Hearing Beckman's words, the smile on Shanks's face stiffened.
He set down the bowl of wine in his hand and took the newspaper from Beckman.
After only a rough glance, Shanks's brows furrowed.
"Too fast."
Seeing Shanks frown, Beckman spoke in a grave tone.
"When he entered the New World, I already guessed he would cause a major disturbance."
The Red Hair Pirates had actually been paying attention to Cyrus for quite some time.
Their previous war with Big Mom had also been brought to a halt because of the Mary Geoise incident.
But how long had it been since then?
It had only been a short time since Cyrus last appeared at Dressrosa, and now he had already defeated Big Mom.
No.
Not just Big Mom.
"Captain, this man…"
Beckman's brows were also tightly knitted.
At this point, as long as they were pirates operating in the New World, most of them were probably paying close attention to this incident and finding it extremely troublesome.
A truly vicious monster had charged straight into the New World.
"He's strong. And right now, I'm afraid no one has a way to deal with him."
Shanks shook his head.
"Captain, you mean…?"
Hearing Shanks's evaluation, Beckman's eyes widened.
He naturally knew Cyrus's strength was absurd, but Shanks's assessment still startled him.
What Shanks meant was almost the same as saying that Cyrus was invincible right now.
"Judging from the strength he has shown so far, even if several powerful fighters joined forces, they might not be able to stop him."
After saying that, Shanks actually felt he had spoken conservatively.
It was not merely a question of whether they could stop him.
The real question was whether they could withstand his attacks without being defeated.
The World Government's reaction had already explained everything.
Although the current situation in the New World was tangled and complicated, and the World Government and the Marines seemed to have difficulty interfering, if they truly disregarded all consequences, the combined power of the World Government and the Marines would still be an existence that no force in the New World could resist.
But after something as massive as the Mary Geoise incident, the World Government and the Marines had done little besides launching a worldwide military draft.
That alone already revealed their attitude toward Cyrus.
"I need to find a chance to meet him."
Shanks put down the newspaper, closed his eyes slightly, and thought for a moment before speaking.
"Huh?"
Beckman froze, looking at Shanks in surprise.
"With that man's current situation, shouldn't we be avoiding him?"
In Beckman's eyes, Cyrus was not a pirate.
After all, the first title he had become known by was Pirate Hunter.
And the man seemed to be living up to that title.
For pirates like them to actively seek him out now sounded like reckless nonsense.
Although Beckman knew Shanks had his own considerations, he still felt this decision was far too rash.
"I need to ask him about a few things."
Shanks, of course, knew that this decision was somewhat reckless.
But he truly needed to know what Cyrus's goal was.
Having made his decision, Shanks stood up directly, said farewell to the group of drunken giants, then turned and left with Beckman.
The tipsy giants watched Shanks and the others hurry away, exchanging puzzled looks.
Before they could even understand what had happened, Shanks's group had already gone far.
As for the crew aboard Red Force, once Beckman explained what had happened, they immediately erupted into chaos.
Everyone began talking over one another.
However, not a single one of them questioned Shanks's decision.
…
Marine Headquarters and the World Government had also been closely monitoring news about Cyrus.
However, this latest report was clearly already within their expectations.
Neither the Marines nor the World Government caused much of a stir over it.
As for the CP agents they had previously dispatched, the ones who had intended to act while Cyrus and Big Mom were fighting had never had the opportunity to intervene at all.
All they had been able to do was watch from beginning to end as Cyrus beat down Big Mom's group of four.
At this moment, those agents continued to hide themselves according to orders.
As for Cyrus and his group, they had already left Whole Cake Island and moved to Candy Island, the island closest to Whole Cake Island, to stay for the time being.
"This really is a nice place."
An island made of candy gave Cyrus a strong sense of déjà vu.
After all, the sight was especially familiar. It resembled a certain world with Gourmet Cells, where Hunters also existed.
The only pity was that there were no animals or plants whose bodies contained peerless delicacies.
"You like this place?" Robin asked curiously after hearing Cyrus's comment about the island.
"I wouldn't say I like it. It just feels a little familiar."
Cyrus shook his head.
"So you really are from the New World?"
Issho's voice sounded.
Other than knowing that Cyrus had set out to sea from the East Blue, Issho knew nothing about Cyrus's life before that.
Not only him—even Robin was very curious about it.
She had asked before, but Cyrus had never explained clearly.
"Not exactly. If I have to say it, I'm definitely an East Blue native."
Cyrus shook his head.
After all, he had arrived in this world in the East Blue, so naturally, that made him an East Blue native.
"There's a place similar to this in the East Blue?"
Robin turned her head, looking at the candy-built structures around them and the frightened residents nearby, and asked in confusion.
"No. Don't bother guessing. Just think of it as my secret."
Cyrus did not explain.
At least until everything was resolved, he would not reveal that matter.
"What a pity. This old man is quite curious about your upbringing. I wonder what kind of environment could raise a monster like you."
Issho sighed, sounding genuinely regretful.
"That… I'll tell you after everything is settled someday."
Cyrus turned and glanced at Issho.
He was not certain what the future would look like.
At least for now, his body had not been completely fixed by digitization.
As he aged, his height and physique were still changing.
He was already over two meters ten, and he was still growing.
He simply did not know whether he would truly grow old.
Of course, there were many ways to extend one's lifespan in this world.
But Cyrus was not sure whether he actually wanted to live that long.
After all, no one could know whether living for too long was happiness or suffering until they had actually experienced it.
The four of them walked through Candy Island, and no one dared disturb them.
As for the four people Cyrus had defeated, three of them had been carried here.
Whole Cake Island had more or less been completely destroyed.
Rebuilding it would clearly take a great deal of time, and there was no real need for it.
Many members of the Charlotte Family had already followed Katakuri out of the Mirro-World.
Following Katakuri's orders, they were informing the other islands within Totto Land's waters of what had happened on Whole Cake Island.
However, even Katakuri himself was not entirely sure what should be done next.
After stabilizing everything first, Katakuri came to look for Cyrus.
"Chairman, that won't really work. After all, an existence like a Gourmet Hunter needs to be decided by the Hunters themselves. Besides, you don't seem to have any particularly strong pursuit of gourmet food.
So according to what you said before, it should be enough to let the Hunters make their own choices."
When Katakuri arrived, he happened to hear Robin say something rather strange.
Naturally, Katakuri did not understand.
Nor did he think too deeply about it.
Cyrus and the other three did not pay much attention to his arrival either.
"That's true, but the Hunter Guild can't be made up entirely of Pirate Hunters. What if there are too few pirates in the future?"
Cyrus shook his head.
A hundred flowers blooming together would be best.
Although the current situation was special, and the Hunter Guild had only just been established, meaning most of the people joining were Pirate Hunters, that would definitely have to change in the future.
"But you're right."
Cyrus nodded lightly.
"Given the condition of this world, it probably can't support Gourmet Hunters becoming a major branch."
His voice was full of regret.
However, he also remembered that during the Straw Hat Pirates' voyage, Luffy had indeed reached such an island before and had even encountered Gourmet Hunter Toriko and the others on an island filled with food.
In truth, Cyrus had always been thinking about something.
This world was a world where fantasy had become reality.
Then were those special episodes also real?
Logically speaking, the appearance of the Golden Lion proved that he truly existed.
However, the Golden Lion was also someone who already belonged to this world, so it could not really prove much.
Perhaps he could have people search for clues later. Maybe this represented another possibility.
Cyrus rubbed his chin, a thoughtful look appearing on his face.
If he could really find it, perhaps he might discover a way to travel to other worlds.
And if that were the case, things would become truly interesting.