After Shirakawa agreed to Kurokam's duel, the two headed to the other side of the volcano, an uninhabited region of dense forest, a veritable paradise for wild beasts.
As Shirakawa and Kurokam set off, Eurystine and the others followed their trail.
"Now can you tell us what this interesting thing is?" By then, the entire Silver Pirate crew had gathered, except for Moore, because it was still too early for him.
"The captain is going to fight Kurokam, so I figured you'd all be very interested in that battle."
"The captain is finally fighting again?" Jora said, a little excited. Ever since the captain fought that ice-using Marine, he hadn't seen the captain make a move since.
"I'm really looking forward to it too," said Salar. He knew the captain was strong, but exactly how strong Shirakawa truly was, none of them had any idea.
Soon, under Eurystine's observation, the two ahead came to a stop. "The fight's about to start. We need to pick up the pace, or we'll miss the best part."
"Right." The group answered in unison and accelerated. Salar was so impatient he felt like using his Devil Fruit power on his crewmates, but he held back. Otherwise, he'd be the first to run out of stamina.
"Your crew really does love a spectacle."
Kurokam had naturally sensed Eurystine and the others' presence as well. Since Shirakawa had already deemed him an opponent of equal standing, how could he not be a master of Haki?
"Maybe they want to see how strong their future crewmate is?"
Shirakawa could more or less guess what was on their minds. They simply wanted to find out just what level both sides' true strength was at.
"Then shall we begin?" Shirakawa said to Kurokam.
"Alright."
With that, the two charged at each other. Shirakawa drew his blade, Kurokam pulled the hammer from his back, and both simultaneously clad their weapons in Armament Haki.
The weapons collided, producing a massive shockwave. The ground beneath their feet cracked, and between them, at the point of impact, silver-blue lightning crackled into being.
"This is…?" Seeing this, Shirakawa paused in surprise, then fixed Kurokam with an exhilarated gaze. "I didn't expect you to possess Conqueror's Haki?"
"Hmph. I didn't expect you to have such a thing either."
The silver-blue lightning was born from the clash of their Conqueror's Haki. The silver represented Shirakawa's Conqueror's Haki, the blue, Kurokam's.
It was just like the red-black lightning that erupted when Luffy fought Doflamingo; the red stood for Luffy's Conqueror's Haki, the black for Doflamingo's.
And when Luffy fought Bullet, the Conqueror's Haki he unleashed was red as well.
The color of Conqueror's Haki practically reveals a person's nature. A red like Luffy's represents fiery passion. Kurokam's blue represents calm composure. Black represents savage brutality.
As for the silver, Shirakawa himself couldn't quite explain it. It was probably because he himself was the Silver King.
"That Kurokam actually has Conqueror's Haki?" The crew, having just arrived, were all stunned. Not one of them had imagined Kurokam would possess Conqueror's Haki.
"This guy's going to be a fierce rival." That very thought surfaced in everyone's mind at the same time, because the ship still had no established first mate. Everyone wanted to compete for that position.
In contrast to his crew's mood, Shirakawa's heart was practically racing with excitement. His ship finally had a crewmate he could truly be proud of.
Otherwise, when they became a mighty pirate crew in the future, wouldn't it be too pathetic if only he himself possessed Conqueror's Haki?
Take the pirate overlord of the previous era, the Rocks Pirates. They had at least four Conqueror's Haki users on board.
And look at the overlord of this era, the Roger Pirates. They once had at least four Conqueror's Haki users aboard as well. If you count the future Shanks, that makes five.
So Shirakawa's goal for his crew now was this: besides himself, the ship needed at least three more Conqueror's Haki users, to elevate his crew to the same level as those overlords.
Now that Kurokam had become a crewmate Shirakawa had internally secured, that meant he only needed two more.
But Shirakawa wasn't in a hurry to search for such people. Just like with his current crew, he felt the other members of his pirate crew also possessed the qualities of a king. They simply hadn't awakened it yet.
The battle grew fiercer. Perhaps because Kurokam was a swordsmith, he was familiar with every inch of a blade.
Every attack landed precisely on the sword's most sensitive spot, making Shirakawa deeply uncomfortable during the fight. The condition of his blade could directly influence his combat state.
"Captain Shirakawa, stop playing around. Use your true strength, otherwise you won't be able to do anything to me."
Kurokam stepped back as he spoke. He had already used eighty percent of his power, but Shirakawa still seemed to be handling it with ease.
"Fine then. Let you all witness your captain's true strength."
Shirakawa's words were meant not just for Kurokam, but also for the crewmates watching from the shadows.
"Crap, the captain spotted us." Hearing Shirakawa's words, Riddle knew at once they had been made.
"No kidding. We've been made ever since we started following them. Who do you think we're tailing? Those are top-tier powerhouses of the sea, that kind of people."
Jora cursed him for an idiot.
If Shirakawa were that easy to tail, he wouldn't be a great pirate with a bounty of five hundred million.
Right after, silvery-white light began to radiate from Shirakawa's body, slowly coalescing in the sky to form a gigantic Sword of Damocles. But the sword already looked less intact than it once had.
"This is…?" Eurystine, Salar, and Kurokam, seeing this sword for the first time, all revealed utterly shocked expressions.
"Is this the captain's ability?" Salar, who had eaten a Devil Fruit, had completely interpreted this giant sword as Shirakawa's power.
"Truly a perfect work of art. Even broken, it is perfect."
That was Kurokam's inner voice at that moment. As a world-class master swordsmith, he could naturally see things that ordinary people could not.
That sword was something he could never forge in an entire lifetime, something that seemed like it should not even exist in this world.
/-\
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