Chapter 754: The Legendary Pirate
When the Red Hair Pirates arrived in the city, guards from the Kingdom of Castom immediately came to lead them to the auction house.
The King of Castom had originally considered confiscating the Soul Fruit from the auction house beforehand, but later thought better of it, fearing that this Devil Fruit might trigger a battle within his own palace. So he had no choice but to let the auction house continue to keep the fruit.
At that moment, the King of Castom had also surrounded the auction house with a small contingent of troops. When he saw Shanks arrive, he visibly breathed a sigh of relief and quickly ordered someone to retrieve the Devil Fruit from the auction house's vault.
No one had anticipated that a single Devil Fruit would lead to such consequences. Normally, if someone simply ate the fruit, many of the subsequent problems might have been avoided. But the issue was that once it caught the attention of so many big shots, no one dared to eat it anymore.
Because whoever ate the fruit might be directly killed by Kaido. If they couldn't get it here, they could just wait for the fruit to reincarnate elsewhere...
So, even if someone were to eat it, it could only be someone with the qualifications to do so. Ordinary people no longer had the nerve to covet this Devil Fruit. That was why the King of Castom was waiting for Red-Haired Shanks to arrive.
The Devil Fruit was stored in a small box and carefully brought out by a kingdom soldier. However, before the soldier could hand the box to Shanks, a white thread suddenly shot from afar, piercing the soldier's chest. The soldier died instantly, and the box in his hand rolled to the ground with a clatter.
It was Doflamingo who had arrived! Without a second thought, Shanks drew his sword with one hand and slashed toward the direction from which the white thread had come.
But his sword aura cut through only a puppet clone created by Doflamingo's Shadow Knight technique. His real body appeared from another direction, and his threads coiled toward the Devil Fruit box on the ground!
However, those threads were snapped by a single shot from Usopp's father, Yasopp!
Doflamingo appeared and landed on the ground, separated from the Red Hair Pirates by the box containing the Devil Fruit.
Shanks's expression was icy cold. The moment he saw Doflamingo, his powerful aura began to radiate outward. The surrounding soldiers of the Kingdom of Castom, under the pressure of this aura, could barely breathe and could only hurriedly escort their king away from the scene. The situation that followed was beyond their ability to intervene.
"Fufufufufu!" Doflamingo spread his arms and let out his signature laugh. "Red Hair, your aura is as terrifying as ever!"
"Get out of this island, Doflamingo!" Shanks pointed his rapier at the ground and said coldly, "Don't force my hand!"
"That won't do!" Doflamingo spread his hands and laughed loudly. "Any other time, I would naturally back off, but not this time. The Beast Pirates are determined to get the Soul Fruit!"
"Hmph, have you gone from being a dog of the World Government to being Kaido's dog?" Ben Beckman couldn't help but sneer from the side. "Doflamingo, you're getting more and more pathetic!"
Doflamingo put one hand on his hip and raised a finger with the other, wagging it repeatedly. "No, no, no. On the contrary, I'm quite proud. Because the world will be shaken by us. That feeling is truly wonderful! You people just can't understand..."
"What exactly are you planning?" Shanks asked coldly. "If I remember correctly, Kaido has always only collected Zoan-type Devil Fruits and their users. Why is he making such a big fuss over the Soul Fruit this time? Could it be that since taking you in, a Paramecia user, that madman has changed his entire mindset?"
"Fufufufufu, don't get it wrong. Kaido and I have always been nothing more than collaborators!" Doflamingo said in a flippant tone. "Kaido's original intention has never changed. The reason we're after the Soul Fruit, a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, is first, to prevent the World Government from getting it, and second, it's related to our plan. As for what that plan is, I can't tell you!"
"..." Shanks stared coldly at Doflamingo as he spoke freely, but his mind was racing, trying to figure out what plan he was referring to.
