After Yuristin and the others retreated, something black finally crawled slowly out of the cave.
"Whoa, it's that huge!" Even Shirakawa was stunned the moment he saw it. Its width alone was over two meters—taller than Shirakawa himself.
And as more and more of its body came into the open, Shirakawa finally got a clear look at its full size: a giant centipede over twenty meters long. Standing upright, it would rival one of the Giant Tribe.
"Is this really an ancient creature? It's got to be prehistoric."
On land, this was arguably the largest living thing Shirakawa had ever seen. Even a rooster bred to hunt centipedes, faced with one this size, would find its beak utterly useless.
By now, the creature's eyes had turned a dark crimson. The crew's earlier actions had clearly enraged it.
The moment it emerged and spotted Shirakawa, it attacked without the slightest hesitation, as if lumping him in with the others.
It reared upright and spat a glob of venom from its mouth.
Shirakawa immediately expanded his Sacred Domain, blocking the centipede's venom strike. The droplets that scattered onto the grass around them sizzled and ate straight through it.
"Looks like the toxin's pretty potent."
Seeing its attack fail, the centipede lunged forward, aiming to ram Shirakawa with its head.
It had to be said, despite its enormous bulk, the creature's movements were incredibly agile.
"Whoa, it's that big? That thing's an absolute monster."
Jora, watching from a distance, let out a shocked cry too. In the dim cave, they'd never been able to take in its full appearance.
"Eek, what is that? It's terrifying." Adara, who was training with Kurokam, naturally saw the centipede as well.
Girls generally have no immunity to spiky, crawling things—and even Adara was no exception. She immediately shrank behind Kurokam in fright.
"Now that's some fine medicinal material," her mother Lisa said, in stark contrast to Adara, looking very interested indeed.
Centipedes were a famous and commonly used ingredient in medicine, good for clearing heat and detoxifying.
Kurokam also turned his gaze toward the centipede. Its appearance alone was genuinely frightening. Its body was pitch-black and gleaming, some parts even catching the sunlight and reflecting it back—a vicious, malevolent look that screamed it was not to be trifled with.
As the centipede charged, Shirakawa held Purple Sun in front of him. The moment its attack was blocked, the creature jerked its head upward, lifting Shirakawa clean off the ground.
"Seems it's got some brains after all."
Now airborne, Shirakawa immediately left its attack range, retreating a fair distance before stopping in midair, facing off against it.
Then the centipede lunged at him again. This time, Shirakawa didn't dodge—he met the attack head-on with a thunderous boom.
Purple Sun collided with its head. Shirakawa hadn't even used Haki, but Purple Sun was a Supreme Grade Blade—and even with that sharpness, it couldn't break through the centipede's defense.
That alone showed just how impossibly hard its shell was.
This time, though, the centipede seemed to feel pain. Its body writhed on the ground, as if trying to ease the ache on its forehead.
"As expected of the captain—he actually made it hurt," Yuristin remarked, his tone carrying a hint of awe. After all, the four of them hadn't managed to leave so much as a scratch on it.
"Not so tough after all," Shirakawa said.
Then he coated his blade in Armament Haki. The Haki-imbued strike slashed directly into the centipede's body, carving a long gash and sending centipede blood spraying.
"He actually wounded it?"
Dorry and Brogy both stared in disbelief. They'd fought this centipede countless times and only ever managed to give it internal injuries—external wounds were something only they ever suffered.
It was clear that Shirakawa's strength far outstripped theirs.
The injured centipede seemed to panic. It instantly coiled back its entire body and scuttled back into the cave. Shirakawa didn't pursue it. After all, he was keeping it for his crew's training—it couldn't be killed.
"Awesome, Captain!"
Once the centipede was gone, Jora and the others came back, full of praise. The two giants also gave Shirakawa a thumbs-up.
Dorry, though, still felt a lingering unease. Thank goodness it wasn't Shirakawa he'd fought last time—otherwise, could that sword aura of his have split him clean in two?
And so, they stayed on the island for another two months. Throughout that time, the four crew members went into the cave daily to battle the centipede.
One day, Kurokam, itching for a fight, went in and sparred with it himself. No one knew exactly how the centipede provoked him, but if Shirakawa hadn't stepped in to stop it, Kurokam would have crippled the creature on the spot.
The centipede's recovery speed, however, was astonishing. The wound Shirakawa had dealt it healed completely by the next day, as if it had never been hurt—and its shell seemed to have grown even tougher. This made the centipede's two months utterly miserable. If it weren't for the two people outside it couldn't defeat, it would have long since stormed out and wiped them all out in one go.
During those two months, numerous pirate crews passed by the island. Some, seeing the Silver Pirates anchored there, left without a moment's pause. Others wanted to come ashore and get acquainted, hoping to make their faces known to a major crew—maybe they could call on them for help if trouble arose down the line.
Of course, there were also the clueless crews who came looking for a fight, hoping to take their place and use them as a stepping stone to fame. For that sort, the Silver Pirates naturally didn't need to show any mercy. Those who should be tossed were tossed; those who should be wiped out were wiped out. The ones tossed were left to fend for themselves in the sea, while those outright destroyed became dinner for the island's giant beasts.
A major event also occurred during this time: half a month ago, the Roger Pirates, who had vanished for over a month, suddenly announced their disbandment, and immediately afterward, all the crew members disappeared without a trace. Although Shirakawa had known this would happen, he hadn't expected it to come so soon.
The Roger Pirates had disbanded, which meant Roger's surrender was not far off—within a year at most, he would face execution.
Today's training began like any other, except for one difference: a ship was slowly heading their way.
"Captain, another ship's coming." Mut, who was training by the shore while keeping an eye on their vessel, called out to Shirakawa.
"What kind of ship?"
"I can't tell. It isn't flying any flag, so there's no way to know if it's government or pirate. But from the look of it, it doesn't seem like a government ship."
"Is that so?"
Shirakawa, who had been resting with his eyes shut, opened them and shifted his gaze toward the slowly approaching ship.
I only just saw the comments today and realized—the protective barrier the Silver King deploys is called the Sacred Domain.
/-\
Enjoying the story? Want to read ahead?
Support the novel and unlock early access to unreleased chapters!
~ +20 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon! (+1 Chapter daily)
https://p-atreon.com/Its_Zack
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access Patreon normally)