Super Card System - Chapter 486

Chapter 486: Origins

Ian wasn’t mistaken. The reason Shanks came out this time was indeed because after meeting with Hawkeye (Dracule Mihawk), these two monsters had a meeting. This impromptu decision led Shanks to seek out Ian.

However, the fact that they met at St. Poplar was truly coincidental, not because Shanks had foreseen it.

In truth, a deviation had already occurred when Ian decided to team up with Ace to pursue Blackbeard Teach. Originally, if Ace had pursued Teach alone, Shanks would have ultimately chosen to meet with Whitebeard, Edward Newgate, and inform him of the danger posed by the Blackbeard. He would have hoped that Whitebeard could recall Ace and prevent him from further chasing the Blackbeard.

The last time Ace found Shanks was to express gratitude for saving Luffy. Although this established a certain level of acquaintance between Ace and Shanks, Shanks had never considered directly approaching Ace to convince him to give up his pursuit. This was because Shanks knew that Ace belonged to the Whitebeard Pirates. The only person who could make Ace abandon his pursuit was Whitebeard himself. Even if Shanks had directly approached Ace, he wouldn’t have been able to change Ace’s mind.

So originally, Shanks had intended to set sail and head to the New World to meet with Whitebeard. At that time, Shanks already knew that Ace was pursuing Blackbeard alongside Ian, but he hadn’t changed his plan.

The reason was simple. Shanks and Ian were complete strangers at that point, and considering Ian’s position as one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, Shanks feared that his intervention might backfire.

However, when Hawkeye, this good friend, approached Shanks and revealed his relationship with Ian, Shanks altered his plans.

Those who can become Yonko have their own pride. Shanks was well aware of Whitebeard’s character. He knew that if he, a younger generation figure, were to approach the Whitebeard, the latter might not heed his advice. Shanks would have chosen the path of meeting Whitebeard only as a last resort. However, now he had a better option—leveraging the relationship between Hawkeye and Ian to approach them.

Shanks knew that Ian was almost about to join the Whitebeard Pirates and was Ace’s closest friend/brother. If he could persuade Ian, perhaps it might lead to Ace abandoning his pursuit of Blackbeard as well.

This was the reason for his sudden departure. His actions at the time startled even the Marine ships monitoring them, prompting hurried reports to the Marine Headquarters about the activities of the Red Hair Pirates.

However, Shanks’ understanding of Ian was limited at the time. His knowledge about Ian, one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, was circumscribed. Although he knew Ian had clashed with Marine admirals and had become a Warlord for unknown reasons, he had never truly met Ian. He had no real grasp of Ian’s capabilities.

In Shanks’ perspective, even if Ian and Ace teamed up to pursue Blackbeard, there was a high likelihood of trouble, given Blackbeard’s treacherous nature.

Yet, what surprised Shanks was that when he was in his way, approaching the island of Alabasta, sudden news arrived: Ian and Ace had successfully captured the Blackbeard Pirates and handed them over to members of the Whitebeard Pirates!

This news certainly left Shanks bewildered, as it went beyond his expectations.

With news of Blackbeard’s capture confirmed, Shanks’ original intention of seeking out Ian and Ace naturally fell through. Thus, after careful consideration, Shanks made the decision to continue observing the unfolding situation. Moreover, upon learning that Ian and Ace had departed Alabasta, Shanks could no longer pursue them in that direction and had to change course.

This is why the Marine reports stated that the Red Hair Pirates “Suddenly changed direction.”

Originally, Ian and Ace were headed for Jaya Island, but with Shanks losing his purpose to find them, he had no reason to linger around Jaya Island. Coincidentally, their ship, the Red Force, had sustained some damage due to colliding with a reef during their journey. This prompted Shanks to set course for Water 7 to acquire high-quality timber for repairing the ship.

However, Shanks himself hadn’t anticipated that during the time he was en route to St. Poplar, Ian’s ship had not gone to Jaya Island as originally planned. Unfortunately, it was inadvertently drawn into one of Luffy’s escapades to Skypiea. On their return journey, due to the acquisition of Enel’s Ark Maxim, their route was altered, leading them onto the path toward St. Poplar.

Initially, Shanks had not paid attention to the pirate flag hanging on the Ark Maxim; he had been captivated by the allure of the golden-crafted ship. However, his first mate, Ben Beckman, the charismatic pipe-smoking uncle, had noticed it and informed Shanks.

