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“Make a choice, brat,” the pirate said. “One of them is going to drown today.” In Shanks’s hand was a rubber ball. The ball itself wasn’t heavy at all, but what the pirate – an enemy of Captain Rouge’s, based on what Croco had said earlier, before they’d gotten into this situation – wanted Shanks to do was weighing heavily on his heart.
Croco looked half-drowned already, from what the pirate’s crew had done to catch him, and Buggy just looked bruised and alarmed. Buggy always looked alarmed anymore, and Shanks hated seeing it on his face.
Swallowing, Shanks tightened his grip on the ball. Neither of them could swim. They’d both drown, and Shanks felt helpless just thinking about it.
The hand on Shanks’s shoulder tightened. “Well, brat? Are you going to pick, or am I going to have to pick for you?”
“No,” Shanks said.
“What was that?” The pirate growled.
“I said no!” Shanks half-shouted and a wave of haki exploded outwards. Pirates dropped like flies, even the one who was gripping Shanks’s shoulder.
In the distance, Shanks could see Croco’s shoulders slump and Buggy looked scared, so Shanks hightailed it over the tanks. He’d help Buggy first, and together they’d be able to get Croco out of the tank.