Chapter 912 - 912: Do You Dare Draw Your Sword?

[Sabaody Archipelago, Island No. 1]

The air was filled with the faintly sweet smell unique to resin, and huge transparent bubbles reflected colorful halos under the sunlight before bursting with a pop in midair.

The streets here were noisy and chaotic, filled with the clamor of the slave market.

Just as Shanks and the others stood on the street, criticizing the laborers being treated as commodities in the bustling market and voicing their dissatisfaction, Robin, who was walking at the edge of the group, suddenly froze without warning.

It was a fear response that went deep into her bones.

Robin's pupils instantly contracted to the size of pinpoints, and a fine layer of cold sweat appeared on her forehead. She did not even have time to issue a warning, and even her breathing seemed to have been firmly choked off by an invisible giant hand.

Seeing Robin stop like a statue, her entire body trembling slightly, the others had no idea what was happening.

The Straw Hat crew and the remnants of the Red-Haired Pirates instinctively followed her fear-filled gaze toward the street corner ahead.

At that moment, the air seemed to freeze.

The expressions of everyone present changed drastically the instant they saw the people approaching, as though facing a great enemy.

Of everyone present, only Crocodile narrowed his eyes slightly, a cigar between his teeth, his expression carrying a hint of inquiry and confusion.

Passing through the bustling crowd ahead, a group of one man and three women was walking toward them.

The laborers and buyers around them seemed to be repelled by some invisible aura and subconsciously made way for them, opening up a spacious path.

The man walking in the center was tall and upright, wearing a finely tailored black suit with gold trim, his steps calm and unhurried.

With just one glance, one could feel an absolute nobility and arrogance that stood above all living beings, as though he were inspecting not Sabaody, which was filled with laborers, but his own backyard.

Of the three women leaning close to the man, two were casually held in his arms.

One had silver hair, and the other had black hair.

Their clothing was proper and not at all revealing, but the way their clothes fitted around them outlined astonishing curves with their every movement, and their entire bodies gave off a mature charm that drew people's attention.

However, mere attractive appearances, and even that extraordinary man, were still not enough to make the unruly Crocodile devote his full attention to them.

From beginning to end, his gaze remained fixed on the female guard behind the man.

She was an extremely slender woman, her height seemingly close to an astonishing three meters.

She wore seemingly ordinary casual clothing, her jet-black long hair hanging down to her waist like a waterfall, with a long sword casually hanging at her waist.

She walked half a step behind the man, her eyelids lowered, concealing all her emotions.

But with just one glance at her, Crocodile involuntarily tilted his head slightly.

He had the illusion that both his eyes were stinging, as though they had been instantly pierced through by an invisible sharp sword.

He clenched his teeth, knowing that this was absolutely not an illusion, but rather his Observation Haki frantically sounding the alarm.

More than Twenty years ago, at Loguetown Square. At that time, Crocodile had only just gone out to sea and was still a rookie who had barely set out.

As he looked up from below at the Pirate King Roger, who was about to be executed, the other man's body, despite being restrained with Seastone, still radiated this same sharpness that seemed capable of cleaving open the heavens.

Afterward, he entered the Grand Line with ambition in his heart and endured countless trials of blood and fire.

Even when he later went to challenge Whitebeard, even when Whitebeard had defeated him in a single move at the time, he had never again felt the sensation he had experienced in Loguetown that year.

He never expected that more than ten years later, that feeling would return.

By now, there should have been no one who could give him this feeling.

'Just who is this woman...'

'Are they the true monsters in the World Government who have reached S-rank?'

Just as Crocodile bit down on his cigar, feeling waves of terror and secret alarm in his heart, a deafening roar suddenly erupted beside him.

"AAAAAAH! It's you bastards!"

Luffy's eyes instantly filled with blood vessels. He roared, the muscles in his legs tensing as his arms already assumed an attacking stance, and he was about to charge forward and fight without regard for anything.

But before he could charge even half a step, a powerful hand reached out from the side, grabbed his shoulder tightly, and yanked his entire body back.

It was Shanks.

The face that usually wore a bright smile was now so gloomy that it seemed as though water could drip from it.

"You shouldn't be here at a time like this, should you, Rosse!"

Shanks stared fixedly at the man before him, his voice terrifyingly hoarse. The hands that belonged to Rayleigh were covered in bulging veins, while murderous intent and furious humiliation that almost seemed tangible surged in his eyes.

As for Makino beside Rosse, Shanks had already forced himself to ignore her completely.

