"Wow, you're amazing!"
Seeing that Shirakawa had defeated Akda, Katherin ran out excitedly and playfully punched him in the chest, not that it hurt.
"Of course I am. Do you even know who I am?"
Shirakawa flipped his hair, striking a pose he thought looked incredibly cool.
"But you sure made this scene super gory…"
She glanced at Akda's mutilated corpse and felt her stomach churn violently; she couldn't calm down.
Indeed, Akda had been split cleanly in half, the sight so gruesome it practically needed heavy pixelation to censor.
"But it's weird, your clothes don't have a single drop of blood on them. What material are they made from? Introduce me to whoever made them sometime."
"Heh, it's a natural gift. You can't buy this."
"Shirakawa, that move you used just now was so cool! What's it called?"
Shanks stepped forward, still mentally replaying Shirakawa's sky-descending strike.
"How about calling it the Divine Sword of the Buddha?"
"I strongly object to that name."
Shanks nearly choked on hearing it. The awe-inspiring image of that sword shattered instantly in his mind.
"Haha, just messing with you. I named it Falling Wild Goose. What do you think? Sounds nice, right?"
Shirakawa laughed at Shanks' constipated-looking expression. Maybe he had a quirky sense of humor.
"Falling Wild Goose… That name's not bad. But your descent wasn't very fast. Why couldn't Akda dodge it? He looked like he was being crushed by something heavy."
"Wanna try it for yourself?"
Shirakawa raised an eyebrow at Shanks, clearly eager.
"Sure! I'd love to find out what your sword technique's really about."
Shanks half-drew his sword, eyes brimming with battle spirit.
Shirakawa gave a mysterious smile. Suddenly, Shanks felt his body grow extremely heavy.
"What the heck?"
Confused, Shanks almost fell flat from the sudden gravity, but managed to hold his stance. His face, though, twisted in effort.
"Hey, Shanks, what's wrong with you?"
Buggy was startled by the sight and quickly showed concern.
"It's fine. Can't you see he's enjoying it?"
Shirakawa gestured for Buggy not to worry. Though Shanks looked strained, he could feel that he was genuinely excited inside.
"Shirakawa, what exactly is happening to Shanks?"
"Nothing. Say, Buggy, you wanna give it a shot too?"
"No way!"
Buggy instantly shook his head and backed far away from Shirakawa.
"Don't worry, no charge!"
Shirakawa gave a wicked grin. The moment Buggy saw that smile, he knew he was doomed. Before he could even say "no," the gravity hit.
Buggy collapsed face-first to the ground and couldn't even lift his head.
Seeing Buggy's sorry state, Shirakawa quickly removed the gravitational force and shook his head.
"Looks like the gap between Buggy and Shanks is only getting wider."
"Hey, what the heck was that?"
Having recovered, Buggy immediately confronted Shirakawa.
"That's a secret."
Shirakawa didn't care to explain much.
By now, even Shanks was barely holding on. He was soaked in sweat, completely drenched. Seeing this, Shirakawa released the gravity pressing on him, too.
As soon as it disappeared, Shanks felt his breathing ease. He collapsed to his knees, exhausted, yet strangely satisfied.
He rolled over and sat down, resting for a while before finally saying,
"You were controlling gravity just now, weren't you?"
"As expected from Shanks, you sure know your stuff. Not like Buggy, who's just standing there totally confused."
Hearing that, Buggy's face turned red. He looked embarrassed, but Shirakawa wasn't wrong, so he had no comeback.
"Buggy experienced it too? How long did he last?"
Shanks looked curious and eager to learn.
Shirakawa didn't want to crush Buggy's confidence, so he rubbed his face and looked off into the distance.
"He lasted just a little less than you."
Hearing that, Buggy, who had been bracing for a humiliating comparison, instantly felt like he'd been saved. He looked at Shirakawa with eyes full of gratitude.
"Shirakawa, you're a true brother. I'll never forget your kindness for the rest of my life."
Feeling Buggy's grateful gaze, Shirakawa got goosebumps. He felt kind of uncomfortable.
"Buggy? That's impressive."
Shanks even praised him, thinking Buggy had held out longer than he expected, unaware Shirakawa had lied to spare him.
"Hehehe."
Off to the side, Katherine giggled behind her hand. She had seen everything clearly and knew the truth.
"Crap, I forgot about the little witness…"
Buggy finally remembered she'd been there the whole time.
He turned to her, and Katherin blinked mischievously and gave him an "OK" hand sign.
Seeing that, Buggy relaxed.
"What were you just laughing about?"
Shanks asked Katherin, puzzled.
"I just have a feeling my mom's going to give me a little brother today, and I'm super happy about it."
Then she burst into laughter.
"Oh, well, congrats then!"
Shanks believed it.
Hearing such a wild lie, Shirakawa couldn't help but chuckle. That was some imagination. Katherine was seventeen or eighteen; her mother had to be over forty. The whole thing reminded him of a scene from a movie in his previous life.
Still, he managed to hold back the laughter.
"Alright, let's rest a bit more and then hit the road. We've got a long journey ahead."
It was Shirakawa's first time walking such a long distance. He was looking forward to the strange things they might encounter along the way, what oddities and weird experiences were waiting?
"Let's go then."
Shanks realized the others were waiting on him, so he quickly adjusted his breathing and restored a bit of stamina.
"Yeah, let's move."
After walking for several days, Shirakawa started getting annoyed because Shanks kept asking him to apply gravity to his body.
"So that's how your strength improved so quickly… You were using a cheat code like this?"
After a few days, Shanks noticed a slight improvement in his strength and finally realized it.
"You're only figuring this out now? I thought you got it the first time I used gravity on you."
Shirakawa was growing tired of explaining and didn't want to talk much more.
He now kind of regretted bringing Shanks along in a moment of hot-headedness.
As for Buggy, he'd been surprisingly well-behaved during the journey.
Maybe he didn't want to draw attention to himself or risk experiencing that weight again.