After stuffing himself with a huge meal, Shirakawa let out a satisfied burp. In an instant, his whole body felt alive again, and when he looked at Orr, his face was full of eagerness.
Now that he had broken through to Great Swordsman, he could hardly wait to test just how strong he had become.
"Stop looking at me. I don't want to fight you."
Orr had already read the meaning on Shirakawa's face and rejected him without the slightest hesitation. He had only just been dealt a blow by this monster, so there was no way he wanted to get hit by another one. He still thought he had a long life ahead of him.
"I see."
Shirakawa sounded a little disappointed. He had wanted to get a direct feel for how strong he was now.
Picking up the blade beside him, Shirakawa immediately sensed that the sword in his hand felt different. It carried a kind of naturalness now, as if the blade had become part of his body, making it even smoother and easier to use.
Before breaking through to Great Swordsman, he had never felt anything like this.
Or rather, he had never noticed anything uncomfortable about holding a sword before.
But now, it felt like a perfect fit.
Shirakawa drew the blade and gave it a casual swing.
In an instant, an invisible slash burst out, and a smooth cut appeared across the room's wall. Sunlight from outside shone through the opening and fell across Shirakawa's body.
"What are you trying to do? Are you trying to tear my house down?"
"Sorry."
Shirakawa gave him an embarrassed smile. He had not expected a casual swing to have that much power.
"Hmph. Hurry up and patch that wall, or the two of us are not done here."
"Yes, yes."
Shirakawa hurriedly agreed. After all, it really was his fault for carving a hole in someone else's house.
Jora was standing there with his mouth hanging open as well.
That slash had brushed right past him. If his body had been even a little farther to the side, he probably would have been cut in half.
"Were you trying to murder me?"
After a long pause, Jora swallowed hard, his voice coming out with difficulty.
"Hmph. Who told you to sit there?"
Faced with someone weaker than himself, did Shirakawa really think he was going to apologize? Hah, dream on.
"You..."
Jora pointed at Shirakawa, so angry he could not even finish his sentence.
"What about me? Hurry up and go patch the wall."
Shirakawa directly gave him an order.
"Hmph."
Jora snorted and got up to walk outside. He had spent three days worrying over this guy for nothing. What an ungrateful wretch.
"Mr. Orr, I told Jora to go patch the wall."
"You go too!"
Orr roared at Shirakawa.
"You're the one who wrecked the wall, and now you're making my disciple repair it for you?"
"Yes, yes, I'll go too."
Seeing signs that Orr was about to blow up, Shirakawa quickly got to his feet and went to help Jora.
They worked all morning before the wall was finally repaired. Though the patched section looked obviously newer than everything around it.
Just then, a News Coo was circling in the sky.
Shirakawa waved it over, handed it a coin, and took a stack of newspapers out of its pouch.
"Let's see what today's news is."
In a world without much in the way of entertainment, reading news from around the world was one of the few ways people could pass the time.
Shirakawa skimmed over it a couple of times, then gave Jora a mysterious smile.
"There's news about you in here."
"What?"
Jora snatched the newspaper away and read through it at once. Very quickly, he found the section reporting on him.
"Sword Tournament Champion, Ural Jora, assisted the great pirate Adolf K. Shirakawa in attacking the Marines. He is suspected to be Shirakawa's accomplice and is now listed as a wanted criminal with a bounty of 55 million Berries."
"I've got a bounty on my head? No way!"
He immediately flipped through the stack of wanted posters included with the paper, and sure enough, his was there.
"Two-Sword Style Swordsman, Ural Jora. Bounty: 55,000,000 Berries. Dead or alive."
"What about you?"
Jora turned and asked Shirakawa.
"My bounty definitely went up."
Jora quickly found Shirakawa's section as well.
"Former Roger Pirates member, the great pirate Adolf K. Shirakawa, attacked the local Marine branch on Polia Island, resulting in the death of a Marine Colonel. The crime is considered extremely severe. His bounty has increased by 80 million Berries, bringing the total to 230 million Berries."
"Why is yours so much higher than mine?"
Jora looked indignant. Even Shirakawa's extra amount was higher than his whole bounty.
"Because I'm stronger than you. Ten of you still wouldn't be my match."
"Don't say something so discouraging."
"But I'm telling the truth."
The longer Shirakawa spent with Jora, the more he could tell that Jora had changed a lot.
Back then, he had clearly been the cold, aloof type, barely speaking to anyone. But now he was actually complaining to Shirakawa.
"Master, this is bad. I got a bounty on my head."
Jora immediately ran off with the wanted poster to report this "good news" to his master.
"What are you panicking for?!"
...
Far away from this village, out on a distant stretch of sea, Roger's crew had also seen that report after descending from Skypiea.
The first one to spot it was Rayleigh.
"I didn't think that kid would make such a huge mess the moment he left."
Rayleigh held the newspaper in his hand as he sat on top of a wine barrel.
"What happened?"
Roger leaned over at once.
"You'll know if you read it yourself."
Rayleigh helplessly handed the paper over. Roger was exactly the sort of person who loved excitement. Wherever anything happened, he would go sticking his nose into it.
"Isn't that Shirakawa? He actually wiped out a whole Marine branch?"
Roger exclaimed in exaggerated shock, and his voice was so loud it was practically as if he wanted everyone to know the news.
"What? Shirakawa wiped out a Marine branch?"
Shanks and Buggy were both stunned when they heard that, and immediately crowded up beside Roger to read the article.
"I didn't think Shirakawa would do something this huge after being gone for such a short time."
"Damn it, the gap between Shirakawa's strength and mine is getting bigger and bigger."
The first line was from Shanks.
The second, naturally, was from Buggy.
"As expected, he's the kind of person who likes freedom. Out there, he'll have better opportunities, and he'll meet companions of his own."
Roger had also seen the report about Jora and had already assumed Jora was Shirakawa's crewmate.
At the same time, on another stretch of sea, a man sitting atop a coffin-shaped boat had also seen the report.
This man had eyes like a hawk.
Without question, it was Mihawk, Jora's senior brother.
"So you've gone to sea too. Good. Walk your own path."
Mihawk's attention was entirely on Jora. He only glanced carelessly at Shirakawa's report and wanted poster.
Then his expression grew serious as he looked at the enormous wave drawing closer and closer to him.
"As expected, was it still too reckless to put to sea like this?"
At this point in time, Hawk-Eye was not yet the world's strongest swordsman. He was just a rookie brat who had only recently set out, so naturally he was nowhere near as strong as he would become later.
Faced with a huge wave like this, he had to be cautious, cautious, and even more cautious.
Otherwise, there was a real chance he might capsize.
/-\
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