One Piece: The Silver Sovereign

With Buggy's sudden burst of speed, Shirakawa was caught off guard. His impression of Buggy still lingered from their earlier close combat scuffle.

Seeing the dagger coming straight at him, Shirakawa knew he wouldn't be able to dodge it and would have to take the hit head-on.

None of the onlookers around made any move to help.

After all, they were pirates, and in the world of pirates, getting hurt was just an everyday occurrence.

Some even grinned, clearly waiting to see Shirakawa make a fool of himself.

Roger merely shook his head slightly. Shirakawa's performance had truly disappointed him. He had thought this boy might be a surprise.

"Go, Buggy! Knock that kid down! Look at him all clean and proper, he's just a pretty boy!"

Some shouted cheers for Buggy.

But Shirakawa had no time to care about what others were thinking. He even automatically tuned out all the chatter around him.

Suddenly, it was as if a flash of light appeared in his mind. His panicked expression vanished instantly, and a faint smile curled on his lips.

He straightened his bent back and extended one hand.

"What is he doing? Is he stupid? Trying to stop a dagger with his hand? Does he think he's Kaido or something?"

But just as someone finished saying that, a layer of faint white light appeared over Shirakawa's body.

"Oh? So he's finally getting serious?"

Seeing this, Roger became interested. He wanted to see what Shirakawa's real ability was.

After all, they already assumed Shirakawa was a Devil Fruit user. Otherwise, how could a normal person come from a giant sword and survive falling from the sky without a scratch?

Just as Buggy's dagger was about to stab into Shirakawa's palm, a translucent, whitish shield appeared in front of Shirakawa and blocked the attack.

"What?!"

Buggy cried out in surprise. He hadn't been paying attention to Shirakawa's change; he had no idea he was a Devil Fruit user.

"Hey, look at the sky! That giant sword is back again!"

At that moment, a spectator shouted, and everyone turned to look up. Shirakawa also raised his head.

"As I thought... it is the Damocles Sword of the Silver King."

Now Shirakawa could confirm his earlier suspicion: he had inherited the powers of the Silver King, or perhaps, he had become the Silver King himself.

In the dark of night, the Damocles Sword was especially prominent, and everyone could see it.

"Alright, let's leave it at that. You've proven your strength. I'll allow you to board our ship as an intern. That's fine, right?"

Roger suddenly spoke.

"No problem."

As soon as Shirakawa replied, the glow around his body faded, and the Damocles Sword above disappeared.

Seeing the sword vanish, the regular members of the Roger Pirates secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After all, having a sword hanging over your head would make anyone uneasy.

"But Captain, I haven't lost yet!"

Buggy protested. Letting Shirakawa on board meant he'd lost.

"I know. But if you kept fighting, you'd lose eventually."

"Why?" Buggy asked, puzzled.

"Because you don't have the power to break through his ability. If the fight went on, you'd just wear yourself out and lose in the end."

"But Buggy, you did well too, not bad for one of my crew."

At the captain's praise, Buggy's displeasure instantly vanished. Still, he held a grudge against Shirakawa.

"One day, I'll take this moment back," Buggy thought.

"But, kid, now that you're on my ship, your current strength isn't enough. Rayleigh, I'll leave him to you, okay?"

After speaking to Shirakawa, Roger turned to the blond man behind him, who always had a bottle in hand.

"No problem. Teaching one or two makes no difference."

"Don't worry, Captain! I'll study hard under the first mate!"

Shirakawa's voice was filled with excitement. To train under Rayleigh, if he couldn't get stronger, he might as well go bash his head into a block of tofu.

What he didn't know was whether the Silver King's unchanging power would also mean his strength couldn't grow.

That would be troublesome.

At the moment, Rayleigh was training Shanks. Taking on Shirakawa as well wasn't a big issue.

Though Shirakawa was older and might learn more slowly, Rayleigh didn't care.

He just taught, and how they learned was their problem.

As for why he wasn't training Buggy, it was because Buggy's personality wasn't suited for learning. He couldn't stick with the training and eventually gave up.

Still, as long as he was on this ship, Roger could guarantee Buggy would be safe.

"Alright, he's yours from now on."

With everything arranged, the crew dispersed to their duties. Only Buggy was still a little dissatisfied.

"Shanks, take the newbie around and introduce him to the crew. Can't have him not knowing who's who on board."

"Yes, First Mate."

With that, Shanks walked up to Shirakawa and patted him.

"Let's go. I'll show you around. From now on, we're crewmates."

"Mm."

"I'll introduce myself first, my name's Shanks."

"I'm Shirakawa."

"I know."

Shanks then took Shirakawa around, introducing him to the core members of the Roger Pirates. As for the small fry, even Shanks didn't know them all.

Everyone greeted Shirakawa warmly, except one person: Douglas Bullet.

According to Shanks, Bullet was a true monster. His strength was nearly on par with the first mate's. He was also a Devil Fruit user, known outside as the Demon Heir.

Shirakawa seemed to recognize him; he was the Fusion Fruit user who, in one movie, demolished the Supernovas at the start. Even Luffy's Gear Fourth couldn't touch him.

Shirakawa greeted him, but Bullet didn't even glance at him, likely because Shirakawa wasn't strong enough to be worth his attention.

"His personality might suck, but he's very dedicated," Shanks explained. "Even though he's already incredibly strong, he still trains every single day. Rumor is he wants to surpass the captain."

"Really? That's pretty amazing."

After the introductions, Shirakawa and Shanks sat together. Shanks handed him a cup of sake.

"You know, you've got the vibe of a noble... but now you're a pirate."

"Really? I have a noble vibe?"

Shirakawa felt a bit proud inside. The crowd's judgment is sharp indeed.

"By the way, do you not remember what you used to do?"

"Mm, totally forgot." Of course, Shirakawa couldn't say, I grew up watching One Piece.

"I see... Also, your hair's pretty unusual, it's silver-white."

"Silver-white? Who, me?" Shirakawa asked in surprise.

"Yeah, you."

"If even my hair's changed... has my face changed too? I wonder if I look like Adolf K. Weismann now, or like Isana Yashiro."

"Do you have a mirror? I want to see what I look like now."

"A mirror? Why would I carry something like that? Just check tomorrow on the ship, it won't kill you to wait."

"Fine, tomorrow it is." Despite his curiosity, Shirakawa had to wait. It was night, and the sake didn't reflect.

"Though there are plenty of people with white hair. Like your red hair, or Buggy's blue. Why are you so surprised by mine?"

"Because you're the first person I've seen whose hair shines. Even now, at night, without sunlight, it still glows."

"Ah, that's what you meant. Haha!"

Shirakawa laughed heartily.