One Piece: The Silver Sovereign

Just as Shanks and Shirakawa were about to climb the stairs to the deck, two loud booms erupted over the surrounding sea.

The enormous noise and the violent shaking of the ship startled Shirakawa.

"What just happened?"

He steadied himself by grabbing the handrail and turned to ask Shanks.

"Someone's probably here to see us off."

This kind of situation was nothing new for Shanks. Not only did he show no fear, but he even smiled a little at the corners of his mouth.

When Shirakawa reached the deck, he heard someone reporting to Roger.

"Captain, those three pirate ships are probably some cocky newbies from this year."

"Oh? Newbies daring to challenge me? That's some admirable courage."

It was hard to tell if Roger meant that as praise or mockery, whether he was genuinely admiring their guts, or mocking their ignorance of the world's true power.

But Shirakawa figured it leaned more toward mockery. After all, Roger was a dominant force in the New World; he certainly had his pride.

They probably thought, Instead of going after Golden Lion or Whitebeard, let's pick the weakest of the three, Roger?

Shirakawa hurried to the ship's edge and saw three pirate ships speeding toward them with full momentum, clearly aggressive and not slowing down at all.

Just then, Shirakawa noticed a black cannonball growing rapidly larger before his eyes, flying straight at him at high speed.

Instinctively, he raised his arms in front of him. He even forgot to run; his mind had gone completely blank.

At this point, he hadn't yet mastered the Silver King's powers, and he wasn't even sure if a shield would appear in time. Just as he thought he was about to die, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him.

With one swift draw of the sword, the cannonball was split cleanly in half and fell harmlessly to either side.

"Kid, you'd better stay inside the ship. Standing out here is just getting in the way."

Hearing the voice, Shirakawa opened his eyes to see none other than Silvers Rayleigh, the Dark King, standing in front of him.

At that moment, Shanks ran over and dragged him away.

"Shirakawa, you don't have much power yet, don't wander around out here. It's way too dangerous."

"I know, but I just couldn't help wanting to see. It's the first time I've ever witnessed a battle between pirates. I wanted to experience it."

"Battle? Don't be ridiculous, Shirakawa."

"What do you mean? Am I wrong?" Shirakawa asked in confusion, hearing the trace of sarcasm in Shanks' voice.

"Of course you're wrong. What's about to happen doesn't even count as a real fight. Only when we face crews like Whitebeard's or Golden Lion's do the Roger Pirates get into a battle. As for these guys... you'll see what I mean in a moment."

Shanks brought Shirakawa to a "safe" place, then turned and left again.

Surprisingly, Shirakawa ran into Buggy there.

"Yo, Buggy. What a coincidence, you're here too," Shirakawa greeted him.

"Coincidence, my ass! I've never seen anyone else sent here before."

Shirakawa didn't understand why Shanks brought him here. To him, this spot didn't feel particularly safe.

From here, you could see everything clearly, and it was probably right in the path of most incoming cannonballs. Maybe it was considered safe only because Buggy was here?

After all, wherever Buggy was might not be "absolutely" safe, but it was certainly not dangerous.

"Well, I guess it makes sense. Right now, you're the weakest guy on the ship."

Hearing that, a tick mark popped up on Shirakawa's forehead.

"Buggy, have you forgotten that I beat you in our last duel?"

"Hah! That's only because I wasn't going all out. If I had, you would've been one-shotted for sure!"

"Oh really? Then next time we fight, we'll see who gets one-shotted," Shirakawa replied sharply.

In Shirakawa's mind, Buggy's only notable qualities were his wide network and sheer luck. Beyond that, there wasn't much worth praising.

The only thing even remotely destructive he ever developed was that Buggy Ball weapon.

Shirakawa stopped bantering with Buggy and turned his attention back to the situation on the sea.

"What's there to watch?"

"Aren't you worried the captain might lose?" Shirakawa asked, even though he already knew Roger wouldn't.

"Lose? No way. Aside from that mad dog Garp, no one can make the captain even consider retreating."

"Garp is that strong?"

"Of course. The world calls Whitebeard the strongest man alive, but Garp, even with his bare hands, is almost on par with him."

"But still, I doubt even then the captain would flee without a fight."

"Hmph. The captain may not be much weaker than Garp, but you've never seen Garp go berserk. Once you do, you'll understand why the captain avoids him. That guy's relentless when he's chasing someone; it gives everyone a headache."

"That's why the captain would rather face both Golden Lion and Whitebeard at once than deal with that bastard Garp. People who haven't seen Garp in action have no idea how terrifyingly strong he is."

As Buggy spoke, he gave a visible shiver. Garp had left quite a deep impression on him.

When Shirakawa turned back to look again, he saw that the three pirate ships had all been split in half and were now sinking into the sea.

"What the... just happened?" Shirakawa asked, dumbfounded.

"Heh, surprised? Just on this ship alone, we've got at least three top-level swordmasters. Weak pirates like those don't even qualify for a boarding battle."

Buggy stood up with a cold sneer and walked out from the shadows, going to celebrate their "hard-earned" victory.

"So this is the Roger Pirates? At least three Great Swordmasters?"

Shirakawa was shocked once again. Truly, if you didn't join the Roger Pirates, you'd never understand just how many hidden monsters there were on this ship.

When he thought of swordmasters, the first one that came to mind was Dracule Mihawk, the future world's greatest swordsman who could slice meteors with ease.

"Well, Shirakawa, have you seen the strength of our crew now?" Shanks said, walking over and patting him on the shoulder.

"Yeah. All I can say is, the Roger Pirates deserve their reputation as one of the three great powers of the New World."

"Haha, and this was nothing. The captain didn't even lift a finger this time. Wait till you see him in action, you'll get a much clearer picture of what we're truly capable of. Come on, let's go start the party."

"Party? What party?"

"Of course, we're celebrating our victory over those pirate crews!"

"Is that worth celebrating?"

"Of course it is. No matter how weak the defeated enemy is, we still have to hold a little funeral for them."

Shirakawa twitched at the corner of his mouth. What a twisted sense of humor…

"With how often you throw these parties, do you even have enough alcohol and food left?"

Just as Shirakawa finished that thought, he saw someone haul a small Sea King out of the water and drop it onto the ship.

His mouth twitched again.

"Alright... I take it back. I didn't think about anything."