Chapter 233: Shanks: I Hope You’ll Show Me Some Respect...

"Stop racking your brains. The Red-Haired Pirates have only made a name for themselves in recent years. When you were working at Impel Down, they probably hadn't risen to prominence yet.

"But don't make the mistake of underestimating them just because of that."

"Red-Haired Shanks, once a crew member under the Pirate King Roger, fought alongside another legend, Buggy the Clown, and even held his own against Whitebeard.

"He possesses Conqueror's Haki and is destined to become one of the most formidable pirates on these seas!"

Wood's assessment of Shanks was nothing short of high praise. When Ruth and the others heard Wood's evaluation of Shanks, they were stunned.

They had been following Wood for some time, facing many dangers and encountering numerous pirates along the way.

They had even had the chance to see the legendary Golden Lion Shiki, one of Roger's rivals, once.

However, even someone like Shiki hadn't earned such a glowing endorsement from Wood.

Shiki had once been a major figure, but time, combined with his self-inflicted injuries and lost will to fight, had led to him being left behind by the new era.

As for Shanks, he was the future Emperor of the Sea, the youngest of the Four Emperors and the only one who wasn't a Devil Fruit user.

Given Shanks' reputation and potential, even though he wasn't one of the Four Emperors just yet, Wood naturally had to show him some respect.

The Red Force slowly sailed between the two opposing fleets, and Wood used Moonwalk to leave the Dark Maru, signaling to Robin and the others to leave as quickly as possible.

On the Happo Navy's side, Chinjao, seeing that the Dark Maru was preparing to flee, hurriedly ordered his men to turn the ship and give chase.

Just as Wood was about to draw his sword and launch a slash to block their pursuit, someone else acted faster and attacked the Happo Navy!

From the Red Force, a terrifying wave of sword energy sliced through hundreds of kilometers of ocean, cutting a sharp path directly toward the Happo Navy's main ship.

When Chinjao saw the deadly slash heading for his ship, he jumped into the air, his massive hands quickly transforming into a metallic black with a visible sheen.

In truth, Chinjao's strongest technique was to use his head with Armament Haki.

Seeing the level of the sword slash approaching, Chinjao had originally planned to block it with his head.

But remembering how Garp had flattened his pointed head into a bun, Chinjao thought better of it.

It wasn't that Chinjao's head wasn't tough enough—it was just that his fists were also quite powerful...

His fists, as large as a normal person's head, were now covered in Armament Haki, transforming into massive iron hammers.

As the sword slash from the Red Force bore down on him, Chinjao punched out with both fists.

The moment his fists collided with the slash, the previously calm sea erupted into massive waves.

The invisible shockwave created by the clash rippled out in waves, causing Chinjao's clothes to flutter violently.

At first, Chinjao was confident he could handle the attack.

However, as his arms trembled from the impact, he quickly realized that the slash's power far exceeded his expectations.

His arms went numb, and though Chinjao managed to deflect the attack's trajectory, his massive body was knocked back onto his ship.

The deflected slash missed the Happo Navy's main ship but shot toward the leftmost pirate ship with incredible speed, splitting the large vessel cleanly in half!

Although everyone in the Happo Navy was a skilled swimmer and most survived, except for those unlucky enough to be caught in the slash, losing a large pirate ship was a huge blow.

Chinjao's expression darkened as the captain of the Happo Navy looked on in anger.

"Red-Haired Shanks, what's the meaning of this?

"Are you trying to claim the rights to the Navy traitor before anyone else can?"

Unlike Wood, who had just entered the New World, the Happo Navy had heard of the Red-Haired Pirates, who had begun to make a name for themselves in recent years.

However, Chinjao had never expected Shanks to be this strong.

Though they had never crossed paths before, based on the power of that slash, Chinjao could tell that his chances of winning weren't great.

Still, even in this situation, the Happo Navy had nearly a thousand men, while the Red-Haired Pirates didn't have nearly as many. If a full-scale battle broke out, they wouldn't be so easy to defeat!

As Chinjao questioned him, a young man with bright red hair on the Red Force sheathed his sword, Griffon, and leaped onto the mast of his ship.

"I'm not trying to cause any trouble. I just want to ask Chinjao of the Happo Navy to give me a bit of respect and let the Navy traitor Wood and his crew go this time. How about it?"

Shanks no longer wore his straw hat, and his arm was missing—clear signs that he had already encountered the true ruler of the East Blue and had bet his arm on the future.

However, his request left both Chinjao and Wood stunned.

Wood wasn't surprised that Shanks asked for respect—after all, with the power of the Face-Fruit, who in the world wouldn't give Red-Haired Shanks some respect?

But what confused Wood was the fact that Shanks was asking Chinjao to let him, Wood, go.

Sure, Wood knew who Shanks was, and he had a decent understanding of the red-haired pirate.

But that was because Wood was a traveler from another world. As far as he knew, he had never met Shanks in this life and certainly had no relationship with him.

"Oh, I see. So you're not after the berries aboard the Navy traitor's ship—you want to protect them?"

Chinjao had initially assumed Shanks was just another competitor. But after hearing Shanks' words, he was dumbfounded.

"You want to protect the Navy traitor and his crew. Even if the Happo Navy gives you some respect, what makes you think you can stop all the other pirate crews?"

After that brief exchange, Chinjao had already determined that they couldn't defeat Shanks. But since Shanks wasn't a competitor, and instead wanted to protect Wood's crew, Chinjao wasn't too worried anymore.

After all, the Happo Navy wasn't the only pirate crew after Wood and his crew!

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P/S: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 370+ at p@treon.com/Betek and change @ to a