He did not dare let his gaze linger on her for even a second.

Ever since Makino had represented Rosse and the World Government as a negotiator last time, attempting to destroy their fighting spirit, Shanks had known that she was no longer the Makino in his heart who had a warm smile and liked to hand him a glass of rum at the bar in Foosha Village.

Or rather, in this cruel world, the Makino he had loved had long since been murdered by reality.

Hearing Shanks's voice, Makino's original posture of leaning against Rosse's shoulder paused slightly.

She opened her mouth, her gaze sweeping over Luffy's furious face before falling onto the haggard Shanks, who looked like a trapped beast. She seemed to want to persuade him about something again.

But in the end, her lips trembled a few times, and she said nothing.

Her original intention had really been very simple.

She only wanted these two people who were extremely important to her to survive.

Even if they became like walking corpses, even if they lost their dignity.

At least Hongo and Beckman, who had chosen to compromise, were doing quite well somewhere else now, weren't they?

As long as a person was alive, there would always be hope. No matter what, it was still better than becoming an unnoticed skeleton on this sea.

But looking at the murderous look in Shanks's eyes and Luffy's appearance of refusing to submit even at the cost of death, Makino sighed bitterly in her heart.

She knew that this attempt at persuasion would most likely still have no effect.

'So, forget it.'

The fact that she had appeared here again today in this manner, leaning in Rosse's arms, was already a way of making her position and choice clear to Shanks.

She knew that with Shanks's intelligence, he would certainly understand what she meant.

Makino slowly closed her eyes, like an ostrich avoiding reality, and leaned even more obediently into Rosse's broad embrace.

Last time, she had already said everything she could say and made every effort she could possibly make.

This time, when she heard that they had arrived at Sabaody, she had originally thought that after experiencing the cruel reality, Shanks's naive ideas would have changed somewhat.

But unexpectedly, he still could not understand.

Since he could not understand, the only thing she could do now was use her own obedience to appease Rosse, preventing Rosse from being led to a premature end because of the foolish actions Shanks and Luffy were bound to take next.

Feeling the softness and obedience of the woman in his arms, the corners of Rosse's mouth curled into a pleased arc.

Although Shanks had done everything he could to keep himself from looking at Makino, the complicated gazes of his companions around him, Rosse's playful gaze, and Rosse's hand, which was now running down Makino's back without the slightest restraint and wantonly caressing her waist and hips, inevitably entered the corner of Shanks's vision, making his eyes nearly split with rage.

What was this supposed to be?

What the hell was this supposed to be?

Was he humiliating him with this kind of method right in front of him?

The woman he had once loved while restraining himself according to propriety, the woman he had not even dared to easily ruin that beautiful secret love for, that pure and kind woman, was now obedient in the arms of his enemy Rosse like a pet that needed its owner's affection.

Just seeing this scene had already pushed the defenses in Shanks's heart to the verge of collapse. He was almost about to completely lose control like Luffy.

Conqueror's Haki surged uncontrollably through his body, almost becoming tangible.

Fortunately, he still had the last trace of reason left. He bit his tongue hard, using the intense pain to force himself to calm down. Otherwise, by now he would have already drawn Gryphon and charged forward to fight to the death.

Seeing Shanks's appearance as he endured the humiliation so intensely that he almost seemed ready to shatter his own teeth, Rosse appeared even more relaxed.

He seemed to be enjoying an interesting play and chuckled softly:

"Don't look at me like that, Shanks. Of course I'm here to congratulate you on finally reaching Sabaody Archipelago after going through so much hardship. But..."

Rosse paused slightly, a hint of cold mockery flashing through his eyes.

"This is, after all, the World Government's backyard. I think I should be the one asking you why you still haven't recognized reality and why you would recklessly appear here."

As Rosse's light, casual chuckle faded, the surrounding environment suddenly changed.

Everyone present, including Shanks, whose Observation Haki had been honed to an extremely high level, failed to detect any energy fluctuation during this brief instant.

But in the next second, they suddenly realized that the space they were in had been completely overturned.

"What the fuck... exactly what kind of damned ability is this..."

The cigar between Crocodile's teeth trembled violently. A drop of cold sweat slid down his temple and fell onto the dry back of his hand, which was like sand.

There was no preparation, no gesture.

In the instant of one-thousandth of a second, the surrounding environment transformed from the noisy, bustling streets of Island No. 1 into a secluded forest.

Sunlight filtered through the branches and leaves of the enormous mangroves overhead, casting dappled shadows, while the surroundings were so quiet that it made one's scalp crawl.

