I, Uchiha Hikaru, have joined the chat group.

Chapter 318 Red Hair: Captain Bulma must be very strong, right?

Uchiha Hikaru carefully examined Esdeath from head to toe.

indeed.

The way this military princess looks now is very similar to when she first awakened her "Fire and Thunder God"—which was also the time when she first encountered Esdeath in the world of Akame ga Kill!, fought her, and defeated her. It seems there's a connection between these two events.

"It seems you still remember what happened back then..."

"Well, anyway, congratulations, Ai. You're the first person on this ship to awaken 'Conqueror's Haki'."

Uchiha Hikaru said softly.

To be precise, what Esdeath just used wasn't true "Conqueror's Haki," but rather a technique called "Explosive Aura," which utilizes the principles of Conqueror's Haki and forms a "ki" effect from the Dragon Ball world. However, because the principles are similar and their properties are very close, even natives of the One Piece world like Shanks couldn't distinguish the subtle differences.

Or even if they figure it out, they won't think in that direction.

—A group of "space travelers" from another world—that does sound a bit unbelievable.

"Oh."

"Don't tell me you haven't mastered that technique yet. I'm really looking forward to seeing what your 'Conqueror's Haki' will look like when it's unleashed."

Esdeath looked into Uchiha Hikaru's eyes, met her gaze for a few seconds, smiled slightly, and then let out a soft breath.

With this movement, the fierce aura emanating from her gradually subsided, and the swirling flames around her disappeared into her body, returning her to her usual state.

the other side.

Bulma seemed to just realize what was happening. She glanced hesitantly at Esdeath, then looked up at the red-haired girl who had just picked up "Griffin" and was walking towards the shore. She raised her hand and asked, "Um... I wanted to confirm, Miss Esdeath won just now, right?"

"Yes."

Uchiha Hikaru nodded.

"Yay!"

Bulma clapped her hands excitedly: "Now, we should be able to make a name for ourselves on this sea, right? After all, we defeated Shanks in front of everyone, using his best swordsmanship and 'Conqueror's Haki'... As expected of Miss Aiolia, our 'Dimensional Pirates' are truly amazing!"

"Ahem... I remember Shanks' bounty is 46 billion. Since we were able to defeat him, our bounty should be at least 40 billion, right?"

"...That's not how it's calculated."

Uchiha Hikaru chuckled: "Don't forget, Luffy's bounty was only 30 billion after he defeated Kaido... Besides, we've only been in this world for a short time and have no dealings with the Navy. They might even think we're throwing a fight with Shanks to increase our bounty."

It wouldn't be difficult to put one's image on the world government's bounty list—

Just one raid on "Heavenly Gold" guarantees a bounty of hundreds of millions of Berries.

However, if it were in the Holy Land of Mary Geoise, one could publicly beat up a Celestial Dragon, or even eliminate a whole group of them...

Only then will the name "Dimensional Pirates" truly spread throughout the seas, becoming an existence that makes the World Government tremble.

"No rush, let's play around with them."

the other side.

Redhead finally returned to Beckman and the others, and explained a few things to them.

It's clear that, apart from Beckman, whose strength is close to Shanks', the rest of the Red-Haired Pirates don't really believe he lost. Even though Shanks himself gave a positive answer, they were still somewhat skeptical, thinking he was deliberately letting him win and being modest towards his "junior."

—In fact, the one who truly yielded was Esdeath, since she didn't even use her ultimate move, "Makappo."

In theory, even if Shanks could use Observation Haki to foresee this move, he wouldn't be able to dodge it. At most, he could use "Entanglement" to wrap his entire body so that he wouldn't be instantly killed by Esdeath when she froze time and space. But there was absolutely no way he could turn the tables and kill her.

And now.

Shanks accepted the defeat with composure.

After calming the crew, he and Whitebeard walked towards Uchiha Hikaru and the others.

"Miss Esdeath's strength is indeed extraordinary; no wonder Whitebeard praised her so highly. I admire her greatly."

"Oh."

Esdeath curled her lips into a cold smile, a smile different from the one she wore when facing Uchiha Hikaru: "Your strength is not bad, but it's still far inferior to Hikaru's, not enough to make me go all out. I hope you'll have improved by the time we spar again."

"Oh?"

Shanks looked at Uchiha Hikaru: "Uchiha vice-captain, you are indeed a strong person. I hope to have the opportunity to learn a thing or two from you."

"And Captain Bulma."

"To be able to gather so many powerful crew members on one ship, your magnanimity and strength must be extraordinary. Perhaps before long, your fleet will become famous throughout the seas, becoming the fifth Emperor of the Sea, or even a pirate crew that surpasses the Emperor level, just like Roger did back then."

"...Huh? Me?"

Bulma paused for a moment, then pointed to her own nose.

Uchiha Hikaru glanced at the blue-haired girl's expression and found it amusing.

Also.

What Shanks said reflects the normal way of thinking in the world of One Piece. Those who hold high positions in this world, whether in the Navy or among pirates, possess considerable strength. And examples of crew members being stronger than their captains are virtually nonexistent, even if you searched the entire ocean.

At this moment, Bulma hesitated, somewhat embarrassed to admit that she actually didn't know any Haki and that any random Marine soldier could kill her.

"...I originally came here to persuade Whitebeard to stop Ace from continuing to hunt Blackbeard."

"But now it seems I was overthinking it. With you all acting as Ace's friends, even if he's captured by the Marines, he should be able to be rescued successfully."

"If you need any help at that time, please feel free to contact me."

The redhead continued.

He had no intention of staying to get involved in the matter.

Hikaru Uchiha also had no intention of inviting him to participate in the "Marineford War".

As a descendant of the Celestial Dragons, Shanks' role on this sea is more akin to that of a mediator. He might intervene out of friendship when the Whitebeard Pirates are on the verge of being wiped out by the Navy, but expecting him to join in declaring war on the World Government is highly unlikely.

"Oh, right."

The red-haired man seemed to remember something, and suddenly stopped in his tracks, turning back to look at Uchiha Hikaru: "You guys were just discussing 'Heavenly Gold', right?"

"I do know a little bit about this, and I can share it with you..."

(End of this chapter)