On the battlefield, the fight between Po and Shanks grew increasingly intense. The surrounding forest was reduced to splinters and dust by the aftermath of their clash, though this was still the result of both fighters deliberately controlling their impact.
In the original timeline, Aokiji and Akainu had fought for the position of Fleet Admiral, and the two of them had completely razed an island to the ground, transforming it into a world of eternal ice and fire.
Although Po's strength hadn't yet reached Admiral level, he was second only to Admirals within the Marine hierarchy. Shanks hadn't yet become one of the Four Emperors, but his strength had already reached Emperor level.
Po might be weaker than Shanks, but it wouldn't be easy for Shanks to defeat him.
The two combatants' fists and sword collided repeatedly. After they separated, Po began intensifying his attacks, combining his Armament Haki with the Marine's Six Powers.
Faced with this fierce assault, Shanks also began feeling genuine pressure.
After another collision and separation, Shanks suddenly asked:
"You over there—all your techniques are from the Marine. Are you a Marine?"
Seeing Po skillfully using various Marine techniques, Shanks was quite confused. With such strength, if he were Marine, there was no way Shanks wouldn't know about him, right?
Hearing the question, Po replied:
"I'm not Marine, but my master is Garp!"
Shanks naturally knew Garp—they were old acquaintances. Shanks had been picked up by Roger as a baby and later became a cabin boy on Roger's ship. He was very familiar with Garp, the man who had constantly pursued Roger.
"I see! Since you're Mr. Garp's apprentice, I must have a proper fight with you!"
After saying this, Shanks rushed toward Po, who also charged forward. The two clashed again, but this time with greater power than before. Gustave and his group, watching from a distance, had to retreat even further.
One is Garp's apprentice, and the other was raised by Roger since childhood. The fight between Po and Shanks is truly fated—just like the battles between Garp and Roger, Gustave thought to himself as he watched the increasingly fierce combat.
On the other side, because Po and Shanks had adjusted their battle location, the Red Hair Pirates had also moved to the opposite side, far from Windmill Village, to observe the fight.
"That guy really is strong—he can actually fight Shanks to this extent!" Beckman thought to himself as he watched the distant battle. As vice-captain of the Red Hair Pirates, he knew Shanks' strength better than anyone.
"Is Shanks still fighting?" asked a girl with half-red, half-white hair wearing a cute little dress. Yes, this girl was Shanks' daughter—Uta.
"Yeah, Uta, Shanks is still fighting, and it looks like he's met a real master this time!" Lucky Roux replied after hearing Uta's question.
Speaking of which, Uta and Shanks had quite similar childhood experiences. Both had been found as babies and began their lives aboard a pirate ship.
Perhaps it was because Roger had picked up and raised Shanks that Shanks made the same choice as Roger after finding Uta.
Shanks glanced at the area around them that had been damaged by their fight's aftermath and declared:
"Next, I'm going to use my strongest technique!"
Hearing this, Po's expression became deadly serious as he gathered all his strength to prepare for Shanks' ultimate attack.
"Divine Departure!"
Shanks spoke softly, raised his sword Gryphon, and rushed toward Po at incredible speed.
Gustave and his group, watching from a distance, could feel the tremendous power contained in Shanks' technique—let alone Po, who stood at the attack's center.
In Po's perception, Shanks' technique was too powerful for him to withstand, but Po chose not to flee. Instead, he met the attack head-on.
"HAAAAAA!"
The moment Po encountered Divine Departure, he roared continuously, power surging throughout his body. Finally, a switch within Po's being was activated.
An indescribable force erupted from Po's body. Gustave, Ace, and Luffy in the distance felt like small boats in a vast ocean, ready to be capsized by the waves at any moment.
"Conqueror's Haki!" Shanks was shocked by the power Po had suddenly awakened—after all, he possessed this same ability.
To counter Po's Conqueror's Haki, Shanks also unleashed his own Conqueror's Haki in response.
This was torture for Gustave, Ace, and Luffy. They were drenched in sweat and might faint at any moment.
Tom was very confused seeing the three's condition. What had happened? How had three people who were fine moments ago suddenly look ready to collapse?
Fortunately, before the three could be overwhelmed by the collision of Po and Shanks' Conqueror's Haki, Po lost consciousness.
Seeing Po suddenly collapse, Gustave ignored the physical discomfort caused by the Haki clash and ran toward where Po and Shanks were at maximum speed.
Ace, Luffy, and Tom also immediately ran over, with Tom instantly overtaking Gustave to reach Po first and pulling out his stethoscope for examination.
Seeing these worried people, Shanks smiled and said:
"Don't worry—he just fainted from exhaustion."
Gustave breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this. When he'd seen Po collapse, he'd feared something terrible had happened. Even so, Gustave didn't slow down and hurried over to check Po's condition.
When they arrived, Gustave found Po's breathing was steady, and Tom stood up indicating there were no problems. Only then did he truly relax.
Ace and Luffy ran to the scene panting and were relieved when Gustave confirmed Po wasn't seriously injured.
Shanks couldn't help but laugh seeing this scene, thinking: What a reliable group of companions.
"Yo! My name is Shanks!" Shanks proactively extended his hand toward Gustave.
Hearing this, Gustave also reached out his hand:
"Hello, my name is Gustave."
Then he introduced them one by one:
"The one you just fought is Po, this is Tom, this little guy is Luffy, and this one..."
At this point, Gustave paused, then looked at Shanks and said:
"This one's name is Ace."
As expected, upon hearing the name Ace, Shanks' heart was filled with turmoil. Shanks was very familiar with that name—after all, it was the name of Roger's beloved sword!
Seeing the remarkable change in Shanks' expression after hearing Ace's name, a mischievous thought arose in Gustave's mind. Should he say to Shanks:
"Yes, this is the Ace belonging to the captain you're familiar with!"
But ultimately, Gustave suppressed this impulse. After all, Ace had chosen to become a Marine when he grew up, so it was better not to get involved in such matters. Perhaps one day Shanks would discover Ace's identity himself?