Chapter 430: Shanks
The night wind howled, scraping against the skin like a cold blade.
The moment Roy's question—"Do you know why I let you off the hook?"—fell, the entire air seemed to freeze.
Shanks' heart tightened, and veins bulged on his forehead.
The bloody memories of the past few years flashed before his eyes—
Roy ruthlessly slaughtering his crew members, sinking his ship.
Provocation after provocation, humiliation after humiliation.
The blood and furious roars were still echoing in his ears.
"Roy—!"
He growled, his crimson pupils about to erupt with rage, when suddenly—
Swish—
A yellowed photograph was tossed over to him.
Shanks instinctively caught it, his brow furrowing.
When his eyes landed on the photo, his breath hitched instantly.
In the picture, an infant with a large bump on his head, his eyes rolled back into "X"s, was unconscious.
The tiny body was curled up, looking so fragile it felt as though it would shatter in the next second.
Shanks' fingertips trembled, and his throat was so dry he couldn't make a sound: "Hey... Roy, this couldn't be..."
The corners of Roy's mouth curled up, his tone playful: "Ah~ It's a picture of you when you were a baby. Pretty cute, isn't it?"
"——ARE YOU F*CKING KIDDING ME!!!"
Shanks abruptly roared, his face flushed red: "You weren't even born when I was a baby!!!"
The night wind howled, as if trying to carve their conversation into the firmament.
"Aren't you curious? Just how exactly did you make it out of God Valley alive?"
Shanks gritted his teeth so hard they creaked, his breathing rapid: "Isn't it obvious?! It was Captain Roger! He found me in a treasure chest, took me out to sea, and raised me into a free pirate! That is my everything!!!"
A cold smile surfaced on Roy's lips, his eyes full of mockery: "Oh? Then don't you want to know—who exactly was it that put you in that treasure chest?"
"——?!!"
Shanks' pupils shrank violently. His heart felt as if it had been seized, and his breathing stopped.
"What do you mean?!!"
Roy slowly stepped forward, each step seeming to crush the air itself.
"Actually, the person who truly saved you back then—was Monkey D. Dragon."
"Wh... What?!!"
As the words fell, Shanks felt as if his heart had been blown apart!
That name struck like thunder—"Supreme Commander of the Revolutionary Army, the World Government's number one enemy, the World's Worst Criminal"!
Shanks' breathing grew chaotic as he roared: "Impossible!! He's the Revolutionary Army!! How could he be on that island?! And back then, he was only—"
Roy raised a hand to cut him off: "Regarding the truth of God Valley... having returned to Mary Geoise, have you really not guessed at least part of it?"
"The so-called God Valley Incident was nothing more than a bloody battle during that 'Era of Great Suppression,' where pirates and Celestial Dragons fought over 'Shakky'—the legendary treasure of pirates—within the Celestial Dragons' hunting ground."
Shanks' pupils trembled, veins popping on his forehead.
"Your biological father—Saint Garling Figarland. In order to win the championship and marry Shakky, he personally attacked your mother—a native of God Valley."
"Pfft—!"
The moment this shocking news was revealed, Shanks' mind buzzed. He could barely stand steady. His face was as pale as paper, and blood seeped from the corner of his mouth.
"As your mother fled desperately, she encountered Dragon right before she died—at that time, he was just a Marine apprentice, Garp's son."
"The young Dragon faced the evil of the Celestial Dragons directly for the first time, and the justice in his heart was ignited—so he chose to save you and your brother."
"But the Celestial Dragons' hunting party arrived quickly. Dragon fought desperately, but ultimately failed to protect both of you."
"In the end, your older brother was taken away by the Celestial Dragons, while you—"
Roy pointed at Shanks' trembling hand: "In order to save your life, Dragon had no choice but to hide you inside a treasure chest, entrusting you to fate. And that is how you were found by the Roger Pirates, who had rescued Shakky, and taken away from that purgatory."
"If not for that, there would be no 'Red Hair Pirates' today, much less you—Shanks."
Shanks trembled all over. He felt as if his world had been turned upside down. The ground beneath his feet seemed to be cracking, leaving only a ringing in his ears.
Having sailed the seas for years, Shanks was not naive like his older brother, who had lived in Mary Geoise since childhood.
He was intelligent, decisive, and had seen the storms and bloodshed of countless seas. Naturally, he knew exactly—what kind of group the Celestial Dragons were.
They were a group of demons draped in the guise of gods—arrogant, ignorant, tyrannical, treating human lives as mere playthings.
Precisely because of this, when Roy coldly revealed the truth of God Valley, his heart felt as if an invisible giant hand had squeezed it tight, instantly stopping his breath.
His mother—personally slain by his father for the sake of a woman.
His brother—forcibly abducted by the Celestial Dragons.
And himself, his entire life from childhood to adulthood—was nothing more than a chess piece pushed onto the board.
"A chess piece..."
Buggy's unintentional, furious roar now transformed into a vicious curse, echoing endlessly in his mind.
"No... Impossible..."
Shanks' eyes were completely hollow. He staggered back continuously, cold sweat pouring down his forehead, his face deathly pale.
A violent, stabbing pain flared in his chest, as if his heart was tearing apart.
"Damn it... to think it was like this..."
"Cough—!"
A strong stench of blood surged up his throat, and he violently spat out a mouthful of fresh blood, which ran down the corner of his mouth.
—Right at this moment.
"SHANKS!!!"
A furious shout exploded like thunder!
Shanks' body jolted, and he instinctively looked up.
He saw Roy standing under the night sky, his eyes as cold and sharp as blades: "I didn't tell you all this so you could sink into despair like a stray dog!"
"If you keep this up—you won't even have the qualifications to be used by me!!!"
The air fell completely dead silent, as if even the sound of the wind had been severed.
Shanks stared blankly at him, his heart pounding wildly.
"The reason I let you off multiple times was indeed because Dragon left me a message. Because to him, you are the redemption he acknowledged."
"But looking at you now... I am extremely disappointed."
Shanks trembled all over.
In his mind, the laughter of his comrades surfaced.
The lively drinking on the deck, the singing of war songs in the sea breeze, and the melody Uta sang on the stage...
No... I cannot fall.
At least, not right now.
He slowly closed his eyes and took a deep breath, as if trying to exhale all the foul air from his lungs.
When he opened his eyes again, that red hair whipped fiercely in the night wind. His fists clenched tightly, and his shoulders straightened once more, as if shouldering the weight of the entire ocean once again.
His gaze was icy cold, yet burning with a long-lost flame.
"Roy... even if I agree to work for you, remember this—the feud between us is far from over!"
The air instantly grew tense!
Shanks' aura was returning bit by bit, even sharper than before. It was as if new flames had ignited within his blood, shooting straight into the night sky.
Roy narrowed his eyes. Sensing this change, his gaze condensed slightly before he gave a light snort.
"Hmph. If you truly want revenge, then find a way to surpass yourself."
"And the task I need you to do will serve as the exact catalyst for your transformation."
With those words, he turned around. His back cold and unyielding like iron, he coldly spat out four words:
"Return to Mary Geoise."
The night wind whimpered, and all was completely silent.
These four words, however, struck deep into Shanks' soul like an ironclad decree.
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