novelraw Chapter 291 291: How Strong Is Uncle Reed, Really?
Chapter 291 291: How Strong Is Uncle Reed, Really?
The kids stood frozen in shock, eyes wide and unblinking, as if an invisible shockwave had turned them to stone.
On the screen projected by the Transponder Snail, the aftershocks of battle seemed to tear open the sky and the sea itself.
Marco's blue flames collided with Charlotte Perospero's candy giant, exploding on impact. Shards rained down like a storm, followed by the sight of the usually carefree Shanks and Buggy.
The fight between Shanks and Buggy looked chaotic, almost sloppy at first glance, yet every single collision carried terrifying force. Each impact sent towering waves crashing across the sea.
The ocean itself seemed to mutter, You kids are so naive.
No wonder the children were stunned.
They knew their Uncle Reed, Uncle Shanks, and Uncle Buggy were strong. But all three shared the same daily vibe. Lazy, unserious, unreliable.
Normally, no one ever got to witness top-tier fighters in action. Reed, Shanks, and Buggy had never shown their true strength in front of the children. The kids had quietly believed that if they worked hard enough, they could one day conquer the New World too.
That illusion shattered in real time.
And it was not over yet.
Donquixote Doflamingo's threads sliced through the air as his Paramecia awakening reshaped the battlefield. Dracule Mihawk swung his blade with casual ease, cleaving apart the raging sea.
Anne clenched her fists. "I can fight too!"
The brutal propulsion of Germa technology. The sudden, overwhelming intervention of Marine warships. Every second rewrote the children's understanding of the world.
That stretch of ocean was no longer a battlefield. It was a meat grinder of destruction and death. Even through the Transponder Snail's feed, the suffocating pressure of the world's top powers was impossible to ignore.
This was the advantage of the second generation, and also their weakness.
Thankfully, Reed had raised them with hearts that were impossibly kind.
The King of Kindergarten was not joking around.
Portgas D. Ace swallowed hard. "So scary… is this what Uncle Buggy meant by New World monsters? The kind who can wipe people out with a wave of the hand?"
Anne silently tightened her grip on the hilt of her greatsword. The muscles in her small face tensed.
"I can fight. I am ready. I am motivated."
She swung her giant sword and charged forward.
"Anne!" Rouge called from afar, panicked because she had lost sight of her.
Anne thought, What am I even resisting? This fried pork cutlet is really good.
Kuina stared without blinking at the screen. She watched Mihawk split the sea apart, watched the lightning of Conqueror's Haki coil around Shanks' Gryphon.
"Cut… everything…" she whispered to herself.
Vinsmoke Reiju stirred her pudding with a small spoon, graceful as ever. "Father's technological power… compared to this kind of raw, monstrous individual strength…" For the first time, doubt crept into her faith in Germa's absolute supremacy.
Shirahoshi curled up in fear, her massive fish tail wrapped around her body. Only her tear-filled eyes peeked out.
"Waaah… so scary… why are they fighting so fiercely…?"
Kozuki Hiyori and Toki leaned against each other. As natives of Wano, they had seen powerful samurai before. Even so, the chaos before them and the way individuals commanded forces of nature were far beyond anything they had imagined.
"Father once said… the vastness of the sea…" Hiyori murmured in awe. "So this is what he meant."
Then, all of them turned their gaze toward the man seated high upon a blood-soaked throne. Legs crossed. Casually picking his nose. Using a blood mist clone to steal donuts from Monkey D. Garp.
Their Uncle Reed.
Yes. Extremely cringe. Maximum cringe. Full preparation recommended.
This carefree, strange uncle who loved making bizarre toys out of blood mist to play with them. The one they secretly called "Flirty Durian" behind his back.
This same man had casually tossed out fifty billion berries and triggered this world-shaking battle involving Emperors of the Sea, the world's greatest swordsman, pirates, future kings, and the Marines' strongest champions.
This same uncle could walk arm in arm with Edward Newgate and joke around, and could make the legendary Marine hero chase him across the battlefield.
Reed thought, You really did not have to mention that part.
He could make the infamous "Heavenly Yaksha" Doflamingo rein in his arrogance. He could make the proud empress lower her head.
Boa Hancock even addressed him respectfully as "Uncle".
They remembered his daily nonsense.
Using blood mist as a slide. Pulling trumpets out of nowhere to annoy people. Crying loudly when Aunt Rouge twisted his ear to scold him. Getting drunk and fooling around with Shanks and Buggy. Then suffering together while eating bitter melon.
Reed thought, You really did not have to mention that either.
Compared to the world-ending battlefield on the screen, a ridiculous yet undeniable truth slammed into the children's hearts like a tidal wave.
Those legendary powerhouses they admired were fighting to the death over a "game prize" Uncle Reed had casually thrown out.
And Uncle Reed himself sat high above it all, overlooking the storm he had created, still finding time to steal Garp's donuts.
His usual carelessness was not weakness.
It was absolute ease born from overwhelming power.
His "playing around" meant that most things in this world no longer deserved his full attention.
His "casualness" meant he had enough power to control any situation.
"Uncle Reed, he…"
"…just how strong is he, really?"
At that moment, the same question surfaced in every child's heart.
They felt like they knew him.
And yet, they felt like they had never truly known him at all.
The way they looked at the man on the throne changed completely. The warmth and reliance were still there, but now mixed with an awe and shock they had never felt before.
Yes, I blushed while writing this part too.
For the first time, they truly realized that beneath their cheerful, ridiculous Uncle Reed was one of the most terrifying "monsters" to ever roam the seas.
Thud! x8
Thud! x8
Thud! x24
Forty crisp flicks to the forehead landed perfectly on every child.
No need to count. Everyone got five.
The force was not heavy, but it was enough to shatter their increasingly dramatic expressions of awe.
"Ow!"
"That hurts!"
"Waaah…"
"Uncle Reed!"
The children instantly clutched their heads. The shock and reverence were replaced by familiar pain and outrage. They all glared at the culprit on the throne, some angry, some teary, especially Shirahoshi.
Ace puffed up his cheeks into a shark-mouth expression. "You jerk of an uncle! Why did you hit us?!"
Reed lazily picked his nose. "The look on your faces just now gave me goosebumps."
"Couldn't you just say hello like a normal person? Did you really have to do that?" Ace bared his shark-like teeth and yelled at him.
"What? You said Aunt Rouge's cooking tastes bad? Sis, did you hear that?" Reed ignored Ace completely.