Almost at the same moment, the lookout on the opposite ship shouted:
"Captain! Three o'clock direction, it's a World Government ship!"
The group of people on the deck put down their wine glasses and looked in the three o'clock direction.
"That looks like more than just a World Government ship; there's also an emblem on the sail."
"To be placed alongside the World Government symbol, it's most likely the family crest of some Celestial Dragon family."
"There might be a Celestial Dragon on board."
Benn Beckman, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, analyzed calmly.
Shanks glanced in the sanctuary's direction, then refocused on Uta, who was running around wildly on the deck:
"Whatever, we weren't planning on clashing with them anyway."
On the other side, Blake was somewhat surprised when he realized the approaching pirate ship was Red Hair's Red Force:
"So Red Hair's crew is mostly assembled this early, and that four or five-year-old girl must be Uta, right?"
"But is this guy taking Uta out to sea so early?"
"Perhaps they aren't planning to go to Elegia this time."
Blake observed from a distance, a mischievous smile appearing on his face, and ordered:
"Fire! Sink them!"
As Blake's words fell, the Slaves immediately pushed out cannons, aiming them in the direction of the Red Force.
Bang bang bang!
A continuous barrage of cannon fire sent cannonballs raining down towards the approaching pirate ship.
On the Red Force, a helpless expression appeared on Shanks' face:
"It seems we can't avoid trouble even if we wanted to..."
He stood up, walked to the bow, and placed his left hand on his sword hilt.
Before he could act, Beckman had already raised his gun, and a series of bullets flew out, precisely detonating the cannonballs in mid-air.
Shanks gave Beckman a somewhat unenthusiastic look, then his eyes sharpened:
"Although you've already acted, as Captain, I still have to do something."
As he spoke, the long sword at his waist was already unsheathed, and a crimson flying slash tore through the air.
Mandy stepped forward, swung her long sword, and another slash met it head-on, exploding into a shockwave in the air.
Blake watched the scene before him with great interest.
Who isn't a Great Swordsman?
Shanks was a year younger than Blake, only 25 years old this year, the same age as Mandy, far from his peak.
Mandy, who had been repeatedly strengthened by ability cards, might not be weaker than the current Shanks, even without Conqueror's Haki.
On the Red Force, Shanks' eyes lit up when he noticed that slash, feeling a thrill of excitement.
His hand was already on his sword hilt, poised to charge forward.
"Wait! Boss!"
But before he could make a move, Beckman stopped him with an outstretched hand:
"The people on the other side aren't opponents to casually spar with; don't cause unnecessary complications."
Stopped by Beckman, Shanks also calmed down, slumped his shoulders, and returned to his seat, drinking a large bowl of sake:
"Boring, utterly boring."
Beckman was quite helpless with his Captain, who disregarded the situation.
But what could he do?
He chose his Captain, so he had to pamper him.
Neither side continued their attack, and the two ships passed each other.
At the moment the two ships were closest, almost able to see each other's faces, Blake suddenly put on an exaggerated expression.
He enthusiastically waved vigorously towards Shanks' direction, shouting loudly:
"Hey! Shamrock!"
"No wonder I never see you in Mary Geoise; turns out you ran off to be a pirate?!"
"Is being a pirate fun? Take me with you sometime!"
Shanks watched Blake's feigned performance, his brows slightly furrowed, and the hand holding his drink paused.
His response was not loud, but it clearly carried across:
"You've got the wrong person."
"Of course, I know I've got the wrong person."
Blake thought to himself:
"I wonder if Red Hair's crew knows about this guy's Celestial Dragon identity?"
"This shout of mine might cause him some trouble."
This was just a chance encounter on the vast sea; Blake, with a mischievous mindset, was just looking for something to do, not really intending to clash with the other party.
With the idea of "hitting a pole whether there's a date or not," it would be good enough to cause some disarray for the Red Hair Pirates.
However, as a future Iron Wall pirate crew, this matter would definitely be resolved eventually and wouldn't easily lead to internal strife.
After the two ships had left far behind and could no longer see each other, Blake called Stella over:
"Bring out all my transponder snail."
Stella immediately pulled out several transponder snail from her alternate dimension upon hearing this.
Blake took them one by one, picked up one, and dialed:
"Rosward, do you know? Shamrock ran off to play pirate games!"
"I just saw him; he was wearing a Blake cloak and a tattered hat."
"How could I be mistaken?"
"That tuft of Red Hair of the Figarland family is just too obvious!"
"How about it? Do you want to come out and guest-star as a pirate too?"
"What's there to lose face over? Didn't Shamrock pride himself on being an elite? If he can play, why can't we?"
"Oh, you're still holding a ball, then I'll ask someone else."
Hanging up on Rosward, Blake picked up another transponder snail and dialed Grothius, with whom he had a conflict:
"Grothius, long time no see!"
"Alright, alright, Grothius-sei, that's enough! I'm not here to argue with you!"
"I'm going to tell you something you definitely don't know: Shamrock ran off to the East Blue to be a pirate!"
"Yes, yes, it's Figarland Shamrock!"
"It's definitely him! Absolutely no mistake!"
..."Charloss-sei, I'm telling you, Figarland's Shamrock ran off to the East Blue to be a pirate!"
"What? You're in the East Blue too?"
"Then head towards Loguetown now; you might run into him!"
"Then he can take you to play together!"
..."Mjosgard, do you know..."
...After half an hour of calls, he had notified all the Celestial Dragons he knew.
Blake finally put down all the transponder snail, shed the excited expression on his face, and revealed a wicked smile.
He hadn't been wasting his years in Mary Geoise—
As a frequent visitor to the Slave market and coliseum, Blake had more or less some connections with the Celestial Dragons of the 'Waste Party'.
This explosive news would probably spread throughout Mary Geoise tonight, and even reach Shamrock and Garling's ears.
As for what they would do, it had nothing to do with Blake; he just got the wrong person.
Who, watching the excitement, would ever think things were too big?
Blake whistled in high spirits, quietly waiting for the sanctuary to arrive at Shimotsuki Village.
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