Although he had never seen Sakaki before, Shanks knew who the demon in front of him was the moment he saw him.
His whole body was covered in ice armor, his white hair flowed freely, and he had a hole in his forehead with a clear, six-sided snowflake inside.
Just this appearance was enough for Shanks to know who he was.
"Sakaki..."
Shanks released a strong killing intent, even stronger than when he fought Mihawk. He said coldly, "From your tone, it sounds like you've been waiting for us?"
"Oh? Aren't you the one who's been looking for me?" Sakaki sat on a chair, surrounded by Shanks' frozen crew. No wonder he was so angry and showed his killing intent.
Mihawk didn't know who Sakaki was, but he could tell from his appearance that he was a demon. And people in this world always hate demons.
Whether it's pirates or Marines, those are just conflicts within humanity. But with demons, it's a conflict between races.
Often, Marines and pirates can even work together to drive out demons. Of course, there are precedents for this, as the Marines and pirates worked together to seal Aatrox.
The Marines claimed they solved the problem, but anyone who isn't stupid knows that Roger played a big part.
Not to mention that Sakaki had frozen Red Hair's crew, which deserved execution even more.
But although Shanks showed killing intent, he didn't attack. He realized that his crew wasn't dead, just frozen by Sakaki.
Shanks said, "That's right, I'm looking for you. Looks like you noticed me a long time ago."
Sakaki sat in the chair, ignoring all of Shanks' killing intent. He said calmly, "I used to fight alongside Roger. Now that I've woken up, even the little brats from Roger's ship can track me down."
"Looks like you've learned a lot since you woke up," Shanks said. "So many years have passed since you sealed yourself in ice. The world always changes."
"That's what I envy about you humans. Even though your lives are short, you can quickly unleash your potential and grow quickly. Only twenty years, and a little brat can grow to this extent."
Sakaki said with a bit of emotion, "But, I don't think you're so foolish that you think you're strong enough to deal with me, are you?"
Shanks nodded. Sakaki was being blunt, but he wasn't wrong.
Even though Sakaki seemed to have been healing his wounds in self-imposed ice for so many years, Shanks couldn't handle him in his current state. He was a great demon!
He didn't care that Mihawk was there and said directly, "I want to make a deal with you."
"Make a deal with me?" Sakaki chuckled. "Tell me about it."
"About seventeen years from now, another demon lord will appear in Wano Country. I need information about him and... your help," Shanks said.
"...Hahaha!" Sakaki couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Why do you think I would help you? I'm a demon. Wouldn't I help another demon?"
Shanks said, "Is that so? If demons were really on the same side, would you have helped the Marines fight Aatrox?"
"That's only because they hurt my interests," Sakaki replied. "Deal with a demon lord? You little brat don't understand what a demon lord means. Looks like Roger's teachings failed you."
Shanks smiled. "For demons, wouldn't they choose benefits over so-called family?"
"Benefits? What benefits do you have that would make me help you fight a demon lord?"
"Shendu..."
"?!" Sakaki's eyes widened as if he didn't hear Shanks clearly. But Shanks just said calmly, "Haven't you and Little Demon Dragon been looking for a way to free Shendu? I can help you."
His words shocked Mihawk. He frowned at Shanks. He couldn't believe Shanks would say something like that.
Free Shendu? That's another demon lord! What was Shanks thinking?
"Hahahaha...!" Sakaki couldn't help but laugh again. "You little brat are really interesting. Do you really know what you're saying?"
Shanks replied calmly, "Of course. And I've already found some clues about Shendu."
Sakaki's smile stopped immediately. His face became serious, and he looked at Shanks with serious eyes. "If you deceive me, you will die a terrible death."
"Of course, I'm here to seek cooperation with good intentions," Shanks said.
Sakaki looked at Shanks, who didn't seem to be lying. He glanced at Mihawk next to Shanks and snorted coldly. "In that case, come see me again this time next year. I'll have a good talk with you then."
Shanks frowned. Wait a whole year?
Demons' sense of time is really...
Demons can live for thousands, tens of thousands, or even longer. This leads to a huge difference in their view of time. Normal people don't talk about things that take a year.
But since Sakaki had already said so, he didn't plan to give Shanks a chance to discuss it. After he finished speaking, his whole body turned into endless wind and snow and disappeared from Shanks' ship.
After Sakaki disappeared, Mihawk turned his gaze to Shanks. His tone returned to its initial coldness. "Do you know what you were saying just now?"
Mihawk meant that Red Hair was going to work with a great demon. This was unacceptable to humans. Of course, there are actually many people in this world who work with demons. After all, there are too many bad people in this world.
For very bad people, there is no difference between humans and demons. Whoever can give them benefits is a friend.
But Mihawk believed Shanks wasn't that kind of person because his sword wouldn't lie to him. After fighting together for five days, Mihawk could tell what kind of person he was from Shanks' sword.
Not to mention, Shanks' partner was no ordinary person. Although he didn't know who Sakaki was, he could tell that Sakaki was very strong, probably even stronger than him.
Sakaki was probably a great demon, and working with a great demon to bring a demon lord back to the world was simply evil!
Even among the most evil pirates, only Kaido would dare to do such a thing. And Kaido was only cooperating with Tunfo on the surface and didn't even know Tunfo was trying to summon a demon lord.
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