Starting with Naruto, I'll become stronger through my own efforts.

Chapter 280 The Second Encounter with Shanks

Fifteen minutes after the boarding action began, the Marines had completed the battlefield cleanup and cleared the interior of the pirate ship.

The naval officers and soldiers did not rush into the ship's hold recklessly. Instead, they brought in bombs made from modified artillery shells and blew up the hold one by one.

Only then did they enter the cabin to finish off the pirates who had been injured, stunned, or killed by the explosion.

Fortunately, this time they did not encounter any monsters in the cabin that could withstand bomb explosions, nor did they find any kidnapped civilians.

Then these pirates were tied up and hung from the mast of the warship, strung together like grapes, and slowly dried in the sun and sea breeze.

As the pirates' cries gradually subsided, silence reigned over the two ships.

Major Borg and Lieutenant Colonel Faye bumped fists, then he quickly ran to the stern tower to report to his most admired Brigadier General, "Reporting to Brigadier General Shazo!"

"The Marines have completed their mission, killing 62 pirates, capturing 37, and killing the pirate captain Alvida! No Marines were injured!"

"Please issue the new order!"

Xia Zuo raised his hand in salute, then ordered, "Marine Corps mission complete, combat status may be deactivated."

"yes!"

Major Borg turned and ordered the 35 Marines: "East China Sea Special Mobile Fleet, Marines, operational status—off!!"

Only when they received orders from Marine Corps Commander Major Borg did the Marines erupt in cheers, breaking the silence that had terrified the pirates.

Throughout the entire battle, Xia Zuo never had to lift a finger.

This made him very satisfied with the marines and fleet he had trained, so he returned to his private room with peace of mind and began to train.

Recently, he has been working hard to digest the explosive power brought by Saiyan Shaza, and his training volume has increased more than tenfold compared to usual.

Even sleep time was compressed to less than 2 hours a day in order to digest the food as quickly as possible.

"9 combat power, that's terrifyingly strong."

"It's so easy to destroy an island, I'd even like to try and blow up the Red Line."

"Hmm, this seems like a very interesting idea."

"I'm really curious, what kind of impact would blowing up the Red Line have?"

Will the calm zone disappear?

Will the strange geomagnetism and abnormal weather of the Grand Line return to normal?

Brigadier General Xia Zuo is now many times stronger than he was ten days ago. Not only has his strength increased, but his speed, stamina, superpowers, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki have also greatly improved.

In particular, Conqueror's Haki, combined with the perception of ki, successfully integrated with [Psychic Web], replicating the [Psychic Web] that was closest to what Enel developed after eating the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

Xia Zuo's "Mind Network" has a wider range of perception of human existence, and can "see" a ship hundreds of kilometers away and track it with ease.

However, his range of precise perception of brainwaves is even smaller; he can only "hear" people's thoughts within a room-sized area.

But that's enough for Xia Zuo.

Unlike Xia Zuo from other worlds, he is a complete martial arts enthusiast. As long as he knows where the enemy is and how many there are, he doesn't need anything else.

Just as he was thinking this, his "mind network" detected an electromagnetic signal marked as "extremely dangerous".

Because of the great distance, almost at the edge of Xia Zuo's [Mind Network] perception range, it took Xia Zuo a long time to distinguish that the person was Shanks.

Xia Zuo was smitten.

As one of the strongest pirates in the world, Shanks, who possesses the strongest Conqueror's Haki, is the best target to test one's strength.

At this moment, Xia Zuo was bursting with confidence. The mysterious background of Shanks, which had once made him extremely wary, and his relationship with Im, the strongest immortal in the pirate world, were no longer on his mind.

He's a Marine, Shanks is a pirate, so it's only natural for the Marines to fight pirates.

If Im is truly so unreasonable as to want to kill Shazo just because the Navy killed a pirate, then he should come out of the Holy Land of Mary Geoise.

With that in mind, Xia Zuo put on his general's uniform, without even taking his standard-issue sword, pushed open the door, walked out of the room, and found Lieutenant Commander Faye, the captain.

Xia Zuo ordered, "Faya, I have something urgent to attend to. You take the marines, warships, and spoils and return to the 77th Regiment on your own."

Branch.

Lieutenant Colonel Faye accepted the order without hesitation.

