King's Disposition

Shirakawa lay on the deck, his head still spinning.

"What the hell was that?" Because the other party's attack was so fast, Shirakawa hadn't even seen what was thrown at him before he was knocked down.

"Haha, Shirakawa, serves you right for showing off out there. You must have woken someone up from their nap."

A crewmate taunted Shirakawa, but although his words carried a mocking tone, his voice was laced with envy.

After all, that was flight—some people might never reach such heights in their entire lives.

"Hmph." Shirakawa snorted coldly, unwilling to acknowledge him.

But this incident made Shirakawa fully face reality: don't strut around just because you have a little power; there were still plenty of people who could put him in his place.

"By the way, who threw that at me?"

"Probably the First Mate. He's the only one who always carries a bottle on him."

"Is that so? Then I'll remember this grudge. One day, I'll get my revenge."

"You? Planning to get back at the First Mate? You'd better wait eight hundred years."

To be honest, most of the Roger Pirates didn't think much of Shirakawa. Aside from his Devil Fruit ability, he was useless—and they still didn't know exactly what his ability was, but they figured it wasn't all that strong.

After resting up, Shirakawa tried flying again, but this time he wasn't as flashy as before. He was careful, trying his best not to make a sound.

"Tsk, that kid's really lucky. I wish I could fly too," someone said, watching Shirakawa soar freely through the sky, his tone unclear whether it was envy or jealousy.

"Then you could buy a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. If you're lucky, maybe it'll be a bird type. If you're even luckier, maybe a Mythical Zoan."

"Heh, I know my luck well enough." He shot a glance at his companion.

After a while, Shirakawa got bored and landed steadily back on the ship.

This experience taught Shirakawa a lesson: no matter what you do, you have to follow your heart—whether that's truly following your heart or just "following your heart."

About an hour later, Rayleigh woke up, walked over to Shirakawa, and said, "Follow me."

"Oh, okay."

Shirakawa followed Rayleigh, one after the other, to a relatively open area. Judging by the equipment scattered everywhere, it was probably where they usually trained.

"Since the Captain has already handed you over to me, I suppose I have to take some action."

"Don't worry, First Mate. No matter what kind of training it is, I can stick with it."

"Good. Having that resolve is enough. Let's start with your Devil Fruit ability."

"Alright."

"From your last fight with Buggy, I noticed that your Devil Fruit ability seems to heal your body's injuries, and the corresponding cost should be stamina."

"Really? I hadn't noticed that."

"Then let you feel it yourself. That way, the impression will be deeper."

With that, Rayleigh pulled a coin from his pocket, tossed it in his hand, then flicked it. The coin shot rapidly toward Shirakawa's cheek.

"Hiss." Shirakawa sucked in a cold breath, felt a chill on his cheek, and reached up to touch it—there was blood.

But before even a second passed, the blood that had flowed out actually flowed back in, and the wound disappeared.

"Well? Did you feel anything?"

"Nothing much, First Mate. Could you have misjudged?"

"Impossible. Maybe the wound was just too small. Stand still, and I'll try again."

Then Rayleigh drew the knife from his waist and walked toward Shirakawa.

"First Mate, what are you doing? Calm down, you have to stay calm! Don't do anything stupid!"

Watching Rayleigh step closer and closer, Shirakawa felt like he was seeing a demon slowly approaching him.

"Don't—don't—don't come any closer!" Shirakawa shouted.

Seeing someone coming at him with a knife, anyone would be scared—especially someone he couldn't beat. Shirakawa was no exception.

Because he didn't know what kind of person Rayleigh really was. His understanding from the anime was too shallow. If Rayleigh actually decided to attack him, he wouldn't even be able to escape.

As Shirakawa's last word fell, an incredibly powerful and overbearing aura erupted from him, centered on his body.

With the burst of this aura, over ninety percent of the crew on the ship collapsed on the spot.

"Who's randomly releasing Conqueror's Haki?" That was the thought running through every crewmate's mind just before they passed out.

On this ship, there were quite a few people with Conqueror's Haki—at least five.

As for main crew members like Roger, Bullet, and Gaban, they snapped awake instantly, their drunkenness gone.

They were all Conqueror's Haki users, so they knew this burst of aura didn't belong to anyone on their ship.

"Well, now that's an unexpected discovery."

Roger and Rayleigh said at the same time, though they were in different places, their words perfectly in sync.

All of them had Observation Haki, so with a little sensing, they understood what had happened—even if they didn't know why Rayleigh had drawn his knife.

But the fact that it forced out Conqueror's Haki showed just how deep an impression Rayleigh had left on Shirakawa.

"Still, this Conqueror's Haki is pretty strong."

Having just awakened, it was already only slightly inferior to Rayleigh and Bullet. With a bit of training, no one on this ship except Roger would be able to match him in Conqueror's Haki.

"The Captain sure has good luck—picking up someone with a King's Disposition just like that." Gaban teased Roger.

"Add in Shanks, and now we've got two Conqueror's Haki users among the cabin boys. Once those two grow up, what could possibly stop us?"

Roger glanced at Shanks, who was snoring loudly, and shook his head. "Shanks isn't there yet."

Though they all sensed Shanks had a King's Disposition, without it truly awakening, no one could be certain.

"Besides, even without those two, isn't there nowhere we can't go right now?"

"True, hahaha."

The group laughed heartily together. As long as they were all still here, the Roger Pirates would never fall.

Roger's personal strength might not be the strongest among the three great powers, but their overall strength was absolutely unmatched.

Figures like Golden Lion and the commanders of the Whitebeard Pirates simply couldn't compare to the core members of the Roger Pirates.

"I never expected you to have Conqueror's Haki—you really can't judge a book by its cover."

Rayleigh remarked in surprise after watching Shirakawa finish his outburst.

After all, Shirakawa gave off a frail and gentle impression.

"But the experiments still need to be done." Rayleigh grinned darkly.

"No, help!"

"Haha, go ahead and shout—no one's coming to save you even if you scream your throat raw."