The sudden appearance of the Hunting Dragon Pirates’ ship caught Shanks off guard. For him, this was an unexpected twist of fate. He had set out to search purposefully but hadn’t managed to cross paths, and just when he had ceased actively seeking, fate played its hand, leading them to meet.

Nonetheless, regardless of the circumstances, now that they had encountered each other, Shanks decided to have a conversation with Ian. He was genuinely curious about Ian as a person. Shanks’ long-time solitary friend, Hawkeye, had suddenly introduced a nephew of sorts and even shared a drink with Shanks in apparent delight. Thus, Shanks was naturally inclined to meet Ian.

As Shanks spoke with such eloquence, Ian finally grasped the sequence of events that had unfolded since he and Ace left Alabasta.

Observing the red-haired gentleman before him, who frequently burst into hearty laughter, Ian couldn’t help but find the situation rather peculiar.

Despite being one of the Yonko, Shanks was quite affable in demeanor. He didn’t even seem to bring up the incident involving Enel’s attack earlier. It appeared he hadn’t taken it to heart at all.

This was something Ian could understand, as his impression of Shanks went back to the time when he had faced a group of mountain bandits in Windmill Village of the East Blue. Shanks had still remained composed and cheerful, even then.

However, this didn’t imply that Shanks was harmless. It was more that as long as these provocations didn’t cross his personal boundaries, he simply let them slide.

This seemingly carefree disposition reminded Ian of someone familiar—Luffy. It appeared Luffy might have been influenced by Shanks’ personality. This raised a question: Who had influenced Shanks in this manner? As Ian pondered this, only one person came to mind—Pirate King Gol D. Roger!

Thinking of Roger, Ian suddenly remembered someone else—Silvers Rayleigh!

“Uncle Rayleigh, how is he doing?” Ian found himself pondering, reflecting on the man who had been the right hand of the Pirate King.

As the former vice-captain of the Pirate King, Rayleigh had indeed mentioned Shanks to Ian. Unable to contain his curiosity, Ian addressed Shanks, “Uh, Shanks-aniki… Can I call you that? Uncle Rayleigh mentioned you to me before…”

*Pffft!* Shanks had been in the midst of taking a gulp of the beer that Matthew had brought him. However, upon hearing Ian’s words, he ended up spewing out the liquid in surprise!

“Cough! Cough!!” Shanks coughed a few times before lifting his head, astonishment etched on his face as he stared at Ian. “You… you just mentioned who?!”

“Uncle Rayleigh! Silvers Rayleigh!” Ian repeated.

Shanks looked at Ian in disbelief. “Where did you hear that name?”

“Uncle Rayleigh told me himself!” Ian responded before realizing, “Oh! Right, you probably haven’t seen Uncle Rayleigh in a long time, have you? So you might not know that I’ve become Uncle Rayleigh’s disciple!”

At this point, Shanks was genuinely shocked. He hadn’t expected that Ian was Rayleigh’s disciple!

He had indeed not seen Rayleigh in many years. After their crew disbanded, Rayleigh had chosen to live in Sabaody Archipelago, and due to his own circumstances, Shanks hadn’t approached that island much. After all, it was close to Marine Headquarters, and if he were to appear, a fleet of Marine ships might await him.

“Um, also, Luffy mentioned you to me!” Ian seemed to enjoy Shanks’ astonishment and added, “My martial brother, Zoro, is part of Luffy’s pirate crew. Additionally, Luffy is Ace’s younger brother, right? During our time on the Sky Island, we spent our time together…”

By now, Shanks was entirely flabbergasted. He hadn’t anticipated that there was such a profound connection between him and Ian beyond their relationship with Hawkeye!

It was indescribable, the whirlwind of emotions Shanks felt. He had initially assumed that they were two entirely unrelated individuals. Yet, through this conversation, he suddenly realized they shared a camaraderie that defied his expectations—a sense of belonging that was astonishing.

Shanks finally understood why Ian had addressed him as “big brother” earlier. Considering Shanks was around 37 years old and Ian was merely 20, plus the deep bond they had uncovered, the fraternal appellation seemed more than appropriate.

“Ahahaha!” Once the realization set in, Shanks burst into hearty laughter, a warm and genuine joy radiating from him. If he had known the depth of their connection, he thought, he wouldn’t have hesitated before—instead, he would have directly invited Ian to share a drink with him.

Laughing heartily, Shanks clapped Ian’s shoulder with vigor. Then, he turned to the crew on the Red Force, including Ben Beckman, and shouted with enthusiasm, “Ben! Come over here! Hahaha, let’s meet our young brother and celebrate together!”