Chapter 101: Yo~ Long Time No See

Yoriichi Tsugikuni saw it clearly, the boy in the straw hat who had vanished in front of the apple stall was none other than Shanks, the apprentice pirate of the Roger Pirates.

The moment he caught sight of Shanks, a memory instantly resurfaced in Yoriichi's mind.

Back when the Roger Pirates were preparing to sail to the Final Island, Buggy, one of the apprentice crew members, had suddenly come down with a fever, causing him to miss the journey. And Shanks, out of concern for his friend, had voluntarily stayed behind on another island to look after the sick Buggy, giving up the opportunity to reach the Final Island.

Now, seeing Shanks alone in this small town on Lodestar Island, shopping by himself… did this mean that the Roger Pirates had already set sail for the Final Island?

"Quite the perfect timing," Yoriichi thought silently.

"The intel from the Marines... surprisingly accurate."

"Could it be that someone within the World Government knows how to reach the Final Island?"

With this suspicion in mind, Yoriichi stood quietly for a while, watching the direction Shanks had vanished into. Up ahead, Kuzan noticed Yoriichi lagging behind and called back, "Hey, Yoriichi, what are you looking at?"

"Is something wrong over there?"

Kuzan turned his head, glancing at Yoriichi with a puzzled look. Following his gaze, he only saw the entrance to a narrow alleyway. Nothing else seemed out of place.

Scratching his head in confusion, Kuzan turned back and gave Yoriichi a firm pat on the shoulder. "Yoriichi?"

Yoriichi snapped out of it, shook his head with a light smile, and casually replied, "Kuzan, I need to find a quiet corner to relieve myself. You go ahead and get a feel for the town layout."

"I'll catch up to you later."

With that, he broke away from the group and made his way toward the alley where Shanks had disappeared. He slipped inside without hesitation.

Kuzan watched him go and muttered to himself, "Relieving yourself in public's not exactly a great habit..." But he shrugged it off and led the Marines forward to continue surveying the town. He wasn't the least bit worried about Yoriichi's safety.

Over the past two months sailing from Dongwu Island, Kuzan had gained a solid understanding of Yoriichi's strength.

If anything were to go wrong, Kuzan figured he himself would be the one in danger, not Yoriichi. And if someone on this island truly could kill Yoriichi, then even with Kuzan standing right beside him, all he'd be good for was adding another corpse to the pile.

Now moving separately from Kuzan's group, Yoriichi began to wander through the town.

With his Observation Haki, Yoriichi had already marked Shanks's presence the moment he saw him. In his perception, Shanks was moving in circles around the town—highly cautious. He didn't just walk in a straight line but frequently stopped, observed his surroundings, then moved again, making random turns.

Had Yoriichi not possessed such heightened sensory Haki, he might have lost track of Shanks.

But reality wasn't so forgiving. Yoriichi simply leaned against a wall, waiting. When Shanks finally stopped moving, Yoriichi stood up slowly, brushed the dust off his pants, and walked calmly in the direction of his target.

In a quiet residential corner of the town…

Shanks returned in a rush with the supplies, quickly slammed the door shut, and peered through the peephole at the empty street outside. After watching for a long while and seeing nothing unusual, he finally let out a deep sigh of relief, leaning back against the door. His tense nerves finally began to relax.

"That was close! Too close!"

"Can't believe I bumped into the Navy!"

"I shouldn't go out again for the next couple of days... I'll have to ask Dr. Sisoko to help with the errands."

"Captain Roger and the rest have already gone to sea. It's just me and Buggy now."

"If the Navy finds us…"

As Shanks muttered to himself, patting his chest to calm his nerves, he suddenly heard a soft whooshing noise near his ear.

The next moment, the wall beside him split open without warning.

Boom!

The mudbrick wall collapsed with a cloud of dust, and sunlight poured into the room through the hole.

Shanks turned in shock and stared blankly at the gaping hole in the wall.

Then came the sound of footsteps.

A figure stepped into the light, casting a shadow across the floor. Slowly, a red-haired boy in a Marine officer's uniform, carrying a sword at his waist, walked into the room.

"You... you..."

Shanks raised a trembling hand, pointing at the intruder, unable to form words.

"Yo~ long time no see, Shanks of the Roger Pirates."

Maybe it was the time he'd spent with Garp, but Yoriichi had picked up quite a few bad habits—including a tendency to never take the normal route.

The red-haired boy who had just blasted through the wall was none other than Yoriichi Tsugikuni, having tracked Shanks to this very spot.

Seeing Shanks frozen in disbelief, Yoriichi gave a warm smile and waved. "Hey there."

The noise from the wall collapsing hadn't gone unnoticed. Upstairs, Buggy, who had been resting and recovering, opened the door and walked to the stairwell, looking down toward the commotion.

When he saw Yoriichi standing just a few feet from Shanks, his face twisted with shock.

"A Marine?! What the hell is a Marine doing here?!"

"Shanks, is this your doing?! Did you lead him here?!"

Buggy's fever had broken, and he was feeling relatively energetic. His voice rang out loud and clear.

Hearing him, Yoriichi turned his head and spotted Buggy. The smile on his face widened.

"Oh? Another member of the Roger Pirates?"

"Looks like I've hit the jackpot today."

"How about I invite you both to our warship as honored guests?"

"Come with me."

Yoriichi's calm, polite tone made Shanks and Buggy break into a cold sweat. They had witnessed his power before, seen him and Kuzan team up to slay Douglas Bullet.

They knew very well what Yoriichi was capable of. And now, hearing those words, they immediately realized how dire their situation was.

"Buggy! Don't just stand there, run!!"

Shanks moved without hesitation. He leapt at Yoriichi, wrapping his arms around him to buy Buggy time to escape.

"Sh-Shanks!"

Buggy shouted in a shaky voice, but before he could move, Yoriichi raised his left hand and slammed the hilt of his sword into Shanks's stomach.

With a groan of pain, Shanks clutched his abdomen and collapsed onto the floor, curling into a ball.

And just like that, Yoriichi vanished from where he'd been standing.

Buggy only felt a gust of wind brush past him. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted a blur of white. Turning his head, he realized with horror that Yoriichi was now standing right beside him.

That terrifying speed made Buggy's face turn pale.

"Shanks!!"

"Get up!"

"I'll hold him off, run!"

Buggy straightened his back and charged at Yoriichi with everything he had.

"One after another... you guys make me look like some sort of evil villain."

************************

Hey everyone! I'll be dropping an extra 1 chapter once we hit 150 power stones! If you're enjoying the story, don't forget to spend some power stones. I'd really appreciate the support. Thanks a bunch!

For advance chapters, please do visit and consider joining me on P(a)treon.

You'll also get access to my other translated fics on P(a)treon!

p(a)treon.com/Lnee

*remove () to open it