"You killed him?" Jora was stunned when he saw Shirakawa kill the Marine colonel. Although Jora's attacks were fairly ruthless, he had not actually killed anyone.
But Shirakawa had not only killed someone, he had killed the highest-ranking officer at this Marine base, a Marine colonel.
"Damn it, the colonel's been killed! We can't let them get away! Everyone who's still able to move, prepare to fire!"
The only remaining commander barked out orders to the soldiers under him.
Not good.
Jora cursed inwardly. If it were only ten or twenty bullets, he could handle it. But there were far more than twenty Marines here who could still act.
And honestly, that was mostly Shirakawa's fault. He had gone too easy on them just now. While most of those Marines had lost the ability to move properly, they could still lift their arms and fire their guns.
"Tch. So you want to avenge your commanding officer? Pretty responsible of you. Unfortunately, you're bound to be disappointed. You won't be able to keep us here."
"Big words. Fire!"
Jora had already prepared himself to defend, but in that instant, he felt an overbearing aura sweep across his entire body. Then, one after another, the surrounding Marines collapsed unconscious.
"That power again. What kind of ability is this?" Jora asked Shirakawa.
"You don't know? That's Conqueror's Haki."
"Conqueror's... Haki?"
"No way. You don't even know that? Then how did you train your Armament Haki?"
"My master taught me, of course."
"Your master never told you about Conqueror's Haki?"
"No. I only know about the other kind, Observation Haki."
Jora could use Observation Haki too, but he was not very skilled with it. He had only just stepped through the door. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it did not.
"All right, then let me explain. There are three types of Haki: Conqueror's Haki, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki."
"You already know about Armament Haki and Observation Haki, so I'll just explain Conqueror's Haki."
"Mm."
Jora nodded seriously.
"Among a million people, there may only be one person born with Conqueror's Haki. It's innate. It can't be learned later, and it can't be inherited at birth. It can only be decided by a person's own destiny. Got it?"
Jora nodded, then shook his head.
"But you still haven't explained what Conqueror's Haki actually does."
"Really? Then just look around you. That's what Conqueror's Haki does."
Jora seemed to understand a little and revealed a look of sudden realization.
Then he turned and left without another word, heading toward the sea.
"Where are you going?"
"Home."
Jora replied briefly, then sat down in a small fishing boat by the shore. The boat looked exactly the same as the one Shirakawa had abandoned during the storm.
A moment later, Shirakawa climbed aboard as well.
The same familiar taste, the same familiar feeling.
"Hey, what are you doing up here?"
"Going home with you."
Jora said nothing, nor did he ask why. Instead, Shirakawa spoke first again.
"Where's your home?"
"On a small island not far ahead. There's a village on the island, and in that village, there's a home of mine."
"Then where did this boat come from?"
"Picked it up at sea."
"That's what I thought. I was wondering why it looked exactly like the boat I threw away. So this really is my boat."
"How do you know it's yours? People lose boats at sea every day."
"I just feel like it is."
"Feel?" Jora let out a disdainful snort. "How ridiculous."
Shirakawa could not be bothered arguing with him. He simply lay down in the boat, crossed his legs, basked in the sun, listened to the cries of the seagulls, and felt the boat rising and falling like a cradle.
Before he knew it, he had comfortably fallen asleep.
After all, Jora was there to sail the boat.
Seeing Shirakawa already fast asleep, Jora's eye twitched.
Was this guy really that at ease with him?
But looking at Shirakawa's sleeping face, a strange feeling suddenly welled up in his heart.
For some reason, he suddenly felt especially peaceful.
Maybe that was some kind of magic Shirakawa carried with him.
When Shirakawa felt anxious, the people around him would unconsciously become anxious too.
But when Shirakawa felt at peace, the people beside him would also be affected by that same peace, almost as if it were contagious.
No one knew how long he slept, but eventually Shirakawa was woken up.
"Wake up. Wake up. We're home."
"Oh."
Shirakawa sat up and shook his head, trying to clear his mind. He glanced at the position of the sun in the sky. It did not seem like much time had passed.
"Jora's back!"
When Shirakawa and Jora got off the boat, the villagers who saw Jora all greeted him.
"Mm."
"So? Did you get first place?" an older woman asked Jora with a smile.
"Of course."
"Just as I thought. You brothers are both equally impressive."
The older woman smiled as she praised him.
"And this is?"
Only then did the auntie finally notice Shirakawa, who had been ignored the whole time.
To be honest, Shirakawa had felt a little uncomfortable just now. He had been in this world for so long, yet this was the first time he had ever been ignored by an ordinary person.
"He's my friend. His name's Shirakawa."
"Friend?"
The auntie cried out in surprise, then began circling Shirakawa and looking him up and down carefully.
"What is it? Is there a problem?" Shirakawa asked, feeling rather uncomfortable under her scrutinizing gaze.
"I just didn't expect Little Jora to actually have a friend. That's really something worth celebrating."
Hearing that, Shirakawa understood.
So this guy really had never had any friends before.
"Auntie, we met during the competition, and we got along really well, so naturally we became friends."
"That's what I thought. So you practice swordsmanship too? Otherwise, you wouldn't have become friends with Little Jora."
Shirakawa smiled.
"Young man, you have a very handsome smile. Do you have someone? If not, auntie can introduce you to one."
"N no, that's not necessary."
A drop of cold sweat slid down Shirakawa's forehead.
Why was someone suddenly trying to set him up?
Without drawing attention, Shirakawa tugged lightly at Jora's clothes. Jora naturally understood what that meant. He did not want to keep tangling with the auntie either, so he quickly spoke up.
"Auntie, I still have to go report the good news to my master, so we won't trouble you any longer."
"Mm, mm, then hurry along. And young man, if you need someone, be sure to tell auntie. I'll definitely introduce you to the right one."
"Mm."
Shirakawa forced out a smile.
"Whew."
After walking some distance away, Shirakawa finally let out a sigh of relief.
"That woman was terrifying. But it looks like you're pretty popular in the village."
"Mm. Whenever they run into difficulties, we help them."
"By the way, I heard her say just now that you have a fellow disciple too. Is he your senior or junior?"
"My senior brother."
"What's his name?"
"Dracule Mihawk."
/-\
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