Whitebeard spoke slowly. "It is good that you understand."
"Now that things have come to this, I have no reason to try and persuade you otherwise," Shanks replied openly to Whitebeard.
"We have drunk enough wine… I shall take my leave!"
He set down his bowl, acted without hesitation or delay, and strode away from the place.
The tense atmosphere aboard Whitebeard's ship slowly began to ease.
Several days later.
In the Kingdom of Dressrosa.
Red-Haired Shanks had arrived here with his entire crew.
He had come specifically to visit El!
His reason for coming this time was very simple.
He wanted to see for himself whether El's strength was truly as terrifying and incredible as Whitebeard had described.
After all, he was a great pirate who had ruled the seas for many years.
He was no naive young boy who would simply believe whatever others told him.
At that moment, El was fishing leisurely.
Robin walked up to El's side.
"Lord El… Red-Haired Shanks has arrived."
As she said this, Robin felt a sense of unreality.
For so many years, she had traveled all over the world…
Yet she had barely ever met an Emperor of the Sea.
These legendary and powerful pirates were figures one simply could not easily meet or approach.
But now…
Every single one of these great figures was coming personally to visit El.
The difference between his status and hers was like heaven and earth — vast beyond measure.
El nodded slightly upon hearing this.
"Red-Haired Shanks… he has arrived with ill intent."
He spoke calmly and indifferently.
He walked toward the square in front of the tavern.
Crocodile and all members of Baroque Works had already gathered and were standing ready to receive him.
"Listen up! All of you who are weak and incapable — get out of here!" Crocodile shouted mercilessly at the pirates under his command.
"It would be a complete disgrace if you faint just from Shanks' Haki later on!"
"There is no need for that."
El walked over and spoke peacefully.
Crocodile and the others immediately greeted him respectfully.
"Watch if you wish… and do not feel the need to fear pirates like Shanks," El said to Crocodile. "He is merely called an Emperor of the Sea. In truth… he is simply a pirate who happens to be rather strong."
If anyone else had said something like this, they would have been labeled a madman or an idiot.
But hearing it from El… everyone looked at him with total belief and trust.
"As you command, Lord El!"
"The Red-Haired Pirates have arrived!"
A loud shout echoed from the docks.
Shanks' footsteps stepped onto the soil of Dressrosa.
Step.
With that single soft sound…
Shanks unleashed his Conqueror's Haki without the slightest reservation or concealment!
The entire square was instantly enveloped and covered by his overwhelming presence.
Even though everyone had mentally prepared themselves just moments before…
Several of the weaker pirates still rolled their eyes and fainted instantly.
Even Robin's body swayed and nearly lost her balance.
Behind Shanks, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates wore confident smiles on their faces.
As if saying: "El's crew… isn't really all that impressive, are they?"
Seeing the smug expressions on their faces…
Crocodile became furious.
Would the incompetence of my subordinates bring shame upon Lord El?!
This was absolutely unforgivable!
He was about to explode with rage and try to save face for El…
When suddenly, El's own Conqueror's Haki erupted without mercy!
BOOM!
The moment El's Haki was released, it displayed an incredibly ferocious and overwhelming intensity!
The two immense powers clashed, creating a violent collision right in the center of the square!
The ground directly between El and Shanks actually cracked and split apart!
But immediately afterward… El's power completely forced Shanks' Haki back!
It was a total difference in level and quality!
Red-Haired Shanks was a man famous across the seas specifically for his incredibly powerful Conqueror's Haki!
Yet in this very area… he had been utterly overwhelmed and crushed by El!
At the same time as El's Haki forced Shanks back…
It surged outward and instantly knocked out several elite members of the Red-Haired Pirates, sending them collapsing to the ground!
Crocodile, Yasopp, and everyone else present wore expressions of utter shock and disbelief.
This is impossible!
No one could believe what they were seeing with their own eyes!
Several of the key officers of the Red-Haired Pirates… had been knocked unconscious simply by El's aura…
Are you kidding me?!
Unlike other pirate crews filled with countless useless and weak followers…
The Red-Haired Pirates were famously known as an "Elite Crew"!
Every single person allowed to join them was a master in their own right.
Although many of them appeared to have bounties of only a few tens of millions of berries…
That was only because after Shanks became an Emperor, their bounties had stopped being updated and raised.
In terms of true strength…
Those crew members who had just collapsed possessed power worth at least hundreds of millions of berries.
Yet people of such caliber couldn't even withstand El's Conqueror's Haki?!
Shanks looked at his fallen subordinates.
His expression had never looked so terrible and grim before.
He had never imagined such a day would come.
It had always been him walking into the territory of other pirate crews… using his Haki to knock out all the weaklings and nobodies…
Showing off his immense prestige and dignity with every move he made.
But now… the weaklings being humiliated and knocked out were his own men.
Shanks' heart was filled with complex emotions and shame.
His face remained dark and gloomy; he said not a single word.
Behind him, Yasopp and the others also felt incredibly humiliated and embarrassed.
For a moment, the atmosphere of their entire crew became extremely awkward.
"Shanks… why are you silent?"
El asked knowingly, pretending to be unaware.
"What was the true purpose of your visit… surely you didn't come here just to play mute, did you?"
He teased him casually.
Only then did Shanks manage to compose his terrible expression and force a smile onto his face.
"Lord El… you are truly incredible."
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