Just as Shanks and Shirakawa were about to go up the stairs to the deck, two huge bangs rang out across the sea around the ship.
The deafening sound and the violent rocking of the ship startled Shirakawa badly.
"What happened? What was that?" Shirakawa asked Shanks as he grabbed the railing to steady himself.
"Probably someone's here to see us off," Shanks said.
He seemed completely used to this. Not only was he not scared, there was even a faint smile at the corner of his mouth.
When Shirakawa reached the deck, he heard someone reporting to Roger.
"Captain, those three pirate ships look like some rookies who don't know their place."
"Is that so? Rookies daring to challenge me, that's some impressive courage," Roger said.
It was hard to tell whether he meant it as praise or mockery, whether he was truly complimenting them or just calling them clueless.
But Shirakawa felt it had to be mockery. A New World overlord like Roger definitely had his pride.
Maybe those rookies chose not to seek out the Golden Lion or Whitebeard because they thought Roger was the weakest?
Shirakawa hurried to the side of the ship and saw three pirate ships charging toward them at full speed, menacing and aggressive.
Then Shirakawa saw a black cannonball rapidly enlarging in his vision as it flew straight at him.
Instinctively, he raised both hands in front of his body. He even forgot to run. His mind went blank.
He still hadn't mastered the Silver King's power, and he couldn't be sure a barrier would appear in time. Just as he thought he was about to die, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.
That figure drew a blade and swung.
The cannonball split cleanly in two and fell to either side.
"Kid, go stay inside the ship. You're just in the way standing here," a voice said.
Shirakawa opened his eyes. The one in front of him was the Dark King, Rayleigh.
At that moment, Shanks rushed over and yanked Shirakawa away.
"Shirakawa, you don't have much strength right now. Don't run around outside. It's too dangerous."
"I know, but I couldn't help it," Shirakawa said. "It's my first time seeing pirates fight. I wanted to see what it's really like."
"Fight? Don't make me laugh, Shirakawa."
"What do you mean? Am I wrong?" Shirakawa asked, confused by Shanks's slightly mocking tone.
"Of course you're wrong. Fighting them doesn't even qualify as a battle," Shanks said. "Only when we run into crews like Whitebeard's or the Golden Lion's can the Roger Pirates call it a fight. As for this, just watch. You'll understand what I mean soon."
Shanks brought Shirakawa to a place that was supposed to be safe, then went back out.
But Shirakawa actually ran into Buggy there.
"Yo, Buggy. What a coincidence. You're here too," Shirakawa greeted him.
"Coincidence my ass. This is the first time I've seen someone brought here," Buggy said.
Shirakawa also didn't understand why Shanks had sent him here, because to Shirakawa, this didn't look safe at all.
He could clearly see what was happening outside, and it even seemed like the main area where cannonballs would land. But maybe it was because Buggy was here.
A place with Buggy couldn't be called absolutely safe, but it could be called a place where danger somehow never hit.
"Though I guess it makes sense," Buggy said. "You're the weakest guy on the ship right now."
A vein bulged on Shirakawa's forehead.
"Buggy, did you forget who won our last duel?"
"Heh. That's because Lord Buggy didn't go all out. Otherwise you would've been one-shot."
"Great. Then I'll be sure to see who gets one-shot next time," Shirakawa said coldly.
In the story, Buggy's highlights were basically his connections and his luck. There wasn't much else to speak of.
The only thing with real killing power was the Buggy Ball he would develop later.
Shirakawa stopped talking to Buggy and shifted his attention to the battle outside.
"What's so interesting about this?" Buggy asked.
"Aren't you worried the captain will lose?" Shirakawa asked. He knew Roger wouldn't lose, but he still asked anyway.
"How is that possible?" Buggy scoffed. "Other than that mad dog Garp, nobody makes the captain run without fighting."
"Is Garp that strong?"
"Of course. Everyone says the world's strongest man is Whitebeard, but that guy Garp, barehanded, is no worse than Whitebeard."
"But even so, the captain wouldn't need to run without fighting, right?"
Buggy gave a strange chuckle. "Even if the captain isn't much weaker than Garp, you haven't seen Garp when he goes crazy. When you see it, you'll understand why the captain runs. That relentless chase of his gives everyone a headache."
"That's why the captain would rather face the Golden Lion and Whitebeard at the same time than face that bastard Garp. People who haven't met Garp don't understand how strong he really is."
As he said that, Buggy shivered, which showed just how deeply Garp had scarred him.
When Shirakawa turned his head again, he found that all three pirate ships had already been cut in half and were sinking into the sea.
"Wh what is this?" Shirakawa said, dumbfounded.
"Heh. Never seen the world, have you?" Buggy sneered. "Just on our ship alone, we've got at least three Great Swordsmen. Pirates who aren't strong enough don't even qualify to fight us in a boarding battle."
Buggy stood up, let out a cold laugh, and stepped out of the shadows, going to celebrate this "hard-won" victory.
"This is the Roger Pirates? At least three Great Swordsmen?" Shirakawa was shocked again. Sure enough, if you didn't join the Roger Pirates, you'd never know how many capable monsters were hidden on this crew.
When he thought of Great Swordsmen, the first person Shirakawa pictured was Mihawk, the future World's Strongest Swordsman, the kind of man who could casually slash meteors apart.
"How about it, Shirakawa?" Shanks walked over and patted his shoulder. "Now you've seen our crew's strength, right?"
"Yeah," Shirakawa said. "All I can say is, the Roger Pirates really live up to the name. One of the three great overlords of the New World."
"Haha. The captain didn't even need to move this time," Shanks said. "When you see the captain fight for real, you'll understand our crew's strength even more clearly. Come on, let's go throw a banquet."
"A banquet? What banquet?"
"Obviously to celebrate defeating another pirate crew."
"That needs celebrating?"
"Of course. No matter how weak a pirate crew is, after we defeat them, we should still hold a memorial for them."
Shirakawa's mouth twitched. What an awful sense of humor.
Then, just as that thought surfaced, someone lifted a small Sea King out of the water and tossed it onto the ship.
Shirakawa's mouth twitched again.
"Alright. I'll pretend I didn't think anything."
/-\
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