Chapter 297: Long time no see, Shanks! (Two in one)
The sunlight shines through the layers of leaves, leaving mottled shadows on the ground.
Figures flashed in the forest, and two half-grown boys ran quickly in the forest. In the blink of an eye, they ran dozens of meters.
"Stop, don't run!"
"You two bastards, stop it!"
A hundred meters behind the teenagers, seven adult men holding daggers were shouting loudly and chasing the two teenagers who had entered the woods.
"Hmph! Catch up to us if you can!"
"Telling someone to stop? What a stupid thing to say."
"but……"
"Just stop if you want to. I'm tired of being chased by you guys!"
In the woods, a blond boy wearing a round hat and a tattered suit heard the shouting behind him and couldn't help but chuckle.
He looked back at the adults who were being left further and further behind by him and his friends, and the corners of his mouth couldn't help but grin, revealing a set of white teeth with missing teeth.
"Hey hey hey! Sabo, let's speed up and get rid of them quickly."
Just as the blond boy was looking back at the moon and smiling at the pursuer, the black-haired boy in a short shirt in front of him also turned around and greeted him.
Then the running speed began to increase.
"oh!"
"Ace, take your stuff and go ahead. We'll meet up at the old place."
Sabo kept smiling, and his footsteps suddenly caused some mud and sand to splash. Then Sabo turned around and faced the pursuer in the distance. He actually stopped and waited for the pursuer to arrive.
"Hey, Sabo!"
Seeing this scene, Ace couldn't help but let out a low cry. He jumped lightly from the branch and quickly landed on the ground. Then he quickly took off the long sword on his back, drew out the blade and followed Sabo's footsteps.
"Are you stupid?"
"What are you stopping for?"
Ace quickly came to Sabo's side and stood with Sabo in the clearing in the woods, unable to help complaining.
"We can't get rid of it for a while. If we get too close to our secret base, there's a risk of being exposed."
"I'll hold them here, Ace, you go back first."
Sabo held the small steel pipe with the elbow upright in his hand, making a kendo-like starting stance, and explained with a smile.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"Of course we're going to fight together!"
As Ace's voice fell, not long after, the group of people holding daggers came to the front.
There were only seven people in this group, all of them were thin and had a strong bandit look on their faces. When they saw Ace and Sabo stop and came in front of them, they all had grim smiles on their faces.
"You really stopped? You two are such idiots."
"Hey, there's a knife too?"
"Kid, don't play with that kind of thing, you will hurt yourself, hahahaha!"
Even though they were holding long swords, the strong men were laughing when facing kids of Ace and Sabo's age, and did not take Ace and Sabo seriously at all.
"Little ghost, give the knife to uncle and don't hurt yourself."
"Hand over the stolen money honestly, or you two will suffer!"
A man put away the dagger in his hand and slowly approached Ace and Sabo.
"Go!" Facing the well-dressed man with frivolous behavior, Ace let out a low growl and rushed out in one step.
Although Ace was young, his explosive power was terrifying. In the blink of an eye, Ace had already arrived in front of the man and kicked him directly in the air, hitting the vital point between his legs.
"Woo..." A low whimper was heard, and the man curled up and fell to the ground.
At the same time as Ace made his move, Sabo also rushed directly towards the crowd. Compared to Ace, Sabo's speed was a little slower, but his movements were still very agile in the eyes of that group of men. However, in the blink of an eye, the steel pipe in his hand had hit two people's heads.
The person who was hit by the steel pipe collapsed to the ground, covering his head, and instantly lost his ability to fight.
Two children rushed into the crowd one after another. One relied on his talent and agility to swing the steel pipe without any rules. The other, who had obviously received some training in kendo, rarely left the ground when attacking and dodging, except for the initial sneak attack, and his movements were very methodical.
What initially seemed like a one-sided battle turned out to be a shocking outcome.
In just a few minutes, the seven adult men chasing Sabo and Ace were all knocked to the ground.
Although Ace held a long sword in his hand, he did not use the blade to attack his opponent, but instead used the back of the sword and his fists and feet. Most of the people lying on the ground had serious injuries to their heads, faces, and fifth limbs, but no knife wounds on their bodies.
