After witnessing Shirakawa's strength, Riddle became much more obedient. He was ordered around by Shirakawa every single day, yet he did not dare utter a single word of complaint.
To return to Jora's village, they had to sail on the open sea for about eight or nine days. During these eight or nine days, Riddle obeyed Shirakawa's every command. Cooking, cleaning, and all the dirty and tiring chores were handled entirely by him.
As for Shirakawa, he was only responsible for lying on the deck and basking in the sun. When he had nothing to do, he would drink fruit juice and eat meat. Occasionally, when they encountered pirate crews blocking their path, Shirakawa would step in and clean them up.
As for the Jolly Roger of the Tyrannosaurus Pirates that originally belonged to this ship, it had long been thrown into the sea by Shirakawa. At first, Riddle was a bit reluctant to part with it, but he could do nothing against Shirakawa's overwhelming power.
Meanwhile, Kuzan and his men had been constantly sailing and patrolling the coastal waters near that village, attempting to find any trace of Shirakawa.
"Vice Admiral Kuzan, we have been waiting here for over ten days and still have not seen a single trace of Shirakawa. Could he have known we were ambushing him here and already fled?"
A young Marine could no longer stand the loneliness on the ship and complained to Vice Admiral Kuzan. Among the three monster Vice Admirals, he only dared to complain to Kuzan, as Kuzan was arguably the most easygoing one.
"Hmm, continuing to wait like this is indeed not a solution. Report to Headquarters. If we still don't see any trace of Shirakawa in five days, we will set sail and return."
"Yes, Vice Admiral Kuzan!" The young Marine's voice was filled with excitement. Having something to look forward to was always better than having nothing at all.
Just after this Marine finished reporting to Headquarters, another Marine walked over and said to Kuzan, "Vice Admiral Kuzan, we have spotted an unfamiliar ship. There is no Jolly Roger flying on the ship, but it does not look like a merchant vessel or a fishing boat either."
"Oh? Lead me there to take a look."
Kuzan had a very strong premonition that the person on this ship was exactly the man they had been searching for all these days.
"Captain, a warship has been spotted straight ahead." At this moment, Riddle, who was on the ship, also spotted the opposing warship.
"A warship?" Shirakawa paused for a moment. Then he stood up and walked toward the very front of the ship. Instantly, their eyes met.
Shirakawa's and Kuzan's gazes intersected perfectly.
"Finally found you," Kuzan said, looking at Shirakawa's figure in the distance.
"It seems we have run into some trouble." This was what Shirakawa said upon seeing Kuzan.
"Steer the ship at full speed toward that vessel. Adolf K. Shirakawa is on board," Kuzan ordered the Marines behind him.
"Have we finally found him?" These were the words spoken by Vice Admiral Momonga.
"Captain, that warship is getting closer and closer to us. What should we do?"
Riddle spoke in a bit of a panic. After all, there were only the two of them, and judging by the size of the opposing warship, there definitely wouldn't be a small number of Marines on board.
"We meet them head-on."
"Meet them head-on? Are we not going to run away?" Riddle said loudly.
"With that guy around, we won't be able to escape."
"That guy?" Following Shirakawa's gaze, Riddle noticed the leading man wearing a black trench coat.
"Captain, do you know that guy?"
"Of course. A Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral. If nothing unexpected happens, he will definitely become an Admiral in the future."
"An Admiral!?"
Hearing Shirakawa's words, Riddle became even more unsettled. That was an Admiral, practically the absolute highest combat power of the Marines.
"Do not worry. Him becoming an Admiral is a matter for the future. Right now, he is merely a Vice Admiral."
"A Vice Admiral? Merely? Captain, Vice Admirals are incredibly powerful too, alright?"
"He is indeed very powerful, but I am not weak either." Shirakawa smiled confidently. If he had not broken through to become a Great Swordsman, his only option upon encountering Kuzan would be to flee.
But things were different now. When the time came, it was uncertain who would be the one running away.
Swordsmen were different from ordinary physical combat experts. Physical combat experts had almost no distinct realms or boundaries; their strength was built entirely through years of constant accumulation.
However, swordsmen were different. Every time a swordsman broke through to a new realm, their strength would experience a qualitative leap.
"Shirakawa, we finally found you." At this point, the distance between the two ships was no more than a hundred meters. Standing behind Aokiji, Momonga suddenly spoke up and addressed Shirakawa.
"Oh, if it isn't Momonga? Long time no see. How have you been lately?"
"Don't try to play friendly with me, Adolf K. Shirakawa. We are here to arrest you and throw you into Impel Down."
"Is that so? It seems you came here specifically for me?" When saying this, Shirakawa's tone changed, becoming incredibly ice-cold.
"Exactly."
"Then it is a good thing you did not come alone, otherwise you would be staying here forever this time."
"What?" Momonga said with a hint of anger. Did Shirakawa's words not imply that if he had come alone, he would have died here, essentially meaning he was no match for Shirakawa?
Immediately after, Shirakawa swung his blade, sending a massive streak of silver-white sword aura flying toward the warship.
"How is this possible?"
Facing this sword aura, Momonga felt a genuine sense of threat. If he forcefully took this sword aura head-on, he would definitely be injured.
At this moment, Kuzan made his move. He caught the sword aura with both hands, and layers of ice slowly began to cover the aura. Following that, the ice shattered, and the sword aura vanished along with it.
"A Great Swordsman?" Kuzan's tone was also somewhat solemn. A Great Swordsman, this truly exceeded his expectations. Fortunately, he had come along; otherwise, Momonga really might have died here.
"That's right."
"To think you have already reached this realm at such a young age." Momonga felt somewhat frustrated, but more than that, he felt fear and lingering dread. Originally, when they dispatched Kuzan to come along, he had refused.
He believed he was perfectly capable of handling Shirakawa on his own. But looking at it now, he had thought far too highly of himself.
"Open fire! Sink his pirate ship!"
Since a frontal assault was not an option, they had to use other methods. Regarding Momonga's approach, Kuzan tacitly agreed, although he did not believe these cannonballs could cause any damage to Shirakawa.
"Captain, what do we do? At this close range, we will definitely be sunk."
"Relax."
A burst of Conqueror's Haki suddenly erupted from Shirakawa's body. All the ordinary Marines who were preparing to attack instantly fainted.
Furthermore, this burst of Conqueror's Haki actually caused several cracks to appear on the warship itself.
"What?" Both Kuzan and Momonga were shocked at the same time. The intelligence never indicated that Shirakawa possessed Conqueror's Haki, let alone such a powerful one. The two of them did not even know how many times they had been shocked by Shirakawa today.
"What kind of power is this?"
Seeing the Marines collapsing one by one on the warship, Riddle was also dumbfounded. If only he possessed this kind of power, winning battles without even having to fight.
"This is called Haki. Although you might not necessarily be able to master this specific type, I will teach you the others."
"Thank you, Captain!" Riddle immediately expressed his gratitude to Shirakawa.
"There is no need for thanks. The prerequisite is that you can survive this battle."
Now that the small fry had been cleared out, the real battle was naturally about to begin. Shirakawa's opponent was undoubtedly Kuzan, while Riddle would be facing off against Momonga and the elite Marines who had not fainted.
/-\
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