One Piece: Accidentally Becoming the King of the World.

...

"You're quite arrogant, little brat!"

Hearing someone walking into the tavern, the proprietress and Cologne turned their heads at the same time and looked towards the door.

"Hey! Shanks! You guys are back!"

After seeing who was coming, Cologne showed a surprised expression and hurriedly ran forward to greet him.

"Hahaha, long time no see, Cologne."

Shanks stretched out his hand but found that he couldn't reach the head of the "little devil" in front of him. He could only close one eye, gestured in the air twice and smiled.

"You've grown quite a bit taller!"

"Hey Shanks! I'm sure you encountered a lot of interesting things during your trip to the sea? Did you defeat any powerful enemies?"

Colon asked excitedly.

"Um...well..."

Shanks scratched his head in embarrassment.

The purpose of this voyage was still to find the whereabouts of a certain vicious pirate. Unfortunately, after drifting on the sea for so long, exposed to the wind and sun, he finally got nothing. Thinking of this, his handsome face inevitably showed a bit of vicissitudes and fatigue.

However, after seeing the expectant look on Colon's face, Shanks grinned again.

"Of course! Kid, we are the Red Hair Pirates, one of the Five Emperors of the New World. How can the journey not be exciting?"

"I know it! I know it! Great, come on, tell me about it!"

Cologne shouted excitedly, and Shanks touched his nose and said guiltily.

"Um... let Jesus tell you. He's better at making up stories, no... better at telling them. I'm a little hungry now."

"Hello! Captain."

Jesus Bu, who was walking behind with a sniper rifle, immediately protested in dissatisfaction.

"Please! Jesus!"

Cologne, who couldn't wait, had already stuck to it.

"Hahaha, that's right, I'll leave it to you then, Jesus!"

Shanks also said.

"Damn it, there's really nothing I can do about you..."

The forced expression on Jesus' face lasted only two and a half seconds before its true face was exposed.

"Hehe... Then we have to talk about the time we ran into the BIGMOM Pirates, who are also one of the Five Emperors, on the sea, and the earth-shattering battle that broke out between the two sides!"

"What! You actually met the Charlotte Family!"

Cologne looked nervous, as if he had been brought into the fierce battle.

"That's right!"

Jesus raised his eyebrows proudly, picked up the sniper rifle and posed.

"At that time, my opponent was Cracker, one of the five dessert generals of the BIGMOM Pirates. Facing a large group of cookie giants summoned by his devil fruit ability, I shot them one by one! I beat him to a pulp and left him with his teeth all over the floor!"

"What happened next? What happened next?"

"Later...blah blah blah..."

"... "

Without paying any more attention to the brat who was easily dealt with by Jesus Bu, Shanks walked straight to the bar and sat down.

"Madam, as usual, please bring the best wine to my brothers and some food."

"Ok, no problem!"

Maduo first moved out two boxes of wine and placed them on the table. They were two boxes of wine for ordinary humans to drink, which was effortless for Maduo, a giant woman.

"Please enjoy your meal. The food will take a while to prepare."

After saying this, Maduo turned around and went to the back to prepare food.

"Come on! Cheers!"

"Tons, tons, tons!"

After the Red Hair Pirates' crew divided the wine, they gathered in groups of three or five to drink.

"Good wine! Hiccup~"

Shanks drank the whole bottle of wine in one breath and burped with satisfaction after finishing it.

"If we drink like this, I'm worried that we'll have to buy on credit from the boss lady again."

Ben Beckman joked.

Seeing that his captain was drinking alone, he also picked up a bottle of wine and drank it slowly while leaning against the bar.

"... "

Shanks did not respond, but shook the empty bottle in his hand in front of him and spoke to himself.

"That shouldn't be the case! I still can't figure out what went wrong. Beckman, what do you think?"

"Click~"

Beckman lowered his head and lit a cigarette.

"I don't know. Logically, Blackbeard has just recruited a group of powerful criminals from Impel Down, so he should be causing trouble everywhere. It is really not in line with his high-profile style to disappear like this. It is also not something a group of vicious criminals who have finally escaped from their cages and seen the light of day would do."

"Yes, I think so too."

Shanks held his chin, lost in thought.

"Do you think it's possible that they didn't even enter the new world?"

"Whoo~"

Beckman thought for a moment with a cigarette in his mouth, then spoke with one side of his mouth tilted.

"That's unlikely. Even if they really didn't enter the New World but went to the Four Seas, there shouldn't be no news at all after such a long time! Even if Blackbeard wants to keep a low profile again, his men won't agree."

"You're right. With Teach's tolerance, he could have easily lurked on Whitebeard's ship for more than 20 years waiting for an opportunity. However, it is precisely because of his decisiveness when the opportunity arises that I think he should not miss the battle for the Five Emperors after the end of the Whitebeard Pirates!"

Shanks rubbed his brows.

"Well, is it possible that Blackbeard encountered some unexpected events, such as mutiny? He was killed by the group of vicious criminals he took away from Impel Down?"

Beckman slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke and said casually.

"Huh? Rebellion?"

Shanks looked up in surprise, then couldn't help laughing.

"If that's true, then Teach is really too pitiful, hahahaha!"

After laughing, Shanks picked up another bottle of wine and took a few sips. Then he raised his hand and touched the three hideous scars on his face that passed through his left eye. His expression became serious again.

"What you just said is not impossible, Beckman, but I still think that guy will never be killed so easily!"

"Who knows? After all, in this ocean, you never know which will come first, tomorrow or an accident."

Beckman shook his head and smiled, as if he also felt that his guess was somewhat unreliable.

"Da da da!"

Maduo came out from the kitchen carrying two large plates of meat with bones, and the fragrance instantly filled the entire tavern.

"Enjoy your meal, everyone."

As soon as the food was served, the crew members of the Red Hair Pirates started to scramble for it in an unruly manner.

"Wow! It smells so good!"

“It’s so delicious!”

Everyone was talking at the same time as they wolfed down the food.

“The boss lady’s cooking skills are just different!”

"Yes, he is much better than the cook on our ship!"

"Hey! You guys! Don't think you can offend the chef just because you're on shore! Damn it!"

"Hey, he's really anxious!"

"Hahahaha!"

Lakilu's curses were soon drowned out by the crowd's merciless laughter.

Looking at his companions playing and having fun, Shanks, as the captain, couldn't help but smile.

"If you don't eat it now, it will be eaten up, okay, Captain?"

Seeing that Shanks was still in a daze, Mado reminded him with a smile.

"Haha, sorry to embarrass you! These bastards didn't even know to leave some for their captain!"

Shanks just picked up a piece of meat and was about to take a big bite, but he suddenly stopped.

"Ok?"

Shanks and Beckman both frowned and looked up at the ceiling.

“This…what is this?!”

...