Barrett's Goal

"Where am I?"

Shirakawa opened his eyes groggily. It was already dark, and the crackling of a fire came from nearby.

At the sound, Shirakawa turned his head and saw Bullet. Only then did he relax.

"Awake, brat?"

Hearing Bullet call him that, Shirakawa felt deeply uncomfortable. "Brat? Aren't we about the same age? You might even be younger than me."

More than twenty years later, during Stampede, Bullet was in his early forties. That meant he was probably only eighteen or nineteen now, while Shirakawa was about twenty.

"But I'm stronger than you. Much stronger."

"Yeah. You're the only person your age with that kind of strength." Shirakawa sat up and spoke to Bullet with a heartfelt sigh, a hint of envy in his voice.

Bullet was exceptionally talented, and he had always trained hard with Roger as his goal. It was fair to say that among the Roger Pirates, no one but Captain Roger could claim to be stronger than Bullet.

"By the way, how did you get here?"

"You could say you were lucky. I happened to be nearby while you were fighting. That sword of yours is hard to miss."

"True." Thinking of his Sword of Damocles, Shirakawa nodded. "Then how did you know we couldn't win?"

"Because I felt the clash of Conqueror's Haki."

As he said this, Bullet's lips curled in what looked like a mocking grin. "Right now, you can't beat anyone who's mastered Conqueror's Haki."

"Heh. You really don't hold back." Shirakawa smiled helplessly, but Bullet was telling the truth.

Even those with the King's Disposition usually mastered Armament Haki and Observation Haki first, apart from the occasional burst of Conqueror's Haki.

People like Shirakawa, who mastered Conqueror's Haki first, were few and far between.

"Thanks for saving my life." Shirakawa sat by the fire to warm himself.

"Don't mention it. As long as I'm still with the Roger Pirates, I won't leave you to die."

"So you're thinking of leaving the crew?" Shirakawa caught the implication in Bullet's words.

Bullet said nothing, but his silence told Shirakawa he'd guessed right.

"I heard you joined the ship as a challenger. You've always wanted to challenge Roger and become the World's Strongest."

Bullet listened without replying as Shirakawa went on.

"But finding out Roger had an incurable illness must have hit you hard."

At that, Bullet clenched his fists.

"And it made you think Roger wasn't invincible after all. Am I right?"

"Yeah. You're right." After a moment of heavy silence, Bullet slowly relaxed.

"I joined the army when I was a child. By the time I was fourteen, I was already a hero in my country. I'd never lost a fight before I turned fifteen, so I always thought I was invincible—until I met Roger."

"He ended your unbeaten streak."

"Exactly. My fight with Roger was my first defeat. After that, I challenged him again and again, but I always lost. I kept aiming to surpass him, but he was always invincible in my eyes—until he fell ill."

"So the image of Roger as invincible shattered?"

"The moment he got sick, he stopped being invincible. Invincible people don't get sick."

Bullet's voice suddenly grew agitated as he said the last part, startling Shirakawa.

"Bullet, that's an extreme and completely wrong way to think. Everyone gets sick." Except me, of course. Shirakawa kept that part to himself.

"But he's Roger."

"So what if he's Roger? He's still a person, and people go through birth, aging, sickness, and death." As he spoke, Shirakawa began to feel that something was off. Why did it sound as if he was saying Roger wasn't human?

"Can you guarantee you'll never get sick or die?"

"I won't die."

Faced with Bullet's extreme words, Shirakawa didn't know what to say. Did he think he was me?

"There's a Devil Fruit that can grant immortality. Once I get it, I won't die."

"What fruit?"

"The Paramecia Op-Op Fruit."

"But haven't you already eaten a Devil Fruit?"

"I can find it, have someone else eat it, then have them perform the Immortality Surgery on me. Still, you should be glad I ate a Devil Fruit."

"Why?" Shirakawa asked, puzzled.

"Because I'm very interested in your ability." Bullet's smile suddenly turned cruel.

Shirakawa couldn't help shivering.

In other words, if Bullet hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, he might have killed Shirakawa and waited for his "fruit" to reincarnate somewhere before claiming it.

"Then I guess I should thank you for letting me off."

"By the way, what did you come here for?" Shirakawa was sure Bullet hadn't come all this way for no reason.

"I heard there was a place on this island that had been used as a battlefield for a long time, so I wanted to check it out. But the strongest people on this island are all that pathetic, so I lost interest in the battlefield too."

"What about that Great General? He's dead, right?"

"Of course. I don't leave survivors."

"Heh. You really are ruthless."

"Ruthless? No, this is perfectly normal pirate behavior. Showing mercy to your enemies is what's truly cruel to yourself. You know Marine Admiral Black Arm Zephyr, right? I don't need to tell you what happened to him."

"His mercy earned him the cruelest punishment. Anyway, I'm done talking. I'm leaving."

"Leaving? Where to?"

"Not sure. Maybe I'll challenge the strongest people on this island."

"Okay. Good luck."

Shirakawa didn't try to stop Bullet. He knew that someone with Bullet's personality wouldn't be swayed unless Shirakawa was stronger than him.

A little while later, Shirakawa's stomach growled.

"I must've used up too much energy today. But it's dangerous to leave those three here." Shirakawa glanced at the trio still fast asleep.

"Bullet could've at least left me some food."

Shirakawa went straight over to Buggy and Shanks and slapped them each across the face. They'd already gotten plenty of rest, so both woke up at once.

"What's going on? Who hit me?" Buggy yelled as soon as he woke.

"Huh? Shirakawa, why'd you hit me?" Shanks had just woken up too and was still groggy, as if he'd forgotten what happened before he passed out.

But in less than half a minute, Buggy and Shanks suddenly remembered. "What happened to that Great General? Shirakawa, are you all right?"

"Don't worry. Someone rescued us."

"Rescued? Who?"

"Bullet."

"Bullet? Oh, him. No wonder he could beat Rogue. Where is he?" Shanks looked around, but Bullet was nowhere to be seen.

"He's already gone."

"Yeah? I wanted to say a proper hello. Now that the danger's over, and it's already so dark, why'd you wake us up?"

"Why? To get me something to eat, of course. Go see what food they've got in this stronghold. Do you think it was easy for me to buy time?"

"All right." The two of them were hungry too.