Compared to Ace's measured attack, Sabo obviously couldn't control his strength perfectly. The people he knocked down had blood all over their heads, and the ones who were seriously injured even had some white foam coming out of the corners of their mouths.
"Sabo, be careful when you attack!"
"If you kill these guys, it will be a big deal."
"Sa, let's get out of here quickly."
After the battle, Ace, carrying a long sword, glanced at the people on the ground and said to his companions with a smile.
"I know, I know."
"I will definitely control my strength next time."
"Let's go."
Sabo's face turned slightly red, as if he felt a little ashamed. He waved his hands and turned to leave the crime scene.
"Wait for me!" Ace whispered when he saw Sabo leaving, and then followed Sabo's footsteps, and the two of them quickly disappeared into the dense forest.
…
Not long after Ace and Sabo disappeared, the sound of dense footsteps could be heard on the forest path. Soon, a group of people arrived at this open space.
"What a mess! Those two guys!"
"Vice Admiral Garp doesn't know how to educate his children. I don't know about other aspects, but he's obviously outstanding in fighting."
Shanks raised his hand and pressed down the straw hat on his head. His eyes swept over the unconscious men on the ground, and a wry smile appeared on his face.
"Well, Shanks, have you confirmed it?"
Ben Beckman looked at the direction the two children left and asked Shanks beside him.
The group of people who came out of the forest at this time were the Red Hair Pirates who arrived in the Goa Kingdom some time ago. Shanks wandered around the country for a few days, but after asking around, he couldn't find any news about Ace.
Just the day before, Shanks had heard, by chance, while drinking, that there were two brats who were specifically "robbing each other." One was a blond, toothless brat, and the other was a black-haired, freckled brat with a long sword.
This information caught the attention of Shanks and others. With a try-it-out attitude, they came to the Uncertainty Terminal on the edge of the Goa Kingdom to look for news about the two "little devils".
"Ah...the knife in Ace's hand is indeed Captain Roger's."
"It should be correct, but I still need to confirm some things."
"Hongo, give them some treatment."
"You guys go wait for me on the boat. Beckman will be with me."
"We'll be back soon."
As he spoke, Shanks walked slowly in the direction Ace and Sabo left with a knife slung over his shoulder. Beckman curled his lips slightly and followed behind Shanks.
…
Ace and Sabo wandered around in the dense forest for a while, and after carefully making a big circle, they finally stopped by a small stream.
Beside the stream, there was a towering ancient tree that required five or six people to hug it. The two of them quickly climbed up the tree and then stopped at the root of a thick branch.
“This is today’s harvest!”
Ace drew his knife, squatted down, and inserted the tip of the knife into the branch. With a slight tilt, he directly lifted a corner of the wood. Sabo also squatted down quickly and actually lifted a piece of wood from the branch.
Under the planks was a small wooden pit containing gold, jewels, and bundles of bailey. The bottom of the pit was covered with a mess of treasures, and at first glance, the contents were probably worth millions of baileys.
It is hard to imagine that such a large amount of treasure was collected by two half-grown children.
Ace threw a few bundles of Bailey into the wood pit with a satisfied smile on his face.
"I think in a few years, we'll be able to buy a big ship and go out to sea!"
"Hey, Ace, I must become the freest person on this ocean!"
Sabo looked at the treasure in the wooden pit, his eyes full of longing and desire.
"The freest man?"
"That's the Pirate King?!"
"My old man told me."
"Hehehehe, then we'll be rivals from now on!"
"I want to become a navy like Admiral Yoshida Tsugakuni and turn every place in this world into something like Dressrosa!"
"Hey, Sabo, one day, I'm going to make Goa Kingdom just like Dressrosa!"
Ace stood up, holding the knife in one hand and putting the other on his waist, and said with a smile.
"An opponent!"
"Hahahaha, even if my opponent is you, I won't be caught by you, Ace."
"I've had enough of this decadent country. If one day you can become an admiral of the navy, the Kingdom of Goa will be in your hands!"
