Shanks steadied his breath, holding his rapier charged with Haki across his chest.
"I'm not that fragile, old man. Taking my head won't be so easy!"
"Hmph — hard to take you seriously when you look like you've been beaten half to death!" Zephyr jeered.
Shanks grinned, but the tug on his swollen face turned the smile into a grimace.
SWISH!
A blade of energy sheared through the waves, sending a wall of water surging upward more than a dozen meters high — like a great serpent tearing through the sea — slicing clean between the Red Force and the Holy Light fleet.
As the spray settled, a bottomless gash remained carved into the surface.
It took several seconds for the ocean to fill the gap and smooth over once more.
"What in the world…?" Zephyr's brows drew tight.
"That slash… it's unbelievable!"
Shanks looked left.
Half a mile away, a man stood on a small cross‑sailed ship, gripping a massive black blade in the follow‑through of a strike.
There was no doubt who had unleashed that attack.
"Warlord of the Sea — Dracule Mihawk!"
Stragus narrowed his eyes, his grip tightening on his weapon.
A most troublesome foe — certainly Admiral‑class in strength.
He had dueled Yasuo many times over the past year; their last meeting, six months ago, had ended in an even match.
He could only wonder how much Mihawk had grown since. Why was he here? To challenge Yasuo? Or someone else?
"Red‑Hair — I never took you for such a weakling," Mihawk said, sheathing his blade behind his back and folding his arms, his tone laced with disdain.
"Mihawk! Long time no see!" Shanks laughed.
"Heard you've advanced — now you and Yasuo share the title of World's Strongest Swordsman?"
He paused, then added: "You here for Yasuo? He's not around. Or did you come to duel me?"
Mihawk stared at Shanks's missing arm for a long moment. "I don't fight cripples."
"Hey — what's that supposed to mean?!" Stragus frowned at the swordsman.
"Are you throwing your lot in with them?"
Mihawk turned his gaze to Zephyr.
"Admiral Zephyr… I simply seek worthy opponents. I wanted to see how far apart we truly are."
He drew the supreme Meito Yoru — one of only a handful of its kind in the world — and addressed Zephyr.
"I hear you wield a blood‑enchanted blade. I would like to see it for myself."
"Hah!" Zephyr roared, his expression darkening.
"I was chasing Shiki across the oceans before you even learned to hold a sword!"
The remark brought Mihawk back to the day he had first sailed to confront Shiki, only to be thoroughly outmatched by Yasuo.
He showed no anger, only said quietly: "I still regret never getting that fight with Shiki."
"Another lapdog of the World Government — though you're not without interest. But since you call yourself a pirate, I'll put you in the ground with the rest of the trash!"
The battle erupted anew. Mihawk's arrival had lifted the Red‑Hair Pirates' spirits and shaken the Holy Light crews.
Seeing Zephyr pitted against two rivals of Admiral caliber, Stragus turned to his subordinate.
"Bring the Den Den Mushi — I must alert Lady Giana."
"Aye!"
---
Half an hour later, in Indigo's laboratory, Giana relayed the call straight to Grimm, who quickly devised his own response…
Grimm was currently aboard the Sapphire Pirates' captured ship. Brujam had revealed Sabo's royal lineage before his crew was wiped out and seized.
Giana's report had just arrived: the Red‑Hair Pirates had launched a surprise attack, and now Warlord Mihawk had joined the fight.
The situation was turning dire; she asked for reinforcements.
That meant Shanks's plan was working — but Grimm had something else in mind instead of sending help.
"That red‑haired fool picks a scrap with Kaido and thinks he can run wild on our doorstep?" Planck fumed.
"If our own ships weren't in the line of fire, I'd blow him out of the water right now!"
The rest shared his outrage — Shanks had been reckless to strike when their main forces were away.
Hancock was on campaign, Grimm had taken the bulk of the fleet to the East Blue, Kel'Thuzad was deep in critical research, and Giana alone could not hold back Shanks — not with Mihawk at his side.
"What do we do, Captain?!" the crew asked anxiously. Returning from the East Blue in time seemed impossible.
But Grimm was unflustered. As soon as the call ended, he dialed another number.
A few seconds later, a voice crackled through — brash and furious: "This is Jack. Who's bothering me? I'm in a foul mood — dial wrong number and I'll rip your balls off and shove 'em down your throat!"
The crew stared in disbelief — few could match that level of pure vitriol.
"Jack," Grimm said evenly.
"Heard you got tossed in the ocean by Red‑Hair not long ago. Still thirsty?" Then he added: "Put that mad dog Kaido on the line."
"Mad dog?! You got a death wish talking about our Captain like that —!" Jack blustered, then froze. Only one man dared call Kaido that.
"Is that… Brother Grimm?"
"It is. Get Kaido."
There was a clatter as the receiver was set down, then Jack's shout: "Captain! Uh — the mad dog — no — Lord Kaido! Grimm is calling!"
"You idiot — calling me that?!" Kaido's roar boomed through the line.
"Want a beating yourself?!"
"Ow — Captain — stop —!"
"Get out of my sight!"
Thirty seconds passed before the snail's face shifted — horns curling upward, dragon‑like whiskers framing its snarl.
"Grimm. I'm in a terrible mood. You looking for a fight? Because I'm itching to smash something!"
His tone was every bit as crude and brash as Jack's.
"Funny," Grimm goaded.
"For someone who just got beaten by the Red‑Hair Pirates, you sound awful cocky."
__________________
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