One Piece: The Living Devil

Even now, even after losing most of his crew and almost everything else, Shanks still believed that.

Roger wasn't wrong. The world was.

Someone had to use blood to shatter the chains of the old order and create their ideal perfect world, even if innocent people were caught in the destruction.

"My father's killer?"

Ace let out a mocking laugh. There wasn't a trace of warmth in it. Like a puff of white breath on a winter night, it vanished in an instant.

He wore the regular uniform of a Marine Admiral. The neatly tailored red suit gave him an air of dignity and righteousness.

On that face, which bore a seventy percent resemblance to Roger's, there wasn't the slightest trace of Roger's boldness or carefree spirit.

"The World Government did execute my biological father. But at the same time, Rosse was the one who pulled my mother out of hell. He saved her. He also saved my life and raised me into the man I am today," Ace turned his head, his dark eyes fixed coldly on Shanks' profile.

"If you don't love someone, then don't get involved with them. If you can't protect me, then don't bring me into this world. What's the difference between what Roger did and what Yasopp did? They left behind an orphan and a widow to face the world's pursuit while they fulfilled their so-called greater cause."

"You pirates are selfish lunatics to the core."

Shanks fell silent.

The holographic screen in the plaza continued to play, its dim light sweeping across the half of his face hidden beneath the hood.

The thunder in the distance had drawn closer. The humidity in the air continued to rise, and tiny droplets began forming on the surface of his cloak.

This was the one point he couldn't refute.

Even a pirate like him, who always sided with his own people regardless of right or wrong, had spent countless sleepless nights alone on the deck drinking beneath the stars, thinking that Roger had been far too cruel when it came to his family.

But Roger hadn't had long to live back then. That incurable illness was like a hand slowly tightening around his throat, draining away his life day by day.

Perhaps, with a terminal illness, he simply hadn't had the strength to plan a perfect solution.

Or perhaps, in the mind of a man consumed by freedom, personal feelings had never been a priority.

"Everyone makes mistakes. Given his condition and circumstances back then, that was already the best choice he could make."

Shanks' defense sounded weak, even to himself.

"If the 'best choice' you speak of was abandoning his pregnant wife on a tiny island with no means of protecting herself, then pinning all his hopes on his ridiculous rival Garp to keep the two of us alive, then all I can say is that he wasn't just selfish, he was unbelievably stupid."

A lazy, elegant, yet indifferent female voice came from nearby.

Rouge turned around.

The twenty years that had passed seemed especially kind to her.

Her dazzling golden hair, flowing in soft waves, was loosely pinned up with a green jade hairpin. A few loose strands rested against her fair neck, gently swaying in the breeze.

She wore an ivory-white silk dress that outlined her tall, full figure, its hem rippling like water in the wind.

Her beauty was still breathtaking.

It was no longer the innocence and fragility of her younger years, but the grace that came with time.

Her high nose, slightly upturned eyes, and vividly colored lips with only the lightest touch of makeup.

Compared to the gentle young wife in the old footage standing on the seaside cliff with worry written across her face...

The woman before them now carried the aloof elegance and nobility unique to a lady of high standing.

It was the composure of someone who had long since grown accustomed to power and was no longer easily moved by anything.

"If, back then, he'd entrusted any member of your crew with protecting me, or even stayed long enough to see Ace born before leaving, I wouldn't be standing here today looking down on him."

Rouge walked over to Ace in her high heels.

The footage they had just watched included the conversation between Garp and Roger.

The actor had perfectly portrayed the pain of the steadfast Marine hero, torn between obeying orders and keeping his promise.

So much time had passed.

Rouge knew better than anyone that if Rosse hadn't intervened so forcefully back then, she would have exhausted her own life trying to delay the birth and died alone in that isolated house.

"He trusted Garp's character. He also believed involving you would only drag you into danger..."

Shanks sighed, his voice filled with weary helplessness as he made one last attempt to defend Roger.

"Exactly. He'd rather trust a Marine who stood on the opposite side than trust the friends who had fought and lived through life and death with him to protect his wife and child."

