"What?! Dark King Malverick and Red-Haired Shanks have met?!"
At Marine Headquarters, Sengoku was shocked as he heard the report coming from Garp.
For the Marines, this was absolutely not good news.
Even though both of them were pirates, the problem was that both had once been members of the Roger Pirates.
Just like Whitebeard, Kaido, and Big Mom—
If those three ever met up, the Marines wouldn't dare sleep at night.
Why?
Because those three had once been on the same crew!
It was a very delicate kind of relationship.
Even if there was only a 10% chance they might team up, the Marines didn't dare gamble on it.
"Garp, is there any way to stop them?"
With Kuzan still on Garp's ship, plus Bogard—this lineup was extremely strong among the Marines.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, probably not."
Garp knew exactly what Sengoku was thinking, but it wasn't realistic.
"Forget just the Red-Haired Pirates—we're not even sure we can beat them.
Add Malverick on top of that? Impossible."
Malverick didn't have many subordinates, but the ones he had were all monsters.
Just those two undead ones were enough to be a headache.
And this time Garp didn't bring many Marines—there was no way to fight both Malverick and Red-Hair at the same time.
In the end, the Marines withdrew.
On the Red-Haired Pirates' ship, Yasopp was watching with his 8x scope.
Seeing the Marines leave, Yasopp actually looked disappointed.
"Sigh, they just left? I thought we were gonna get a good fight!"
The Red-Haired Pirates were a crew that loved battle—hot-blooded, fearless, that was their way of piracy.
"Forget it, Vice Admiral Garp isn't someone you casually deal with. If they left, they left!"
"Let's just enjoy watching the captain and his buddy fight!"
"Come on, place your bets! Who's winning?!"
"I bet—our captain's not gonna win!"
"I'm in too!"
"Me me me!"
And so, while Malverick and Red-Hair were fighting fiercely, the Red-Haired crew were gambling just as fiercely.
...
"Hey, you're not that impressive. You're way older than me and this is all you've got?"
Malverick couldn't resist taunting Shanks in the distance.
Shanks just grinned.
"I can still beat you. Come on, again!"
"Fine—let's enjoy this!"
Malverick coated his fist in Haki, while Shanks coated his weapon in Haki.
CLANG!
The massive impact split a huge stretch of ocean in two, only reconnecting after a long while.
After this clash, Malverick had a long cut on his arm, while Shanks had been blasted into the sea, resurfacing after several seconds.
"Hahahahahaha! That was great! I haven't enjoyed myself like this in ages!"
"Same here—fighting you is fun!"
After the battle, they each returned to their ships.
"Boss! Who won?"
The Red-Hair crew rushed to ask.
Shanks didn't answer.
For him, winning didn't matter—fighting happily was enough.
"Guys! Find an island—tonight we're having a banquet and giving my good brother a proper drink!"
"Aye!"
The two pirate crews found an island and held a massive feast.
As expected of the Red-Haired Pirates, the atmosphere was extremely lively.
After a few drinks, Robin walked over carrying bandages.
Seeing Robin tending Malverick's injuries, Shanks' gaze turned strange.
"Hey—aren't you going to introduce her?"
He couldn't help asking.
The relationship between them did not look ordinary—far from it.
Malverick glanced at him.
"Nico Robin."
Shanks: "…"
That's it?! Is that really what I wanted to hear?!
"Alright, stop messing around."
Robin finally spoke.
"Hello, I'm Nico Robin—Malverick's wife."
"Oh! Sister-in-law! Nice to meet you!"
Hearing that, Shanks immediately panicked.
He thought they were just a little ambiguous—he didn't expect that kind of relationship already!
"Don't listen to her nonsense—she's not my wife."
Malverick rubbed his forehead helplessly.
Robin was quite the little trickster.
Hearing Malverick say that, Robin immediately looked like she was about to cry.
"Unbelievable… you use me and then pretend you don't know me!"
Shanks nearly popped his eyeballs out.
Hearing Robin start crying, he had absolutely no idea what was going on between them.
"Uh—I've been holding onto something for a while… I'll go find it. We'll drink more later!"
Shanks escaped, leaving the scene to Robin and Malverick.
Once Shanks left, Robin immediately stopped crying.
"You little drama queen!"
"Hmph! That's what you get for saying I'm not your wife!"
"You're not though!"
"You—! I'm going to bite you!"
Chomp!
...
After some explanation, Shanks finally understood Malverick and Robin's relationship.
Malverick had women—but Robin was only one of them.
"I gotta say… you're really something."
"Nonsense. Am I supposed to be like you? A lonely bachelor?"
Shanks: "…"
He had no comeback.
"Come on, try this. It's good stuff—I normally can't bear to drink it myself!"
Shanks quickly changed the subject.
The two drank together.
After a while, Shanks looked toward his crew in the distance.
"I heard… you captured several Celestial Dragons?"
Malverick casually nodded.
"What? You feel bad for them?"
Shanks' relationship with the Celestial Dragons was unusual—very unusual.
He was a member of the Figarland family, which was comparable to the Donquixote family.
If not for that status, he could never meet the Gorosei directly.
"Don't joke. Why would I care about them?"
"I'm not like those people."
"But have you considered—Celestial Dragons are extremely dangerous to mess with. A single slip and the Marines will swarm you."
Celestial Dragons were the nobles of the World Government. Even the Gorosei preferred not to provoke them.
Most Celestial Dragons married within their own families. Malverick had captured one family, but within the Celestial Dragon network, that was enough to shake everything.
The World Government had to rescue them.
"I know—so that's why I have you, isn't it?"
"Hey hey hey—don't tell me you're trying to drag me down with you!"
Shanks stared at Malverick warily.
"Don't make it sound so ugly. We're friends—we're supposed to help each other!"
"I'm in trouble—can you really bear not helping?"
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