Feeling the gazes—some subtle, some not—falling on him from all directions,
Shanks's look of admiration stiffened slightly. He instinctively glanced down at his missing arm and suddenly had a thought.
"The hell? Did I just get caught in the crossfire for no reason?"
Looking at Luoyu, who was about the same age as Luffy, he recalled the comments he'd made not long ago when he first heard about the new Admiral's promotion.
Luffy had indeed taken down a Warlord and shaken the old era.
But compared to Luoyu catching Whitebeard's blade barehanded?
Yeah… the gap was kind of huge.
Had he bet on the wrong horse? Lost an arm for nothing?
Still, thinking of the secret hidden within that Devil Fruit, Shanks forcibly shoved the thought aside.
Maybe Luoyu outshone Luffy for now.
But Shanks believed—once Luffy awakened the power of the Nika Fruit, everything would change.
"Brat, so you were scheming from the start. No wonder you were so calm."
Whitebeard's eyes widened, staring straight at the slender figure before him.
That last strike had spent all its force.
If Whitebeard wanted to crush Luoyu, he'd have to charge up again.
As things stood, the dissipated slash alone wasn't enough to take him down.
Of course, that was assuming Whitebeard hadn't used Advanced Armament or the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit.
If he had, Luoyu wouldn't have dared to catch that blade barehanded.
One misstep, and he'd have ended up like Shanks—down an arm and up for the title of "One-Armed Hero."
Sensing the shift in atmosphere, the wrathful golden Kannon surrounding Luoyu had already shrunk to human size, compressed to reinforce his defense like a suit of armor.
His right hand was still coated in Armament Haki, and dozens of golden hands shimmered around him, still gripping the naginata.
Without them, he wouldn't have dared to be so bold.
But this bluff? Yeah, he couldn't keep it up much longer.
Thanks to the system, his strength had skyrocketed recently.
But if he were being honest, he was still far from Yonko level.
Even taking on a Yonko commander would be a stretch.
If not for the sheer flashiness of his techniques, he wouldn't have made it this far.
"Brat, take one more of my strikes. Let's see what the Navy's new Fourth Admiral is really made of!"
Whitebeard roared, yanking his naginata back.
But before he could move, Atmos stepped forward in a panic.
"Pops! I owe this brat my life. At least let him speak first!"
Luoyu blinked, surprised. He'd been wondering how to break the deadlock—didn't expect the big oaf's debt to come in handy so soon.
With the pressure lifted, Luoyu felt his body relax. He took a deep breath and turned toward Shanks.
"Sorry, Red-Haired. I kind of stole your thunder just now."
"But now it's your turn to say the usual line—'Give me some face'—so we can get to the real business."
The crowd froze.
Those back-to-back one-liners short-circuited their brains for a moment.
But then it hit them.
If Luoyu hadn't stepped in just now…
The one clashing with Whitebeard would've been Red-Haired Shanks.
"Captain… I think he just stole your line," Lucky Roux muttered, chewing on a piece of meat.
Shanks's smile turned stiff. He'd been planning to deny it, but now it was too late.
Feeling the stares from all around, he sighed and said:
"Atmos is right. This new Admiral risked his life to come here. I'd like to hear what he has to say."
"Whitebeard, how about giving me a little face? Let him speak. Consider it repaying Atmos's debt."
"Give you face?" Whitebeard's expression turned cold. He snorted.
He slammed his naginata into the deck and growled:
"Red-Haired brat, you and this Navy brat are the same in my eyes. Neither of you has earned the right to ask for face."
"But… for Atmos's sake, I'll allow him to speak his piece."
On the distant Marine warship, Gion's hands were slick with sweat as she gripped the Den Den Mushi's visual feed.
Staring at the sky, now split in two, her face had gone pale.
"Gion! Tell me what's happening on Whitebeard's ship! Get Luoyu back here right now—I'll give him a bonus!"
Sengoku's hysterical roar echoed from the Den Den Mushi.
The war room fell into dead silence, the air so tense you could hear every breath.
No one wanted to miss a single word of the report.
"He… he attacked. Whitebeard struck first. He tore through Admiral Luoyu's defenses, forcing him to respond."
"Luoyu caught the naginata barehanded. The clash of Conqueror's Haki split the sky in two!"
"Admiral Luoyu stopped Whitebeard's attack!"
Gion's voice trembled as she reported.
Beside her, Ain collapsed onto the deck, pale as a sheet, gasping for breath, drenched in cold sweat.
And she wasn't alone.
Even as mere spectators, the Marines felt like their strength had been drained.
To actually face Whitebeard in battle?
That was something else entirely.
They'd already respected Luoyu's strength.
But now, that respect had sunk into their bones.
What they'd just witnessed would never leave them.
"Barehanded… he caught Whitebeard's blade?"
Sengoku slumped into his chair, staring at the Den Den Mushi in disbelief.
Even Garp was speechless.
But before he could say anything, Sengoku snapped back to life and barked:
"Garp! Shut up! Don't you dare say 'Admiral material' again!"
"All this—for a ten-million-Berry bonus—he's got the entire Navy playing heart attack roulette!"