"Looks like those guys were just a small squad from the mountain bandits," Bai Chuan said, analyzing it with the other three.
"Yeah. Just from that squad, you can tell they've done all kinds of evil," Shanks said. "The only question is whether the four of us can wipe them out completely."
"Oh? You want to go after them?" Bai Chuan asked.
"If we can beat them, then yeah, I think I would," Shanks replied.
"Haha, that really is you, Shanks." Bai Chuan laughed and patted Shanks on the shoulder. Their thoughts lined up perfectly. Bai Chuan couldn't stand people like that either.
If he didn't have the strength, fine, there'd be nothing he could do.
But now that he did, he couldn't just pretend not to see it.
It wasn't that Bai Chuan was some righteous, justice-obsessed saint.
He simply couldn't ignore it.
"Hey, hey. You two aren't seriously thinking of charging in, are you?" Buggy panicked when he saw them acting like they'd already decided. "We don't even know how many people they have, or how many weapons!"
If it were just a few people, Buggy wouldn't be afraid.
The problem was, the enemy's strength was unknown.
"Relax," Bai Chuan said. "You just stay in the back. Shanks and I will handle the front."
Looking at the broken gun on the ground, Bai Chuan felt a flicker of regret. That had been impulsive. He should've kept the gun and handed it to Buggy. If they found an opening, Buggy could've used it to ambush someone.
"Besides, you know what I can do," Bai Chuan added. "Even if we can't win, running won't be a problem."
"…Fine," Buggy muttered, resigned. Even if he didn't accept it, he couldn't stop them anyway.
Since none of them knew where the bandits' base was, they could only keep moving forward. Maybe they'd run into another group.
As they walked, the view gradually opened up. It seemed they'd come out of the forest. Ahead was a narrow dirt path, but there were no crops on either side, and no people.
"What kind of place is this? Why isn't there a single person?" Buggy scanned around and whispered.
"Who knows," Bai Chuan said. "Maybe everyone moved away."
He could tell the land on both sides of the path used to be cultivated, but it had long since been abandoned.
"Let's keep going," Bai Chuan said. "There's a village up ahead. We should ask what happened here."
The four of them moved forward, staying alert.
"What is that smell?" Katherine Lin suddenly frowned, covering her nose like she'd caught something disgusting.
"Yeah." Bai Chuan sniffed too. "I smell it."
"It's blood," Shanks said.
"Right. It's blood," Bai Chuan confirmed, his expression sinking. "And it's not like the blood smell on Akda. This is the real thing, fresh blood in the air. And there's rot too. If I'm not wrong, that stench is coming from corpses."
The three of them looked toward the village not far ahead.
That smell was drifting from there.
"Be careful," Bai Chuan said. "Stay behind me."
"Got it."
With something like this, they couldn't afford to be careless.
Especially Buggy. He immediately hid behind Bai Chuan, not letting even a sliver of himself stick out.
As they neared the village, Bai Chuan activated his shield, keeping them protected at all times.
Now they could finally see the village clearly.
It was run-down, and most places were covered with black scorch marks, like it had been burned.
The deeper they walked in, the worse their expressions became.
Katherine Lin started vomiting. Bai Chuan was forcing down the urge to vomit too.
"What happened here…?" Katherine Lin said with difficulty after throwing up, but the moment she lifted her head and saw the village's condition, she bent over again.
"A massacre," Bai Chuan said, his voice heavy.
Bodies were everywhere, each one in a miserable state. Just from their poses, you could imagine the despair they'd felt before dying.
This was Bai Chuan's first time seeing something like this.
In his previous life, he lived in a peaceful era. He'd never experienced war, much less a slaughter.
In this life, he'd fought pirates on the sea a few times, but he'd still never seen something this horrific.
"Anyone who can do this… you can't even call them human," Bai Chuan said.
Even Buggy couldn't stand it. Anger rose in him as he stared at the dead villagers.
"This was probably those mountain bandits too," Shanks said.
"Yeah. I think so."
"Then we definitely can't let them live."
When Shanks said that, his face looked almost feral. Killing intent poured off him. Buggy flinched even standing beside him, and even Bai Chuan felt a slight shock.
"As expected of the future Yonko, Red-Haired Shanks," Bai Chuan thought. "A monster with terrifying Conqueror's Haki. Even as a kid, he already has this kind of aura."
Among the future Yonko, Shanks should be the youngest. Bai Chuan didn't know exactly how strong he'd become, but he definitely wouldn't be the weakest.
"Shanks." Bai Chuan slapped Shanks hard on the shoulder, signaling him to rein it in. Shanks hadn't awakened Conqueror's Haki yet, but it probably wasn't far off.
"Yeah."
That slap made Shanks' pressure fade, but his face still looked just as bad as before.
"Shanks, what was that just now?" Buggy patted his chest. As Shanks' best bro, he was the first to worry. "You scared the hell out of me."
"I'm fine," Shanks said.
"He looked so scary just now," Katherine Lin whispered into Bai Chuan's ear.
"That's normal," Bai Chuan whispered back. "Because one day, he'll become the ruler of the New World."
He didn't mind playing prophet for once.
"If you can live another ten-plus years, I'm sure you'll hear his name."
Bai Chuan smiled confidently. He believed his prediction would come true.
"Hey. Are you cursing me to die early?" Katherine Lin smacked him and snapped.
"No." Bai Chuan shook his head. "I'm telling the truth. If you really live another ten-plus years, he'll be famous worldwide by then. Remember his name, Shanks. Later, you'll even have something to brag about, that you traveled with him."
"Really?" Shanks asked. Bai Chuan hadn't tried to hide the conversation, so he'd heard it clearly.
"Of course," Bai Chuan said. "The captain and the vice-captain both think your potential is immeasurable."
"Then what about me, Bai Chuan?" Buggy immediately leaned in. "Will I be famous too?"
"Of course," Bai Chuan said.
/-\
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