Today, the sun was bright, the breeze was gentle, and the weather was perfect. Every crewmate on the ship was moving about in an orderly way, each busy with their own tasks.
Bai Chuan, as one member of the crew, was bare-chested, gripping a blade in his hand, chopping down again and again with serious focus. To understand why, we have to go back to two nights ago.
Two nights earlier, after dinner, Bai Chuan drank a little. With a tipsy flush on his face, he walked up to Rayleigh and said, "Vice-Captain, I want to learn swordsmanship."
"Oh?" Rayleigh asked in surprise. "Why do you want to learn swordsmanship?" After all this time, Rayleigh already understood Bai Chuan's personality. He was someone who got satisfied easily. He could endure training when he had to, but the moment he could rest, he absolutely would not train any extra, unlike Shanks.
Shanks was the type who, once he got serious, would stick with it until the end. If he could still move, he would not stop. The problem was, the number of times Shanks truly got serious was pitifully small.
In these three months of training, Bai Chuan had never made any requests of Rayleigh. So for this first request, Rayleigh naturally wanted to know the reason.
"Because I want to become a Great Swordsman."
In Bai Chuan's memory, the deepest impression of a Great Swordsman was someone who could split ships with one slash, cleave an iceberg with one slash, and even shatter a meteor with one slash. And those slashes all came from one person, Hawk-Eye.
"Oh? You want to become the World's Strongest Swordsman?"
"I don't want that."
"Why? Almost every swordsman's goal is that throne. Why don't you want it?"
"Then, Vice-Captain, when you practiced the sword back then, was your goal to become the World's Strongest Swordsman?"
"I wasn't. Back then, I only wanted to stay alive."
A gleam flashed across Rayleigh's glasses as he spoke with a hint of nostalgia.
He was someone who longed for freedom. Otherwise, when Roger dragged him onto the ship back then, he would not have half-reluctantly agreed.
But in the beginning, both he and Roger were not strong. They had not gone through any proper training. The strength they had today was forged bit by bit through life-and-death battles.
As for his swordsmanship, most of it was something he researched and refined on his own. He could honestly say that becoming this strong was something he never would have dared to imagine before setting out to sea.
Without even realizing it, he had become a Great Swordsman. But he had no interest in being number one. Right now, his only goal was to push Roger onto that throne.
"Exactly. I'm doing it so I can live better too. Besides, being number one sounds exhausting. You'd have to face challengers from all over the world every day. With that time, wouldn't it be better to get some proper rest?"
"Hahahaha! Kid, this is the first time I've felt you really match my taste."
Rayleigh laughed loudly, patted Bai Chuan on the shoulder, and filled his cup with alcohol.
"But kid, my swordsmanship is swordsmanship meant to kill. Do you still want to learn it?"
"If swordsmanship isn't used to kill, can it be used to save people instead? Besides, whether swordsmanship kills or not isn't decided by the sword. It's decided by the user. If I want it to kill, it kills. If I don't want it to kill, then it can't kill."
"Hahahaha! Well said. Then starting tomorrow, you'll learn swordsmanship with me."
"Thank you, Vice-Captain."
And so, for the past two days, Bai Chuan had been practicing swordsmanship on the ship. It was dull and monotonous, and it burned an insane amount of stamina. Every single move, he would practice more than a thousand times a day.
"Hehehe, Shanks, look at Bai Chuan. Doesn't he look like he just crawled out of the sea? His whole body's soaked."
Buggy, sitting off to the side enjoying the show, spoke to Shanks.
These two could be considered the ship's biggest troublemakers. Wherever something happened, they were never far away.
Unfortunately for Buggy, Bai Chuan could hear that clearly, word for word.
"Buggy, what did you just say?"
"I said Bai Chuan looks like he just came out of the sea." Buggy still did not seem to realize who was talking.
"Is that so? Then I'll let you experience that feeling too."
Buggy suddenly felt himself being lifted into the air. Only then did he see clearly who was holding him. It was Bai Chuan.
"Hey, Bai Chuan, what are you doing? Put me down, now!"
Buggy flailed wildly, but Bai Chuan's heart did not ripple in the slightest. Shanks, meanwhile, was secretly laughing at the side.
"Buggy, you can't even beat Bai Chuan anymore, so why do you keep provoking him?"
A crewmate saw Buggy's ridiculous state and mocked him.
"None of your business!" Buggy shouted back at him.
"Haha, fine, fine. I won't get involved."
That person waved his hand like it had nothing to do with him, but the way his eyes kept glancing over still gave him away.
Bai Chuan walked to the edge of the ship and held Buggy out over the side.
"What are you doing, Bai Chuan? Let go of me!"
"Sure. I'll let you go right now." After speaking, Bai Chuan released his hand.
With a whoosh, Buggy dropped straight into the sea.
"Hahahaha!" A wave of laughter erupted across the ship. On a boring voyage at sea, this kind of thing counted as entertainment.
"Hahaha, Buggy, now you really look like you just came out of the sea!"
"You bastards! Hurry up and pull me back up!"
On the surface of the water, Buggy shouted in humiliation and rage.
"You still dare to curse us? Fine, then stay in the sea for a while. Maybe when we feel like it, we'll pull you up."
In the end, Bai Chuan did not know who pulled him up, but Buggy did get hauled back aboard, water dripping all over him.
"Captain, I can see the next island!"
"Really? Great!" The navigator's shout instantly lifted everyone's spirits.
For the past three months, they had either been on the ship or on uninhabited islands. For some people, it had been driving them crazy.
"Finally, we'll get to see other people."
In that moment, every crewmate sank into their own daydreams, imagining what they would do once they went ashore.
"Everyone, get ready. We're preparing to disembark. But you all remember our ship's rule, right?"
"Of course, Captain!"
The Roger Pirates' rule was simple: if you buy something, you pay for it. No matter what you do, you cannot force a purchase or force a sale. You have to pay. Even if both sides are willing, you still pay, and you still don't use force.
You could say the Roger Pirates lacked everything except money.
"Are you guys really a pirate crew?"
The first time Bai Chuan heard this rule, he asked Shanks in confusion. In the original story, it was already strange enough that the Straw Hats could be called pirates. He never expected Roger's crew to be just as unbelievable.
Was this some kind of inheritance between Pirate Kings?
"Hahaha, don't sweat the small details."
Everyone on the ship seemed used to this rule already. The only question was what they would become in the future, once Roger was no longer around to keep them in check.
/-\
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