A Truce

"Captain Marco has transformed into his Phoenix Form?" the Whitebeard Pirates said in astonishment. They had never expected that the harmless-looking kid across from them would be this strong.

"Looks like I gave you too much credit."

"What do you mean?" Marco returned to human form. Shirakawa's words had clearly been insulting. Was he saying Marco wasn't as strong as he'd imagined?

"Exactly what I said. I thought you must be pretty strong to become the Whitebeard Pirates' first division commander, but it looks like that's entirely thanks to your Devil Fruit ability."

Before the fight, Shirakawa had indeed thought Marco would be strong. He'd always pictured Marco as he was during the Paramount War twenty years later. But this Marco was just a young man in his early twenties, not much older than Shirakawa.

If Shirakawa trained for another two or three months, he was sure he'd be no weaker than Marco was now.

"Is that so? You'll pay for underestimating me." For the first time, Marco's eyes showed emotion—a feeling called anger.

"Then let's see what this price of yours is." A shocking aura suddenly burst from Shirakawa, cracking the ground around him like a spiderweb.

"Oh? Is he going to use his full strength?" Rayleigh, who had been fighting Kozuki Oden, stopped attacking. Gaban watched the fight with interest. Of everyone aboard the Roger Pirates, Gaban was undoubtedly the one who knew Shirakawa's strength best.

Since Shirakawa had recently been training his Observation Haki, he'd spent a lot of time with Gaban, who served as his sparring partner. His strength had naturally improved by leaps and bounds. He was far stronger than he'd been the last time he faced Rogue.

"Hasn't he been on the ship for less than half a year? I remember when he first arrived, he was about even with Buggy. Now I can only watch from behind."

A pirate with some strength from the Roger Pirates said this. They'd watched Shirakawa grow stronger, step by step, to where he was now.

"It feels like he's our own kid."

"But this kid's growing too fast. We haven't even had time to watch him grow up, and he's already all grown up." The Roger Pirates all sighed ruefully.

"Shanks is still growing at a pace we can accept." Shanks was a genius too, but at least he wasn't as monstrous as Shirakawa. Most of the Roger Pirates' crew could still beat him.

"Then what about Buggy? Buggy's the best—he never changes."

"True. Hahaha." At the mention of Buggy, the Roger Pirates burst out laughing. They weren't making fun of him; it was a heartfelt, fond laugh. At least Buggy wasn't a genius like the others. He was just like them—except that he'd eaten a Devil Fruit.

Buggy was the Roger Pirates' resident clown, often putting on performances for the crew. After eating the Chop-Chop Fruit, he had even more tricks, and his acts got even wilder.

Marco transformed into his Phoenix Form again. Most Zoan Devil Fruit users were stronger in their transformed state, and Marco was no exception.

"Kid, do you think you can hit me now?" Marco flew into the air and looked down at Shirakawa.

"You're underestimating me, Marco." Shirakawa took to the air too, raised his sword, and sent a Flying Slash streaking toward him. The sharp Sword Qi sliced through Marco's wing, but it had no effect. Once the slash passed, Marco's wing returned to normal.

"Without Armament Haki, my attacks really aren't strong enough against this kind of enemy."

Shirakawa was a little helpless, but Marco couldn't do a thing to him either.

They traded a few attacks, but neither of them was hurt.

"I just realized I might hate you a little," Marco said, hovering in the air, his voice turning gloomy.

"Same here." Shirakawa couldn't stand Marco now either, probably because he couldn't beat him. If he could defeat Marco, he probably wouldn't find himself disliking people like this.

The two of them descended to the ground and called a truce. Everyone else in the two pirate crews had stopped fighting long ago, aside from Roger and Whitebeard. They'd even brought food and wine down from their ships.

"Our two crews always end up like this, huh?" Shirakawa asked Marco, puzzled by the lively scene around them.

"Yeah. You'll get used to it. Make the most of this break, because it probably won't last much longer."

"Why not?" Shirakawa asked, confused. Were they going to fight again soon? The two groups of pirates were already drinking together. The island next to theirs was booming with noise, and sometimes they could even feel the ground shake.

"If I'm not mistaken, the Marines have already heard about this. They're probably on their way here now. When they arrive, a fierce battle with them will be unavoidable."

"Really? I can't wait." Shirakawa said excitedly.

"You really are a warmonger." Marco shot Shirakawa a sidelong glance. Suddenly, a whole patch of trees behind them toppled over.

"Old Father's power really is dangerous." Blue flames appeared around Marco, while a shield sprang up in front of Shirakawa, blocking the shockwave.

"So this is what a fight between Whitebeard and Captain looks like? It's enough to make your blood boil."

"Guess the two of us just aren't alike."

Marco was a pirate, but he didn't like fighting. Maybe it was because his Devil Fruit ability was similar to a healer's.

Marco's Phoenix Fruit could heal his own injuries as well as other people's wounds, so he sometimes filled in as the Whitebeard Pirates' ship's doctor.

The Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates now presented a strange sight: people who'd been drawing their swords against each other moments ago were sitting together, arms around one another's shoulders, drinking and chatting. Some were even singing and dancing.

Even Buggy, who had hidden nearby during the fight, came out into the open. He split off his upper body and flew in circles above the two crews.

"Hey, isn't that Red Nose? You ate a Devil Fruit?"

Someone from the Whitebeard Pirates recognized Buggy and called out to him.

"You bastard! Who are you calling Red Nose?" Buggy immediately split off his hands and grabbed the man by the collar.

"Still can't accept that you've got a red nose, huh? Hahaha." The pirate ignored Buggy's curses and continued to tease him.

They knew Buggy far too well, so they often joked around like this. And Buggy wasn't the only one who got teased; the Roger Pirates often poked fun at them too.