Successfully Boarded

Caught off guard by Buggy's sudden burst of speed, Shirakawa had not expected it, because his impression of Buggy was still limited to close-quarters combat.

Seeing the dagger thrust straight at him, Shirakawa knew he definitely could not dodge it and could only take it head-on.

The people watching nearby had no intention of stepping in to help.

They were pirates, after all. In the world of pirates, getting injured was as commonplace as eating and drinking.

Some even wore smiles, eager to see Shirakawa make a fool of himself.

Roger merely shook his head slightly. Shirakawa's performance had greatly disappointed him. He had thought there might be a surprise.

"Buggy, go! Take that kid down! Look at how clean and pale he is—he's obviously just some pretty boy."

Someone cheered Buggy on.

But Shirakawa had no time to think about what anyone else was thinking. He automatically shut out even the voices around him.

Suddenly, a flash of light seemed to pass through his mind. The panic on his face instantly vanished, and a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.

He straightened his slightly bent waist and extended one hand.

"What's he doing? Is he stupid? Does he plan to catch the dagger with his hand? Does he think he's Kaido?"

Yet just as someone finished saying that, a layer of white light appeared over Shirakawa's body.

"Oh? Is he finally getting serious?"

Seeing Shirakawa like this, Roger became interested as well. He wanted to see what Shirakawa's ability was.

They had all already regarded Shirakawa as a Devil Fruit User. Otherwise, how could an ordinary person emerge from a giant sword and fall from such a height without suffering a thing?

Just as Buggy's dagger was about to stab into Shirakawa's palm, a transparent, faintly whitish barrier suddenly appeared before him and blocked the attack.

"What?"

Buggy cried out in surprise. He had not noticed Shirakawa's change just now, and never expected him to be a Devil Fruit User too.

"Hey, look up in the sky! That giant sword has appeared again!"

At that moment, someone among the onlookers shouted, and everyone raised their heads in unison. Shirakawa looked up as well.

"So it really is the King of Silver's Sword of Damocles?"

Shirakawa could now confirm the guess he had just formed. He had likely inherited the King of Silver's power—or rather, he was now the King of Silver.

The Sword of Damocles was especially conspicuous in the night, and everyone could see it clearly.

"All right, that's enough. You've proven your strength, so I'll allow you to join our ship. No problem starting out as an apprentice, right?"

Roger suddenly spoke.

"No problem."

As Shirakawa finished speaking, the light over his body faded, and the Sword of Damocles above his head disappeared as well.

When they saw the sword vanish, the ordinary members of the Roger Pirates quietly breathed sighs of relief. After all, having a sword hanging over their heads made anyone feel uneasy.

"But Captain, I haven't lost yet!"

Buggy said. If Shirakawa was allowed aboard, didn't that mean he had lost?

"I know, but if you keep fighting, you'll be the one who loses sooner or later."

"Why?" Buggy asked in confusion.

"Because your strength still isn't enough to break through his ability. If you keep fighting, you'll exhaust all your stamina eventually. Then you'll definitely lose."

"Still, Buggy, you did well too. As expected of my crew member."

At the captain's praise, Buggy's displeasure immediately vanished. Still, he remained resentful toward Shirakawa.

One day, I'll get even for this, Buggy thought.

"But kid, now that you're on my ship, your current strength won't do. Rayleigh, no problem leaving him to you, right?"

After speaking to Shirakawa, Roger turned to the blond-haired man behind him, who never let go of his bottle.

"No problem. Teaching one is teaching, and teaching two is teaching."

"Don't worry, Captain. I'll definitely study hard under the First Mate."

Shirakawa's voice carried a hint of excitement and anticipation. If he could not grow stronger while learning from Rayleigh, he might as well smash his head into a block of tofu.

He just did not know whether the King of Silver's power of remaining unchanged would also keep his strength unchanged, preventing it from improving.

If his strength could not increase, that would be terrible.

Rayleigh was currently teaching Shanks, so adding Shirakawa would not be much of a problem.

Although Shirakawa was older and might learn more slowly, Rayleigh did not care about that at all.

He was only responsible for teaching. As for how well they learned, that was their own business.

As for why he did not teach Buggy, it was because Buggy's personality was completely unsuitable for learning. Every time he trained, he could not hold on for long. Over time, he simply gave up.

As long as Buggy remained on this ship, Roger could guarantee that his life would never be in danger.

"Alright, from now on, he'll be in your care."

Once everything had been arranged, everyone dispersed and went about their business. Only Buggy still seemed somewhat unconvinced.

"Shanks, take the newcomer around and introduce him to the others. Don't let him end up not even knowing who's on the ship."

"Yes, First Mate."

With that, Shanks walked over to Shirakawa and patted him on the shoulder.

"Come on, I'll introduce you to everyone. From now on, we're crewmates."

"Mm."

"Then let me introduce myself first. My name is Shanks."

"My name is Shirakawa."

"I know."

Shanks then led Shirakawa around and introduced him to the core members of the Roger Pirates. As for the minor crewmen, even Shanks himself had not learned all of their names.

Everyone greeted Shirakawa warmly, with only one exception—Douglas Bullet.

According to Shanks, he was a genuine monster. His own strength was on par with the First Mate's, and he was also a Devil Fruit User. Outsiders called him the Successor of the Demon.

Shirakawa seemed to remember something about this Bullet as well. He was the user of the Combine Fruit. At the beginning of one movie, he had beaten those Supernovas so badly they could not fight back. Even Luffy's Gear Fourth had failed to inflict any damage on Bullet.

Shirakawa greeted him, but Bullet did not even spare him a glance. Perhaps Shirakawa's strength simply did not catch his eye.

"Although his personality is awful, he's an extremely serious person. Even though he's already incredibly strong, he still trains tirelessly every day. I heard his goal is to surpass the captain."

Shanks continued introducing him.

"Really? That's impressive."

After the introductions were over, Shirakawa sat down with Shanks. Shanks picked up a cup of alcohol and held it out to him.

"Come to think of it, you have the air of a noble, yet you ended up becoming a pirate instead."

"Really? I actually have the air of a noble?"

Shirakawa felt rather proud inside. Looks like people really do have sharp eyes.

"By the way, do you really not remember what you used to do?"

"Yeah, I've completely forgotten." Of course, Shirakawa could not say, I grew up watching One Piece.

"I see. Still, your hair is pretty unusual too. It's silver-white hair."

"Silver-white hair? Who? Me?" Shirakawa asked in surprise.

"That's right. You."

"If even my hair has changed, then has my face changed too? If it has, did it become Adolf Wismann's face or Shiro Izanasha's face?"

"Do you have a mirror? I want to see what I look like now."

"A mirror? Why would I carry something like that around? Just wait until we get back to the ship tomorrow. It's not like you can't wait a little longer."

"Then we'll talk about it tomorrow." Since there was no mirror, no matter how curious Shirakawa was, he had to suppress it. Besides, it was nighttime, and alcohol did not reflect anything.

"Plenty of people have white hair, right? Like your red hair and Buggy's blue hair. Why are you so surprised by mine?"

"Because you're the first person I've seen whose hair has a shine to it. Even at night, without any sunlight, it still gleams."

"So that's how it is. Hahaha."

Shirakawa laughed heartily.