Grand Route, Albert Island, the sun is shining nicely today, and it’s warm.
A handsome guy with red hair and a straw hat was lying lazily on the beach basking in the sun.
"Shanks, the boat has been repaired and the supplies have been purchased. When are we leaving?"
A fat man wearing a green and white striped turban, a pair of black frog sunglasses, and holding a leg bone in his hand asked Shanks.
"Ah, are you all ready? Hahaha, let's set off tomorrow! It's rare that the sun is so comfortable today. Lu, tell Beckman that we're having a party tonight!"
"Hahaha, a party? I know it's huge, I'll go inform Beckman and Jesus Bu right now!"
The fat man whom Shanks called Lu ran away excitedly.
That’s right, this was the trainee crew member on Roger’s ship, now a pirate, Red-Haired Shanks.
After parting with Buggy in Rogue Town, he went straight to find Yesob, who was once known as the best sniper in the East China Sea, and formed his own pirate group.
After the invitation was successful, Shanks took Jesob and left the East China Sea in a small boat and headed for the Grand Line, preparing to cross the Upside Down Mountain to reach his hometown, the West Sea.
When crossing the Upside Down Mountain and arriving at the Grand Line, Shanks met like-minded Lagi Lu. Soon, Shanks invited Lu to become his new partner. Then the three of them crossed the Upside Down Mountain again and returned to the West Sea.
Several people traveled in the West Sea and met Ben Beckman, a powerful, smart, and cold-hearted man on an island.
After Shanks's persistent nagging, Beckman reluctantly accepted Shanks' invitation and joined his pirate group.
Because of his clever mind, his calm state of mind at all times, and his strength comparable to Captain Shanks, Shanks soon recognized him as his deputy captain.
Neither Lu nor Yesob raised any objection to Beckman becoming the deputy captain. On the contrary, they both agreed very much.
After all, as the captain, Shanks inherited almost all of Roger's strengths and weaknesses.
He is an unconventional person who acts impetuously without using his brain and is often willful, for which both Yesob and Lakilu seem helpless.
However, after Ben Beckman became the vice-captain, the actions of the entire Red Hair Pirates became more organized.
Therefore, neither of them had any complaints about Beckman becoming the deputy captain.
At this time, after traveling in the West Sea, the few people drove Beckman's medium-sized sailboat over the Upside-Down Mountain again and came to the Grand Route for adventure.
Because of a storm, the sailboat suffered heavy damage, so the few people came to the nearest island, Albert Island, for repairs, which led to the scene at the beginning.
While Shanks was still lying on the beach enjoying the sunbath, a broken boat that looked like a coffin slowly drifted onto the beach.
A man wearing a burgundy shirt, a black coat, a gentleman's cowboy hat, and a huge black knife on his back walked down from the boat.
The moment the man stepped onto the beach, Shanks, who was leisurely basking in the sun, opened his eyes.
"This momentum is so sharp and powerful! It's like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath!"
Shanks sat up excitedly and looked at the man.
"Hey! You're strong! Be my partner!"
Mihawk glanced at Shanks, who was smiling brightly, with an extremely calm expression.
"I have no interest in joining any pirate group."
With a cold reply, Mihawk headed towards the village inside the island.
However, Shanks is not the kind of man who would give up after being rejected once. He made full use of his shameless tactics and caught up with Mihawk with a smile.
"Hey, don't reject me so quickly. By the way, my name is Shanks, and I'm a pirate who pursues freedom and adventure. What about you?"
Mihawk turned his head and glanced at the red-haired man who kept chattering in his ear, his expression obviously showing some impatience.
"My name is Jorakul Mihawk, and I'm a man who aspires to become the world's greatest swordsman. And, stop bothering me here!"
Mihawk said coldly, and walked towards the village at a quicker pace.
He is very hungry now.
A few days ago, he was drifting on the sea when he suddenly encountered a storm and all his supplies sank into the sea.
After finally waiting for the storm to pass and arriving at the island, he now just wanted to have a good meal.
However, Shanks had no idea what Mihawk was thinking at the moment, and he continued to follow Mihawk and kept saying these words and inviting him to join his pirate group.
Unable to bear it any longer, Mihawk drew out the greatsword from his back and slashed at Shanks.
“Oh my!”
Shanks exclaimed, pulling out the sword from his waist to block Mihawk's slash.
"clang!!"
With a loud bang, the two men took several steps back at the same time and looked at each other in surprise.
Although they both felt that the other party was a master, they did not expect that the other party's strength was so strong.
"Hey! I was right! You are indeed an expert in swordsmanship. How about a duel? If I beat you, you can join my pirate group!"
Shanks said excitedly to Mihawk.
He is very confident in his swordsmanship.
After all, his swordsmanship was taught by two swordsmanship masters, the Pirate King Roger and Rayleigh.
He doesn't think that his swordsmanship is worse than anyone else's.
After hearing what Shanks said, Mihawk became obviously interested.
The corners of his mouth rose slightly, revealing a smile.
"Oh? You want to compete with me in swordsmanship? Well, I'm not in a good mood right now. Come on, if you can beat me in swordsmanship, then I will agree to join your pirate group and become your partner. However, if you lose to me, don't bother me anymore."
"No problem, hehe, just be good and be my partner! Mihawk!"
With that, Shanks rushed towards Mihawk with his sword.
Mihawk gripped the greatsword with both hands, then swung it down at Shanks.
A huge blue slash flew out.
Shanks was slightly surprised to see such a powerful flying slash being delivered so easily.
However, there was no fear in his heart, but instead he was filled with excitement.
"Nice slash! But I won't give up easily!"
Shanks swung the long sword in his hand violently, making a horizontal blue slash.
"God avoid!"
"Buzz!"
In the blink of an eye, the two slashes collided violently.
The powerful sword energy instantly cut countless cracks on the ground where the two were.
The surrounding coconut trees were all cut in half by the two men's attacks and fell on the beach.
Countless coconuts could not withstand the pressure of the sword energy in the past two days and kept exploding.
Seeing their attacks being blocked so easily, both of them became equally excited.
"Hahaha, you really are a good guy! Come on!"
"Oh, indeed, it has been a while since I have met a swordsman like you. Come on! Let's decide the winner!"
"boom!"
The long swords in the hands of the two men collided fiercely.