Rouge raised her chin slightly, a mocking smile curling at the corners of her lips.

"Isn't someone like that ridiculous?"

She looked back at the wooden execution platform, as though she were looking at a pile of worthless rotten timber.

Inside the glass dome, the gallows cast a cross-shaped shadow beneath the glow of the screens, like an unattended gravestone.

"The truth is, he lost."

Time could wash everything away.

It could also reshape everything.

Rouge had to admit that during the first few years after Rosse took her in, she would still occasionally think about the past in the middle of the night.

She would wonder whether things might have turned out differently if he had made another choice.

But at some point, those thoughts gradually disappeared from her mind completely.

She had a new life now.

She no longer needed to dwell on those things.

If not for the fact that some matters had to be brought to an end eventually, she wouldn't have come here today.

"As of today, you're the only one left from the Roger Pirates."

Rouge's voice wasn't loud. It was as gentle as a night breeze blowing across the sea.

But to Shanks, it was like a deafening clap of thunder that instantly tore through the oppressive air around him.

Shanks' entire body shuddered. The color drained from his weathered face before being replaced by a furious crimson.

BOOM!

Without the slightest warning, dark red Conqueror's Haki exploded from within him.

The air around the plaza let out violent cracking sounds under the pressure. Tiny stones broke free of gravity, floated into the air, and shattered piece by piece.

Shanks stared at Rouge. His eyes were bloodshot, like a lone wolf driven into a dead end.

At that moment, he no longer saw her as his captain's widow.

She had become an enemy he would fight to the death.

"What did you do to Crocus?"

Shanks practically forced the words through clenched teeth, his voice trembling.

Ever since Rayleigh, Golden Lion, and the others attacked the Holy Land more than ten years ago, leading to the deaths of the Roger Pirates' three greatest figures, the old crew members who had once laughed together aboard the Oro Jackson had all but disappeared.

Counting them now, only he, Crocus, and Buggy remained.

After much persuasion from Shanks, Buggy had given up his ridiculous dream of treasure hunting and quietly retired somewhere in the Four Seas, never involving himself again.

No one cared about a former apprentice who had done little more than serve tea and run errands on deck.

But Crocus was different.

That stubborn old man had sided with Dragon because he couldn't stand the World Government, putting himself on its blacklist long ago.

"Don't look at my mother like that, Shanks."

A tall figure stepped in front of Rouge before anyone realized.

Ace stood there in his immaculate red Marine uniform, the Justice cloak behind him snapping in the night wind.

He didn't even draw another weapon. Simply standing there, the vast invisible pressure surrounding him became an unbreakable wall that effortlessly blocked all of Shanks' Conqueror's Haki.

Tilting his head slightly, Ace looked at Shanks' rage-twisted face and said calmly, "That old man had backbone. Before he died, the names he shouted were Roger's... and yours."

Those words were the spark that ignited everything.

The moment Shanks unleashed his Haki, the fragile balance in the plaza collapsed.

Nami, Zoro, and the others didn't move.

But Luffy couldn't hold back any longer. His eyes burned with anger.

Together with the few remaining officers of the Red Hair Pirates, he immediately drew his weapon and surrounded them, glaring at Ace.

Rosse and Olvia, standing in the distance, still made no move to approach.

Rosse kept one hand in his pocket as he watched the scene unfold, as though enjoying a stage play.

With Ace here, there was no need for him to step in personally.

"YOU BASTARD!"

Shanks roared.

Days of watching the era overturned before his eyes, watching his friends stripped away one by one, had pushed his anger to its limit. The news of Crocus' death shattered the last of his restraint.

Clang!

Gryphon left its sheath instantly, its piercing ring echoing through the sky.

Dark red Conqueror's Haki coiled around the blade like a dragon.

Shanks himself became a streak of red and black lightning, charging straight at Ace with a force powerful enough to split space itself.

He moved so fast that he surpassed the limits of normal vision.

Among everyone present, anyone below S-rank couldn't even see the afterimage of Shanks' first step. All they felt was a violent gust of wind rushing toward them.

