Shameless Scoundrel

The flying door passed straight through the window and landed outside.

With such a commotion, even unrelated people could wake up, let alone Buggy and Shanks, who were the main characters of this incident.

"What's going on?" Buggy said in panic as he got up from bed. Even the usually carefree Shanks instantly snapped to attention, thinking it was an enemy attack.

"Oh, you two slept like logs. What were you up to last night?"

Shirakawa walked in with a smile.

"Oh, it's you, Shirakawa. What the hell, you scared me."

As soon as they saw it was Shirakawa, the two lay back down and pulled the covers over their heads, shutting out the world beyond the blanket.

"Alright, get up. The sun's already burning your butts." Shirakawa walked to the bed and yanked the blanket off.

"Come on, let us sleep a little longer." Buggy, lying on his side, even reached back to scratch his butt.

"Yeah, we didn't get to sleep until the wee hours last night."

"Tell me, what were you doing last night?" Shirakawa didn't believe for a second that two people just staying in a room would be up until the dead of night.

"We went to the bar, of course." Shanks mumbled back drowsily.

"The bar? Why didn't you call me?" Shirakawa was a bit angry. He'd missed out on a proper nightlife experience.

He grabbed both of them by the scruff, lifted them up, and shook them hard a couple of times.

"Wide awake now, right?" Shirakawa let go, and thump, the two landed right on the floor.

"Come on, let's go eat, then we'll set out and experience what the battlefield really feels like."

"Fine." The two still lacked energy. They rubbed their heads vigorously, got up, put on their clothes, and followed Shirakawa out.

But when they reached the door, they were surrounded by a group of people. Guests from other rooms also opened their doors to watch the commotion.

"What do you want?" Shirakawa asked coldly. These people clearly meant trouble.

"Sir, we'd like to ask what you want. Why did you destroy our door for no reason, and break the glass too?"

"Haha, sorry."

Hearing the reason, Shirakawa knew he was in the wrong.

"It's our fault. We'll pay compensation."

At the mention of compensation, the other side's expression softened, and the tense atmosphere gradually faded.

"Good. The door, the window, and one damaged wall—total comes to 100,000 Berry. Please hand over the money." The leader of the group extended his hand.

"No problem, I'll get it for you. Buggy, hand over the money."

"Why me? You're the one who broke all this stuff." Buggy said very reluctantly.

"Don't talk nonsense. I don't have any money. If I did, I'd pay it myself."

"Well, I don't have any money either."

"Buggy, don't be so stingy. When I have money later, I'll pay you back double."

"Triple. Quadruple. Quintuple." Seeing Buggy still silent, Shirakawa kept raising the offer.

"Deal." When it reached quintuple, Buggy finally agreed.

"Great. Trading 100,000 Berry for 500,000 Berry—a clean profit of 400,000 Berry. Not a loss at all." Buggy thought smugly to himself.

As for whether the money would ever be paid back, that was Shirakawa's problem. Maybe he'd pay when he was in a good mood, maybe he'd forget about it later, or maybe the author would forget about it.

With the money in hand, those people left happily too. Lucky for them they weren't the type to renege, or a fight would've meant medical bills on top of everything.

"What's going on? What happened?" At that moment, Kaiser Lynn also walked over and asked with concern.

"Nothing. Let's go eat. After breakfast, we'll send you back."

"Okay."

Nothing interesting happened during breakfast. They just ran into a few members of the Roger Pirates and exchanged a simple greeting.

But judging by their looks, they'd clearly had a wild night last night. They looked like they'd been completely drained.

Yesterday they were full of energy when they met, but today they seemed to have lost even their spirit.

"Sigh. As expected, when people get old, they can't keep up with anything." Seeing them, Shirakawa summed it up with that line.

"You'll be the same when you get old." Kaiser Lynn jabbed at the slightly smug Shirakawa.

"Don't worry. I won't get old." Shirakawa smiled confidently.

"Liar."

No one took Shirakawa's words seriously. They all thought it was a joke.

But it wasn't until ten or even twenty years later, when Shirakawa's appearance still hadn't changed at all, that Shanks and Buggy realized he had been telling the truth back then.

He wouldn't age. Because of that, he also became one of the most mysterious figures in the world—not mysterious in terms of his face or his name, but his ability.

Since they hadn't left the city yet, Kaiser Lynn still kept herself wrapped up tightly. It was uncomfortable, but to avoid exposure, she had to endure it a little longer.

"Hey, why aren't you guys wrapped up too? It's so unfair that I'm the only one like this." Kaiser Lynn looked at the three who were walking openly and felt indignant.

"Who said we're wanted?"

Shirakawa said smugly. They had originally thought that after causing such a big scene yesterday, they'd definitely be wanted, but there were no photos or sketches of them on the wanted board, so they unhesitatingly tore off their uncomfortable disguises.

"Tch, so unfair," Kaiser Lynn said again.

"I laugh with glee." Hearing this, Shirakawa flashed Kaiser Lynn a full row of neat little white teeth.

But this smugness didn't last long. They were soon hunted down again.

"That's right, those guys from yesterday are them. Even though that princess of the Kingdom of Mol disguised herself, the others didn't change their looks at all—didn't even change their clothes."

Behind them, a few people were staring at them from not too far away, speaking quietly.

It turned out this was all their scheme. If they were together with that princess, they'd surely act together again and stay disguised. But if they found no wanted posters for themselves, they'd definitely let their guard down.

Sure enough, Shirakawa and the others fell for it.

"Shirakawa, I think we're being watched." Shanks walked up to Shirakawa, alertly scanning the surroundings, and spoke in a low voice.

"I know. Didn't expect they'd be this sharp. Even with the princess disguised like that, they still found us."

"Yeah, yeah." Shanks nodded in agreement.

"Here's the plan: I'll take Kaiser Lynn and draw their attention. You guys slip out of the city while you can."

"Alright." Shanks shot Shirakawa a surprised glance. He hadn't expected Shirakawa to have such a self-sacrificing spirit—maybe they'd all misjudged him before.

Shirakawa walked behind Kaiser Lynn and scooped her up in a princess carry.

"What are you doing?" Kaiser Lynn's face flushed red as she asked in a fluster.

"Don't ask. Just hold on tight to me. I'll take you for some fun."

Though Kaiser Lynn had no idea what Shirakawa was up to, she still did as he said.

Then, white light burst from Shirakawa's body, even enveloping Kaiser Lynn within it.

"What is this? Ah!" Kaiser Lynn had barely finished her question when she screamed.

Because she realized Shirakawa was flying with her.

"Buggy, Shanks, we're off ahead. You two catch up quick."

"Shirakawa, you bastard!" Shanks and Buggy both shouted curses at Shirakawa at the top of their lungs.

But Shirakawa turned a deaf ear to all of it, filtering it out automatically.

(Today is Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day to everyone, but this holiday seems to have nothing to do with me. You all know what I mean, right? Doge jpg. But I want to be part of this holiday too. What do I do? What do I do! What do I do.)