The main naval fleet had just arrived at the G18 Marine Fortress when chaos erupted. Before they could even join the fight, the Red-Haired Shanks appeared—dragging along Kaido of the Beasts and Barrett, the two maniacs roaring into battle behind him.
Facing three Emperor-class monsters charging at them, even veterans like Iron Fist Garp and Aokiji Kuzan tensed up, their expressions hardening.
"Cover me for a bit!" Shanks shouted, urgency sharp in his tone as he dashed to rescue his fallen crewmate, Lucky Roo. He threw the two brutes straight at the Navy to handle.
"You bratty red-haired bastard!" Garp barked, immediately realizing Shanks's ploy. If those three Emperors broke through the Navy's formation, the casualties would be catastrophic.
He and Kuzan were forced to stand their ground, buying precious seconds for the naval fleet to scatter and regroup.
"Kaido, you damn beast! Get lost!"
Fist of Impact!
Leaping from his warship, Garp's arm ignited with raw Conqueror's Haki as he launched a devastating punch that encompassed all three of them—Kaido, Shanks, and Barrett alike.
"Wurororo! Crazy old man! Finally, we meet again!" Kaido bellowed, excitement flaring. He swung his spiked club in his own counter—Hell Descent: Three Realms Strike!—intent on clashing head-on. To him, defeating the man who once toppled Rocks D. Xebec would be the ultimate revenge.
"They're all lunatics!" Kuzan gritted his teeth, erecting an enormous ice wall to block the violent shockwaves. "Everyone, land at once!" he commanded. Vice Admirals like Gion (Peach Rabbit), Chaton (Tea Dolphin), and Bogard used the opening to move their forces toward the fortress.
"Barrett, I'll leave Aokiji to you!"
Shanks's mouth bled as he smirked. With Kaido distracted by Garp, he gathered the last of his strength—Divine Departure!—a blow wreathed in royal aura that hurled Barrett straight toward Kuzan's side of the battlefield. Then Shanks, panting and battered, broke away to rescue the barely conscious Lucky Roo.
Fending off Kaido and Barrett had drained him close to his limit. He was one-armed, not a Devil Fruit user, and faced two monstrous foes who both wielded Conqueror's Haki. Kaido's Oni bloodline and Barrett's demonic endurance outclassed his human frame. The only reason he'd lasted this long was sheer will—and the fact that the two weren't cooperating.
Nearby, Shiryu of the Rain nearly decapitated Lucky Roo, but the red-haired Emperor's sudden fury drove him back. Roo's layers of fat and freakish endurance saved his life—barely.
Still, his injuries were brutal. Without weeks of recovery, he was out of commission.
Roaring skyward, Shanks summoned his crimson dragon mount, still locked in aerial combat with the flying fleet. He placed the bloodied Lucky Roo atop its back, then dashed off again—his body screaming in protest—to rescue his other wounded officers. His ship's doctor, Hongo, was among them.
Meanwhile, the Lunarian King, Shiryu, Jack the Drought, and Enel—four unhinged titans—had cornered Benn Beckman and Yasopp. Both had suffered heavy wounds after clashing with Enel's thunder, King's flames, and Jack's brute force.
This was their chance to finish them off.
But Yasopp's future-sensing Observation Haki warned them just in time, letting them dodge Shiryu's killing strike. Even so, Beckman took another hit from Enel's area attack, coughing blood as his calm composure cracked.
The four predators moved in, knowing they needed to strike before Shanks returned. If they could kill one of his officers—or Shanks himself—it would be a seismic blow.
King had once attacked Big Mom directly, booting her off a waterfall. Shiryu had stabbed Whitebeard and even challenged Garp himself. Jack had fought Sengoku and Fujitora together without flinching. And Enel—since joining Souta Kiryuu's Dragon Fleet—had struck at revolutionaries, admirals, even the celestial elders without hesitation.
Now they turned their sights on the wounded Emperor.
Shanks arrived like a red flash, saving his commanders one after another, his breath ragged, his aura blazing. Any dream of joining forces with the Marines or Whitebeard to suppress Kaido and Souta Kiryuu's forces had been crushed by the chaos.
First, he had to keep his crew alive.
"Enough! I'll be your opponent!" Shanks shouted, his Conqueror's Haki surging like a storm. "Yasopp! Get Beckman out of here!"
He swung his sword, an explosion of divine pressure erupting from the strike—sending Jack, King, Shiryu, and even Enel flying. Four Emperor-level subordinates were blasted back by a single blow.
Jack's wounds were severe, his flesh torn, but his ancient mammoth resilience kicked in, healing rapidly. Shiryu and Enel clutched their chests, blood at their lips, their expressions a mix of fury and awe. King's Lunarian flames flared, regenerating his burns as he glared warily at the red-haired Emperor.
King and Shiryu were older, stronger-bodied men, and King's Lunarian bloodline gave him godlike endurance—yet the one-armed Shanks, a mere human, still stood above them. His royal will eclipsed theirs completely.
"Your combined power is too dangerous," Shanks said, breathing hard, his sword lowering as his eyes hardened. "So you'll fight me instead."
He needed to hold them here—long enough for the Marines to stabilize the battlefield and for Whitebeard's forces to arrive. Only then could they turn the tide against Kaido's army and Souta Kiryuu's Dragon Fleet.
And as the air trembled with the clash of emperors, the world teetered one step closer to war's breaking point.