One Piece: The Silver Sovereign

"Three years?! What are we supposed to do, wait here for three whole years?"

This was the first time Shirakawa had encountered a situation like this. "You two have never run into this kind of problem before?" he asked Buggy and Shanks.

"Nope. The longest we've ever stayed on an island was three or four months."

"Wait… Shanks, do you remember there was an island in the first half of the Grand Line that needed a full year to record its magnetic field? But I think we left after just two months."

Buggy suddenly recalled something and said it to Shanks.

"Now that you mention it, I do remember. That did happen."

"Then how did you leave that time without finishing the Log Pose recording?"

"I think the Captain bought a permanent pointer to the next island."

"Permanent pointer?"

"It's a type of compass that permanently points toward a specific island, no matter where you are."

Seeing Shirakawa's confusion, Shanks explained.

"There's something like that? Then… do we know if there's a permanent pointer for the next island on this island?"

"There is,"

Kather·Lynn suddenly chimed in confidently.

"How do you know?"

"Because my country's royal palace has one, one that points to the next island."

"Really?"

"Of course it's real. Why would I lie to you?"

"Well, who knows if you have some kind of hidden agenda?"

"You, hmph! Helping someone only to be treated like garbage…"

Kather·Lynn pointed a finger at Shirakawa, then turned away in a huff.

"So… should we report this to the Captain?" Shirakawa asked.

"Yeah, we have to tell him, whether he already knows or not. And we should also let him know we've got a lead on a permanent pointer to the next island."

"Then where do we find the Captain?"

"That's something you two should know," Shirakawa said to Buggy and Shanks. "You're the veterans here, don't you know where the Captain usually goes when he lands on an island?"

The two gave him awkward smiles.

"We always split up after landing… and to be honest, we've never really stuck around the Captain. So we don't know what he likes to do."

"If only the Vice-Captain were here," Buggy muttered.

"You mean Rayleigh?"

Shirakawa lowered his head, thinking out loud:

"That guy loves drinking, gambling, and women. It's broad daylight, so he's probably not out womanizing. We just finished drinking, so the most likely place he'd go is… a casino."

"Right! He's probably at a casino now!"

Shanks and Shirakawa's eyes lit up at the same time.

"If we find the Vice-Captain, he can use his Observation Haki to help us find the Captain."

"Then what about her?"

Buggy pointed to Kather·Lynn, who was still sulking but eyeing them out of the corner of her eye, waiting to see what Shirakawa would say.

"Leave her here. If we take her along, she'll just slow us down. Besides, we already know where the permanent pointer is."

"Hey! What kind of person are you? You ungrateful, shameless, backstabbing scoundrel!"

"Whoa, whoa! I was just kidding. You don't have to take it so seriously."

Shirakawa must've realized he'd gone too far and tried to smooth things over.

"Hmph. Who knows whether you're joking or not? Anyway, I'm sticking with you no matter what."

"Alright, alright! I admit I was wrong. Happy now?"

"That's more like it."

Kather·Lynn patted Shirakawa's back, satisfied.

"Well, in that case, let's all go together. A casino's technically illegal, so there shouldn't be many of them. If we're careful, we shouldn't attract attention."

"No choice, I guess."

The four of them wrapped scarves around their faces, covering most of their features.

Though they looked a bit odd, it was hard to make out their appearances.

"By the way… do you two even know how to find a casino?"

After wandering for a while, Shirakawa asked.

"Nope. I'm not interested in that stuff," said Shanks.

"Same here. I'd never throw my money away like that," Buggy added.

Of course. With Buggy's personality, he hoarded money like a dragon, rarely spending it. As for Shanks, he simply wasn't into gambling; his only interests were drinking and fighting.

"And you?" Shirakawa turned to Kather·Lynn.

"Do you think a princess would know where a casino is?" she said, indignant.

"Thought so. Knew asking you was pointless."

Hearing that, Kather·Lynn got a little angry. Why did he always have to say things so harshly?

This kind of guy will be single for the rest of his life, she cursed silently.

If Shirakawa had known what she was thinking, he would've immediately ditched her.

Who curses people that viciously just for making a snarky comment?

Being single into his twenties had already been a sore spot in his past life.

"Well, you don't know either, right?"

"Who said I didn't?"

"You do? You've been to a casino?"

All three of them asked at once, clearly shocked.

"What? Do I not look like the type?"

"Nope."

All three shook their heads in unison.

"But hey, just because I haven't been inside one doesn't mean I don't know where one is."

"So what do we do?"

"Follow me."

Shirakawa led them through a maze of narrow, sketchy back alleys.

"There's a casino in here?"

Kather·Lynn asked skeptically.

"Be quiet and follow me."

"But we've already passed this street at least twice, haven't we? Don't tell me we're lost, "

Before she could finish, a group of thugs blocked them from both sides.

The leader brandished a weapon, a dagger.

"They're here,"

Shirakawa said calmly. All his wandering had finally paid off.

"Shanks, Buggy, they're all yours. Don't knock them out, though. I need to ask them some questions."

"Haha! Shirakawa, you're a genius, getting a local to guide us."

"If you don't wanna get beat, hand over your money, let us brothers have some fun!"

"You can have the money. But can you live to spend it?"

"What did you say, punk?! Alright, guess you won't learn until you're bleeding. Boys, get 'em! We'll split the cash later!"

"Yeah!"

"Shirakawa, you sure just the two of them can handle it? Aren't they still kids?"

"Relax. If they can't even handle this kind of trash, they don't deserve to be on our ship."

Finally, it was Shirakawa's turn to say that line to someone else.