One Piece: Double Comparison

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The door was pushed open gently.

The action was light.

It carried a sense of discipline.

This starkly contrasted with the original world, where bandits had barged in violently.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Slow, rhythmic footsteps filled the tavern.

The once noisy bar gradually quieted down.

Every person turned their gaze toward the entrance.

A tall man stepped inside.

He wore pristine white Marine trousers and a neatly pressed white shirt.

A flowing white cape rested casually on his shoulders.

In one hand, he dragged a transparent thermos cup, its contents swirling inside.

He walked in slowly, his posture relaxed.

The moment the Red Hair Pirates saw the thermos cup, an ominous feeling crept over them.

Then, when they finally looked up and saw his face—

The atmosphere shifted drastically.

Tension gripped every pirate in the room.

His sharp eyebrows and bright eyes carried an air of authority.

His short hair was neatly combed, his demeanor calm.

A faint, easygoing smile remained on his lips.

It was him.

Not good.

The entire tavern fell into complete silence.

The room was so quiet that even the sound of breathing and heartbeats became painfully clear.

Yasopp instinctively reached for his waist, undoing the safety on his pistol. His eyes locked onto the man's every movement, but his finger on the trigger trembled slightly.

The fat chef, usually obsessed with food, had stopped mid-bite. Sweat trickled down his forehead as his hand slipped under the table, gripping a hidden long knife.

Benn Beckman, standing near the window, had let his cigarette burn down to his lips, singeing them red, yet he hadn't noticed. Instead, his left hand tightened around a blade while his right grasped a gun. His posture leaned slightly toward the window—ready to leap out at a moment's notice.

Shanks remained seated at the bar, unmoving. He hadn't turned around, but he already knew.

Pressing down slightly on his straw hat, he sighed, a bitter smile forming on his lips.

What a cruel twist of fate.

He had always remained vigilant. Even while drinking in a remote tavern, he had never let his guard down.

Yet somehow, he had failed to sense his arrival.

Those from the present world immediately recognized the thermos.

They understood everything.

But those from the original world were completely lost.

They could see the Red Hair Pirates' reactions from a bird's-eye view.

This was one of the Four Emperors, even in the early years an exceptionally powerful crew.

How could they be this terrified?

"(Original) Yasopp: Impossible. Absolutely impossible. I'm a sniper. My hands don't shake—ever!"

Yasopp from the original world was in denial.

He stared at the screen, watching his alternate self's trembling hands struggling to hold the trigger steady.

He couldn't believe it.

He was the world's greatest sniper.

Even over ten years ago, his skills had already been unmatched.

After countless battles, his psychological resilience had been honed to perfection.

He could grip a red-hot iron bar without flinching—let alone a gun.

He had faced thousands of enemies without fear.

So why was he shaking?

Who was that man?

What kind of monster could reduce him to this state?

"(Original) Fat Chef: Huh? I stopped eating meat? That's impossible. If I don't eat meat for even a second, I feel like I'm starving!"

That wasn't hunger. That was fear.

If the situation weren't so serious, his crew would have mocked him.

"(Original) Benn Beckman: I planned an escape route? That means… I saw no chance of winning?"

Benn Beckman, the Red Hair Pirates' strategist, prided himself on his intelligence.

His quick thinking had saved the crew from countless dire situations.

His ability to formulate exit plans in any crisis had been instrumental in Shanks' rise to becoming an Emperor.

Yet here he was—immediately opting for retreat.

No strategy.

No counterattack.

Just run.

"(Original) Benn Beckman: How is this possible? With my intelligence, I couldn't think of a single way to win?"

"(Current) Benn Beckman: Don't overestimate intelligence. Against absolute strength, strategy means nothing. This is a lesson I learned the first time I met him."

A collective shiver ran through the original world's Red Hair Pirates.

For Benn Beckman to admit that strategy was useless—

How powerful did that man have to be?

"(Original) Shanks: What happened? Why is my alternate self so afraid of this man?"

No one knew Shanks better than himself.

Even at that point in time, he had been a formidable force, just a step away from becoming an Emperor.

His crew was beyond powerful—Benn Beckman, the fat chef, Yasopp—each of them stronger than a Warlord. No, ten times stronger.

Every person inside that tavern had been among his elite subordinates.

With such a lineup, even if Whitebeard or Garp had walked in, they wouldn't have looked this shaken.

Shanks saw his alternate self's expression.

A look of complete despair.

How strong did this man have to be for that reaction?

How terrifying?

Was this really necessary?

Robert had appeared in a Marine uniform.

The high-ranking officers of the original world's Marines immediately took notice.

"(Original) Sengoku: Is that him? Is this the man Kaido was talking about? That outfit… He's a Marine? But is there such a person in our Marines? I have no memory of him."

"(Original) Garp: Could he be the one who led my grandson to become a Marine?"

"You two, look over there! We don't have this person in our Marines, but the Marines in that world do. And his rank isn't low."

Staff Officer Tsuru had spoken privately to Sengoku and Garp.

She refused to post publicly.

Her last experience had been humiliating.

A certain someone from the other world had sent her a message:

"Madam Marshal, how many babies have you had over there?"

That one sentence nearly made Tsuru quit reality.

She wanted to forget the other her existed.

She didn't even want to acknowledge the fact that her alternate self had… well…

Wait. How old was she?

Why was she even thinking about this?

Sengoku noticed Tsuru had subtly moved away from him.

He sighed.

It was all that other Sengoku's fault.

His future reputation had been completely ruined.

Still, as much as he wanted to deny it, a thought crept into his mind.

If only he had been a little braver in the past…

No.

He shook his head.

No point dwelling on it.

Garp, noticing their odd behavior, smirked.

"What are you two thinking about? Why do you look so—"

"SHUT UP."

They both snapped in unison.

The damn tacit understanding.

Since when had they become that in sync?

"Focus on the screen. That man is a Marine, and his rank is clearly high!"

The live feed from the present world played alongside the past.

And in the present world—

Robert stood in the most conspicuous location.

The very center of Marineford Square.

The same place where the execution platform originally stood.

Before this, no one had paid much attention to him.

They had assumed he was just another Marine.

After all, there were too many to keep track of.

But now that they knew he was the catalyst…

Sengoku, Garp, and Tsuru spoke in unison.

"Is he the reason why the two Marine worlds are so different?"

End of the Chapter.

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