Yasopp looked through his telescope at the pirate ship steadily approaching from the distance. He frowned slightly, clearly on alert. These people were heading straight for them while they were preparing a banquet, and they were putting on an aggressive display. This annoyed him greatly.
He took a deep breath, looked at Shanks beside him, and asked, "Boss, should I fire a shot to drive them away?"
Shanks stared at the small black dot on the horizon, his gaze distant, as if in thought. After a moment of contemplation, he glanced at the other ship sailing alongside them. "Yes, fire. Let them know we're not to be trifled with."
If the two hundred or so Canaan survivors weren't with them, Shanks might have ignored this pirate ship. As long as they didn't provoke him, Shanks wouldn't have bothered with pirates trying to act tough in the East Blue. But things were different now. The Canaan survivors were very vulnerable, and Shanks didn't want them to be threatened. Although he was absolutely confident he could protect them, it wasn't right to let them be put at risk because of his own whims.
With Shanks's permission, Yasopp took out his rifle and aimed at a lamp on the distant pirate ship.
BANG—
The flintlock roared, and the muzzle flashed. The bullet tore through the air, instantly crossing the sea and precisely shattering a lamp on the deck. Yasopp slowly lowered his rifle and raised his telescope again.
However, before Yasopp could get a clear look at the situation on the pirate ship, Louis raised an eyebrow and turned to look in its direction.
"Yasopp, it seems your shot wasn't much of a deterrent. It doesn't look like you scared them off."
In Louis's Observation Haki, the pirate ship had already begun to move. They were turning their cannons to aim at the Red Force.
Hearing this, Yasopp's expression turned a bit more serious. He raised his flintlock again. "Got it. This time, I'll sink their ship!"
He raised his rifle. His vision, combined with his Observation Haki, helped him lock onto the pirate ship. He slowly squeezed the trigger.
BANG—
The gunshot rang out again. A lead bullet, wreathed in Armament Haki, streaked through the air and accurately struck the hull of the pirate ship.
BOOM—
The sound wave billowed out, and flames shot into the sky. A dark red fireball rose, and the entire pirate ship, as if hit by a full broadside from a warship, exploded violently. Debris flew high into the air, scattering in all directions.
Louis took it all in, then looked down at Yasopp's weapon, lost in thought. In Yasopp's hands, an ordinary rifle had unleashed the power of a warship's full cannonade. Haki truly was amazing.
Louis vaguely remembered that when he was two or three, he had also gotten a gun from the beginner's gift pack that the system had left behind before it ran off. He had thrown it into the sea. The gun was called a Sten submachine gun. Not only was it ugly, but more importantly, it had once gone off in the middle of the night, shooting him awake.
As for the other items in the beginner's gift pack, besides the faulty submachine gun, they also left Louis speechless. One was a children's version of a puppet master's textbook from the Hidden Sand Village next door, but it didn't include a "chakra seed." And Louis, lacking the bloodline of a certain space-faring plant-person, had no such thing as chakra. In the end, Louis decided he would try it out later, combining puppet making with his Life-Life Fruit ability.
Another item was the Expansion Jutsu, which also came without a chakra seed, making it currently useless.
On the other side, after confirming there were no signs of life, Yasopp once again lowered his rifle. He turned to Louis, a wide grin on his face. "Louis, what do you think of my sniping?"
Louis looked down at him, then praised him with a smile. "Very strong!"
"If you work hard for a few more years, you might be able to break my defense when my back-flames aren't lit!"
"..."
Yasopp's whole demeanor slumped. His face went ashen as if a bucket of cold water had been poured over him.
The others who heard this looked like they were trying to hold back laughter. But as they laughed, the smiles faded, and they all adopted thoughtful expressions. This was because most of the members of the Red Hair Pirates were at a similar level of strength. If Yasopp couldn't break Louis's defense, the situation wouldn't be much better if they tried.
At this moment, as everyone knows, a smile doesn't disappear; it just moves to another person's face.
Shanks beamed at his crewmates. "Looks like you all aren't training hard enough!" he said. "You know, Louis is only ten. In a few more years, the gap between you will be huge!"
The crew members opened their mouths, but ultimately remained silent.
"..."
After putting a little pressure on his crew, Shanks once again flashed his non-intimidating smile and said, "Time to prepare for the banquet!"
At his words, the crew quickly pushed all other thoughts from their minds and responded to Shanks with smiles.
Uta heard this and cheerfully ran to the other side of the railing. After taking a deep breath, she shouted, "Beckman! It's time for a banquet!"
"Alright..." Beckman's reply came from the other ship. "I'll be right over after I secure the ropes and chains!"
In an instant, the decks of both ships became bustling with activity.
Louis and Yelena watched as the crew expertly transformed the stage into a barbecue grill, their expressions subtly changing.
After a moment of thought, Louis looked at Shanks and asked, "Shanks, is there anything we can help with?"
Louis felt that if he just stood around on someone else's ship, watching them work while he did nothing, it would be a bit awkward.
Shanks paused what he was doing and fell into thought. After a good while, he couldn't think of anything he needed Louis and Yelena to do. Finally, he scratched his head and said casually, "Later, maybe you can light the fire for us?!"
Louis: "..."
Suddenly, as if he'd thought of something, Shanks slapped his fist into his palm. "How about this, little Louis, you go into the sea and collect the fragments of that ship?"
"As it happens, we might be a little short on cooking fuel!" Shanks had a rough idea of what Louis was thinking and casually found a task for him.
To this, Louis nodded. "I can do that."
Then, he activated his ability. Specks of golden light emerged from Louis's body, forming a golden stream that swirled around him. The dazzling golden light unconsciously drew everyone's attention, and they all looked at Louis.
Then, under everyone's gaze, the brilliant light scattered, flowing directly into the sea behind him.
In the next moment, a strange change occurred in the blue sea.