One Piece Chapter 434: Whitebeard and Red Hair

00AI-written

Chapter 434 opens with the title page, "WHITEBEARD AND RED HAIR." Enel's Great Space Mission continues with Vol. 5, "ATTACK FIRST, THINK LATER." On the moon, Enel reacts to the strange figure emerging near the crater by immediately swinging his staff instead of trying to talk. It is cover-story material and not part of the main confrontation at sea.

Enel

At Marine Headquarters, the alarm spreads before anyone can pretend the situation is under control. Reports come in one after another: "THE FLEET HAS BEEN DEFEATED!!" and "RED HAIR AND WHITEBEARD ARE ABOUT TO MAKE CONTACT!!" The officers understand how dangerous that meeting could become and shout, "WE DON'T KNOW WHAT'S GONNA HAPPEN!!" The order is immediate: "STAY ALERT AT ALL COSTS!" and the reply comes back, "YES, SIR!!" Far out at sea, Shanks' ship reaches the massive vessel of Whitebeard, where someone calls up to the deck, "CAPTAIN, WE'LL GO WELCOME RED HAIR!!" The world is already bracing for a meeting between two emperors.

ShanksEdward Newgate

On Whitebeard's ship, the flags of the two great pirate crews face each other in the wind. Marco calmly states, "RED HAIR IS COMING." The younger pirates are eager, but Joz stops them with a warning that sounds less like advice and more like survival instinct: "STAY BACK, YOUNGSTERS, YOU WON'T SURVIVE THIS." The page names the men standing guard around Whitebeard: Whitebeard Pirates First Division Captain Marco and Whitebeard Pirates Third Division Captain Joz. They are not preparing for an ordinary visitor. They are preparing for the pressure of Shanks himself.

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Shanks steps onto the ship, and the weaker pirates begin to fold before he even says anything. Some do not understand the warning and ask, "EH...? WE WON'T SURVIVE THIS...? WHAT DO YOU MEAN...?" Marco only says, "DON'T ASK QUESTIONS AND JUST STAY BACK." It is already too late. Bodies hit the deck with dull "THUD" sounds, and confused crewmen cry, "EH!? HEY, GUYS, WHAT'S WRONG?" and "WHAT'S GOING ON?" Marco tells them, "DON'T PANIC. THEY JUST LOST CONSCIOUSNESS." Joz explains the scale of the presence moving toward them: "WITHOUT ANY DETERMINATION, THERE'S NO WAY YOU CAN STAY CONSCIOUS IN FRONT OF THAT MAN...!!" Shanks' arrival is treated like a force of nature.

ShanksMarcoJoz

Shanks walks through the fallen men as if the deck itself has become a test of will. Whitebeard watches from his seat and recognizes the pressure at once: "AMAZING HAKI... AS ALWAYS." Around Shanks, pirates collapse with more "THUD" sounds, and even the ship creaks under the strain, marked by sharp "SQUEAK" noises and split wood. Shanks continues forward without theatrics, while the survivors stare in silence. By the time he reaches Whitebeard, the greeting has already made its point: only the strong can remain standing in the presence of an emperor.

ShanksEdward NewgateMarcoJoz

Shanks apologizes first: "EXCUSE ME." He admits, "SINCE THIS IS AN ENEMY'S SHIP... I KINDA MADE A BIT OF A THREAT." Whitebeard glares at him and says the wound from that man aches whenever he looks at Shanks' face. Shanks has brought a huge gourd of sake, not a weapon, and says, "I BROUGHT THE HEALING WATER, I HAVE NO INTENTION TO FIGHT." His reason is simple: "I'M HERE TO DISCUSS SOMETHING WITH YOU." Whitebeard laughs, "GURARARARA...!!" but calls him a "BASTARD" and asks whether such words really come from a man whose haki is in full force. Even before the conversation begins, peace feels fragile.

ShanksEdward Newgate

Whitebeard's crew cannot help reacting to the damage Shanks has caused. Someone shouts, "HEY, RED HAIR, LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO US!!" and Shanks casually tries to recruit Marco: "OH! YOU'RE MARCO FROM THE FIRST DIVISION, RIGHT? DO YOU WANT TO JOIN MY CREW?" Marco snaps back, "SHUT UP!!" Whitebeard tells his men, "YEAH... THERE'S NO WAR AS HE SAYS... LEAVE US ALONE FOR NOW." Once the deck clears, the two emperors drink. Whitebeard sniffs the sake and says, "BOOZE FROM WEST BLUE, HUH...?" and "THE QUALITY ISN'T VERY GOOD, IS IT?" Shanks smiles and answers, "I'VE TRAVELED THROUGH THE SEAS OF THE WORLD... BUT NOTHING IS SUPERIOR TO THE BOOZE MADE WITH THE WATER FROM MY PLACE. IT'S THE BOOZE FROM MY HOME-TOWN. DRINK UP!!"

