SWNOVELXO Chapter 26: Chapter 26: Shanks, Defeated
In the next instant, the Five Elders surrounded Shanks and drove their swords ruthlessly into his body.
"AAARGH!"
Shanks finally couldn't hold it in anymore. He threw his head back and let out a furious roar—then collapsed unconscious on the spot.
Being tortured to the point of passing out inside a genjutsu meant that in reality, his mind had completely broken and he had lost consciousness.
Right after that, Rikuya immediately terminated the Tsukuyomi illusion world.
The illusion shattered, and both he and Shanks returned to the real world.
As they reappeared, Shanks' grip loosened, and his saber—Griffon—fell from his hand and clattered onto the floor with a crisp clang.
The sound of the sword hitting the deck drew the attention of the surrounding pirates.
They all paused their fighting and turned to look.
And right at that moment, Shanks' vision went black—and he collapsed in front of everyone.
For a moment, the entire scene fell into a deathly silence.
Then, at last, the system's long-awaited voice rang out:
Ding! Congratulations to the host for successfully defeating the enemy. You have been awarded 150,000 reputation points.
After defeating Shanks, Rikuya had earned 150,000 rep points in one go—a massive fortune.
Not only had he made back the 100,000 points spent on the Uchiha Itachi character card, he'd even gained an extra 50,000 points on top of that.
But just as Rikuya was celebrating, a sharp pain surged through his eyes.
"Ahh…"
He let out a soft groan, and tears began streaming down from his eyes.
This was the side effect of keeping the Mangekyō Sharingan activated for too long!
Even Uchiha clan members experienced backlash from overusing the Mangekyō—let alone an ordinary human like Rikuya.
His body had to bear an even heavier burden.
After quite a while, he finally managed to open his eyes again.
But by then, his eyes were bloodshot, looking downright terrifying.
With the battle on this side concluded, the fighting elsewhere also came to a halt.
Ben Beckman and Yasopp rushed to Shanks' side and helped him up.
Meanwhile, Douglas Bullet immediately flashed to Rikuya's side to guard him.
"Captain Rikuya, are you alright?"
Rikuya waved his hand and slowly began walking toward the other group.
By now, they had checked Shanks' condition and confirmed that he was merely unconscious. Ben Beckman and the others let out a deep sigh of relief.
But before they could relax, Rikuya started walking straight toward them again.
Everyone instantly tensed up once more!
"Don't come any closer! One more step and I'll blow your head off!" Yasopp shouted, aiming his sniper rifle directly at Rikuya's skull.
"With just you?" Rikuya scoffed, glaring coldly. "If you think you can kill me, then go ahead and try."
Hearing his mocking tone, Yasopp's expression changed. After a moment, he slowly lowered his rifle.
It was obvious he knew Rikuya wasn't bluffing.
Even Shanks—a Yonko—had fallen before this man. What hope did he have?
"I actually have great respect for Shanks," Rikuya said. "But this world runs on survival of the fittest. Today, I'm only here for your ship."
"To be frank, with your current strength, defeating me or Douglas Bullet is impossible. So hand over the ship, and I'll let you live."
"Besides, Shanks is only unconscious. He should wake up in a few days."
Rikuya's words echoed across the deck of the Red Force.
After a long silence, the Red-Haired Pirates' first mate—Ben Beckman—finally spoke.
"…Abandon ship. Take Captain Shanks aboard the mini warship."
Hearing Beckman's command, everyone lowered their heads.
Clearly, this was the most humiliating day in the history of the Red-Haired Pirates.
The handover went smoothly. Following Beckman's orders, the crew took only some food and transferred to the small navy warship that Rikuya and Bullet had arrived in.
Once they had all left, Rikuya finally turned around—and collapsed exhausted onto the deck.
"Captain Rikuya, are you alright?" Douglas Bullet rushed to help him up.
"Fighting Shanks drained too much of my energy. Help me inside to rest."
Meanwhile, as the Red-Haired Pirates sailed away on the mini warship…
A large pirate ship suddenly appeared nearby.
The crew of that larger vessel spotted the smaller warship approaching and burst into cheers.
"Ha ha! Boys, let's raid that navy ship and show them our true power!"
On the deck, a one-eyed pirate shouted to his crew.
But as soon as the two ships met, cries of agony rang out from the larger vessel.
In mere moments, the deck of the pirate ship became a blood-soaked battlefield.
The next morning, Rikuya woke up and stretched.
"As expected of the Red-Haired Pirates—even the beds are ridiculously soft," he muttered. Compared to the hard plank beds on their previous ship, this was a world of difference.
To save energy, Douglas Bullet had even forced two of the Red-Haired Pirates to stay behind as their personal navigators.
At first, the two men were so terrified they almost wet themselves.
But thankfully, Bullet wasn't interested in nobodies like them.
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