Pirate: I'm about to do something big!

God, beware!

Crescent Moon Sky Piercing!

On the sea, two blade-shaped shockwaves, one horizontal and one vertical, were released from the swords in Shanks' and Alyosha's hands.

Shanks' God Evasion is a slash that is released by incorporating his Conqueror's Haki into compressed air; its core lies in its mechanism.

Alyosha's Crescent Moon Slash is a pure slash of life energy mixed with Armament Haki compressed into the air; it's purely numerical.

The slashes, a result of both mechanics and numerical values, remained locked in a stalemate on the sea surface.

The waves surged higher and higher, relentlessly crashing against the ships moored in the harbor.

It wasn't until then that the core members of the Red-Haired Pirates and the marines on the warship belatedly realized that they were drawn to the battle between Alyosha and Shanks.

Watching the two engage in a power struggle across the sea, using the slashes of their swords to strike each other.

Both sides simultaneously revealed expressions of anticipation, as if watching a good show.

"That's great! We finally see the captain serious again!"

"Look closely, Privates! This is our Commander Alyosha Shanks, hailed by the Marine Headquarters as a man who can rival Vice Admiral Akainu, Vice Admiral Aokiji, and Vice Admiral Kizaru. Only a powerful figure like Shanks deserves Commander Alyosha's full attention!"

Even without Smoker's loud reminder, the decks of the three warships Alyosha led were already densely packed with trainee marines.

As marines under the command of the Navy Headquarters, and specifically under the command of Chief Instructor Zephyr, they had naturally heard various rumors about Alyosha.

He possesses strength comparable to the three members of the Red, Blue, and Yellow trio without relying on Devil Fruits.

Every time he led his troops to sea in the New World, he was able to defeat a sizable pirate crew. Impel Down prison was filled with serious criminals that Alyosha had captured.

However, despite the legends, they never actually witnessed Alyosha demonstrate his strength.

Even when inquiring among veterans, one rarely hears a comprehensive description of Alyosha's display of his strength.

Most of the attacks were initiated by Alyosa, who then gave his victory speech.

There was no earth-shattering battle; everything seemed as simple as a natural outcome leading to victory.

It wasn't until here, on the coast of the Goa Kingdom in the East Sea, a place known as the weakest sea area, that they witnessed Alyosha unleashing his full power.

Two black slashes, one vertical and one horizontal, intertwined on the sea like two insurmountable barriers.

The impact of the struggle transformed into waves, one higher than the next, relentlessly crashing against the ships along the shore, making everyone standing on the deck watching this deadly battle unsteady on their feet.

Even Luffy and his two companions, who had arrived at the port, were stunned by what they saw.

The scene of Alyosha fighting Shanks will also become the source of motivation for these three little ones to set sail!

Click!

In the clash of blows between the two, it was neither Alyosha nor Shanks who succumbed first, but rather the wooden sword in Alyosha's hand.

The wooden sword, imbued with Armament Haki by Alyosha, was already overburdened and riddled with cracks.

As Alyosha's wooden sword shattered, Shanks' Divine Evasion overwhelmed Alyosha's Crescent Moon Strike.

The compressed air shockwave created a massive wave that slammed Alyosha down from the sky.

Seeing this, the marines on the warship looked incredulous, but Smoker and Tina, who had worked with Alyosha for many years, remained calm and composed.

The female adjutant, Dol, who went to contact the royal family of the Kingdom of Goa and obtained detailed information about Sabo, immediately showed a lovesick look as she gazed at Alyosha, who stood firm on the reef despite the waves crashing against the shore.

"Finally, we can see Commander Alyosha's true heroic figure again!"

"Dol, watch your image. You're an adjutant now. But you two newbies are really lucky. Just watch, this is the true demeanor of your senior, Alyosha Ran."

Smoker was a little uncomfortable with Dol's infatuated look and offered a word of advice, but seeing the puzzled expressions on Binz and Ain's faces, he still kindly offered a reminder.

On the reef, Shanks held his long sword and kept his distance from Alyosha, fully aware of the power of his "Divine Evasion" technique.

After its struggle with Alyosha's Crescent Moon Strike, its power was reduced to less than one-tenth, and even if it landed on Alyosha, it would not cause any serious injury.

Moreover, Alyosha only gained the upper hand because his wooden sword broke under the strain.

But as the one closest to Alyosha, Shanks clearly saw that the knife in Alyosha's hand was not broken.

Or rather, the broken wooden blade was just a disguise; the wooden sword in Alyosha's hand was a genuine sword from the beginning, only disguised by Alyosha using wood.

As the wooden blade shattered under the strain of the struggle, it finally revealed its true form to Shanks.

A straight knife with a blade 1.2 meters long.

Judging from the material of the blade, it is a well-made, fast sword, but it is far from being a supreme, great sword or a famous sword, meaning it was not made by any famous swordsmith.