Although the two have different goals, this does not affect their deep friendship.
"Huh?"
"Marine Admiral? That's quite a lofty goal!"
At this moment, a frivolous voice suddenly came from above Ace and Sabo's heads.
“Clatter…”
After a sound, a red-haired young man wearing a straw hat hooked his feet on the branches, his upper body hanging down, and appeared behind Ace.
“!!!”
The sound that suddenly rang in their ears startled Ace and Sabo. Ace tightened his grip on the knife and slashed behind him without even turning his head.
This time, Ace had no intention of holding back and attacked with all his strength.
"Oh~ Dou~"
The red-haired young man grabbed his straw hat and quickly dodged Ace's attack.
Shanks loosened his legs, lightly tapped the tree trunk, and flew into the air, landing between Ace and Sabo. At Shanks' feet was the wooden pit where Sabo and Ace hid their treasure.
"oh--"
"Wow, I've hidden so much money. Hahaha, I'm really lucky!"
"I didn't expect treasure to grow on trees in the Goa Kingdom!"
Shanks glanced at Ace and Sabo, then squatted down arrogantly, grabbed some gold from the wooden pit, a smile on his face.
"Damn it, who are you?"
"Put down our stuff!"
Sabo's expression tightened. He raised the steel pipe in his hand, rushed forward, and swung it towards Shanks.
These treasures are the embodiment of Sabo's dreams, and he will never allow them to be lost.
"Stop it, Sabo!"
Ace tried to dissuade him in a hurry. The attack just now had made Ace realize the gap between himself and the opponent. Compared with treasure, life was more important.
"clang……"
With a crisp sound, Shanks pulled out a small piece of his long sword and directly blocked Sabo's attack. With a shake of his body, Shanks stretched out his hand and pulled Sabo, knocking him to the ground.
Sabo supported himself on the branch with both hands and was about to stand up when he felt a heavy force on his back.
"No matter what kind of opponent it is, whether it's an old man or a child, if they attack me, I will regard them as an enemy."
"It seems that you have made up your mind, little devil!"
Shanks stepped on Sabo's back, drew out the long sword from his waist, and pressed it against the back of Sabo's neck.
Shanks looked up at Ace, a smile appeared on the corner of his mouth, and then he slowly raised his sword.
"I am a pirate!"
"Little devil!"
As Shanks spoke, he swung his sword towards Sabo.
"Sabo?!"
"You bastard, stop it!!!"
Ace's eyes widened and he let out a roar. At this moment, a powerful domineering aura burst out from Ace's body and he rushed directly towards Shanks.
"!" This sudden change made Shanks stunned, and he looked at Ace in surprise.
At this time, Ace was already holding a long sword and slashing directly at Shanks.
Facing the attack, Shanks finally came to his senses. He quickly stretched out his left hand, stretched out two fingers and directly clamped Ace's long sword, and at this moment, his feet were also lifted from Sabo's body.
"Heroic Haki?!"
“It’s truly amazing!”
Shanks was secretly shocked, but looking at Ace's childish face, he couldn't help but reveal a bright smile.
He really couldn't suppress the joy in his heart. Under the astonished gazes of Ace and Sabo, he suddenly grabbed the straw hat on his head and laughed out loud.
"Captain Roger..."
"Your child will truly enter Raftel!"
There was a hint of brilliance in the corners of Shanks' eyes as he laughed.
Strange person.
Ace quickly pulled Sabo up from the ground and looked at the laughing Shanks with some surprise.
"ju——"
Shanks' smile gradually faded. He opened his mouth and was about to speak when a sharp whistle suddenly sounded in the sky.
When the three heard the sound, they all looked up at the sky and saw a white shadow quickly passing over their heads and falling towards the sea in the east.
I thought it was a meteorite, but the white shadow flying by as fast as a meteor suddenly stopped.
Then it changed direction and fell directly towards the forest.
Shanks narrowed his eyes slightly, stared for a moment, and couldn't help but murmured: "No... No way?!"
(End of this chapter)
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