One Piece: The Silver Sovereign

"Yo, Roger! Long time no see! I've missed you!"

Just as Shirakawa spotted the dog-headed warship, a thunderous voice rang in his ears.

"That voice can carry even from this far? What a loudmouth…"

The distance between the two ships was at least 300 to 400 meters, yet Garp's voice easily overpowered the sound of waves crashing against the hull.

"Garp, you're the last person I want to see. Just looking at your face makes me sick. And we saw each other only two months ago."

Roger's voice was just as forceful and met Garp's energy head-on.

"Really? I forgot."

Garp casually picked his nose with his pinky and flicked the result into the sea.

"Garp, you're seriously my nemesis," Roger muttered darkly.

He couldn't understand it. There were other major pirate crews like the Golden Lion and Whitebeard, so why was Garp so obsessed with chasing his crew?

Roger then stood at the bow of the ship, raised his sword high into the air, and shouted:

"Everyone, prepare for battle!"

"Aye, Captain!"

Immediately, the crewmembers erupted with excitement, and even Shirakawa felt his blood pumping with adrenaline.

But just as he was getting fired up, someone dumped cold water all over his mood, as if a bucket of ice had been poured down from above, chilling him to the core.

"You just stay in the rear. We haven't reached the point where we need trainee crew members to step in."

Rayleigh had quietly appeared behind him, grabbing Shirakawa by the collar as he spoke.

"What's wrong with being a trainee? Trainees should contribute too!"

"Not necessary. You'd only be a burden, and we'd have to waste energy protecting you."

"I don't need your protection!"

"Doesn't matter."

Rayleigh was firm. In short, Shirakawa was not allowed to step onto the battlefield.

"Fine…"

Shirakawa responded as if he had resigned to his fate.

"Buggy! Keep a close eye on Shanks and Shirakawa. If anything happens, you'll be the one answering for it!"

"Don't worry, Vice-Captain! I'll get it done!"

Buggy puffed out his chest and replied with pride.

Rayleigh was well aware of Shanks' personality. Restless and always itching for action. And everyone on the ship knew Buggy's nature; he wasn't the type to rush into a fight unless necessary.

Though Rayleigh wasn't entirely sure if Buggy could keep Shanks and Shirakawa under control, there was no time to deal with that now, because Garp had already launched his assault.

A barrage of cannonballs flew toward Roger's ship, clearly not fired by traditional means.

"Garp's strength is as terrifying as ever…"

The crew each showed their unique abilities, some wielding swords, some guns, others relying on their fists. Not a single cannonball struck the ship.

"Alright, stop staring! Let's find a place to hide!"

Buggy urged the two of them, clearly desperate to get away from danger.

They were in the middle of the open sea, and there was nowhere to hide except inside the ship.

Reluctantly, Shirakawa and Shanks were dragged into a small room by Buggy. They could only watch the battle outside through a small pane of glass.

As the two ships drew closer, boarding combat began.

First to leap across was Garp, and the ones standing in his way were Roger and Rayleigh. Only the combined effort of the captain and vice-captain could hope to hold off such a monster.

Elsewhere, Barrett had been engaged by a female Marine. The two of them looked like Beauty and the Beast standing side by side; she didn't even reach up to Barrett's waist.

But judging by Barrett's expression, this woman was not someone to be trifled with.

"Who's that Marine fighting with Barrett? She looks tough."

Shirakawa asked Shanks.

"Her? Her name's Tsuru. I forget whether she's a Rear Admiral or a Vice Admiral."

"That's Tsuru?"

Shirakawa was surprised; this version of her looked nothing like the frail, elderly woman with white hair and sunken cheeks he remembered.

"Don't let her small frame fool you. Her Devil Fruit ability is terrifying. Even Barrett doesn't dare take a direct hit from her."

Shirakawa watched closely, Barrett was using chained attacks, keeping his distance, and dodging whenever Tsuru struck. He wasn't taking any chances.

"Oh, and that crewmate fighting the ice Marine, who is that? He's insanely strong."

The Marine using ice was, of course, the future Admiral Aokiji (Kuzan). But Shirakawa couldn't recognize the crewmember wielding the sword.

"You have a terrible memory. Didn't I introduce him to you already?"

Shanks gave him a look of disdain.

"Did you? I forgot."

Shirakawa smiled awkwardly.

"His name is Sikal. He may look fat, but he's fast and one of the top five fighters on the ship."

"Wow, didn't expect that."

"Keep watching, you'll see. That ice guy doesn't stand a chance."

Sure enough, just as Shanks predicted, Aokiji soon had multiple wounds and blood at the corner of his mouth, likely internal injuries.

In contrast, Sikal was only breathing heavily, completely uninjured.

Despite that, the Marine showed no intention of retreating. He fought harder the more injured he became, full of fighting spirit.

"That Marine's pretty impressive, too."

"Yeah. Even Captain Roger said he's a true Marine. If nothing goes wrong, he's probably going to be an Admiral one day."

"Wow… our captain has an eye for talent, just casually predicting someone's future."

"It's not casual. We've fought that guy several times. We know what he's made of."

The battle had been raging for a while now, but Shirakawa and Shanks could only watch helplessly, which was frustrating.

Shirakawa wanted to test how far his two months of hard training had taken him.

"Shirakawa," Shanks said softly.

"Yeah?"

Shirakawa turned, confused, until he saw the look Shanks gave toward Buggy. In that moment, Shirakawa instantly understood.

"Got it."

Then both Shirakawa and Shanks turned to face Buggy, wearing eerily sinister grins.

"What are you two planning?"

Buggy immediately sensed something was wrong. But he tried to stay tough:

"Don't forget, the Vice-Captain left you both in my care! I'm in charge here!"

"You are in charge."

Shirakawa said with a smile,

"But if you can't talk… then we're in charge."

"No, don't!"

Seeing Buggy's expression, Shirakawa couldn't help but recall his past self from two months ago.

And that's exactly why he felt he had to do this.

Maybe to satisfy some twisted little grudge.