In the next moment, the Five Elders surrounded Shanks, each of them plunging their swords ruthlessly into his body.
"Ahhh!"
Shanks could no longer hold back the agony. He threw his head back, roared to the sky in fury, and then collapsed unconscious on the spot!
For Shanks to pass out from the torment within the illusion meant that in reality, his mind had completely broken, and he had lost consciousness.
Renji Kai then immediately canceled the illusionary world created by Tsukuyomi.
With a sudden shift in scenery, both of them returned to the real world.
As they reappeared in reality, the Western-style sword "Gryphon" that Shanks had been holding fell from his hand and clattered loudly onto the deck.
The sharp sound of the blade hitting the ground quickly drew the attention of the surrounding pirates.
They all paused their battles and turned their eyes toward the commotion.
But just as everyone looked over, Shanks' vision went black—and the next moment, in full view of everyone present, he collapsed like a felled tree.
In that instant, the entire battlefield fell into an eerie silence.
And right then, a long-awaited notification finally echoed in Renji Kai's mind:
Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the enemy. You have earned 150,000 Reputation Points.
After defeating Shanks, Renji Kai received a whopping 150,000 points in one go—a massive fortune by any standard.
Not only did he recoup the 100,000 Reputation Points he had spent on the [Itachi Uchiha] character card, but he even profited an extra 50,000 points.
However, just as he was basking in satisfaction, a sudden sharp pain surged through his eyes.
"Ah!"
Renji Kai let out a quiet groan as tears began streaming down his cheeks.
This was the side effect of keeping the Mangekyō Sharingan active for too long.
Even for members of the Uchiha clan, activating the Mangekyō came with severe backlash—let alone someone like Renji, who was originally just an ordinary person.
His eyes had to endure a burden far beyond what any Uchiha would face.
It took quite a while before he could open his eyes again.
But when he did, they were bloodshot, and his gaze looked downright terrifying.
With the battle over, the fighting on the rest of the battlefield also came to a halt.
Ben Beckman and Yasopp quickly rushed over to Shanks' side and helped lift him up.
Meanwhile, Douglas Bullet swiftly moved to Renji Kai's side to guard him.
"Captain Kai, are you alright?"
Renji waved his hand dismissively and slowly walked forward.
On the other side, the Red-Haired Pirates had also lifted Shanks. After checking his condition and realizing he had merely lost consciousness, Ben Beckman and the others finally breathed a sigh of relief.
But their relief didn't last long—because Renji Kai began walking toward them.
Instantly, tension returned to their faces.
"Don't come any closer! One more step and I'll blow your head off!"
Yasopp aimed his sniper rifle directly at Renji's forehead and barked the threat.
"You think someone like you can kill me? Go ahead and try, if you've got the guts."
Renji gave Yasopp a dismissive glance, eyes brimming with disdain.
Hearing that, Yasopp's face darkened, and he slowly lowered his rifle.
Clearly, he realized that Renji wasn't bluffing.
Even if they hadn't fully paid attention to what happened on this end, the fact that Shanks—one of the Four Emperors—had fallen to this man spoke volumes.
If Shanks was no match, how could any of them possibly stop him?
"I actually respect Shanks a lot. But this world is one where the strong prey on the weak. Today, I'm only here for your ship."
Renji's voice rang out across the deck of the Red Force.
"To be blunt, with your current strength, defeating me and Douglas Bullet is impossible. So hand over the ship, and I'll spare your lives."
"And don't worry—Shanks is just unconscious. He should wake up in a few days."
The silence that followed was heavy. Then finally, Red-Haired Pirates' first mate, Ben Beckman, spoke.
"Abandon ship. Get Captain Shanks onto that mini warship."
As Beckman gave the order, the crew lowered their heads in shame.
This was, without a doubt, the most humiliating day in the history of the Red-Haired Pirates.
The transfer of command proceeded smoothly. On Beckman's orders, the crew gathered some supplies and moved aboard the small warship that Renji and Douglas had arrived in.
Once the Red-Haired crew had completely left, Renji finally turned around and slumped heavily onto the deck.
"Captain Kai, are you alright?" Douglas Bullet rushed over to support him.
"The fight with Shanks drained me. Help me inside to rest."
Meanwhile, not long after the Red-Haired Pirates set sail in the mini warship, another large pirate ship appeared on the horizon.
Seeing the naval-looking vessel draw near, the pirates aboard the larger ship erupted in excitement.
"Haha! Brothers, let's rob this Navy ship and show them what we're made of!"
A one-eyed man on deck shouted to his crewmates.
But the moment the two ships met—screams rang out.
Wails of agony echoed from the larger vessel's deck. Blood soaked the planks, and chaos reigned.
By the next morning, Renji Kai woke up and stretched lazily.
As expected of the Red-Haired Pirates—even their beds were soft as clouds. It was a world apart from the wooden bunks on the Navy warship they'd used before.
Earlier, Douglas Bullet had even forced two of the Red-Haired Pirates to stay behind and pilot the ship for them.
At first, the two pirates had been so scared they nearly wet themselves, but fortunately, Douglas had no interest in small fry like them.