Mihawk. Back in the East Blue, the two had an "instant connection" and fought fiercely in the sea, but neither could claim victory. In the years that followed, he and Mihawk seemed to have a unique destiny, as they would always run into each other in various seas without either of them actively seeking out the other.
Every time they met, they would start a fight. Mihawk was extremely annoyed with Shanks, but he had to admit that Shanks was a very strong swordsman. In this world, it was hard for him to find a master like Shanks with whom he could test his swordsmanship. So, even though he disliked Shanks's personality, he greatly respected his strength. Every time they met, they would engage in a friendly exchange. Over time, a real bond formed between them.
Later, for some unknown reason, they exchanged Vivre Cards. These past few years, whenever Mihawk had nothing to do, he would come to find Shanks for a duel. It was no exaggeration to say that Mihawk's contribution to Shanks's rapid growth in strength was significant.
In terms of overall power, Shanks should be the stronger one, especially since he had also learned to imbue his attacks with Conqueror's Haki, a skill Mihawk didn't possess at the time. However, in terms of swordsmanship alone, Mihawk was a tiny bit stronger than Shanks. But that tiny bit wasn't enough for Mihawk to completely suppress Shanks.
Mihawk also intended to use Shanks as a "whetstone" for his own skills. So when they fought, it was mostly to test their swordsmanship, not to win or lose. Thus, it could be said that in these years of sparring, neither of them had truly won.
As for Shanks, he realized that constantly fighting Mihawk could indeed rapidly sharpen his skills. On another note, he hadn't given up on trying to recruit Mihawk as a crewmate. In Shanks's eyes, Mihawk was definitely strong enough to be his partner. If the two of them could combine their strength, it would be a huge boon for his Straw Hat Pirates. Unfortunately, Mihawk was so dedicated to the sword that he had no interest in Shanks's proposal.
"What's wrong, Captain?" Lucky Roux asked with a chuckle after he finished setting up the tent. He saw the look of helplessness on Shanks's face.
Shanks pointed to the Vivre Card in his hand. "Mihawk's on his way. Judging by how often this Vivre Card has changed direction, he can't be too far from us. He'll probably find us in ten days to half a month."
"Hahahaha, so we'll get to see you fight him again?" Yasopp said, walking over with a bottle of sake in his hand.
Shanks first nodded, then said helplessly, "This is the New World. If I start a fight with him, the commotion will likely bring Charlotte Linlin right to us..."
"So what? We beat that old woman once, we can beat her ten more times..." Yasopp said without hesitation.
Shanks shook his head, about to explain, when a man with a cigarette in his mouth walked over. He patted Yasopp's shoulder and said, "Yasopp, don't underestimate the Big Mom Pirates. We were lucky that day that we only ran into her. She couldn't fight us all at once. If she had gathered her crew and managed to hold us off, I don't think we would have been her match."
"We weren't, and there's no need to hide it," Shanks said casually, readily admitting his crew's shortcomings.
He knew his strength had grown rapidly in recent years, but he was still a bit shy of the level of monsters like Charlotte Linlin, Kaido, and Whitebeard. He was like Diarmuid when he first met Whitebeard, standing at the threshold of the top echelon of masters but not yet able to hold his own in the first rank. He was only a tiny bit away, and that tiny bit could be overcome in three to five days with a sudden flash of inspiration, or he could be stuck there for the rest of his life.
Shanks's helplessness came from this realization. After fighting Charlotte Linlin, even though he won, he knew his own limitations. He really wanted to have a proper fight with Mihawk to see if he could break through, but he was worried that fighting Mihawk would bring Charlotte Linlin back to them, which would be very unpleasant.
"Don't worry too much, Captain. We've heard the news in the New World these past two days. The Big Mom Pirates want to form an alliance with Kaido. They probably don't have time to deal with us," Ben Beckman said.
"What if they're allying to fight us?" Lucky Roux thought out loud.
"How could that be? We aren't that big of a threat. Charlotte Linlin knows very well that we aren't her match. Losing just one fight isn't enough to make her so angry. In my opinion, if the Big Mom Pirates and Kaido are truly forming an alliance, their target could only be one of two factions," Beckman said gravely.
Shanks chimed in. "That's right. It couldn't be to deal with our Straw Hat Pirates. Most likely, it's either because in the past two years, the Marines have been consistently trying to control the gateway seas of the New World, giving them a sense of urgency. They want to ally to fight the Marines and drive them out of the New World again. Or, they can't stand Whitebeard's constant pressure on them and want to team up to take him down... We're not worthy of that kind of attention."
