"You little punk — I heard you're planning to deal with all these people yourself?"
A massive hand suddenly clamped down on Jorah's shoulder, making him jump. He didn't even need to turn around to know whose voice that was.
"N-no, no, no way. You heard wrong, Vice Admiral Garp."
Cold sweat poured down Jorah's face. There was only one man in this place who could make Jorah that terrified — Marine Vice Admiral Garp.
"Good. Keep your crew on a tight leash, boy. Don't go making trouble for me."
Garp turned and directed his words at Shirakawa.
"Rest assured, Vice Admiral Garp. I haven't gotten tired of living yet. I wouldn't dare stir up trouble right under your nose."
"That's more like it."
Jorah watched Garp's retreating back and let out a long sigh of relief. "Damn, that old man's intel is way too fast. I barely finished talking and he was already on top of me."
Right at that moment, Garp suddenly whipped his head around. Jorah, who had been staring intently at him, nearly jumped out of his skin and hurriedly fixed his gaze on the dishes on the table.
"Hah! Let's see if you've got the guts to be cheeky again."
Yuristine aimed the words at Jorah, a trace of mockery lacing his tone.
"Alright, settle down and attend this wedding properly. After this, we're heading out."
Shirakawa reined in his crew's antics. He hadn't expected to be stuck here for two whole months. If his memory served him right, the next stop after Alabasta should be Skypiea.
To be honest, Shirakawa was quite looking forward to Skypiea — especially that Logia-type Rumble-Rumble Fruit. He wondered if that punk Enel had already eaten it yet.
A Devil Fruit that powerful wasn't something Shirakawa intended to just hand over. Even if he didn't eat it himself, he'd save it for one of his crew.
"Look, look! The bride's coming out!"
Adara suddenly started smacking her father Abro's arm in excitement. Every girl carried the image of her dream wedding in her heart, and Adara was no exception.
Staring at the pure white wedding dress, she was already imagining what it would look like on her.
Lisa's eyes had gone distant as well, as if she too had drifted into some beautiful memory. Then her gaze landed on Abro, tinged with a hint of resentment — maybe she was thinking, How come our wedding wasn't this grand?
"His Majesty's got it good. The queen's not bad-looking at all."
Yuristine spat out a sunflower seed shell, the very picture of an idle spectator.
The queen wore a bridal veil, but to Shirakawa and his crew, it might as well have not existed. Their eyes could easily take in her full appearance.
"Indeed. She's quite beautiful."
Shirakawa offered a rare compliment. This might have been the first time he'd praised a woman's looks since arriving in this world.
She really looked a lot like Vivi, Cobra's future daughter — maybe even a touch more beautiful than Princess Vivi herself.
"What's this, Captain? Got ideas?" Riddle raised an eyebrow, a lecherous grin spreading across his face. "If we wanted to make a move, snatching the bride and making a clean getaway shouldn't be a problem."
"Get lost." Shirakawa laughed and cursed him out. "A dog's mouth can't spit out ivory."
The queen was indeed beautiful, but Shirakawa felt absolutely zero interest. He didn't know why, but ever since coming to this world, not a single woman had managed to stir anything in him.
The wedding proceeded smoothly. No one jumped up to object, no bride-snatching, no unexpected incidents of any kind.
Shirakawa figured no idiot would be that stupid anyway — causing trouble at a time like this was just asking to get killed.
After the wedding, Shirakawa sought out Cobra alone. There was a question that had been gnawing at his mind, and he wanted to ask.
"Cobra, I have something to ask you." In a secluded spot, Shirakawa addressed the king.
"Ask away, Shirakawa. Whatever I know, I'll tell you."
"Is the Ancient Weapon Pluton here in Alabasta?"
Shirakawa had no real interest in Pluton, but if he didn't ask, it would keep prickling at his mind like a stubborn thorn.
True, he had no use for it now. But what about later? Who could say — maybe one day the thought of conquering the world, or destroying it, might just pop into his head.
"What?!"
Cobra's mind was rocked by a massive earthquake at Shirakawa's question. Watching the king's frozen, long-unresponsive expression, Shirakawa knew he had hit the mark.
"Alright. I get it."
Though Cobra hadn't said a word, his reaction told Shirakawa everything. By the time Shirakawa walked away, Cobra still hadn't recovered.
How... how could he know that secret?
There were certainly people who knew that their family guarded the secret of the Ancient Weapon Pluton, but they were all among the world's highest nobility — Celestial Dragons, that kind. Even ordinary Celestial Dragons weren't qualified to know.
And Shirakawa was definitely not on that list.
"Your Majesty, are you alright?"
A royal guard approached the dazed king with concern.
"No... it's nothing. Leave me alone for a while."
"Yes, Your Majesty."
Even so, the guard remained nearby, ever vigilant.
What did Shirakawa mean by asking that?
Little did Shirakawa know, that single question would torment Cobra for a long time. Even during that night's important... festivities, the king could muster no enthusiasm whatsoever.
His mind had been completely shattered by Shirakawa's words.
"Captain, where did you go?"
Jorah asked as Shirakawa finally rejoined them.
"Nowhere important. Just confirming a hunch with Cobra. Alright, it's time for us to leave."
"Understood, Captain."
At the capital's main gate, they once again ran into the Marine contingent led by Garp.
"What's this, Vice Admiral Garp? We're already on our way out. Is there something else you need from us?"
"Nothing in particular. We're leaving too. Then I figured we're headed the same way, so we might as well wait here and go together."
Garp's tone was as carefree and blunt as ever.
"And how do you know we're going the same way? What if our ships are docked at different ports?"
"Hah! Impossible. When we landed, we made a point of docking right next to your ship."
"Fine. Truly worthy of Vice Admiral Garp. So diligent in carrying out your duties."
Shirakawa's words sounded like praise on the surface, but the undercurrent was pure sarcasm.
Still, since Garp had laid it out like that, what could they do? They had no choice but to go along. After all, they were the ones at a disadvantage here.
"After you, Vice Admiral Garp."
There was no way Shirakawa and his crew would let Garp walk behind them. What if the old man suddenly snapped and launched a surprise attack from the rear? They didn't want to spend the whole journey with their nerves on a knife's edge.
"Hmph."
/-\
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