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Whitebeard drinks deep, and the sake earns a grudging approval: "YEAH... NOT BAD..." The drink pulls the old emperor backward in time. "... ROGER... GARP... SENGOKU..." he says, naming the men from the age before this one. "THERE AREN'T VERY MANY PEOPLE WHO KNOW ABOUT THE SEA BACK THEN." He tells Shanks, "IT'S BEEN 22 YEARS... IT GOES WITHOUT SAYING...!!" and then measures how far the red-haired pirate has come: "YOU'VE CLIMBED PRETTY FAR UP THE LADDER, TOO... BEFORE, YOU WERE JUST A PUNY APPRENTICE ON GOL D. ROGER'S SHIP...!!!" Shanks says nothing at first, but the silence carries the weight of Roger's era.

Edward NewgateShanksGol D. RogerMonkey D. GarpSengoku

Whitebeard remembers the old days almost fondly. "IT'S STRANGE HOW WE MET WHILE TRYING TO KILL EACH OTHER..." he says, then adds, "BECAUSE WE USED TO FIGHT A LOT WITH ROGER'S SHIP." He asks about the other apprentice: "DID THAT FUNNY RED NOSE WHO WAS WITH YOU DIE YET?" Shanks understands, "... YOU MEAN BUGGY?" and answers that the memories come back. On the day their captain was executed, Shanks asked, "COME WITH ME, BUGGY!!" but Buggy screamed, "I'LL NEVER BE PART OF YOUR CREW, IDIOT!!!" Shanks says, "WE PARTED WAYS, AND THAT'S THE END OF IT," though rumors say Buggy is still a pirate. Whitebeard says those 22 years passed quickly, and even the duel between Shanks and Hawkeye is still news to his ears. When Shanks returned from East Blue with one arm cut off, everyone was surprised.

Edward NewgateShanksBuggyDracule MihawkGol D. Roger

Whitebeard finally asks the question behind all the old memories: "WHAT KIND OF ENEMY DID YOU GIVE IT TO...?" Shanks quietly remembers Luffy as a child shouting, "ONE DAY, I'LL GATHER UP NAKAMA AND FORM A CREW THAT'S BETTER THAN YOURS!!" and "AND I'LL BECOME THE PIRATE KING!!!" Shanks touches the missing sleeve and answers Whitebeard, "... I BET IT ON THE 'NEW AGE'..." Whitebeard says, "AS LONG AS YOU DON'T REGRET IT..." but Shanks' expression changes. The scar over his left eye throbs. He tells Whitebeard, "I'VE... GONE THROUGH MANY BATTLES AND SUFFERED VARIOUS WOUNDS, BUT WHAT ACHES NOW IS THIS ONE...!!" The conversation turns from the arm he lost for Luffy to the scar that warns him about another man.

ShanksEdward NewgateMonkey D. Luffy

Shanks makes the warning plain. "THIS... ISN'T A WOUND FROM AN ADVENTURE... NOR DID I GET IT FROM HAWKEYE..." he says. "YOUR MAN, BLACKBEARD TEACH, WAS THE ONE WHO INFLICTED THIS WOUND...!!" Whitebeard falls silent. Shanks adds that it was not because he was careless: Teach has been hiding in the shadow of the famous Whitebeard, waiting for a chance rather than taking a captain's position or making himself known. Now Teach has gained power and started to act. Shanks believes that in the end, Teach will aim for the top "WITH HIS OWN WILL!!" and warns Whitebeard that Teach may eventually come for his position too.

ShanksEdward NewgateMarshall D. TeachDracule Mihawk

Whitebeard asks, "WHAT DO YOU WANT ME TO DO? THAT'S WHAT YOU CAME HERE FOR, RIGHT?" Shanks answers with no decoration: "PLEASE, STOP ACE!!!" Whitebeard reacts with shock. Shanks explains that despite Ace's youth, Whitebeard trusted him to captain the Second Division, and Shanks admits, "ACE IS STRONG...!!! I KNOW THAT VERY WELL." But that fame and trust complicate everything. The danger is timing: "IT'S NOT YET TIME FOR THEM TO FACE EACH OTHER!!!" Shanks is not questioning Ace's strength; he is warning that strength alone will not protect him from Teach.

