On the vast ocean, endless events occur every day. Countless loves, hates, grudges, and separations of life and death make up the core of this great sea, which many long for.
As the weakest of the four seas, the East Blue is relatively calm compared to other seas. Perhaps it's because all the countries in the East Blue are under the control of the World Government. In this turbulent era of pirates, the East Blue experiences fewer pirate activities.
Pirates can be divided into two types: righteous pirates and evil pirates. As the names suggest, evil pirates are those who rob ordinary people, while righteous pirates seek adventure and treasure from past generations, often robbing evil pirates along the way.
However, in an era where reality far outweighs ideals, the sea is full of evil pirates, and righteous pirates have become as rare as phoenix feathers or unicorn horns. People's admiration for pirates has long vanished, replaced instead by fear and hatred.
One day, a pirate ship flying a skull flag with a mask docked at a small town in the East Blue—Mora Town.
The townspeople were in a panic, fearing another raid. Escape was no longer an option, so they hid in their homes, silently praying for the favor of the gods, hoping the pirates wouldn't target them.
At this moment, two figures descended from the pirate ship.
The man at the front was strikingly handsome, with sharp eyes that exuded a heroic aura. Dressed in a long black robe, he wielded a heavy black sword, and his plain black sunglasses only emphasized his masculine beauty. If not for the almost terrifying "S" shaped scar on his face, he could have easily been mistaken for a charming idol. However, that scar added to his fierce appearance, lending him an air of rugged toughness.
The woman beside him was tall, with long legs and a delicate, cute, and slightly upturned nose. Her deep blue eyes shimmered with mystery. She wore a purple leather outfit that fit her perfectly, adorned with a white jade pendant around her neck, exuding both nobility and allure. Her long black hair cascaded over her shoulders, enhancing her beauty. Her wheat-colored skin was the embodiment of health and vitality, and her entire demeanor radiated both wisdom and grace.
These two were, of course, Shanter and Robin.
It had been three years since Shanter's bounty had increased.
During these three years, Shanter and Robin had traveled through the four seas in search of the historical texts, leaving their footprints across the world. Because Shanks' markings showed that there were no historical texts in the East Blue, their previous journey through the East Blue had only been a brief passing. In fact, this was their second time here, and this time, they were determined to search thoroughly.
Over the past three years, they had been pursued by the navy, fought pirates, battled bounty hunters, and encountered monsters. However, they managed to escape every danger unscathed.
In terms of combat, Shanter hadn't made significant progress. Despite his exceptional talent in battle, he lacked guidance in cultivation and had to rely on the most primitive methods to improve himself. Fortunately, thanks to the effect of the War God Fruit, his physical training had no bottleneck, and his Dao Power [spiritual energy or cultivation power] steadily increased by an average of 1 to 2 points per day.
In the four seas, Shanter had already reached the peak of power and was ready to challenge the Grand Line. However, even so, Shanter had still encountered many enemies, including some formidable ones, which had required him to use his "Rampage" [a state of heightened power] a total of four times.
The first and second battles took place in the South Blue.
The first opponent was a man named Boulder Saxon, a once-in-a-century genius swordsman. Saxon wasn't a bounty hunter but had come to challenge Shanter personally. Unlike Shanter, who only sought to protect Robin and follow his own whims, Saxon was a young swordsman with lofty ambitions, vowing to make a name for himself across the world. Saxon's swordsmanship, though not as refined as Shanks or Mihawk's, was still extraordinary, and he even dabbled in both Armament Haki and Observation Haki. However, Saxon's strength and speed were far inferior to Shanter's. While he could hold his ground with his technique, once Shanter activated his Rampage, Saxon was immediately defeated.
Strangely enough, after the battle, Shanter and Saxon became friends, which no one had expected.
Saxon had long since set out for the Grand Line, over two years ago.
The second battle was with a giant squid.
Normally, Sea Kings wouldn't be a significant threat to Shanter, and a mere squid wouldn't be much trouble. But this squid was over 500 meters long. To put it into perspective, normal Sea Kings or giants are only about 50 to 60 meters tall, and even the powerful Oz is only about 150 meters. This squid was enormous by comparison. When Shanter saw one of its tentacles, which was several times thicker than his own body, and its head towering several stories high, his legs trembled.
After all, seeing a small island suddenly floating in the air was an incredibly shocking sight.
In the South Blue, which is sparsely populated and vast, it was more likely to encounter such ancient beasts.
Despite his fear, Shanter was not particularly burdened by the battle with the monster, but the Dark Ship and Robin were a different story. If the squid had crashed into the ship, both Shanter and Robin would have drowned. With no choice, Shanter activated Rampage and used his "Glorious Sky" technique to slice the squid into pieces.
Later, the giant squid was roasted and eaten by Shanter and Robin, with the remains nourishing the land.
The third and fourth crises occurred in the North Blue.
The third crisis occurred when the Masked Pirate Crew was ambushed by over a thousand bounty hunters just after entering the North Blue. This was due to Robin's lack of proper intelligence, which led Shanter to mistakenly sail the Dark Ship right into a nest of bounty hunters.
The situation was dire, as there were more than ten bounty hunter leaders, some of whom were comparable to mid-ranking Navy officers. Fortunately, Shanter had grown stronger and more formidable over the years. With his newly developed Conqueror's Haki, he managed to clear out the weaker enemies. After a fierce battle, the scene was left littered with over a thousand corpses and a blood-soaked Shanter.
After that event, Shanter became notorious, his name feared across the seas as a ruthless killer.
If the third battle was the most exhausting, the fourth was the most dangerous.
The fourth enemy was a horrifying creature, which looked like a human but wasn't one. It resembled a zombie or a human skin with blood-red skin and a grotesque appearance. When Shanter cut it open, instead of blood and flesh, the creature's insides were filled with writhing human faces and squirming chunks of flesh.
This creature was not only incredibly strong and fast but also had an astonishing regenerative ability. It kept regenerating even after being sliced. It wasn't until Shanter used Rampage to reduce it to dust that the monster was finally defeated.
However, during the battle, Shanter realized that while Rampage gave him great explosive power, its aftereffects were severe. To counter this, Shanter developed a new technique—Partial Rampage.
Partial Rampage allowed him to activate Rampage in specific parts of his body, such as his arms for increased attack or his legs for speed. While the power was only half of the full Rampage, the aftereffects were much less severe.
Over the past three years, both Shanter and Robin had made significant progress. Of course, most of the discoveries were due to Robin, who found seventeen historical texts: three in the West Blue, six in the South Blue, and eight in the North Blue.
This uneven distribution was largely due to the World Government's control over the regions. The West Blue had the strongest control, followed by the South Blue, with the North Blue being the weakest.
One issue, however, had been troubling Shanter during these three years—his growing sense of crisis. Robin had grown much taller!
Shanter, who was already 178 cm at the age of 13, had stopped growing after a back injury from a battle with Tevis, but Robin's height had continued to increase steadily. At 17, Robin had surpassed Shanter, and it seemed like her growth was still ongoing.
This embarrassed Shanter! Imagining the future scenarios where Robin was taller than him, Shanter felt an instinctive sense of fear.
Would they one day sit on a park bench, and Robin would have to carry him? Would he need to tiptoe to kiss her? Would they need to walk with Shanter holding Robin's waist while she draped her arm over his shoulder?
These thoughts were too much for him to handle!
But for now, Shanter had to accept this cruel reality. Fortunately, Robin wasn't a superficial girl, and her height was no big deal.
Shanter had given up on the matter...
Of course, Robin had no idea about Shanter's insecurities. If she did, she likely wouldn't have cared about their height difference.
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