Faced with Buggy's sudden acceleration, Shirakawa was caught off guard, because his impression of Buggy was still stuck at the level of trading punches and grappling.
Seeing the dagger thrust straight at him, Shirakawa knew he couldn't dodge it. He could only take it head-on.
And none of the onlookers had any intention of stepping in to help.
Because they were pirates. In the pirate world, getting hurt was an everyday thing.
Some of them even smiled, eager to see Shirakawa embarrass himself.
Roger, meanwhile, slightly shook his head. Shirakawa's performance disappointed him. He had thought there might be a surprise.
"Come on, Buggy! Take that kid down! Look at him, all pale and clean, he's obviously some pretty-boy!"
Someone shouted to cheer Buggy on.
But Shirakawa didn't have the spare attention to care what anyone else was thinking. Even the voices around him were automatically blocked out.
Suddenly, it was as if a light flashed through his mind. In an instant, the panic on his face vanished, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
He straightened his slightly hunched back and extended one hand.
"What's he doing, did he go stupid? He's going to catch the dagger with his bare hand? Does he think he's Kaido?"
But right as someone finished saying that, a layer of white light shimmered over Shirakawa's body.
"Oh? So he's finally getting serious?" Roger's interest rose. He wanted to see what Shirakawa's ability actually was.
They had already treated Shirakawa as a Devil Fruit user. Otherwise, how could an ordinary person come out of a giant sword, fall from high in the sky, and be completely fine?
Just as Buggy's dagger was about to stab into Shirakawa's palm, a transparent, slightly whitish barrier suddenly appeared in front of Shirakawa, blocking the attack.
"What?" Buggy yelled in shock. He hadn't noticed Shirakawa's change at all. He hadn't expected him to be a Devil Fruit user too.
"Hey, look at the sky! That giant sword appeared again!"
Someone among the spectators shouted. Everyone looked up together, including Shirakawa.
"So it really is the Silver King's Sword of Damocles…"
Now Shirakawa could confirm the guess he'd just formed in his heart. He had probably inherited the Silver King's power, or rather, he was the Silver King now.
In the night, the Sword of Damocles was especially eye-catching. Everyone could see it clearly.
"Alright, that's enough," Roger suddenly said. "You've proven your strength, so I'll allow you to come aboard our ship. Being an apprentice is fine, right?"
"No problem," Shirakawa replied.
As soon as he said that, the light on his body dispersed, and the Sword of Damocles above his head also vanished.
When the sword disappeared, the ordinary members of the Roger Pirates quietly let out a breath of relief. After all, having a sword hanging over your head would make anyone feel uneasy.
"But Captain, I haven't lost!" Buggy protested. If Shirakawa was allowed onboard, didn't that mean Buggy had lost?
"I know," Roger said. "But if you keep fighting, you'll be the one who loses sooner or later."
"Why?" Buggy asked, confused.
"Because your strength can't break through his ability. If you drag it out, you'll exhaust your stamina. When that happens, you'll definitely lose."
"Still, Buggy, you did well. You really are one of my crew."
The moment he heard the captain's praise, Buggy's displeasure instantly vanished. But he still held a grudge against Shirakawa.
"One day I'll take this back," Buggy thought to himself.
"But kid," Roger continued, looking at Shirakawa, "now that you're on my ship, your current strength won't cut it. Rayleigh, no problem leaving him to you, right?"
After speaking to Shirakawa, Roger turned to the blond man behind him who never let go of his bottle.
"No problem. Teaching one is teaching, teaching two is teaching," Rayleigh said.
"Don't worry, Captain. I'll definitely learn properly from the vice-captain," Shirakawa said, sounding excited and energized. Getting to learn from Rayleigh, if he still couldn't become strong, he might as well go slam his head into tofu.
The only question was whether the Silver King's "immutability" power would also keep his strength from changing, making it impossible for him to improve.
If he couldn't grow stronger, that would be a disaster.
Rayleigh was currently teaching Shanks. Adding Shirakawa as well wouldn't be a big problem.
Even if Shirakawa was older and learned more slowly, Rayleigh didn't care.
He would teach. How much they learned was their own business.
As for why he didn't teach Buggy, it was because Buggy's personality simply wasn't suited for training. Every time he worked out, he'd give up after a short while. Over time, he just stopped trying.
Anyway, as long as Buggy stayed on this ship, Roger could guarantee Buggy wouldn't be in mortal danger.
"Alright. Then I'll leave him to you from now on," Roger said.
Once everything was arranged, everyone dispersed and went back to whatever they were doing. Only Buggy still looked unconvinced.
"Shanks, take the newcomer around and have him meet the veterans. Don't let him end up not knowing who's who on the ship," Rayleigh instructed.
"Yes, vice-captain," Shanks answered.
After that, Shanks walked up to Shirakawa's side and patted him.
"Let's go. I'll introduce you around. From now on, we're on the same ship."
"Mm."
"I'll introduce myself first. My name's Shanks."
"My name's Shirakawa."
"I know."
Shanks then led Shirakawa around to meet the core members of the Roger Pirates. As for the minor underlings, even Shanks himself didn't recognize all of them.
Everyone greeted Shirakawa warmly, with one exception: Douglas Bullet.
According to Shanks, he was a genuine monster. His strength was not much different from the vice-captain's, and he was also a Devil Fruit user, known to outsiders as the Demon's Heir.
Shirakawa seemed to have some impression of Bullet too. A user of the Clank-Clank Fruit. At the beginning of one movie, he beat the Supernovas until they couldn't even fight back. Even Luffy's Gear Fourth couldn't do any damage to Bullet.
Shirakawa greeted him, but Bullet didn't even look at him. Shirakawa's strength probably wasn't worth Bullet's attention.
"His personality isn't great, but he's extremely serious," Shanks continued. "Even though he's already very strong, he still trains relentlessly every day. They say his goal is to surpass the captain."
"Is that so? That's really impressive," Shirakawa said.
After the introductions, Shirakawa sat together with Shanks. Shanks lifted a cup of alcohol and handed it to Shirakawa.
"Speaking of it, you seem like a noble, but now you've become a pirate instead."
"Do I? So I actually have a noble aura," Shirakawa said, feeling a bit proud inside. Looks like the public's eyes really are sharp.
"By the way, do you really not remember what you used to do?" Shanks asked.
"Yeah. I've completely forgotten," Shirakawa said. Of course he couldn't say, I grew up watching One Piece.
"I see. But your hair is pretty special too. It's actually silver-white."
"Silver-white hair? Who, me?" Shirakawa asked in surprise.
"Yeah. You."
"If even my hair changed, then did my face change too? If it did, did it turn into Adolf K. Weismann's face, or little Shiro Isana's face…"
"Do you have a mirror? I want to see what I look like right now."
"A mirror? How would I carry something like that?" Shanks said. "Wait until tomorrow when we get back on the ship. It's not like it can't wait."
"Fine. Tomorrow, then," Shirakawa said. Without a mirror, no matter how curious he was, he could only hold it in. And it was night anyway, alcohol didn't reflect much.
"But there are plenty of people with light-colored hair," Shirakawa said. "Like your red hair, and Buggy's blue hair. Why are you surprised by my hair?"
"Because you're the first person I've seen whose hair has a sheen," Shanks said. "Even at night, without sunlight, it still has a shine."
"So that's how it is. Haha," Shirakawa laughed.
/-\
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