Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

"Thank you for your hospitality. I will come to visit again in the near future. Please reserve some drinks and a delicious meal for me and my bodyguard then."

Yes, yes.

Faced with Alyosha's gentle words, the proprietress, Makino, stood at the tavern entrance and watched Alyosha leave with Aaron.

Shanks stood aside, watching his beloved Alyosha's bewitching appearance, and suddenly felt that he might as well leave Windmill Village behind.

"Haha, the captain's heart is broken."

"You've really had a tough year, Captain."

Noticing Shanks' defeated expression, several core crew members laughed gleefully and even joked about the relationship between Shanks and Makino.

When the crew exposed the secret between the two of them after nearly a year of getting along, Makino screamed and ran away covering her face.

Shanks was also embarrassed and roared at his crew.

"You lot, at least try to watch your manners! You bastards!"

"Then you'll have to work hard too, Captain! Hahaha!"

The tavern was filled with a cheerful atmosphere, but ten-year-old Luffy, watching the adults laughing heartily, had no idea what was going on.

"Shanks, this guy doesn't seem like he's just a teacher."

After a burst of laughter, Ben Beckman, the vice-captain of the Red-Haired Pirates, walked up to Shanks with a cigarette in his mouth, looked in the direction Alyosha had left, and gave him a warning.

"Of course it's not that simple. A remarkable person has arrived. Mr. Garp has really gone to great lengths. Well, who isn't?"

Shanks adjusted his straw hat and looked back at Luffy, who had already put his head into the fish tank in the tavern.

Seeing Luffy's neck stretch out, his head sink limply to the bottom, and his body soften like noodles, they were also greatly shocked.

"Luffy!!!"

On the way back.

"As expected of Shanks, just sitting across from me makes me feel incredibly pressured."

Alyosha recalled his verbal exchange with Shanks earlier; although it was just a simple greeting, it was also a clash of wills between them.

This simple clash of auras convinced Alyosha that Shanks was exceptionally strong. No wonder he later became one of the Four Emperors, able to hold his own against Whitebeard, who had eaten the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, with just one arm.

Without having eaten a Devil Fruit, he faced a veteran Sea Emperor who possessed all three types of Haki and the strongest Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, capable of initiating earthquakes and tsunamis with ease.

Even with illness and the loss of peak performance, just look at the war against the Whitebeard Pirates at Marineford to see the difference.

With the three great generals of Red, Blue, and Yellow all appearing, the Warring States Marshal in command, and countless ambushes, they still had to sacrifice the entire Marineford to be utterly devastated before they could barely achieve their strategic objectives.

Even someone with such a white beard wouldn't dare say he could defeat Shanks, who hasn't eaten a Devil Fruit and only relies on his three types of Haki and one arm.

Shanks' arms are currently intact. Although he hasn't reached his peak condition to become one of the Four Emperors, he's not an opponent that can be easily dealt with by a Vice Admiral or Major Admiral. Even if one of the Red, Blue, or Yellow Kings is sent, he can still run away.

So how could Shanks, at his level, possibly have his arm bitten off by a sea monster near the shore while saving a drowning Luffy?

Shanks didn't eat a Devil Fruit, so there's no possibility of him drowning. For a powerful figure like him who has ventured into the New World, this kind of sea battle is commonplace.

Can't handle a marine mammal? Sea Kings are like sashimi to Shanks!

Unless, unless the other party did it on purpose!

Is it because they saw Luffy eat the Nika Fruit and become Nika, the sun god destined to create a new era, that they used this method to encourage Luffy's determination to set sail?

Isn't that unnecessary? Wouldn't firing a shot at Saab be better than anything else?

There's a problem! There must be a problem!

Alyosha walked ahead, pondering why Shanks would deliberately let the Lord of the Coast, a sea monster, bite off his arm, completely ignoring the shouts and cries of the fishman Arlong behind him.

"Hey! Where are you headed, Navy?"

Noticing the seawater beneath his feet, Alyosha snapped out of his thoughts and looked apologetic.

"Sorry, I was lost in thought just now. Now, please, Mr. Arlong, the fishman who is ten times stronger than humans by nature."

Alyosha looked at the empty sea and belatedly realized that he hadn't tied the reins when they landed. He pointed to the sea and then to the fishman Arlong, the meaning of which was self-evident.

The windmill village is located near a small island.

Smoker and his crew were directing the marines in the camp to start a fire and cook when they saw a line of water rapidly approaching them on the sea.

As the distance closed, they saw Alyosha standing motionless on the back of the fish-man Arlong.

He let the fishman Arlong beneath his feet carry him as he sailed through the sea.

"What a novel way of sailing! I really envy you."

"You and Tina both ate Devil Fruits, so don't try my tricks. How are the recruits doing?"

"So-so, did you see the person?"

"I met him, and even had a meal with Shanks. He was much easier to talk to than I expected."

Alyosha's tone was calm, as if he were talking about something insignificant, but it made Smoker, who always had a serious face, twitch with embarrassment.

