No sooner had Momonga finished speaking than a brilliant golden beam flashed across the distant horizon. In the next instant, that golden light arrived at his side, and Borsalino's figure stepped out of it.
"Momonga, long time no see."
Momonga's expression twitched slightly.
"Mr. Borsalino, don't tell me you flew all the way here from Punk Hazard?"
"How could I?"
Borsalino waved his hand with a smile. "What if I fell into the sea? My warship is right behind me."
As he spoke, his attention shifted to the fierce battle unfolding ahead. After watching for a moment, Borsalino commented,
"The Red-Haired Pirates versus a Shichibukai? That's a rare sight. Looks like the Red-Haired Pirates are about to give out..."
Indeed, Slekemind had already forced his way onto the Red Force, completely suppressing Lucky Roux and blasting Yasopp straight into the sea.
The deck of the Red Force had been smashed apart, two of its masts were broken, and the ship was clearly on the verge of collapse.
Momonga nodded.
"Red-Haired offended my Admiral. There's no place for him in the New World anymore. If he were lucky enough to escape the New World, the Admiral wouldn't bother pursuing him. But judging by this, his luck isn't very good."
In the current situation, Red-Haired had no chance of escaping at all. Leaving aside the fact that Slekemind was overwhelmingly dominating Lucky Roux, Momonga and Borsalino were right here. Even if Slekemind failed, the two Marines would never allow Red-Haired to get away.
Borsalino was a genuine Admiral-level combatant. How could he possibly lose to a Red-Haired who hadn't reached his peak, was seriously injured, missing an arm, and didn't even have his weapon?
Borsalino nodded, then added,
"Before I set out, Saint Saturn had just left Punk Hazard..."
"Saint Saturn!?"
Momonga reacted with surprise and confusion. Why bring up one of the Five Elders all of a sudden?
As the Warrior God of Science and Defense, Jaygarcia Saturn did occasionally leave the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, to visit Punk Hazard, the Marines' secret research base, to conduct forbidden experiments.
His level was completely different from that of Borsalino, the so-called 'doctor' being researched. In certain fields, he could even hold in-depth discussions with Vegapunk himself.
"Mm, Saint Saturn,"
Borsalino responded before continuing. "He's also heard about the Red-Haired Pirates and shared some confidential information with me. It seems Red-Haired Shanks's identity is very likely to be..."
"To be what?"
Momonga asked, his curiosity fully piqued.
"Very likely a Celestial Dragon..."
Borsalino said softly, after deliberately pausing.
"What!?"
Momonga was stunned, blurting out in disbelief. "How is that possible? Wasn't he just an apprentice on the Roger Pirates' ship? How could he have anything to do with those world nobles in the Holy Land?"
"If we trace it back, it goes all the way to the time when the Rocks Pirates attacked God Valley,"
Borsalino said quietly. "It's said that during that war, Figarland Garling, one of the God's Knights, lost a child. Right now, the Five Elders suspect that Red-Haired Shanks is that child."
After a brief pause, he continued,
"After all, the timing and age match. And it was after God Valley that a baby suddenly appeared on the Roger Pirates' ship..."
Momonga swallowed.
"Then what about the current situation?"
"Hahahaha..."
Borsalino laughed and patted Momonga on the shoulder. "No need to worry. Saint Saturn doesn't care about this at all."
"Back then, he said that if Red-Haired Shanks could actually accomplish something, he might be worth paying attention to, and only then would his bloodline have any value. But in his current state, he has no value whatsoever."
"Garling Saint hasn't mentioned him either. So don't worry. Just treat him like an ordinary pirate."
Hearing this, Momonga finally let out a sigh of relief.
The Five Elders, as well as the Celestial Dragons in Mary Geoise, were all very pragmatic. If Red-Haired Shanks had made a name for himself and possessed great value for recruitment, then his suspected Celestial Dragon bloodline would be taken seriously.
In fact, it wouldn't even stop at "suspected." If Red-Haired were strong enough, regardless of whether he truly had Celestial Dragon blood, the Figarland family would absolutely be willing to acknowledge him as the lost child from back then.
But if he had no value, then even if he really were one, the Five Elders and the Figarland family would never easily accept a member of the Roger Pirates, a defeated pirate, as one of their Celestial Dragons.
