After carefully reading through the newspaper, Shanks roughly understood the details of the conflict between the Straw Hat Pirates and Elbaf.
"Interesting~ So it wasn't Luffy and the others' will, but Moonlight Moria of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet taking the lead?"
"Have the Straw Hat Pirates already developed to this extent?"
"Well, he is the Pirate Emperor Sovereign, boss."
Just then, Lucky Roux walked over with a huge hunk of meat in hand and teased Red-Hair,
"Luffy is now publicly recognized as the strongest pirate in the world. Go ask around outside—who still talks about the Four Emperors these days? People are calling us and Whitebeard old-era pirates clinging to life beneath the Pirate Emperor Sovereign!"
"Clinging to life, huh!? That wording makes us sound way too miserable~"
Hearing Lucky Roux's words, Red-Hair smiled faintly and did not get angry at the world's mockery.
On the contrary, seeing Luffy achieve what he had today actually made him extremely happy.
Only...
"Knowing full well that Elbaf is our territory, they still dare to provoke us like this. Isn't that a little too disrespectful toward me?"
Shanks raised an eyebrow, waved the newspaper in his hand, and grinned crookedly.
"Hey, Beckman, since the other side is provoking us so openly, wouldn't it make us look a little too weak if we did nothing?"
"That's right~" Benn Beckman, seemingly having guessed what Red-Hair was thinking, smiled faintly and nodded.
"Even if he is the Pirate Emperor Sovereign, he shouldn't disrespect his seniors like this."
"They really do deserve a lesson."
Lucky Roux bit off a mouthful of meat and laughed while chewing.
"I'm just afraid that when the time comes, our people won't be able to beat Luffy's subordinates. That would turn into one hell of a joke!"
"Hey, it shouldn't be that bad, right?" Shanks froze for a moment. A gleam flashed through his eyes, and then he clicked his tongue.
"The strongest ones on their side should just be Moria and Hancock, right? They're only former Warlords of the Sea..."
"Just a reminder~" Benn Beckman smiled. "They're Warlords of the Sea strengthened by the Straw Hat Pirates!"
"Don't forget Whitebeard. That guy's current strength isn't just a little stronger than before."
"Uh, fair point." Red-Hair nodded in surprise and muttered quietly, "We really can't be too careless."
Just how strong was Whitebeard now?
Put it this way: the old Red-Hair had believed that even if he had lost an arm, he would still have been able to defeat the aged Whitebeard with absolute certainty.
But now, through the Straw Hat Pirates' various methods, Whitebeard's body had not only recovered to the condition of his prime, he had also obtained some unprecedented, terrifying power from who knew where.
So much so that when Shanks had met Whitebeard again not long ago, he had actually felt an aura from him more powerful than anything he had ever sensed before.
His Observation Haki, which could foresee the future, had even accurately predicted that if he sparred with Whitebeard again, he would definitely lose very badly!
Although Red had never brought Whitebeard into the game world for training, after loading the Pokémon template, Whitebeard's body itself had already become semi-datafied.
As long as he continued training and cultivating, he could gain tiny amounts of experience.
Over time, his level would eventually rise.
And at his level, every single level increase was extremely significant.
More importantly, Whitebeard's Parental Bond ability meant that the more sons he had around him, the stronger he became.
For a man who had been taking sons in on the sea for decades, the power amplification brought by Parental Bond far exceeded Shanks's imagination.
And that also made Shanks feel incomparably expectant toward the so-called power of Pokémon.
Who could have imagined that the future he had bet an arm on would change this world so fiercely in a way he had never once imagined, creating an entirely new era?
Although people still had not realized it yet, Shanks believed that in the near future, people would surely single out some point in the Straw Hat Pirates' timeline and call it "the beginning of the Pokémon Era."
Just like Captain Roger, who had opened the Great Pirate Era back then!
"In any case! Doing nothing isn't our style!"
Though countless thoughts surged through his mind, Shanks ultimately slapped his thigh and said to Benn Beckman beside him,
"Contact Elbaf immediately. Tell them that as friends of Elbaf, the Red Hair Pirates will join Elbaf's side and help them complete the ring battle!"
...
...
Time flew like a white colt flashing past a crack.
In this turbulent great era, a mere few days passed swiftly precisely because they were uneventful.
In the blink of an eye, the day agreed upon by Moria and Elbaf arrived.
At the same time, through Morgans's efforts, almost every country and region of some renown across the world had obtained at least one giant screen capable of broadcasting the livestream.