However, Shanks had far too little intelligence to work with. He had no clues or leads, so he could only say, "Whatever your plan is, since I'm here, I'm sorry, but your plan ends here! There's no way I'm letting you get this fruit!"
"Fufufufufu, don't be so unreasonable!" Doflamingo laughed instead. "Red Hair, I know this island is your territory, so both Kaido and I will give you face. I promise we'll take the Devil Fruit and leave immediately, without lingering!"
"Don't even think about it!" Shanks refused without hesitation.
"Honestly, what do you want this fruit for?" Doflamingo spread his hands. "You're not planning to give it to one of your crew members, are you?"
He pointed at Lucky Roux, the fat man in the Red Hair Pirates who was still eating meat ravenously, and said, "Or are you planning to turn this chubby little brother into a second BIG MOM?"
Lucky Roux glared at him. "None of your damn business!"
But at that moment, Ben Beckman sensed something was wrong and whispered to Shanks, "He seems to be stalling for time!"
As soon as Shanks heard this, he immediately reacted. He launched forward, gripping his sword with one hand and slashing at Doflamingo with unparalleled, fierce momentum!
Facing Shanks's incoming slash, Doflamingo grabbed his left hand with his right and pulled, drawing out four threads coated in Armament Haki. He used these threads to block Shanks's blade.
The elasticity of the threads provided immense force-dissipating effects, but even so, a strike from a Yonko was not something Doflamingo could fully withstand. He was sent flying by the slash.
But as Shanks sent him flying, he noticed that Doflamingo had somehow extended some threads from his feet, which had traveled through the ground and emerged beneath the Devil Fruit box, quietly wrapping around it. As Doflamingo was knocked away, the threads on his feet were pulled up from the ground, taking the Devil Fruit box with him!
"Damn it!" Shanks realized he had been careless. He should have picked up the box first.
But there was still a chance to recover. Shanks, wearing his flip-flops, stomped hard on the ground and thrust his sword toward the flying Doflamingo!
However, Doflamingo, for some reason, watched Shanks's sword coming at him without flinching. Instead, he kicked his leg violently, sending the Devil Fruit box attached to his foot flying far away, landing behind the street.
The sword, imbued with Haki, naturally struck Doflamingo's real body. Shanks's Armament Haki was unstoppable, and Doflamingo couldn't defend against it. Blood spurted from his shoulder.
But the next second, he twisted his body desperately, pulling his shoulder free from Shanks's sword, and landed on the ground, clutching his wound.
Shanks was about to charge forward when Doflamingo suddenly burst into loud laughter.
"Fufufufufu! Red Hair! Your opponent isn't me!" Doflamingo declared loudly, pointing upward at the same time.
Shanks was startled and looked up, only to see a black shadow falling rapidly from the sky, charging straight at him. Before he could even make out the shadow's appearance, the attack had already arrived!
Clang! Clang! Two loud sounds rang out. Shanks had already exchanged two blows with the shadow in an instant, his sword blocking two consecutive weapon strikes from the shadow.
Holding his sword in front of him, Shanks saw the shadow land and couldn't help but widen his eyes in shock! He exclaimed, "It's... you!?"
The newcomer had wild, golden hair loosely draped behind his head. But strangely, half a ship's steering wheel was embedded in his head, creating a Mohawk-like shape. His feet were not normal human feet but were replaced by two sharp swords, their tips piercing the ground as he stood.
There was only one person in the world with such a unique appearance: the legendary flying pirate, Golden Lion Shiki!
"Gehahahaha! The straw hat brat from Roger's ship, where did that hat of yours go!?"
Golden Lion Shiki crossed his arms, a smoking cigar dangling from his mouth, and let out a booming laugh. His laughter was full of presence as he mockingly looked at Red-Haired Shanks.
"How... how can it be you!?" Shanks's shock at that moment was indescribable. A legendary pirate who had disappeared for over twenty years had suddenly appeared before him at this very moment!?
And most importantly, why was he appearing together with Doflamingo and the Beast Pirates!?