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Shanks presses the request to its core: "LEAVE BLACKBEARD TEACH ALONE!! THAT'S THE ONLY WISH I HAVE." Whitebeard laughs, "FUFU... GURARARARA!!" and rejects the idea as childish. "A SNIVELING KID LIKE YOU DARES TO SAY SUCH THINGS," he says. For Whitebeard, Teach's crime cannot be ignored: "HIS CRIME... IS SOMETHING THAT'S HIGHLY FORBIDDEN ON A PIRATE SHIP. HE KILLED A NAKAMA...!! THUS VIOLATING THE ULTIMATE LAW." Whitebeard says he treats any idiot on his ship like his own son and asks where the soul of his murdered son would go if he did nothing. His face hardens as he declares, "IT'S MY RESPONSIBILITY TO GIVE THAT STUPID TEACH A LESSON ABOUT THAT...!!!" and "YOU CAN'T LIVE IN THIS WORLD WITHOUT HUMANITY AND JUSTICE."

ShanksEdward NewgateMarshall D. TeachPortgas D. AceThatch

Whitebeard ends the negotiation with the weight of his age and pride: "DO YOU UNDERSTAND, FOOL?" and "YOU ARE 100 YEARS TOO EARLY TO ORDER ME AROUND." Shanks rises from the deck. Whitebeard's bowl tips, his gourd shifts, and Shanks' hand goes to his sword. Then Shanks gives the warning that turns the private talk into a threat to the entire era: "THEN NOBODY WILL BE ABLE TO STOP THIS ERA OF RECKLESSNESS!!" Whitebeard answers with absolute certainty: "I HAVE NOTHING TO FEAR!!! I AM WHITEBEARD!!!" The two emperors draw. The discussion has failed, and the sea itself seems to hold its breath.

ShanksEdward Newgate

Shanks and Whitebeard clash blades, and the force of their meeting erupts across the ship and the sky. Around them, Whitebeard's men shout in disbelief: "IT STARTED." "IS IT A WAR?" Another crewman insists, "NAH, BOSS SAID HE AIN'T GONNA DO THAT..." but someone else can only ask, "THAT RED HAIR BASTARD, WHAT HAS HE DONE TO POP...!!?" Marco tells them to wait and see, saying Shanks is not stupid enough to be so reckless, and someone realizes, "BUT SOME KIND OF DEAL MUST'VE BEEN BROKEN." Joz orders, "LOOK AT THE SKY." Above the ship, the clouds tear apart from the pressure of the clash. The crew cries, "THE CLOUDS...!!" and "NO...!!! THE HEAVENS SPLIT!!" The meeting of Whitebeard and Red Hair has physically split the heavens.

ShanksEdward NewgateMarcoJoz

Elsewhere, on an island on the Grand Line, the focus shifts to the man Shanks was warning about. One of Blackbeard's men calls, "HEY, LOOK!!" and another says, "IT'S AN ARTICLE ABOUT THE STRAWHATS...!!" Blackbeard laughs, "ZEHAHAHAHA!! THEY'VE DONE SUCH AN OUTRAGEOUS THING!!!" The crew recognizes that the Straw Hats took out the judicial island, and they expect the bounties to jump. They discuss how Enies Lobby is close from where they are, with someone asking, "IS FAMOUS FOR THE SEA TRAIN COMING FROM WATER 7, ISN'T IT?" Blackbeard sees opportunity: "PITY... THAT THEY'RE WITHIN OUR RANGE. HOW UNLUCKY THEY ARE... COUGH." The ruins around them make the threat feel immediate: the Blackbeard Pirates are ready to move on Luffy.

Marshall D. TeachLaffitteVan AugurJesus BurgessDoc QMonkey D. Luffy

Blackbeard decides at once: "OF COURSE WE'RE GOING. ZEHAHAHAHAHA!!! PREPARE TO SET SAIL!!!" His crew stands amid smashed buildings and debris, ready to hunt the Straw Hats before their fame can carry them farther. Then the hunt is interrupted from behind. A familiar voice says, "HEY." Blackbeard turns with a puzzled "HRMM?" and another command cuts through the ruined street: "WAIT UP, TEACH." Portgas D. Ace stands there, having finally found him. The page ends on Ace's back and Blackbeard's startled crew as Ace says, "I'VE BEEN LOOKING FOR YOU...!!!"

Marshall D. TeachPortgas D. AceLaffitteVan AugurJesus BurgessDoc Q

The SBS page answers two lore-related reader questions. One reader asks, "IF Kokoro is a mermaid, why is her granddaughter, Chimney, a normal human? Is the Mermaid thing not passed down genetically?" Oda explains that Kokoro left Mermaid Island, married a human man in Water Seven, had a half-mermaid half-human son, and that son later had Chimney with a human woman; Chimney is therefore "1/4 mermaid," which is why she swims so well and once survived the Whirlpool. Another reader asks about Chapter 422, "Rob Lucci," where Lucci was said to have killed the 500 hostages and then the pirate captain. Oda says Lucci believed weak soldiers had put their country in danger by being captured, so he killed them to prevent such a thing from happening again. It is useful SBS context, not main story action.

Eiichiro OdaKokoroChimneyRob Lucci

No description for this page.

End of chapter19 pages

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