Nearly half of the blade is covered by deep black stripes.

Shanks understood immediately upon seeing the deep black stripes on the blade of the knife in Alyosha's hand.

"Is Mr. Ran a black swordsman?"

"Swordsman? No, no, no, I just think it's too expensive to spend tens of millions of Berries to buy a great sword. Since I have mastered Armament Haki, why not use Armament Haki to temper my sword into a black sword?"

Regarding swordsmen and famous swords, I tend to think that a famous sword becomes renowned because of what its wielder did, not because it is a famous sword. Don't you agree? Shanks?

Alyosha looked at the long sword in Shanks' hand. Shanks' sword, like Alyosha's, was not a famous sword, but a black sword that had been forged and tempered by high-intensity Armament Haki over many years.

Its sharpness is comparable to that of Hawkeye, who carries the Supreme Grade Sword, the Black Blade Yoru.

"I just didn't expect that there would be someone else doing the same thing as me."

In response to Shanks's sentiments, Alyosha wanted to say that if he had a choice, he would definitely want to get a good sword too. Back when he first joined the Navy, his salary wasn't enough, and his strength was still developing, so he just bought a good sword in Marineford.

Later, after I learned Armament Haki and Observation Haki, I became too lazy to buy any more and just kept practicing like this.

Once the tempering was nearly complete, he specially covered his sword with a layer of wood and nurtured it day and night with Armament Haki. This perfectly matched the persona he cultivated, and when fighting pirates, the fact that he was carrying a wooden sword would make them lower their guard.

Only a powerful seafarer like Shanks, who is born with Conqueror's Haki, can activate his second form.

"Alright, it's time to end this mutual probing. Shanks, you are indeed a very strong opponent, so I will also give it my all, and I hope you will too."

As he spoke, Alyosha took off the black-rimmed glasses he used for disguise and crushed them.

He casually swept up his brown, tousled hair, which was wet from the seawater, and flicked it back. The seawater acted like hairspray, instantly transforming Alyosha's hairstyle into a slicked-back look, with only a single strand of hair resting on his forehead.

His face was expressionless, and his eyes were only on Shanks, his opponent.

The next moment, Shanks raised his sword to parry, and a crescent moon slash appeared in front of him. The shockwave from the slash sent Shanks flying into the sea, where he glided across the water for dozens of meters without being able to stop the momentum of the impact.

As Shanks adjusted his position in mid-air, he swung his sword at the sea behind him, barely managing to stop the attack with his own slash.

When he turned around, countless afterimages of Alyosha were already visible on the sea.

Paper painting·afterimage!

Hundreds upon hundreds of Alyosha's afterimages filled the sea, surrounding Shanks and raising their blades toward Shanks at the center of the encirclement. Real and illusory shockwaves converged at the tips of the blades raised by Alyosha and the numerous afterimages!

Conqueror's Haki Entanglement - Sight and Sound Kill!

Faced with such a critical situation, Shanks remained calm and released a Conqueror's Haki shockwave in a circular motion, affecting every afterimage of Alyosha that appeared on the sea surface.

This is another clever use of Shanks' Conqueror's Haki.

His Conqueror's Haki can be enhanced by his Observation Haki, allowing him to foresee the future to a certain extent and to precisely intimidate opponents from an extremely long distance using Observation Haki. It can forcibly interrupt the casting animation of some powerful attacks. Against Shanks, whose Conqueror's Haki and Observation Haki are combined with stats and mechanics, illusions are of very little use.

At the end of the Wano Country arc, Shanks used this move to precisely intimidate Green Bull, the new Marine Admiral after Akainu was promoted to Fleet Admiral, across most of Wano Country, making him flee without daring to utter a single harsh word.

It's a pity that the hard work of Red, Blue, and Yellow in achieving the same rank as the Emperor has been dragged down by Green Bull.

The same was true at this moment. The afterimage released by Alyosha shattered like a bubble under Shanks' Conqueror's Haki Entanglement: Observation Kill Attack, and Alyosha's Finger Pistol Shockwave was also interrupted.

After interrupting Alyosha's charged attack, Shanks did not attack directly. Instead, he quickly ran to his main ship, adjusted his position, and placed his feet on the ship's side.

Sheathing his sword and stepping onto the ship's side with such force that Shanks' flagship, the Red Voss, tilted to an angle that almost capsized.

Using the main ship beneath his feet as a springboard, Shanks launched himself and flew straight toward Alyosha, who was standing on the sea.

The Conqueror's Haki on his body solidified, almost transforming into a griffin that could be seen with the naked eye.

This is his all-out attack, "Divine Evasion"!

Alyosha was not surprised but delighted. He also sheathed his sword. With Alyosha's breath, the life energy of the sky, the sea, the land, and every living thing, every drop of seawater, every bit of air, and every grain of soil gathered in the sword in his hand.

