"Old man, you're a real monster—more of a monster than me. Let's get acquainted. The name's Wind."
Wind lay sprawled on the sand, speaking feebly. He'd taken two heavy blows, and on top of that, to show off, he'd used a wide-area ability right before making his entrance, then burned through plenty more stamina during the fight. As a result, he barely had any strength left.
The fact that he could even talk right now already made him feel like a total badass.
"Monster? You're still a long way off from 'monster.'"
Kurokam sneered at Wind. Even he himself had probably only just taken his first step into the ranks of monsters.
"That so? Didn't think I was still that far behind. But, old man, with strength like yours, why are you living under someone else's roof? Don't tell me your captain's even stronger than you?"
Wind was confused. As far as he could tell right now, Kurokam was the strongest.
"I'm not 'living under someone's roof.' I'm on this pirate ship for my own reasons."
"That's what I thought. How could someone as strong as you, old man, end up just being somebody else's crew member?"
"That said, our captain really is strong. If you fought him, you probably wouldn't last ten moves."
"How is that possible?!" Wind's voice was filled with disbelief. That frail-looking captain actually had that kind of power?
"Looks like this guy isn't much after all, getting taken down by Kurokam so fast."
"Maybe it's because he hasn't had that Devil Fruit for very long?"
Shirakawa offered his guess to Jora. It felt to him like Wind hadn't developed that Devil Fruit at all—everything he'd used was just the most basic of abilities.
Sure, Wind's entrance had given Shirakawa and the others a real shock, but the higher the expectations, the harder the disappointment. The strength he displayed simply didn't match his flashy entrance.
"Hey, I heard from the old man that you're even stronger than him. Is that true?"
Seeing Shirakawa walking toward him, Wind voiced his doubt.
"What do you think? I'm his captain. Isn't it only natural that I'd be stronger than him?"
Shirakawa didn't answer the question directly, but instead tossed it right back at him.
"I don't believe it."
"Believe what you want. The truth is what it is."
"Shouldn't you be showing me right now and then rubbing it in my face?"
That's how the script was supposed to go, wasn't it?
"Why would I show you? Why would I rub it in your face? We're not family or friends. To me, you're just someone who lost to one of my crew members."
"Then what do I have to do to get a look at your strength?"
Wind said, a bit helplessly. More than anything right now, he wanted to see what kind of strength could possibly surpass Kurokam's.
"Wanting to see my strength isn't out of the question, but you'll have to agree to one condition."
"Fine. Name it. As long as it's not something totally unreasonable, I'll agree."
"Simple. Just join us—become a member of the Silver Pirates."
Shirakawa extended the invitation. Logia-type Devil Fruits had enormous potential, and Wind's Storm Fruit in particular had practically limitless potential.
In Shirakawa's mind, it was even stronger than the Flame-Flame Fruit. After all, the destructive power of wind was, in some respects, greater than fire—especially at sea.
Like at the Battle of Edd War. If that sudden storm hadn't hit, who won and who lost would've been a very different story.
Hearing Shirakawa's condition, Wind fell silent. He didn't answer right away. After all, this was a huge deal—a decision that could shape his entire future.
"No need to rush your answer. We'll be staying in Alabasta for a while anyway. You can give me your reply when we're about to leave."
"Alright."
This was definitely a question Wind needed a few days to think over.
After resting for a bit, Shirakawa and the others set out on the road to Rainbase once more. The only difference now was that they had an extra traveler—Wind.
When Shirakawa asked Wind why he was tagging along, Wind's answer was that he was afraid that once he'd made up his mind, he wouldn't be able to find them.
If he stuck with them, he could give Shirakawa his answer the moment he decided.
Had to say, having Wind along made the journey a whole lot more comfortable.
In that blistering heat, a sudden cool breeze was an absolutely divine feeling.
However, along the way, Wind seemed to have latched onto Kurokam, pestering him nonstop with questions—how had he managed to hit him despite being a Logia, what were the methods for getting stronger, and so on. He annoyed Kurokam to no end.
Maybe it was because Kurokam had beaten him, but Wind ended up closer to Kurokam than to any of the others.
After a little over a day's travel, they finally reached their destination: Rainbase, a city known as the dream city of Alabasta.
"Wind, you're from Alabasta, right?"
In front of the city, Shirakawa asked.
"Yeah, that's right. Why?"
"Do you know why Rainbase is called the dream city of Alabasta?"
"Isn't the answer obvious? Just look around you. Rainbase is smack in the middle of an incredibly beautiful oasis. For a desert kingdom, a place like this is naturally a dream city. And the city's even got lakes of all sizes inside it."
"So that's how it is."
Hearing Wind's explanation, Shirakawa and the others all had expressions of sudden realization.
To any other island, this oasis might not be much, but in Alabasta, a land dominated by desert, it was a sight beyond words.
"Have you ever been here before?" Shirakawa asked Wind again.
"This place has the biggest casino in all of Alabasta. You could say Rainbase is the richest city in the whole kingdom, and that's no exaggeration."
"I didn't know this city had something like that," Yuristin said with great interest. A miser through and through, yet hopelessly addicted to gambling.
"This place is called the dream city for more than just being an oasis, isn't it?"
"What do you mean?" Wind was puzzled by Shirakawa's words. Did this outsider know more than a local like himself?
"Since it's got the biggest casino, I'd imagine a lot of people come here to gamble. So for some poor people, maybe this is where they become rich overnight. I think this city also carries the dreams of the poor."
"Huh—now that you put it that way, it really does make sense. Why did I never think of that before?"
"That's a matter of perspective. The more you've seen, the broader your thinking becomes."
Just then, Jora walked up beside Wind and said to him, "Back when I was in my village, by my teacher's side, the questions I could come up with only ever had surface-level answers too."
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