"However, I really don't understand why Shanks and his core crew have stayed in this small fishing village for almost a year, so I plan to take Mr. Arlong to Windmill Village again in a few days to meet Shanks and his unfriendly group."

"Tina, do you think it's possible that Alyosha is the one who came?"

Tina carefully considered Alyosha's words and revised them accordingly.

"Really? That's quite unfortunate."

"So what are we going to do these next few days?"

"What else can we do? We can do what we love to do most."

"Suppressing bandits?"

"That's right~"

A few days later, in Windmill Village.

The scene of bandits causing trouble in the nearby mountains played out again, this time taking advantage of the timing when Shanks and his crew went out to sea to fish.

Luffy, enraged by the insults and verbal abuse he received from the bandits in the tavern, has now gotten himself into a crisis.

Just as the mayor was about to use the ransom to save Luffy, Shanks and his crew, who had just returned from the sea, ran into them.

Just as the two sides were bargaining over Luffy, the protagonist destined for greatness, Alyosha appeared with the fishman Arlong.

"Hello, Miss Makino, I'm here again. Hmm? What's going on here?"

Alyosha's acting was excellent; he perfectly portrayed a bystander who had inadvertently stumbled into the trouble.

Arlong, the fishman who was acting as Luffy's bodyguard behind him, felt a surge of satisfaction as he watched Luffy being trampled underfoot by the bandit leader.

"Hmph, brat, now you know how weak you are, don't you? Don't think that eating a Devil Fruit will make you a powerful figure at sea. You're not qualified!"

"Oh my, this village is really lively! I've seen you before, who are you?"

The bandit leader was annoyed by the uninvited guests who kept interrupting him, but he was also wary of the fishman Arlong behind Alyosha, who seemed harmless.

"I'm just a teacher here to instruct students, don't worry about me."

"Mr. Ran! It's dangerous here, please leave immediately!"

When the owner of the party bar saw Alyosha appear, she, unaware of Shanks and Alyosha's true identities and strength, loudly advised Alyosha to stay away.

"Shut up, woman! Women have no right to talk to old men here. You're a teacher, so you can teach this freak what respect is."

Taking advantage of their numbers, the bandit leader began to threaten Alyosha, and several of his oblivious henchmen also drew their flintlock pistols and pointed them at Alyosha and the fishman Arlong.

"So who are you?"

"I'm Higuma, the leader of the East Blue bandits with a bounty of 800,000 Berries! You'd better do as I say!"

Alyosha held firm, but Arlong the fishman couldn't.

Arlong couldn't hold back, and neither could Shanks' core crew, leaving the bandit leader Sig and his underlings completely bewildered.

"Hey, you monster, what are you laughing at?"

"It's nothing, I was just thinking about something happy."

"What's so happy about it?"

"One of my fish used to be worth 800,000 berries."

"Haha, the piece of meat I'm eating right now probably sells for 800,000 Berries."

Lucky Rudd, the cook among Shanks' core crew, wore a pirate bandana and goggles, and was always eating meat. Even in this critical moment, he was still gnawing on meat. He waved the big meat bone in his hand and chimed in.

"Damn it, you're messing with me? Kill this brat!"

The bandit leader understood perfectly well that both groups were mocking his bounty amount, and in his rage, he ordered his men to shoot Luffy.

Just then, a dazzling signal flare exploded in the air, attracting their attention.

The signal flare was directed towards the bandit leader's stronghold.

A bandit covered in wounds ran from the village entrance, shouting for help.

"Boss Sig, marines, a lot of marines have wiped out our stronghold!"

"What?"

Just as the bandit leader was stunned by this sudden news, Alyosha turned around and looked at the fishman Arlong behind him.

"Mr. Alon, please, show me your fish-like physique, which is ten times stronger than a human's."

"To live or to die?"

"Of course he has to be alive. Arlong, a fishman who is ten times stronger than humans by nature, surely he can do something like this."

"Hmph, don't underestimate Grandpa Ah Long."

Arlong the fishman seemed to enjoy Alyosha's provocation. He walked past Alyosha and headed towards the bandits who were panicked by the news.

"Hey! You monster, what are you doing?"

Upon seeing the tall fishman, Ah Long, approaching them, even a tense bandit couldn't help but fire his gun.

Gunshots rang out.

The flintlock bullets struck Ah Long's body, but couldn't even penetrate his defenses, leaving only charred marks that could be wiped away easily.

"Lucky guys, you've escaped with your lives."

Ignoring the gunshot wounds on his body, Ah Long flashed a bright white smile at the group of unsophisticated bandits.

In less than a minute, Arlong stood still, picked up Luffy who had just been trampled under his feet, and threw him toward Alyosha.

At his feet lay a mass of bandits, brutally beaten and unconscious.

Alyosha, holding the somewhat resistant Luffy, also greeted Shanks, who was standing nearby.

"You're welcome, Mr. Pirate. Consider this a return gift for the drinks you treated me to earlier."