Yet in the face of a strike powerful enough to split an island in two, Ace's expression didn't change in the slightest.

Without emotion, he raised his hand and drew the ancient-looking Zanpakuto from his waist.

Clang!

The two blades collided.

At the point where their edges met, a burst of light exploded, a hundred times brighter than the midday sun.

The next instant, a devastating shockwave powerful enough to flatten Loguetown's entire central plaza spread outward in every direction.

At that critical moment, Rosse smiled faintly in the distance, casually lifting his gaze.

It was nothing more than the slightest shift of his eyes.

Yet the overwhelming shockwave disappeared in an incredibly strange way.

The force remained completely sealed within a one-meter radius around the clash.

Not even a speck of dust half a meter away was disturbed.

Rouge smiled gently, completely unfazed by the world-shaking battle unfolding before her.

She made no attempt to defend herself. Wearing her high heels, she simply took a few graceful steps backward to avoid the blinding light.

Although Rosse had forcibly raised her basic strength to SS-rank, she had no combat experience whatsoever.

She possessed only power, making her little more than a beautiful ornament.

Their battle couldn't hurt her, but there was no reason for her to remain standing there.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

In the few short seconds Rouge stepped back, Ace and Shanks had already exchanged dozens of blows.

The sparks flying from their blades looked like a brilliant meteor shower.

Suddenly, both men stopped moving and passed by one another.

"Shanks!"

Luffy shouted instinctively, his eyes widening.

Slash!

A series of sickening sounds of steel piercing flesh rang out.

Ace's Zanpakuto had pierced straight through Shanks' abdomen.

Bright red blood flowed down the blade's groove, dripping onto the stone pavement below.

"A Devil Fruit ability?"

Shanks didn't even reach for the wound in his stomach.

He stared at Ace as cold sweat rolled down his forehead.

A piercing wound like this wasn't enough to shake someone as battle-hardened as he was.

What truly sent a chill down his spine was that attack during that final exchange.

He had clearly chosen to trade injury for injury, driving Gryphon into Ace's abdomen.

But at the very instant his blade should have torn through Ace's flesh...

Reality itself had seemed to reverse.

He had watched with his own eyes as the wound that should have appeared on Ace's body instead appeared on his own in a way that completely defied logic.

Still, Shanks knew it couldn't possibly be a Devil Fruit ability.

His entire body had been covered in Haki. Any flashy Devil Fruit power would have been repelled the moment it touched him.

If nothing unexpected had happened, then this had to be the Spirit Particle ability Beckman had mentioned before, the power mastered by the World Government.

But that information had been secretly passed to him by Beckman.

He would rather die than expose it here.

Otherwise, Beckman would be in serious danger.

"A Devil Fruit? Heh! If you think that's what it is, then fine. Now, are you finally willing to calm down and listen?"

With a twist of his wrist, Ace pulled the Zanpakuto free, bringing a spray of blood with it.

Watching Shanks take half a step back while clutching his wound, the mocking smile remained on his face.

Even without using the abilities Rosse had given him, pure swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat alone were enough for him to completely dominate the current Shanks.

Both of them might have S-rank foundations, but that didn't mean his actual combat strength was only S-rank.

Among every S-rank fighter in the world, the only one he truly couldn't beat was Shirahoshi.

As for the rest, he didn't consider them worth worrying about.

"Cough... Cough... At this point... what else can I do but stay calm?"

Shanks coughed up a mouthful of blood and laughed bitterly.

He raised his only remaining arm and gestured toward Lucky Roux and the others behind him, signaling them to stay where they were instead of throwing their lives away.

His crew understood the situation.

That didn't mean a certain single-celled rubber brain did.

"You... You actually hurt Shanks! I'm gonna beat you flat!"

The moment Luffy saw Shanks bleeding, his eyes instantly turned red.

He charged over in fury, completely ignoring the enormous gap in strength between the two sides.

His legs inflated, and he swung his rapidly expanding fists straight at Ace's face.

Anyone who hurt his friends deserved a punch.

That was his way as a pirate.

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