You mess with the red-haired bull, you get the pistol horns.
I know what Bartolomeo was thinking.
He’s on a personal mission on Gartel Island (located in Emperor Shanks’ territory) showing Luffy’s dominance by burning Shanks’ flag. And, I bet he thought his barrier-barrier fruit would protect him from any Red-Haired Pirate attack. Too bad for him, strong haki messes up many seemingly overpowered devil fruits. Not to mention, I doubt old Bart thought that Emperor Shanks himself (along with his senior officers) would pull up to confront little ole him.
That punk, Bartolomeo, actually burned an Emperor’s flag then waited for someone to show up. What the hell was he thinking?!
He’s lucky the only things he got for his transgression was a butt-whooping and his ship destroyed. But, you know? I get the sneaky suspicion Oda had Bart’s ship destroyed by Yasopp only for him to get a new ship that’s a tribute to the Thousand Sunny. And, maybe the Barto Club washes up on Elbaph? Nika fanboys + Luffy fanboys = A good time for all!
Let’s talk about how differently each Emperor is approaching finding the One Piece in this chapter. Yes, I know Chief Shanks wasn’t looking for One Piece here, but he was pretty passive about going to Laugh Tale until recently. I think his desire to find One Piece is less about want and more about keeping it from less savory people.
Mammoth Base Opera Castle 