The most terrifying part upon careful thought was that Crocodile knew this was absolutely not an illusion.

Because this forest was precisely the place they had passed through several hours ago after first landing on the island and heading toward Area No. 1 today.

Beside a thick tree root not far away, a puddle of water could still be clearly seen.

That was the trace Luffy had left there several hours ago when he could no longer hold in his urge to pee and had run over there to relieve himself.

At the time, their group had even laughed at Luffy without restraint for acting like a little dog marking its territory.

Spatial transfer? Mass teleportation?

And in an instant, forcibly moving so many powerful people several kilometers away.

"Did you bring us to such a secluded place because you think it would be more convenient to kill us here?"

Shanks took a deep breath, suppressing the turmoil in his heart as his eyes narrowed slightly.

Compared with Crocodile's shock, he did not show any particular panic.

He had already witnessed Rosse's unfathomably powerful strength countless times in their past clashes and painful experiences.

If Rosse did not display this kind of absurd, overwhelming strength, he would instead suspect a trap.

It was only a matter of performing spatial transformation while bringing so many people along. This level of intimidation was something he could still withstand.

However, restrained by an instinctive sense of oppression, the hand tightly gripping the hilt of Gryphon still unconsciously tightened a little more.

"Kill you? Aren't you thinking too highly of yourself, Shanks."

Rosse looked at Shanks's wary appearance as though facing a great enemy and asked with interest, his tone carrying undisguised contempt, "You are far more enjoyable as a toy than a corpse."

"In terms of strength, after everything that has happened, the current you is not even as strong as Makino in my arms. As for your spirit..."

Rosse's gaze was as sharp as a blade, mercilessly piercing through Shanks's disguise of strength.

"I've already broken your backbone. Right now, you don't even have the courage to draw your sword against me. Tell me, what value does a cripple who has neither strength nor spirit have that is worth me paying special attention to, let alone going out of my way to kill?"

"Heh, you're still looking down on people as always."

Shanks gritted his teeth and forced the words out through clenched teeth, his body trembling slightly from extreme humiliation.

"If you want others to respect you, you have to do something worthy of their respect. And you, unfortunately, haven't."

Rosse chuckled softly, released the arm that had been around Makino, and took a step forward. Looking down at Shanks, he threw out a deadly gamble, "You're still gripping that broken sword tightly, pretending to be ready to fight to the death at any moment. But I can see right through you, Shanks. Do you have the balls to draw that sword?"

Rosse's voice echoed through the silent forest like the whisper of a demon, "If you dare draw that sword right now, even if you merely point it at me, I'll kill Luffy immediately. The moment you draw your sword, he'll die right here. Do you dare take that gamble? Gamble on whether there is still that trace of courage in your heart to throw caution to the wind."

It was only one sentence, a light, casual sentence.

Yet it was like an invisible mountain crashing down onto Shanks's back, leaving his entire body completely rigid.

At this moment, even Shanks's breathing became extremely hurried, like a drowning person struggling uselessly.

His chest rose and fell violently, while the light in his eyes flickered wildly.

Luffy was the Ancient Weapon Uranus, the continuation of the Will of D, possibly reincarnation of Joy Boy and Nika. He was the final hope of all their remaining survivors, and even of everyone on this sea who longed for freedom.

If, at this moment, because of his momentary impulse, Rosse killed Luffy...

'No, this sinister bastard Rosse is bluffing!'

Shanks's pupils suddenly contracted.

Based on his understanding of Rosse, even if he really drew his sword, Rosse most likely would not kill Luffy right away, because as long as Luffy remained alive, this play could continue.

'But...'

'What if?'

What if he drew his sword and Rosse really flicked a finger, crushing Luffy's head? Then the hope of all of them would be completely severed.

Drops of cold sweat from Shanks's forehead fell onto the fallen leaves.

The hand tightly gripping Gryphon's hilt trembled violently, pulling at his soul.

In the end, under everyone's watchful gaze, his fingers slowly loosened, inch by inch.

Shanks lowered his head, his originally straight back seeming to hunch down at that moment.

He knew that Rosse was right. Rosse had won.

Even though he knew that Rosse most likely would not do such a thing, he had been bound tightly by his attachments and responsibility, and the edges he once had had already been completely worn away.

In order to protect Luffy, this hope, he had completely lost the spirit of a pirate. The spirit to fight to the death and put life and death aside.

He could no longer draw his sword.

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