It remains dormant and does not erupt.

God, beware!

cut!

This is Alyosha's own technique. It's not some Crescent Moon Slash, nor is it any other classic tribute technique. It's a condensation of everything Alyosha experienced and recorded in the pirate world where he lived for twenty-seven years, as well as everything he wanted to do for this world.

He will use the knife in his hand to cleave open a truly new world!

Therefore, this strike can be summed up in one word: slash!

Their attacks struck at the moment of contact, and they passed each other.

Crimson blood appeared on Alyosha's chest; this was the only wound left on Alyosha by Shanks' all-out attack, "God's Evasion."

Shanks, on the other hand, paid the price of losing an arm and was unable to fall into the sea.

This was a contest in which neither side held back at all.

Shanks used Alyosha to cut off his left arm in a life-or-death battle. Alyosha fulfilled Shanks' request, which also proved that in this life-or-death battle, Alyosha was absolutely confident of defeating Shanks.

Shanks' severed arm tumbled in the air before Alyosha caught it with his outstretched hand.

Alyosha sheathed his sword and examined Shanks' severed arm. On Shanks' left arm, which was covered by a long sleeve, Alyosha saw a mark.

This was a mark he had never seen before, but he could sense a powerful, malevolent life energy emanating from it.

Even though it had been severed by Alyosha, the life energy contained in the mark did not dissipate. In Alyosha's perception, it seemed to resonate with the edge of the endless sea.

Alyosha, holding Shanks' severed arm, walked step by step to Shanks, who was lying on his back on the sea.

Despite having his arm severed by Alyosha, the man showed no sign of defeat; instead, he displayed an expression of relief.

"Looks like you've tricked me, Shanks."

"That's not the case. I really want to know just how strong you are, Mr. Ran. After all, you are a man who is on par with the three vice admirals, Akagi, Ao, and Gi. But it seems that no one in the New World has ever seen you go all out. I was completely defeated by you just now."

"Can you tell me why? About this arm, are you being watched? Who?"

"Given Mr. Ran's current position, I think it's best not to be so curious. However, I believe I can make a trade with Mr. Ran using my arm."

"So you're being monitored by the World Government—no, by the Celestial Dragons' higher-ups, Shanks? What do you want to trade?"

"One promise: not to interfere with Luffy and his crew's lives."

"As I said before, I never intended to interfere with their lives. Whether they want to be a feared pirate, a marine who upholds justice at sea, or a real adventure, it is their own choice. As their teacher, I will only teach them what a pirate is, what a righteous marine is, and what an adventure is. If they insist on becoming a wicked pirate, then I will personally send them on their way. It's that simple."

"Is that so? It seems I was just being presumptuous."

Alyosha pulled Shanks from the sea, and life energy gathered at the site of Shanks' severed arm, stopping the bleeding.

This is another clever use of his cheat code; if he wanted to, he could reattach Shanks' left arm right now, since it was just cut off anyway.

However, given that the mark on his left arm cannot be erased, this would only bring Shanks back under the World Government's surveillance.

Now, he finally understood why someone as strong as Shanks would have his left arm bitten off by a sea monster in the East Blue—it was because he had escaped the surveillance of the powerful figures from the World Government.

Yes, that's how it should be.

No matter what, they are Celestial Dragons, nobles who have ruled this world for eight hundred years. If they were all bloated and fat, they would have been stormed into the Holy Land of Mary Geoise by a group of powerful figures long ago. Putting aside everything else, given Sengoku and Garp's style, they would never tolerate a bunch of good-for-nothings riding on their heads and ordering them around.

"We won! Commander Alyosha won!"

On the warship, the marines watched as Alyosha helped the one-armed Shanks, and they understood the outcome of this battle.

Alyosha waved to the cheering marines on deck before leading Shanks to his main ship.

The crew members also gathered around, but Shanks raised his hand to stop them.

"It's alright, Mr. Ran has stopped the bleeding, I'm finally relieved."

Alyosha also noticed Jesus B., the lookout on Shanks' ship.

"Your name is Jesus Bu, right?"

"What do you want to do?"

"It's nothing, just a reminder. As a man with a wife and children, abandoning them and setting sail without a word, you truly are a very responsible pirate. Shanks and Ace are right there; go and say whatever you want to them."

Alyosha didn't say much. He looked down on Jesus B., who was a heartless man who abandoned his wife and children, even when he used the so-called dream as an excuse.

After giving Shanks some instructions, Alyosha arrived at the dock, picked up Luffy and Sabo without saying a word, and left Shanks, who followed later, alone.

With his left arm no longer restrained, Shanks was finally able to walk up to Ace. Looking at Ace's face, which was so similar to Roger's when he was young, Shanks finally spoke.

"Hello, Ace, my name is Shanks. Before you were born, I was a crew member of Captain Roger."