By now, a full month had passed since Shirakawa and his crew left Sword Forging Island. In that month, they had landed on two more islands, seen many things, and had no shortage of blind fools coming to pick a fight with them.
It was worth noting that in that same month, the balance of power in the North Blue had undergone a massive upheaval. Three Vice Admirals dispatched from Navy Headquarters had arrived, and the forces that once looked down on the Navy—or outright suppressed it—were mercilessly steamrolled.
The three Vice Admirals became the backbone of the North Blue Navy. The local powers of the North Blue were indeed strong, but only by the standards of the Four Seas. In front of Vice Admirals from Headquarters, they weren't even worth looking at.
This forced many of the North Blue's native factions to turtle up and lie low. But for the merchant guilds, it was cause for celebration. Seizing the momentum, they raked in money hand over fist from the residents of every island. With the threat of pirate attacks on their ships gone, their trade routes ran smoother than ever before.
However, the three Vice Admirals hadn't come to boost the Navy's reputation in the North Blue. They were there to capture the Silver Pirates. For days, they'd been gathering intel on the crew's movements and had finally found a solid lead. They'd set up an ambush along a route the Silver Pirates were certain to take and were now waiting for the big fish to swim into the net.
Shirakawa and his crew were completely in the dark about all this. They were still sailing across the sea without a care in the world, drinking fine wine gifted to them by the villagers on the last island. The island they'd just left was famous for producing all kinds of alcohol.
There was beer that was bitter on the first sip but left a lingering, full-bodied barley aftertaste; baijiu that hit the tongue with a fiery burn but carried a subtle hint of rice fragrance; and fruit wines perfect for the ladies. The locals had given them all of it, free of charge. Not because they'd bowed to the Silver Pirates' supposed tyranny—Shirakawa and his crew had helped them wipe out a vicious local crime syndicate, and the wine was a token of their gratitude.
"Man, it sure feels good to help people." Riddle took a swig of the gifted wine and couldn't help but reflect on life.
"Then why not join the Navy? Their whole job is helping people," Yuristing shot back.
"Come on, being a pirate is way freer than being a marine. And not everyone in the Navy actually serves the people."
Riddle's mind drifted into the past. Before he'd gone out to sea, he'd been a street thug, but even that was because of persecution by the local nobility. The Navy in that area was nothing but a bunch of accomplices to evil, turning a blind eye to the aristocrats' atrocities. If it weren't for that, the odds of him ending up a pirate would've been pretty slim.
"Someone's coming."
Yuristing, who'd been cleaning his gun, suddenly spoke, his eyes sharp as he stared ahead.
"What? Where?" Riddle cupped his hands around his eyes like a makeshift telescope and peered out at the sea. Nothing but water, as far as he could see.
Shirakawa, however, focused his senses for a moment and smiled. "As expected of Yuristing. To pick up on something at that kind of distance."
Shirakawa's words made Kamu glance at Yuristing with a hint of extra regard. He already knew the man's Observation Haki was formidable, but he hadn't expected it to be this strong. In Kurokam's own perception, he hadn't picked up a single human figure or any other lifeform—apart from the fish in the sea. Still, if Shirakawa said someone was there, then someone was definitely there.
Yuristing had developed his Observation Haki differently from others. Most people trained to deepen it, striving to see into the future. Yuristing, on the other hand, had focused on expanding its breadth, pushing the range of his perception farther and farther. Lately, though, he'd started to shift his approach. After hearing Shirakawa's explanation of how Observation Haki could glimpse the future, he'd grown deeply interested in that path.
Shirakawa hoped Yuristing would reach that level soon—it would make dealing with Kizaru much easier down the line.
Their pirate ship sailed on for a short while, and soon the silhouettes of three Marine battleships appeared on the horizon, their cannons already aimed squarely at the Silver Pirates' position.
"Looks like they got it right this time."
The sight reminded Shirakawa of the Marine ambush he'd faced at Reverse Mountain. That time, the Navy had screwed up and gone after the wrong target.
The distance between the Silver Pirates' ship and the battleships shrank rapidly. They were now well within firing range.
"Vice Admiral, the pirate ship ahead is the Silver Pirates. There's also an unfamiliar face on board—likely a new recruit who joined recently."
"Ignore that. The Silver Pirates have a big reputation now; plenty of people will be trying to join them. Just keep your eyes on the ones with bounties," the Vice Admiral instructed his subordinates.
The "unfamiliar face" they spoke of was Kurokam. As for Mor, he'd slipped into the cabin the moment the battleships were spotted. It wasn't time for him to enter the Navy's sights just yet.
"All ships, open fire!"
One of the Vice Admirals gave the order, and instantly every functional cannon on the three battleships unloaded on the Silver Pirates' ship.
"No mercy at all, huh."
Seeing this, Shirakawa spoke. The Marines they were dealing with this time might just be a ruthless bunch. Not even a single word of negotiation, not even a demand to surrender—just straight-up shelling. It looked like their goal was flat-out annihilation.
In a flash, dozens of cannonballs were hurtling right at them. Dealing with junk like that didn't require Shirakawa to lift a finger. Jora casually swung her blade a few times, Yuristing fired off a handful of bullets, and every last cannonball exploded in midair. Only the shockwaves from the blasts made the ship shudder a few times.
What Shirakawa's crew didn't know was that while they were under bombardment from the Navy, a number of pirate ships had appeared not far behind them. Those ships belonged to the so-called "Avengers"—a coalition formed from the remnants of the pirate crews that had been wiped out by the Navy at the Sabaody Archipelago. The coalition's entire reason for existing was revenge against the Silver Pirates.
"What do we do? The Silver Pirates have run right into the Marines."
A group of pirate captains gathered on one of the ships to discuss their next move. Should they still attack under these circumstances?
"Let's pull back for now," one captain said after a long pause. He'd been thoroughly beaten down by the Navy already. If not for this coalition, he'd probably have found somewhere remote to disappear and never call himself a pirate again.
"That works."
Several others quickly agreed. Most of them were deeply traumatized by the Navy at this point.
"Yeah, and if the Marines finish off the Silver Pirates for us, even better. Let them rot in Impel Down with the rest of their kind. If they somehow escape, then we move in."
"Deal." The Avengers' coalition reached a consensus in no time and then quietly slipped away from the battlefield.
Shirakawa remained utterly unaware of all this happening behind him. Though they had entered the range of his Haki perception, his attention was fully fixed on the Marines ahead. He had no attention to spare for what lurked at his back.
/-\
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