Even a Great Swordsman isn't invincible; even someone as strong as Red-Haired Shanks had to fight a hard battle against Yun Lie's unpredictable spatial abilities.
Every one of his fierce slashes seemed to cleave through the void, yet Yun Lie always managed to dodge away at the last moment by utilizing spatial rifts.
Shanks moved back and forth in the air, needing to find opportunities to attack while constantly paying attention to where he could land to gain leverage. This battle made the Four Emperors, famous throughout the seas, feel an unprecedented sense of frustration.
In terms of physique, the powerhouses of this world possess unimaginable strength.
Although Red-Haired Shanks appears lean, his strength and resilience are more than enough to easily overwhelm Yun Lie.
If it were a straightforward, head-on one-on-one confrontation, the current Yun Lie would have no chance against Shanks.
However, battle is never a simple clash of strength.
Just as the battle reached a stalemate, a familiar sound of waves breaking came from afar. The Red Force was speeding toward them, and the members of the Red Hair Pirates had finally arrived as reinforcements.
Seeing this, Yun Lie's lips curved into a faint smile.
Shanks instantly became wary. He knew that Yun Lie would never sit idly by and must have a trump card up his sleeve.
Sure enough, Yun Lie moved incredibly fast. As his hands darted, one bead after another shot into the void.
Those beads looked ordinary, but a few of them, after entering the void, faintly emitted an extremely dangerous aura.
Shanks's expression instantly turned grim. He knew the danger involved and had no choice but to abandon his attack on Yun Lie, stepping on air as he rapidly flew towards the Red Force.
He had to get back to protect his companions!
"Boss, don't worry about us, watch out behind you!" The anxious shouts of the Red Hair Pirates members could be heard.
As soon as Shanks turned around, he swung his sword, cutting down a large number of beads that appeared out of thin air. A series of explosions immediately rang out in the air. It was at this very moment that his Observation Haki suddenly reacted, sensing a spatial rift tearing open behind him.
Perhaps because this attack didn't feel like a fatal threat, the warning from his Observation Haki wasn't strong.
Out of caution, he instinctively held griffin horizontally in front of him, preparing to meet any attack that might emerge from the spatial rift.
However, to everyone's surprise, a large green-haired turtle was violently thrown out of the spatial rift, smashing heavily onto griffin's blade.
"A...a turtle?" Shanks's eyes widened, his face full of disbelief, and he instinctively grabbed the turtle.
griffin's sharp blade cut the turtle's claw, and green blood flowed along the blade, pooling on the ground.
Shanks carefully observed the turtle. It looked like an ordinary turtle, slightly larger with more green hair, with nothing special about it.
But years of combat experience told him that Yun Lie would never make a meaningless move; this turtle must hold a hidden secret.
Just as he was pondering, a sudden change occurred.
"Karma: Demonic Link!" Yun Lie's voice, tinged with a hint of triumph, clearly came from within the spatial rift.
No sooner had he spoken than the seemingly ordinary green-haired alligator snapping turtle underwent a strange transformation.
An alarm blared in Shanks's mind. He tried to shake off the turtle, but found that the alligator snapping turtle's body suddenly transformed into a green light, rushing towards him at an incredibly fast speed and merging into his body.
"Red Hair, this is my gift to you. I hope you like it, hahahaha!"
Yun Lie laughed loudly, and as he laughed, the spatial rift slowly disappeared.
Shanks was furious, but he could only watch helplessly as Yun Lie vanished.
He angrily unleashed a slash, and the powerful sword energy cleaved the sea, causing the water to surge as if the ocean had been given a middle part.
Shanks landed on the Red Force and immediately activated his Observation Haki, attempting to search for Yun Lie's trace.
But the entire sea area, under his perception, showed no sign of Yun Lie's aura; the opponent had long since escaped without him knowing when.
"Damn it, he tricked me!"
Shanks gritted his teeth, the anger in his heart almost consuming him.
"Boss, your hair!" Punch from the crow's nest suddenly jumped down, looking at Shanks, and shouted with a shocked expression.
This shout made all the members of the pirate crew focus their gaze on Shanks.
"Nani!!!" Everyone exclaimed in unison, their faces filled with disbelief.
Shanks was a bit confused, reaching up to touch his head: "What's wrong? My hair?"
A few sensible subordinates quickly ran back to the cabin and brought out a mirror.
When Shanks looked into the mirror, his entire body froze.
In the mirror, his iconic vibrant Red Hair was now slowly turning greenish-blue!
Shanks's expression changed drastically. He immediately activated his Armament Haki, trying to wrap his hair in Haki to dispel this strange power.
But no matter how hard he tried, it was useless. In a short while, all the Red Hair on his head had completely turned green.
The once formidable Red-Haired Shanks instantly became "Green-Haired Shanks."
"Shanks, quickly check if there's anything unusual in your body!" Benn Beckman said with a grim face, his voice full of worry.
Hearing this, Shanks suppressed the shock and anger in his heart and immediately used his Observation Haki to carefully examine his body.
Immediately after, an even more shocking scene occurred.
Green-Haired Shanks's body began to change, and the outline of a turtle shell gradually appeared on his back.
As time passed, the outline of the turtle shell became clearer and clearer. Soon, Shanks's clothes were ripped apart by the expanding turtle shell.
A turtle-man-like figure appeared before everyone.
Not only that, Shanks's appearance continued to change. His limbs became thick, and the surface of his skin was covered with a pattern resembling a turtle shell. He gradually transformed into an upright turtle-man.
The most striking feature, however, was his flowing green hair, which, combined with his current appearance, looked indescribably comical.
"Ah! Yun Lie! I swear we're irreconcilable!"
Looking at himself in the mirror, Shanks could no longer suppress the rage in his heart. His Conqueror's Haki erupted like a surging tide, angrily sweeping across the entire sea area.
The powerful Haki stirred up an even greater tsunami, the seawater surged, and dark clouds gathered in the sky, as if trembling with Shanks's anger.
Shanks finally understood that the seemingly ordinary turtle earlier was the culprit that had turned him into this state.
He desperately tried to expel this power that had turned him into a turtle, fully activating his three types of Haki, but no matter how much he struggled, it was all meaningless in the end.
This battle became the greatest humiliation in Shanks's life, and Yun Lie became the person he most desired revenge against.