The One Has Arrived

Now Shirakawa, Shanks, and Buggy were all wanted by this country as well. After all, they had killed one of its generals, making them enemies of the nation.

Shirakawa himself hadn't expected his first wanted poster to come not from the Marines, but from a country on a small island. As a transmigrator, he felt a bit embarrassed.

Still, the bounty was substantial—a full fifty million Berries. This country really did have a lot of money.

Ten days had passed since killing Akda. They still had at least half a month before they could cross the country's border. Because of the wanted status, they didn't dare travel through cities for fear of causing a commotion, so they had to take detours.

But detours weren't just time-consuming; they could also be dangerous. While passing through a forest, the four of them encountered a five-meter-tall black bear, monstrous enough to be called a beast.

Aside from Buggy and Kaiser Lynn, who were panicked and flustered, Shirakawa and Shanks didn't even change expressions. They simply let Shanks handle it. Though there was some struggle, the outcome was good—a clean victory without a scratch.

So their dinner that night was black bear meat. It was just a bit hard to swallow.

To be honest, Shirakawa could never quite figure out Buggy's personality. Logically, having sailed with Roger for so long and faced countless hardships, big and small, Buggy still made a fuss over minor troubles.

Even though they'd encountered Sea Kings several times before, Buggy still felt a sense of fear whenever they appeared again.

"Buggy, tell me—you and Shanks are both apprentice crewmates, so why is there such a big difference between you?"

After finishing the black bear meat, it was already evening. The four decided to rest there, lying around the campfire on the ground. Shirakawa felt he should have a heart-to-heart with Buggy to encourage him.

"Hmph, maybe I'm just not cut out to get stronger."

Hearing Shirakawa's words, Buggy turned his back, and soon his muffled voice came through.

"Why bring up my weak point?" Buggy was annoyed himself. When Shirakawa first boarded the ship, he and Shanks were evenly matched. But in just a few months, how had the gap grown so wide? And why did Shirakawa have to bring up strength of all things?

"Buggy, you can't keep going like this. What'll happen when you leave the ship? Without some strength, you won't be able to protect yourself." Shirakawa spoke to Buggy earnestly.

As a member of the Roger Pirates, Shirakawa felt he had to think about the crew's future. Buggy was probably the most pathetic fighter among the Roger Pirates' combatants, holing up in the East Blue to hunt treasure. If not for running into Luffy, Buggy might never have set foot on the Grand Line again.

Even though he later became a Shichibukai through luck, that was just a temporary fix. If the Shichibukai system were abolished, Buggy would be in real danger.

"Don't worry, I'm not leaving the Captain."

Hearing this, Shirakawa sighed. Whether you leave or not isn't up to you.

Shirakawa wanted to say more, but then he heard Buggy's snoring. He felt Buggy was doing it on purpose—how else could someone fall asleep that fast? He wasn't Garp, Luffy, or Ace.

"Truly mud that can't be plastered on the wall." Shirakawa gave Buggy a hard kick.

"Wasting my feelings. Forget it, I'm sleeping." Shirakawa turned over, ready to sleep.

What Shirakawa didn't know was that when he said "sleeping," Buggy suddenly opened his eyes, a very determined look in them. But that determination only lasted a moment before fading. Truly mud that can't be plastered on the wall?

Still, Shirakawa's words had planted a seed in Buggy's heart. At the right time, that seed might sprout—or it might rot away forever.

While Shirakawa and Buggy were talking, Shanks, lying nearby, hadn't fallen asleep either. He heard every word of their conversation.

His gaze grew deep at that moment, lost in thought. Maybe he was thinking about how to train Buggy in the future.

As for Kaiser Lynn, who wasn't part of their ship, she was sleeping carefreely.

Who knew where she got her sense of security out in the wild, but she had a smile on her face and seemed to be sleeping soundly.

Early the next morning, Shirakawa woke up first. The other three were still sleeping peacefully. Luckily, no one was nearby, or it would have been easy to take advantage of them.

"Hey, hey, wake up. Time to hit the road." For some reason, every time Shirakawa said this, it felt like he was sending prisoners to the execution ground. But he seemed used to it.

Waking them up every day had become routine. It felt like Shirakawa had become their babysitter—not just waking them up, but also cooking meals.

Luckily, Shirakawa was a good-tempered transmigrator. If it had been someone else, well, the outcome would be hard to say.

"Mmm, what time is it now?"

Sure enough, Kaiser Lynn was the first to wake up, and her first words were exactly the same as yesterday morning.

"It's early morning now." By "early morning," he meant morning time. As for the exact hour, Shirakawa didn't know—he couldn't tell time from the sun.

Soon after, Buggy and Shanks woke up one after another.

"Why does it always feel like I've only been asleep for a short time?" Rubbing his eyes, Buggy complained.

"If you were dead, your eyes would be closed for a long time. Want to give it a try?"

"No." Hearing that, Buggy shook his head vigorously and immediately perked up.

He was puzzled. Why was the atmosphere so tense first thing in the morning? He hadn't done anything to provoke Shirakawa lately.

Though Buggy didn't know what he'd done wrong, for his own safety, he decided to tread carefully.

"What's for breakfast today?"

"Nothing but the leftover meat from yesterday." Lately, Shirakawa felt his appetite had dropped. Maybe it was because he hadn't fought in a few days, so his stamina was always full.

"Huh? That stuff again? It's so nasty."

"Then you can go hungry." This was said to Shanks.

Hearing that, Shanks quieted down. Nasty or not, as long as it was edible.

"Hey, what's up with Shirakawa? Did he swallow gunpowder? He's snapping at everyone." Shanks pulled Buggy aside and whispered.

"No idea. Maybe it's that time."

"What time?" Shanks asked, confused.

"You know, that time."

"Which one is that?"

"That one is that one."

"Oh, so that man is coming too?" Shanks said, as if suddenly understanding something.

"He should be, otherwise why would Shirakawa have turned out like that."

"Oh, so that's how it is."