Beckman nodded again, but then he smiled and said, "But now, I've pretty much ruled out the possibility that they are teaming up to fight the Marines."
"How so?" Shanks's eyes lit up.
He had great faith in Beckman's intelligence. Ever since Beckman joined the Straw Hat Pirates, he had always acted as their strategist, and he had never disappointed the crew.
Beckman exhaled a puff of smoke. "You all heard the news, right? About Marine Admiral Rodriguez Diarmuid leading a team into the New World? Someone mentioned it at a tavern on Vistara Island two days ago."
"Diarmuid..." Shanks said, feeling a bit annoyed hearing the name. He didn't have much interaction with Diarmuid, but it was that guy's fault that his ship was sunk by a single cannon shot in the East Blue, forcing him to fight Mihawk in the sea and then drift for days before finding another ship.
"What does that mean?" Yasopp asked.
"If they were planning to fight the Marines, Charlotte Linlin and Kaido would have conspired in secret. The entire New World wouldn't know about their alliance in just half a month. Furthermore, Diarmuid's arrival in the New World as a Marine Admiral is a statement from the Marines. It's a way of testing Big Mom and Kaido. Yet, even after this Admiral arrived, they haven't held back at all. On the contrary, they've released all the information, which shows they're making a statement to the Marines. Therefore, the target of their alliance is most likely not the Marines, but Whitebeard," Beckman explained with a laugh.
Shanks nodded, seemingly in agreement with Beckman. Then, getting excited, he asked, "So do you think the Marines will intervene?"
"Of course not," Beckman said without hesitation.
"Why?" Yasopp asked again.
"First, the Big Mom Pirates and the Beasts Pirates allying to fight the Whitebeard Pirates is a great thing for the Marines. They would love to see those pirates fight to the death. Why would they stop them?" Beckman said with a smile.
He paused for a moment, and without waiting for the others to ask, he continued, "Second, the Marines are either bluffing, or they are... powerless." However, when he said this, Beckman's expression became a bit puzzled. He had a sneaking suspicion that the Marines might be holding back their true power.
After all, the Marines had been developing very rapidly in recent years. The Great Pirate Era brought countless pirates, and the Marines had significantly expanded their forces. The new recruits quickly gained rich combat experience. For almost a decade, the Marines should have been in a process of 'weeding out the old and bringing in the new,' and their strength should be much greater than before. Yet, in all these years, the Marines hadn't made any major moves, which puzzled Beckman.
That doesn't make sense...
But whether the Marines were bluffing, holding back, or truly powerless, based on their current deployment in the New World, they didn't seem to have any intention of truly venturing deep into the New World to start a war to wipe out pirates.
Thinking this, Beckman continued, "In short, the Marines probably won't be making any big moves for a while. Otherwise, the war in the gateway seas of the New World wouldn't still be in a low-level stalemate. I have reason to suspect that the Marines' actions in the gateway seas are just for training. They're not ready yet."
Shanks couldn't guess the Marines' plans and deployments, and even with his intelligence, Beckman couldn't know everything, so he could only make general assumptions. The conclusion they came to was that as long as Charlotte Linlin and Kaido weren't targeting the Marines, the Marines wouldn't interfere with the alliance.
"In that case, could the Marines become the final winners? When Big Mom, Kaido, and Whitebeard are all in a difficult spot, the Marines could suddenly step in and settle the chaos?" Yasopp asked.
"That's also unlikely. If the Marines don't intervene, the three of them might fight to the death, but if the Marines make a move, it's possible that it would quickly affect the rivalry between the three pirate crews. They might stop fighting... and even team up to pull a fast one on the Marines," Beckman said with a laugh.
But in the end, he concluded, "But what I'm saying is just a regular assessment. People are the ones who make things happen, and many impossible things often happen, so we can't rule out those possibilities..."
"So you've just been talking nonsense this whole time?" Lucky Roux said, munching on a drumstick.
"Hahahaha, no. What I mean is that maybe a lot of people are overlooking one thing: it's not just the Marines who can be the fisherman and watch the three of them fight. In fact, there is another group in the New World that can be that fisherman..." Beckman said with a sudden laugh.
"Who?" Yasopp asked curiously.
Shanks's eyes lit up as if he had realized something.
And Beckman pointed to his own nose and said, "Of course, it's us."