Chapter 350

In all fairness, they had received quite a bit of care from Karl, more or less.

Or rather, it was precisely because of Karl’s care that they were able to continue their pirate careers. Otherwise, they would have long been taken by Karl in exchange for merit.

And Shanks? He was indeed someone who had shown great kindness to Luffy, and the fact that Luffy could keep him in mind and on his lips was enough to prove his importance in Luffy’s heart.

But for them, before meeting Shanks, he was just a character in newspapers and in Luffy’s words. He had saved Luffy’s life, true, but that was only important to Luffy; they didn't feel as strongly about it.

Take Nami, for example: Karl saved Cocoyasi Village and defeated Arlong.

For Chopper, Karl helped him defeat his enemy Wapol...

In short, because of Karl’s existence, the bond between some members of the Straw Hat Pirates and Luffy was not that deep.

Therefore, they did not want to be enemies with Karl.

Thus, no matter how Luffy pleaded, they were unwilling to unlock those high-purity Seastone handcuffs for him, and instead kept increasing their speed to leave Elegia Island. As for Uta, who was still asleep... we’ll talk about it when she wakes up!

Elegia Island.

Ding~ Clang!

Karl gripped the Raven with both hands, constantly slashing at Shanks in front of him. Shanks could almost only defend passively, and even when he managed to counterattack, his weapon would be easily deflected by Karl.

There was no help for it; the strength gap was too large. Originally, his strength was not as good as Karl’s, and Karl was using both hands, so Shanks could only grit his teeth and hold on.

Clang~

After blocking Karl’s downward slash, Shanks lost his center of gravity and stumbled back more than ten steps before stabilizing.

Shanks stuck Gryphon into the ground, looking at Karl with firm eyes, his chest heaving slightly.

"What, Shanks, have you gotten tired after only an hour? That won't do! I’ve prepared myself to play with you for a whole day and night! You must hold on!"

Looking at Karl’s "I’m fine" appearance, Shanks couldn't help but mutter: This bastard is really a beast! Is his stamina really inexhaustible?

Now he finally knew how Big Mom’s Totto Land was destroyed in a single day. No need to think.

It must have been Karl leading the attack on Big Mom, consuming her stamina, while other Admirals dealt with the Big Mom Pirates’ officers, and then they freed up their hands to besiege Big Mom. Otherwise, with Big Mom’s strength, she could have held out against Karl for a day or two, after all, she was thick-skinned.

Now, the Marines were probably adopting the same strategy: Karl would consume his stamina, leaving him with no time to attend to others.

If they continued to fight, what awaited them would be either death or Impel Down.

The most critical thing was that they couldn't run even if they wanted to. Their ship was controlled, and the only escape route was to jump into the sea.

However, with the Marines making such a big fuss, how could they let them succeed?

In this way, there was only a fight to the death!

Boom~ A soul-stirring aura erupted abruptly. That was the Haki that Shanks used to become famous!

Karl narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at Shanks, whose pressure was maxed out, and said with a smile: "What a formidable aura! It’s a pity, who doesn't have Conqueror’s Haki?"

Karl’s gaze sharpened, displaying the "righteous spirit" belonging only to a Marine hero!

Cackle, cackle, cackle~

The Conqueror’s Haki of the two collided Move Move Like heavenly thunder and earthly fire, pushing and shoving, neither willing to bow their heads.

Because both of their Haki possessed the effect of influencing the real world, everything around them was destroyed by this momentum, forming two bare "vacuum" zones at their feet.

Shanks raised Gryphon, brushed it lightly with his hand, and attached his peerless aura to the blade. The silver-white blade instantly transformed into black-purple, and red-black lightning intertwined around Shanks, making even the air viscous.

"Are you ready to get serious, Shanks?"

Seeing the commotion was not small, Karl, in order to prevent flipping over, decisively released a large amount of holy light, condensing it into a materialized "Holy Light Shield" to protect himself.

A red light flashed in Shanks’ eyes, and he whispered: "Divine Silence..."

The sky suddenly darkened. Shanks bent down, took a stance, and disappeared from the spot, leaving a trail of afterimages.

Click~ Shanks slashed at Karl’s shield. At first, nothing happened, and Karl thought Shanks’ trump card was nothing more than that.

However, Karl soon felt something was wrong.

Cackle, cackle, cackle, cackle~ Spiderweb-Move Move Like cracks spread rapidly across the shield. At this moment, a sharp light flashed in Shanks’ eyes, and he increased his strength a bit more.

The shield shattered completely, and the blade of Gryphon came straight for him.

Karl’s gaze sharpened. He twisted his wrist and used the Raven to block Gryphon. The moment the weapons met, Karl’s expression changed.

This is too much strength, right?

, these were the two trenches plowed out by Karl’s feet.

"Divine Departure, Divine Silence, heh heh..." Karl twisted his neck, his mouth curling up slightly: "That’s really a good move!"

"However, if you want to defeat me with this move, don't even think about it!"

Shanks’ gaze was solemn, preparing to welcome Karl’s counterattack...

On the other side.

In the battle between the Marines and the Red Hair Pirates, the Marines were almost one-sidedly suppressing the Red Hair officers. Not to mention the buffs given by Karl, who had consumed a lot of stamina.

Just look at the Marines’ lineup.

Kizaru, Fujitora, two Admirals.

Momousagi, Chaton, two Admiral candidates.

Fifteen Marine Vice Admirals including Onigumo, Momonga, and T-Bone.

There weren't many people on the Red Hair Pirates’ side who could be brought out. Except for those core officers, the others were newcomers and couldn't be considered very powerful, and were soon defeated.

The remaining people probably wouldn't last long. Originally, the Marines had more combat power than them, and with the ebb and flow, each Red Hair Pirates officer faced more Marines, not fewer.

Bang, bang, bang~

Beckman fired three shots at Kizaru in succession. Kizaru couldn't dodge in time, and just as he turned into a pool of golden light, he was hit. After all, these were bullets attached with Haki.

"As expected of Red Hair Shanks’ deputy, how terrifying!"

Kizaru used his hand to pick the bullets out of his abdomen one by one and threw them on the ground. Under the effect of the holy light, the wounds were also healing rapidly. After a few breaths, he recovered, and Kizaru also revealed a chrysanthemum-Move Move Like smile.

Beckman muttered inwardly: Is this Karl’s ability again? Damn, this is too disgusting. If this continues, they will definitely lose.

"Heh heh, it seems it’s useless! Next time, remember to aim for the old man’s heart or head, that might be able to kill the old man."

"Totsuka Blade!!"

The battle was still continuing, but a breath called despair spread silently among the Red Hair Pirates.

With their backbone absent, facing Marines who were all Move Move Like mini-Kaidos, they were truly tired.