The scale was so massive that it could be called unprecedented in the entire history of the pirate world.
And for that, they had to thank the live broadcast of the Celestial Dragon execution that Red had planned two years ago.
It was precisely on the foundation of that incident that Morgans's broadcast channels had become wildly popular throughout the world. Not only had they earned him a massive amount of money, they had also spread his voice across the entire pirate world.
At this moment, it was the period just before the official broadcast began.
Although the visuals had already connected, what appeared on screen was only the boundless sea.
After Morgans's prior negotiations, the giants had also allowed them to set up various filming equipment in Elbaf's Underworld—that is, the land connecting Elbaf to the outside sea.
At the same time, this place would serve as the battlefield for every ring match.
Although the terms of the wager allowed Elbaf to send out any number of people to defend the ring, Jarul and the others were well aware that against the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, which was packed with powerful fighters, sending out more people would be meaningless.
Instead, too many giant defeats would damage Elbaf's honor.
So after much consideration, Jarul finally decided that within the entire race, only those whose strength surpassed Saul's would be qualified to participate in this ring battle.
Saul was the giant Marine vice admiral who shared a deep bond with Robin and had survived the Ohara Incident because Aokiji had shown mercy.
As a giant whose name carried the letter D, Saul was a proper elite even among the many giant Marine vice admirals. His combat power was second only to Marine admiral candidates.
Otherwise, he never would have become close friends with a genius like Aokiji, who had shone ever since joining the Marines.
In the end, the giant race's side sent a total of nine defenders:
Giant elder Jarul, Giant Warrior Pirates captain Dorry, Brogy, New Giant Warrior Pirates captain Hajrudin, the giant race's criminal Loki, and the surviving giant Saul...
These six were all the giants participating in the ring battle this time.
As for the remaining three, they were all ordinary humans. It was only because they had close relationships with the giant race that they had joined this battle.
The first among them was naturally the former Emperor of the Sea and captain of the Red Hair Pirates, Shanks, who had come looking for fun, as well as the Red Hair Pirates' vice-captain, Benn Beckman.
As for the final defender on the giant race's side, his identity was enough to shock everyone watching.
Because this person was none other than the man known alongside Rayleigh as the "Pirate King's Left Hand"—Scopper Gaban!!!
After retiring, Gaban had come to Elbaf to live in seclusion. He had even married a giant woman of Elbaf and had a little half-blood giant child named Colon.
When he learned that the Straw Hat crew was preparing to subdue Elbaf, Gaban had not actually intended to get involved in this struggle.
After all, he had retired many years ago, and he was not a true member of the giant race.
But after Red-Hair came to Elbaf to help defend the ring for Elbaf and met Gaban, he began constantly lobbying Gaban to join the defense with them and make the Straw Hat Pirates lose some face during the livestream.
Although Shanks had great expectations for Luffy, it was like an adult seeing a child he liked and being unable to resist walking over to pinch his cheek, then watching him puff up in anger.
Shanks had the same intention of teasing Luffy.
If it had only been him and Benn Beckman, he truly would not have had complete confidence in helping the giants successfully defend the ring.
But with Gaban, whose strength was comparable to a Marine admiral, joining in, the giant race's odds of victory would undoubtedly increase by a margin.
And so, the giant race sent out a rather strange lineup.
They were clearly fighting to protect the honor of giants, yet in this battle, they had sent out three humans.
And even among the giant race's side, there was one member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet and one disgrace of the giant race.
Such a bizarre lineup could be said to leave all the giants waiting to watch the battle feeling extremely unable to accept it.
But the truth was...
The strength of these nine people was enough to sweep across the whole of Elbaf, leaving no one with any room to object.
Soon, many blurry figures suddenly appeared on the calm sea.
And the viewers waiting in front of all kinds of screens for the livestream erupted into excited shouts when they finally saw something unusual appear on the ocean.
"Ships! It must be the Straw Hat Pirates' fleet!!!"
Although they still could not clearly see the identities of those dark silhouettes, every viewer knew that it had to be the Straw Hat Grand Fleet coming to keep the appointment!
Sure enough.
As time passed, the silhouettes of the ships became clearer and clearer on screen.
Warship after warship flying both the Straw Hat Pirates' flag and their own pirate crews' flags filled the entire sea...
For a moment, an imposing aura abruptly rose from the ocean and surged toward Elbaf like a tide.
"They really are terrifying!"
Looking at the dense mass of pirate warships covering the sea—if not a thousand, then at least eight hundred...
Only at this moment did Shanks realize just how far Luffy and his pirate crew had grown.
