On the small island.
The handful of Hild Pirates who were still breathing stared at the Red Hair Pirates, drenched in sweat and terror. Before they'd ever hoisted a skull flag, they'd read the headlines and bounty posters about the Four Emperors. Those four were the most fearsome pirates on the seas today.
Red-Haired Shanks might not have the thunderous fame of "the world's strongest man," Whitebeard—but a Yonko was a Yonko. That was a league of its own.
Old memories kept firing through their skulls. The lackeys shook like leaves, sweat dripping off their faces like rain.
In Xiao Kaka's stream, the chat had gone silent—no quips, no jokes—just the viewer count in the top-right spinning like a cyclone, proof the feed hadn't frozen at all.
At Sea Breeze HQ, Li Jing sat at her desk, staring at the monitor. She'd been frozen like that for minutes, and still hadn't snapped out of it.
Even as a major shareholder who knew Great Age of Sail inside out, she had not—could not—have predicted what they'd just witnessed. She'd thought Gu Feng's "overhaul" was adding a few hooks: Devil Fruits, pirates and Navy, story beats to bump replay value.
But this? He'd added this much?
He did all that in three days?
It was insane.
Pulling herself back into a third-person distance, Li Jing finally blinked and shot a look at the viewer counter. In the time it took to breathe, the 1.5 million concurrent had hit two million. And kept climbing.
2.1. 2.2. 2.3…
It eased only around 2.5 million. Even so, her eyes went wide. Back on the stream, Xiao Kaka was still standing there, staring up at Shanks. The ocean lay smooth again, but the shockwave in every heart hadn't calmed at all.
After a long, stunned hush, the chat found its voice.
[ This… this is really a fishing game? ]
[ @SeaBreeze @GuFeng get out here—how the hell do you call this a fishing game?! ]
[ We got played. This isn't a fishing title at all. ]
[ Who puts plot in a fishing game? ]
[ Plot I can accept—nice way to juice replay. ]
[ But who the hell lets a "fishing game" split the sea with one slash?! ]
[ @GuFeng old fox—out here and explain yourself! ]
[ Joke time. ]
[ Kaka had 1.5 million a moment ago. Look now… ]
People checked the corner. Then the screen filled with punctuation.
[ Holy—! ]
[ JOKE: Red-Haired Shanks just slashed out one million extra viewers! ]
[ Hahahaha! ]
[ Okay but seriously—who exactly is Shanks? ]
[ And to think we were worried. Turns out the Hild crew are nothing in his eyes. ]
[ No kidding. ]
[ @OldManGu, pay back our feelings! ]
Li Jing drew a slow breath, chest rising and falling. There was no denying it—after that stroke from Shanks, Great Age of Sail had planted its flag. This wasn't some quaint "sailing-and-fishing" sim.
Fishing? Sure—if you want it. The ocean was real enough to drown in.
But beyond that?
There was so much more…
The awe lasted a while. On the island, Xiao Kaka finally began to accept what her eyes had seen. Shanks—black cloak over one shoulder—turned back to her, smiled, and slid his blade into its sheath. His face sobered; he reached out and ruffled her hair.
"Kaka, we'll let you stand in front of us to protect us."
"Then you have to let your crew stand in front of you and protect you, too."
"Shanks…" Her teeth sank into her lip as tears spilled again. Girls might be more sentimental than boys—but any tough guy would've bawled at a moment like this.
She'd never really understood this kind of bond. Today, she felt it—pure and simple—the loyalty between crewmates.
"Hahahaha—the Idiot Captain sure knows how to hog the spotlight."
"Yeah, Idiot Captain, don't tell me you meant to split the island and the ocean. One casual swing would've done it."
"What did the island do to you, huh?"
"Do you have any idea how much that one slash is going to cost us in damages?"
Among the Emperors, the Red Hair Pirates were one of the few with strict rules. Shanks had set a code: if your fight harmed an innocent island, you compensated the people as best you could. Not even Whitebeard's famously "honorable" crew did that.
Shanks blinked, realization dawning. His aura evaporated, replaced by pure, crimson-faced embarrassment.
[ LMAO—Captain was too busy flexing for Kaka and forgot about the bill. ]
[ A pirate… paying damages for collateral? I'm dead. ]
[ Dream pirate crew unlocked. ]
[ For real. ]
Shanks waved a hand weakly. "Benn, whatever coin we've got left—pay it out to the islanders."
The Red Hair Pirates were never short on money out at sea, but there wasn't that much on hand. Benn gave him a look. "Idiot Captain, you could've finished that clean. You split the island."
"Your mess, your tab. We're not covering it."
"Yeah, don't drag us into it, Captain," Lucky Roux and Yasopp chimed in, and Shanks's face turned an even deeper shade of red.
[ Hahahahahaha! ]
The chat lost it all over again. Kaka, too, finally shook off the last of her shock.
Right then, the man in front of her drew in his swagger and let something steadier surface—serious and sincere.
"Kaka," Shanks asked, "do you want to be a pirate—will you join the Red Hair Pirates?"
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