A Lot of Time

The casino was huge. Finding one person was already difficult; finding someone who was trying to hide from them was even harder, even though there were four of them.

As they wandered around, Shanks disappeared. He had probably taken his chips somewhere to play.

After a full circuit, they still hadn't found Rayleigh. Shanks, on the other hand, had somehow turned the ten chips he'd started with into a whole pile. He could barely hold them all, and a few looked ready to fall at any moment.

"Shanks, you're pretty good! You've won so much."

Shirakawa's eyes lit up. He'd only just realized Shanks was so skilled at gambling.

"I don't know how it happened. I just placed a few bets, and before I knew it, I had all these." Shanks smiled sheepishly.

"Shanks, you won that money with my money, so all the money you won is mine too."

When Buggy saw the pile, he couldn't let Shanks get away with it so easily. He had to come up with a reason to claim the winnings.

"No way. I won this money, so naturally it's mine."

With that, Shanks took a chip worth ten thousand Berries and tossed it to Buggy.

"No way. That money's mine too."

Buggy snatched the chip out of the air, but he was still eyeing the pile in Shanks's arms greedily.

"All right, you two, stop arguing. We haven't found the First Mate here, so we should look somewhere else."

Shirakawa cut off the two of them before they could continue arguing.

"As for the chips, we can cash them in for Berries later and split them three ways. How about that?"

"No way."

Shanks and Buggy rejected Shirakawa's suggestion in unison.

"I worked hard to win these. How can you just say we should split them?"

Shanks thought to himself that although he didn't care much about money, he couldn't just hand his winnings over to someone else—and Shirakawa hadn't lifted a finger to help.

Buggy was even less willing to agree. He felt that splitting the winnings with one more person was already a loss.

"Well, what are you four doing here?"

At the familiar voice, Shirakawa turned around. It was the very person they'd been looking for: the First Mate, Rayleigh.

"Don't tell me you're into this too, Shirakawa?" Rayleigh sidled up to him with a lecherous grin.

"What are you thinking? We came to find you."

"Looking for me? You didn't get into some kind of trouble and come here to make me clean up your mess, did you?"

"What trouble? We came to talk about something important."

"Oh, something important? There's no rush. We can talk later. I'm going to play a few rounds first."

With that, Rayleigh walked over to Shanks and took all the chips he was carrying—even the ten in Buggy's hand.

"Perfect. Now I can save the money I'd have spent on drinks."

Holding the chips Shanks and Buggy had won, Rayleigh was positively delighted.

"Forget it. We've already wasted so much time. A little longer won't make a difference."

Shirakawa shook his head helplessly and followed Rayleigh. He wanted to see how this game was played, too.

Whether Rayleigh was bad at gambling or just unlucky, Shirakawa couldn't say, but he didn't see him win a single time. Shirakawa hadn't even figured out the rules yet, and Rayleigh's pile of chips was already gone.

There must have been at least a million Berries there.

"Could he be the biggest sucker in the world of pirates?"

"All right, what did you want to talk about?"

After losing all his chips, Rayleigh's interest in gambling had faded.

"First Mate, we just found out that the Log Pose needs three years to record the magnetic field of the next island."

"Oh." Rayleigh walked over to the bar, ordered a drink, and took a hearty swig.

"First Mate, aren't you worried?"

Seeing Rayleigh calmly sipping his drink, Shirakawa asked him.

"What good would worrying do? We still have to wait. Besides, we went out to sea for freedom. We can go wherever we want instead of fixating on one place, and we'll find a way in the end."

"So you're saying we should just sit around here and wait?"

"That's not what I'm saying. Do whatever you want. Just make sure we can find you when it's time to leave."

"But how are we supposed to leave if the Log Pose hasn't finished recording?"

"Who knows? We'll see what the Captain comes up with."

Rayleigh replied nonchalantly. Shirakawa decided it would be better to get straight to the point.

"First Mate, we know where to find an Eternal Pose for the next island."

"Oh? You know where?" Rayleigh's expression shifted slightly, showing a hint of surprise.

"Yeah. There's one in a warehouse in the Kingdom of Mol."

Rayleigh looked over at Kaiser Lynn. She gave a small nod, confirming what Shirakawa had said.

"Right. It makes sense that a royal family would have something like that."

"But I assume they've set some kind of condition for the item you want?"

Rayleigh thought it over briefly and immediately understood the situation.

"I need you to take me back to my country. The Eternal Pose will be your reward."

"Sounds pretty good."

"So you agree?" Kaiser Lynn asked excitedly when Rayleigh didn't refuse.

"No." Rayleigh shook his head. "I'm not going."

"You said you weren't going, but you didn't say they wouldn't go, did you?"

"Right. If they're willing to take your job, there's nothing I can do about it."

"That's wonderful! Shirakawa, you'll escort me home, won't you?" Kaiser Lynn turned around and gazed at Shirakawa with pleading eyes, like a kitten someone had abandoned.

At that, Shirakawa fell silent for a moment. He and Kaiser Lynn weren't related, and he'd already saved her twice, which should have been more than enough. But he couldn't bring himself to simply leave her here and walk away. He was softhearted.

If she got captured because he'd left her behind, he'd probably remember it for the rest of his life. It might even become a source of torment for him.

"I think you should go," Rayleigh said, noticing Shirakawa's hesitation.

"What makes you say that?" Shirakawa's eyes lit up at Rayleigh's suggestion.

"If I'm not mistaken, you'll have to pass through a battlefield to reach her country. And for you, a battlefield would be the best place to gain experience."

"A battlefield? No way am I going there." The moment he heard the word, Buggy immediately chickened out.

"Shut up. No one asked you." Seeing that Rayleigh supported Shirakawa escorting her, Kaiser Lynn hurriedly told Buggy to be quiet. She didn't want his words to influence Shirakawa's decision.

"That works. I think we should go."

"I agree," Shanks chimed in after Shirakawa. He wanted to get some training in and grow stronger, too.

"How long can you stay on this island?" Shirakawa asked Rayleigh.

"Who knows? This island is pretty big, so we'll probably be here for about half a year. You might even run into some of the others on the way."

"Why?"

"Because we've got some people aboard who love a fight. The others can't stay in one city forever, either. There are so many cities, after all—we should visit a few. Otherwise, what would be the point of coming to this island?"

"That makes sense. Whenever we reach a big island, we stay for a long time. Almost everyone usually explores at least half of it before we set sail again," Shanks said, agreeing with Rayleigh.

"In that case, we don't have to hurry either."

Come to think of it, Roger had been at sea for several years already, while the Straw Hats had reached Sabaody Archipelago, at the boundary between the Grand Line and the New World, in less than a year after setting sail.

That showed just how much slower the Roger Pirates were at traveling than other pirate crews.