More importantly, in that very instant, he actually sensed no fewer than ten bursts of Conqueror's Haki rolling out from those warships, bearing down on them as a show of force.
In response, Shanks and the others naturally refused to show weakness and released their own Conqueror's Haki in return.
Although their side did not have as many Conqueror's Haki users as the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, with two Haki powerhouses like Shanks and Gaban present, they actually managed to forcibly clash evenly with the aura released by the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.
In an instant, the entire sea seemed to fall into a lightning purgatory. Endless black lightning erupted under the collision of Haki, tearing through the whole space.
"Hm?!"
On the Straw Hat Grand Fleet's side.
Moria stood at the bow of the Pluton, originally thinking he would give the giants a show of force. Instead, he froze in astonishment as he sensed the Haki released by the other side, his expression slightly stunned.
A moment later, he hurriedly raised the Personal Terminal on his wrist and gave a puzzled warning.
"Something seems wrong! The other side has an extremely powerful Conqueror's Haki user..."
"Judging by this scale, they may have come with bad intentions!"
"It's Red-Haired Shanks!"
Before Moria could finish, Hawkins, who possessed divination abilities, replied first in the group voice chat.
Three minutes earlier, aboard the Hawkins Pirates' ship.
Using his straw ability to hold several tarot cards before him, Hawkins wore a puzzled expression.
"How strange. The Straw Hat Grand Fleet's probability of victory is only ninety percent..."
Accustomed to performing divinations before doing anything, Hawkins looked at the guidance given by the tarot cards. His calm eyes indeed carried deep confusion.
And right then, beside Hawkins, a graceful mature woman wearing a purple hood suddenly held a crystal ball and frowned as she spoke.
"Wait! How is this possible!?"
"Hm!?"
Hearing the woman's surprised voice, Hawkins immediately turned his head in puzzlement, looked at the woman, and asked,
"What happened, Shyarly!?"
The mature woman named Shyarly lowered her hood, revealing the face of an elegant adult woman, and said in shock,
"In the divination I just saw in my crystal ball, I actually saw the figure of Red-Haired Shanks, one of the Four Emperors. And beside him was another figure who looked extremely powerful."
"Combining that with the result of your divination just now, I have reason to suspect that Red-Haired Shanks seems to have joined this ring battle as well—and that he is standing on the giants' side!"
"What!?" Hawkins's eyes widened in alarm, but he did not doubt the woman's divination result.
After all, his experiences during this period had already made him realize that this Madam Shyarly of the merfolk possessed divination power no weaker than his own.
That's right!
This mature woman was none other than Madam Shyarly, who possessed a one-hundred-percent accurate record of divinations on Fish-Man Island!
As the Straw Hat Pirates' control over the world became stronger and stronger, Fish-Man Island, which belonged under the Straw Hat Pirates' command, naturally welcomed the true liberation they had long awaited.
Now, after the slave trade had been suppressed again and again, very few people still dared to risk universal condemnation and continue engaging in it.
Naturally, no one dared to harbor crooked thoughts toward the merfolk and fish-men under the Straw Hat Pirates.
Fish-Man Island had achieved true liberation, and more and more merfolk and fish-men were leaving the deep sea to travel across the world to areas under the Straw Hat Pirates' absolute rule, enjoying the land and the sunlight.
And Shyarly was one of them.
Although everyone else had always respectfully called her "Madam Shyarly," it was only two months ago that she had just turned thirty, her fish tail splitting into a pair of legs and granting her the ability to move freely on land.
It was precisely because of this opportunity that she came to the Straw Hat Pirates' Pokémon Sea. Then, through a series of coincidences, she became acquainted with Hawkins, who also possessed divination power, and joined the Hawkins Pirates.
The current Shyarly, relying on her accurate divination ability, had already become the second most important existence in the Hawkins Pirates after Hawkins himself.
If not for the fact that she had joined too late, some people would already have proposed that Shyarly become the vice-captain of the Hawkins Pirates!
As for that, after serious consideration, Hawkins had also expressed that if the opportunity was right in the future, he would fulfill his companions' wish.
After all, aside from him as captain, the Hawkins Pirates truly did not have any especially presentable members.
Now that Shyarly, whose divination ability far surpassed his own, had joined, he naturally intended to take this chance to strengthen the Hawkins Pirates.
There was no helping it.
The competition within the Straw Hat Grand Fleet was far too intense!
Even he, who was used to leaving everything to fate, could not help but want to do something now~
(End of Chapter)