Over the course of two years, the East China Sea Special Mobile Fleet repeatedly swept through the East China Sea, eliminating all pirates with bounties reaching tens of millions.

Under Shazo's control, pirates with a bounty of 500 million Berries were deliberately left behind.

A few of these guys are genuine pirates of moderate strength, but most are dogs kept by kingdoms or nobles, making a living by helping their masters tear apart enemies, rather than robbing civilians.

Allowing such relatively low-risk pirates to exist can help curb the rampage of other pirates.

Occasionally, some of these pirates will become madmen, committing all sorts of atrocities, including robbery, murder, and arson.

Once these pirates commit a taboo, Xia Zuo will immediately strike hard, completing the pursuit and killing in the shortest time, and then stabbing their master in the back to remove the nobleman's head.

Xia Zuo would put the pirate's head and the noble's head together, and say nothing else, ignoring the noble's accusations and complaints.

Naval Headquarters would certainly not punish Xia Zuo for such a trivial matter.

After this happened several times, the nobles of the East Blue became obedient when faced with pairs of heads, and the pirates of the East Blue also learned the "rules".

In the East China Sea today, there is an unwritten set of rules known as the "Executioner's Code".

First, when landing and raiding a village, one must not massacre the village, set fires, or steal the last rations.

Second, when robbing merchant ships, one should not carry out a massacre; at the very least, one should leave behind a small boat and a few days' worth of food and water.

Third, no initiative should be launched against the navy.

Although there are only three rules, they are like ironclad laws, binding all pirates in the East China Sea.

Anyone who violates this rule will be hunted down by Shazo himself, just like Alvida, and will die a violent death within a few days.

Therefore, the East China Sea is very safe, especially the naval warships. The East China Sea Special Mobile Fleet, which belongs to the 77th Branch, is a force that makes pirates tremble with fear, so there is absolutely no safety problem.

Lieutenant Colonel Faye was not worried about Brigadier General Xia Zuo's safety; he firmly believed that no one in the entire East China Sea could harm the Brigadier General.

Having arranged the affairs of the warship, Xia Zuo took to the air and flew towards the direction where Shanks was.

Now his flight no longer relies on the application of electromagnetic force through [Electromagnetic Control], but is legitimate flight, derived from the basic education on Planet Vegeta.

Xia Zuo's flight speed was not fast because he was dealing with Shanks, a man who could foresee the future through Observation Haki.

The faster you launch a surprise attack in front of him, the easier it is to be counter-killed.

Therefore, the closer he got to Shanks, the slower Shazam's flight speed became. In the end, he even landed on the sea and used ninja techniques to speed across the water.

In the end, Xia Zuo didn't even run anymore.

He walked steadily on the sea, step by step toward the deserted island where Shanks was.

From this distance, Xia Zuo had a complete grasp of everything on the island, and he "saw" the members of the Red-Haired Pirates.

The number of Red-Haired Pirates' officers has increased significantly since their last encounter.

Besides Ben Beckman, Yasopp, and Lucky Roux, there are also Hongo, Bendick Snake, and Lyme Jones, all of whom are top-ranking pirates with bounties.

A banquet is being held on Huangdao Island. In addition to the members of the Red-Haired Pirates, there is also a powerful swordsman, Hawkeye Mihawk, who has not yet obtained the title of the world's greatest swordsman.

Despite discovering so many powerful pirates, Xia Zuo's steps remained steady as he walked unhurriedly toward the deserted island.

It wasn't until they were close to 4000 meters that Xia Zuo suddenly laughed: "Just as I guessed, nothing can be 100% perfect."

"When the special characteristic of Observation Color is the ability to foresee the future, one's subtle perception will not be refined enough, thus overlooking the calm and peaceful approach of the self."

"You agree, don't you, Shanks?"

Shanks reached out and patted his head, but couldn't touch the captain's straw hat.

After a slight pause, he subtly lowered his right hand and touched the wound on his missing left arm.

Then, Shanks spoke up: "That's right, Shazo the Executioner."

He suddenly laughed: "However, I'm currently hosting a banquet to entertain my good friend Mihawk, and everyone is having a good time."

"For my sake, let's not fight today."

Xia Zuo almost laughed.

During our last meeting, I never heard the phrase "for my sake" from beginning to end, and I didn't witness Shanks' ability to act as a "people's man," which was a real shame.

