Not Using Full Strength

Shanks took a direct blow from Akda head-on. He had to admit, his youth put him at a disadvantage—his strength fell slightly short, and he was forced back several meters.

"Buggy, protect Kaiser Lynn. Leave him to me and Shanks."

"R-right." Hearing he wouldn't have to fight himself, Buggy was naturally overjoyed. He probably hadn't expected that fat pig to be somewhat strong.

Buggy quickly ran to Kaiser Lynn's side, grabbed her, and fled into the distance.

"Don't think you can run." Seeing Kaiser Lynn trying to leave, Akda naturally wouldn't allow it.

"Heh, want to get past? You'll have to go through me first." Shirakawa blocked Akda's path.

"Fine, then I'll kill you first."

When Akda said this, a thick killing intent erupted from his body, even his skin turning a bloody red.

Feeling this aura, Shirakawa and Shanks's expressions shifted in unison. For certain people, the threat of killing intent could be even greater than that of Conqueror's Haki.

"Boy, savor the pain that's coming." Akda bared a bloodthirsty grin, his pupils turning blood-red as well.

"How many people would you have to kill to get like that?" Shanks swallowed hard, speaking with some difficulty.

"As expected, in the New World, no one is simple." Shirakawa could tell that these changes weren't from any Devil Fruit ability—they were purely from killing.

"Shanks."

"Yeah." The two exchanged a glance, then attacked Akda from left and right.

But how could such an attack work on a city-guarding general? He swung his great cleaver in front of him, forcing Shirakawa and Shanks to switch from offense to defense, and they were sent flying back.

Yet the two didn't lose heart. In battle, cases of the weak overcoming the strong weren't rare, and besides, neither of them was weak—they were both elites.

They attacked again, and this time the fight became more balanced. Though they'd been at a disadvantage earlier, as the battle dragged on, things grew increasingly even.

"Truly two gifted brats." Despite Akda's rough appearance, he had the insight of a general. He could see that the two were actually improving as they fought him.

"Boys, why not submit to me? I guarantee you a lifetime of endless wealth and glory." Akda tried to recruit them. It wasn't out of any love for talent—it was because none of his subordinates could compare to these two.

He had to be delusional, thinking he could recruit two Conqueror's Haki users at once.

"Heh." Shirakawa and Shanks sneered in unison.

"For us to submit? You're not qualified." Shirakawa's last words came out one by one.

"Shirakawa's right. The only one I'd submit to is the Captain." Shanks followed up.

"Since you two are so ungrateful, I'll have to send you both to die." As he said this, Akda suddenly burst forward toward Shanks, moving more than twice as fast as before.

"I'll start with you, little one."

"Not good." Shirakawa reached Shanks's side in an instant, but he had no time to counter—he could only take the blow.

"Shirakawa!" Seeing this, Kaiser Lynn shouted and tried to rush out, but Buggy held her back.

"Relax, he'll be fine."

"How? A wound that long and he'll be fine? Are you even comrades?"

"Precisely because we're comrades, I know him better than you." Buggy shouted back, trying to stop Kaiser Lynn from making a scene.

"Sorry, but I know his abilities better than you do. Trust me." Buggy realized his tone had been a bit harsh and apologized to Kaiser Lynn.

Struck by the blade, Shirakawa fell from the momentum. Akda, though he'd hit the wrong person, figured his goal was achieved and stepped back.

"So, boy, it's just you now. What are you going to fight me with?" Akda thought to himself—it took two of them just to barely match him, and now with one left, he'd be toyed with.

"What makes you think he's dead?" Shanks glanced at the fallen Shirakawa, feeling a bit worried inside but not showing it, because he trusted Shirakawa would be fine.

"Survive a hit from me? Even if his vitality is tenacious, he's in no shape to fight."

Akda said confidently.

But as he finished speaking, a white smoke suddenly rose from Shirakawa's horrific wound. The injury slowly healed, and even his clothes restored themselves to their original state.

Then Shirakawa stood up, as if nothing had happened, and rubbed his back where he'd just been cut.

"That really hurt."

"He's really fine?" At that moment, Kaiser Lynn's eyes went wide in disbelief.

"I told you. As Shirakawa's comrade, I know him better than you. He'll definitely be fine." Buggy said with great confidence.

"I knew you'd be okay." Shanks patted Shirakawa on the shoulder.

Unlike the cheerful mood of Shanks and the others, Akda's mood was terrible—not just because Shirakawa had gotten up, but because the boasts he'd just made seemed to have fallen flat.

"A Devil Fruit ability?" As a general, he was well-traveled and no stranger to Devil Fruits.

"You could say that." Shirakawa neither denied nor confirmed it.

"Shanks, step back. I'm going all out."

"You got it." Shanks flashed an excited grin. "It's been a while since I saw that greatsword of yours."

"Then I'll let you see your fill today." Shirakawa said with equal confidence.

Seeing Shanks leave the battle circle, Akda said to Shirakawa, "Going solo? You think you can beat me?"

"Never know until you try."

As he finished speaking, streaks of white light emerged from Shirakawa's body, covering him entirely, and a massive Sword of Damocles appeared in the sky above his head.

"This, this is..." For some reason, seeing Shirakawa in this state, Akda suddenly sensed a sacred and inviolable majesty.

"What is that?" Kaiser Lynn said, greatly astonished.

"That's Shirakawa's ability. That sword only appears when he uses more than eighty percent of his strength," Shanks explained to Kaiser Lynn as he withdrew from the battle circle.

"So that means Shirakawa wasn't even using eighty percent of his power just now."

"That's right." As he said those two words, Shanks felt rather dejected. Clearly, when Shirakawa first boarded the ship, his strength was far inferior to Shanks's—but now it was Shanks who was far inferior.

He had already used nearly ninety percent of his own strength just now.

"It looks like the battle has already begun." Since they hadn't gone far, Rayleigh and Roger in the city naturally saw the Sword of Damocles as well.

However, due to the distance, the sword appeared somewhat small, but that also allowed them to take in its full form at a single glance.