Even Doflamingo, a legitimate Yellow Flag Celestial Dragon who descended from the heavens, faced resistance in Mary Geoise when he wanted to return and reclaim his Celestial Dragon status.
Compared to that, Shanks, whose identity was merely suspected, stood even less of a chance.
If the situation were different, and Doflamingo wasn't a Shichibukai but instead a Yonkō like Charlotte Linlin, wielding immense influence in the New World, developing Dressrosa to rival Totto Land while reaching the pinnacle of power himself, then the Donquixote family in Mary Geoise would be eager for him to reclaim his Celestial Dragon identity.
The Five Elders would surely welcome and strongly support it as well.
That was precisely why Saint Saturn didn't care about Red-Haired at all. Not only was he not a Yonkō-level pirate, but given his current circumstances and the fact that he had offended Ortoren, even considering Ortoren's standing alone, the Five Elders would never acknowledge Shanks's suspected Celestial Dragon bloodline.
On the other side, aboard the Red Force, which was all but reduced to scrap, Slekemind's fist flared with shattering power as he drove it straight into Lucky Roux's abdomen.
The firm muscles there were instantly pulverized into a bloody mess. Lucky Roux's face twisted in agony as he struggled to retaliate, but he was too slow. In the very next moment, Slekemind's foot smashed into his face, kicking him clean off the Red Force and down into the sea.
Slekemind had no intention of continuing the pursuit. He casually overturned several broken planks on the deck and jumped into the ship's interior. Before long, the sounds of intense combat rang out inside, mixed with bursts of gunfire. Soon after, several bodies smashed through the hull and were tossed into the sea, members of the Red-Haired Pirates' combat crew.
With a single kick, Slekemind shattered the door to a cabin and strode inside with his towering frame. On the bed lay Shanks, missing an arm, seemingly still unconscious, his brows tightly knit.
Although his condition had stabilized, it was obvious he hadn't recovered. Plaster splints and bandages covered his chest, and his breathing was faint and weak.
"That Ortoren bastard really didn't hold back..." Slekemind said with a hint of malicious amusement as he took in Shanks' miserable state.
As if sensing the dangerous aura around him, Shanks' brow twitched. His eyes snapped open, immediately locking onto Slekemind, bloodstained, and the shattered door. At once, he realized that the Red Force had been invaded.
The next instant, instinct took over. Shanks' expression turned fierce as he tried to release his Haki.
In a flash, his powerful Conqueror's Haki burst outward. Feeling that overwhelming pressure so suddenly, Slekemind's expression tightened as he raised a guarded hand.
But in the very next moment, Shanks' Conqueror's Haki collapsed violently. His face turned pale, then flushed with a sickly red, as dark blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
Watching this, a trace of sorrow rose on Slekemind's face, as if lamenting the fall of a fellow beast. He spoke softly.
"Has your Haki… and your conviction been crushed?"
At those words, pain flickered through Shanks' eyes, his body trembling slightly.
After a brief pause, he asked,
"Where are my companions?"
"Thrown into the sea," Slekemind shrugged. "No idea if they're alive or dead."
"Then… then Beckman?"
Shanks looked at him, as though grasping at a final certainty.
"Benn Beckman?" Slekemind raised an eyebrow.
"He died on Hachinosu."
Shanks' expression quickly went numb. The pain in his eyes vanished, replaced by an empty void.
Seeing this, Slekemind called out to him several times. When Shanks remained motionless, like a block of wood, without any response at all, Slekemind finally shook his head helplessly. A trace of shattering power gathered in his hand as he walked toward Shanks.
Moments later, Slekemind reappeared on the deck. At some point, a straw hat had appeared in his hand.
He glanced toward the warship not far away on the sea and casually waved in its direction.
Then his gaze shifted to the vast, boundless blue of the ocean. As if recalling something, he murmured quietly,
"On this sea, there are figures like Shiki, who die in a blaze of glory… and then there are losers like you, insignificant as weeds, numbly dying like defeated dogs. This sea really is cruel."
After a brief moment of reflection, the corner of Slekemind's mouth suddenly curled into a smile.
"But it's precisely because of that cruelty that this sea is so irresistible. The world should be cruel… and beautiful."
...
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