I never expected that this regret would be fulfilled today.

Xia Zuo nodded with satisfaction and agreed, "Alright, I'll give you face. You can continue with your banquet. I'll stand here and wait for you to finish."

The Red-Haired Pirates were stunned. How could the banquet continue when they were being stared at by a Marine Commodore?

Even Hawkeye Mihawk felt disgusted.

The hot-tempered Lyme Jones immediately started cursing: "I'll %%@$!!

Red-haired Shanks stood up, his face grim as he looked at Xia Zuo: "Commodore, are you determined to fight us?"

Xia Zuo nodded: "Yes, you can't escape this battle today."

Red-Haired Shanks felt a toothache, but still placed his hand on the hilt of his sword: "Your attitude is truly resolute. What gives you such courage?"

"So it was you who discovered that my Observation Haki has a flaw, preventing me from detecting you at greater distances?"

"But I think 4000 meters is enough for me to react in time."

"Furthermore, without Borsalino or Garp today, you actually dare to challenge so many pirates all by yourself?"

Xia Zuo grinned: "Red-haired Shanks, I actually quite like you, but sometimes I find your confidence rather annoying."

"Especially now, you make me feel even more annoyed."

"So, I'm telling you two things today: First, 4000 meters isn't enough to protect you!"

boom--!

Xia Zuo stomped on the seawater beneath his feet, and combined his flight ability with the pull of electromagnetic force, instantly appearing 30 meters in front of the red-haired man as if by teleportation.

Red-haired Shanks had already drawn his sword with utmost seriousness, red Conqueror's Haki coiling around the blade as he unleashed his full power with [Divine Evasion].

Clearly, he had anticipated Xia Zuo's attack and prepared accordingly.

Two years have passed, and Shazam's strength has improved rapidly, as has Shanks'.

Not only has the number of the pirate crew's officers nearly doubled, but their swordsmanship has also made great progress, with their sword technique "Divine Evasion" reaching a level of consummate skill.

While it may not appear as powerful as it was two years ago, it is actually because it has better control over its power, preventing it from being released carelessly when hitting the enemy and thus avoiding wasting its strength.

Shanks has made great progress, but Shazam's improvement is even more exaggerated.

Two years ago, he had to go all out and use every means at his disposal to block the novice [Divine Avoidance].

Now, facing an even more powerful version of the same move, Xia Zuo simply swung his right fist and held on firmly.

He even had the strength to quell the huge shockwaves and tremors caused by the collision between the two.

At some point, Hawkeye Mihawk appeared beside Shanks, having already drawn his greatsword "Night" and pointed the tip at Shazam.

Xia Zuo laughed: "It seems your banquet can't continue. Why don't we have a fight now?"

"The battle is over. I'm going back to my base. You can continue your banquet."

"Is it alright?"

Before Shanks could say anything, Mihawk had already flipped his greatsword "Night" and swung it high upwards, unleashing a "Flying Slash" that only a master swordsman could master.

A magnificent sword aura shot out, slashing towards Xia Zuo.

Xia Zuo didn't feel any pressure.

He opened his left hand, each of his five fingers forming a cleaving fist technique energy of the Southern Dipper Sacred Fist, meeting the flying slash head-on without showing any weakness.

The massive sword energy collided with the palm, but the sword energy was actually shattered by the left hand.

Mihawk's sharp eyes flashed, instantly filled with a fighting spirit.

He crossed the Calm Belt this time because he heard that Shanks often appeared in the East Blue, so he came specifically to find him for a sparring match.

Who knew that after finally finding him, they would discover that Shanks' left hand was severed.

As a swordsman, losing an arm means you have to relearn all your balance, power techniques, and combat skills.

Even though Shanks is right-handed, his strength will inevitably decline significantly in a short period of time, and he may even develop a fatal weakness.

Mihawk's desire to duel vanished instantly, and he could only follow Shanks' suggestion to attend a banquet for which he had absolutely no idea what to do.

Now he discovered that Xia Zuo's strength was so great, and the techniques he used with his left hand were unheard of.

Mihawk, eager to seize the opportunity, unleashed his suppressed fighting spirit, and his aura exploded accordingly. His powerful and terrifying Armament Haki wrapped around the blade of the black sword "Night".