After dealing with the Adam matter, Shirakawa returned to Visalia Island. At that moment, no one on the island noticed his return.
Because every time Shirakawa came back, he did so mysteriously. Unless someone was constantly keeping watch by his door, they would never know.
Back in his room, Shirakawa took out a bottle of sake, then walked over to Roger's grave. He opened the bottle and poured it along the edge of the grave.
"Captain, I've already told the first mate where this place is. I'm sure he'll come visit you before long."
"Captain, you're back!" At that moment, Mole emerged from Hareda's house and happened to spot Shirakawa standing before Roger's grave. His voice carried a note of pleasant surprise.
Shirakawa had been gone for quite a while this time, and Mole had been terribly worried about him during that period.
"Yeah, I'm back. How have you been holding up?"
Shirakawa asked Mole. He'd been away for roughly four days, but Mole didn't seem to have changed much in that time. Had he really only been gone that short a while?
"Pretty good. Hareda and the others have been looking after me, and they've even let me come and go from the island's library as I please."
"Good." Hearing that put Shirakawa at ease. The library on Visalia Island wasn't normally open to just anyone. If they'd granted Mole access, it meant they'd fully accepted him.
"Oh, by the way, Captain—how long are you planning to stay this time?"
Mole asked.
"Probably a while, I'd say. After all, I need to put you through some proper training. Can't have you gaining nothing but knowledge while your strength stays stagnant."
"Oh, I see." Mole was more than happy to have Shirakawa stick around. The islanders all treated him well, but he still felt like an outsider among them.
Shirakawa was family. Without family nearby, Mole always felt a little out of place.
And so a day passed. Early the next morning, Shirakawa had just stepped outside to train when Mole came over holding a newspaper.
"Captain, bad news. The fact that you're alive has gotten out."
Mole said in a fluster.
"Oh? That fast?" Shirakawa replied. It seemed Morgans already knew he'd obtained the Adam.
"As expected of the president of a news agency—his information network really is something else." Shirakawa thought to himself as he took the newspaper from Mole and gave it a glance.
It featured three photos of Shirakawa. Two of them had been taken by Morgans while standing beside Shirakawa, showing him wearing a mask. The third was from yesterday, capturing the Sword of Damocles he'd manifested while fighting Barrett.
"He really is everywhere, isn't he?"
Shirakawa was a bit surprised when he saw that photo. Sure, plenty of people would have seen his Sword of Damocles when it appeared, but for someone to coincidentally snap a picture of it...
Most likely, Morgans had sent someone to tail him from the moment he'd left the Sabaody Archipelago. Or maybe it wasn't even a person—it could've been a bird, for all he knew.
Those birds of Morgans had been trained to be frighteningly intelligent, to the point where they could even haggle with people.
Still, the news didn't cause much of a stir. Shirakawa's peak popularity had been two or three months ago, and his moment in the spotlight had long since faded. The number of ordinary citizens who still remembered him now was probably pitifully small.
But unlike the indifference of the general public, the atmosphere at Marine Headquarters was anything but normal.
In the meeting room at Marine Headquarters, today's report about Shirakawa was pinned to the whiteboard.
"What's the meaning of this? Why is Adolf K. Shirakawa still not dead?" Fleet Admiral Kong said, his face twisted with anger.
Sakazuki's expression was equally grim. He'd participated in the operation against the Silver Pirate Crew, and although the crew members had escaped, they'd managed to leave the captain behind. By all accounts, that counted as a success.
But now they were being told the captain hadn't died. Didn't that mean all their previous efforts had been for nothing?
"Judging from his build, his hair, and the part of his face that's visible, it does look very much like Shirakawa."
In the end, it was Admiral Sengoku who spoke those words. If Shirakawa was alive, he bore a great deal of the responsibility.
"But we can't rule out the possibility that Shirakawa has a twin brother."
At that point, Vice Admiral Momonga suddenly spoke up. As someone who'd participated in that battle, he had every right to weigh in.
"After all, under those circumstances, Shirakawa's chances of survival were practically zero."
"Then tell me what's going on with that sword. Did the two brothers eat the same Devil Fruit?" Kong shot back.
"It's not entirely impossible," said Borsalino. "After Shirakawa died, his Devil Fruit would have reappeared somewhere. Maybe his brother happened to find it."
"Hmph. Whatever the reason, find out who this person is as quickly as possible."
With that order from Kong, the meeting was adjourned.
"Tsuru, what do you make of this?"
After Fleet Admiral Kong left, Sengoku asked Vice Admiral Tsuru.
"Based on your descriptions of the battle, I don't think the person who appeared is Shirakawa."
"Why not just ask Morgans? Those photos came from him, so he must know something."
Garp suddenly spoke up. He wasn't the type to rack his brains over useless speculation. Everything he came up with was always the most direct, most effective solution.
"Then Garp, I'll leave this matter to you."
Sengoku said to Garp.
Ever since Roger's execution, Garp's fighting spirit hadn't been what it used to be. Sengoku figured it was about time to assign Garp a new task.
"Not interested. Send whoever wants to go." At Sengoku's words, Garp simply got up and left the meeting room, tossing out one last remark before he went.
"Wiping out the Silver Pirate Crew was your mission to begin with. Whatever he's mixed up in now is still part of that crew's business, so it's not my problem."
"That Garp..." Sengoku rubbed his temple with a headache.
"Just let him be for now. He'll come around after a while."
Tsuru spoke up. Garp's changes over this period hadn't gone unnoticed by any of them—he'd been walking around looking deeply troubled all day.
"I'll go instead."
"Sorry to trouble you, Tsuru."
What Shirakawa didn't know was that because of those three photos, the Marines had already begun investigating him.
Had he known it would turn out this way, Shirakawa would never have let Morgans keep those photos, no matter what.
The other members of the Roger Pirates, however, recognized Shirakawa's identity at a single glance. Some of them were already weeping with joy.
Others were already planning to give him a serious thrashing the next time they saw him—because one fake piece of news had made them grieve for far too long.
/-\
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