"Oh right, what are you here for anyway? I doubt you came all this way just to see me," Rayleigh asked Shirakawa. Since Shirakawa had already decided to lie low for a while, he wouldn't normally come to such a high-risk area unless he had specific business.
"Ah, now that you mention it, I remember. I came to ask you about someone."
He'd been so caught up catching up with Rayleigh that he'd nearly forgotten the real reason he was here.
"Who?"
"Morgans. He's supposedly the president of the News Agency."
"What are you asking about him for?" Rayleigh asked, somewhat puzzled. As far as he knew, Shirakawa shouldn't have any dealings with someone like Morgans.
"I need to ask him about something."
"What something?"
"The whereabouts of the Treasure Tree Adam."
"Oh, so you're looking to build a pirate ship."
Rayleigh said with sudden understanding. Other than a pirate ship, he really couldn't think of anything else Adam wood could be used for.
"That's right. I've already persuaded Tom. As long as I can find the Adam tree, he'll build a pirate ship for me."
"That's good to hear. How's Tom doing these days?"
"Well... not too great, actually. Because he built our pirate ship, Tom's been sentenced to death by the World Government."
"Is that so?" Rayleigh's mood visibly darkened at Shirakawa's words. It seemed the people dragged down by their association with them were far from few.
"But don't worry, I've already made plans to save Tom. Once he's achieved his own goal, I'll rescue him from the World Government's clutches."
"That's good." Rayleigh spoke as if a weight had been lifted. That would at least ease some of the guilt weighing on his heart.
"Anyway, you still haven't told me where to find Morgans," Shirakawa pressed.
"Oh, slipped my mind. I'll take you there now. He should still be at the casino, probably hasn't left yet."
"The casino? But I just searched every casino on the Sabaody Archipelago and couldn't find any trace of him. Wait—were you at the casino too just now?"
"Heh. The places we go aren't so easily found by just anyone."
Rayleigh said with a hint of pride. The people who gambled at that casino were all major figures. Why would it be open to the public? Not without a recommendation from a regular.
Shirakawa was about to leave with Rayleigh when Shakky, who had been silent all this time, spoke up. "Young man, you still haven't paid. Even if you didn't eat, I did make all that food."
"Do I really need to pay?" Shirakawa looked at Shakky, then at Rayleigh.
Rayleigh simply put on a helpless expression.
"Fine." Shirakawa accepted his fate. "Seems the Vice Captain doesn't have much say around here."
Rayleigh's face twitched with embarrassment at that remark. He really couldn't put on a tough front in front of Shakky—after all, she'd helped him out tremendously not long ago.
"How much?" Shirakawa asked Shakky.
"Seeing as you're a friend of Rayleigh's, I'll give you a fifteen percent discount. That'll be eight hundred and fifty thousand Berries."
Shirakawa let out a bitter laugh at the figure. "Eight hundred fifty thousand after the discount. So before the discount it was a full ten million."
Still, Shirakawa didn't try to stiff her. Money was just an external thing to him—it didn't hold much use anyway.
"Your bar really is the kind of place that stays closed for three years, then opens once and eats for three."
After receiving Shirakawa's payment, Shakky's smile instantly brightened considerably.
"Thanks for your patronage. Do come again." Watching Shirakawa's departing figure, she called out after him.
Shirakawa didn't reply, merely raising a hand in a wave.
"How interesting. To think that a man who should be dead is still alive."
The moment Shirakawa had taken off his mask, she had recognized who he was. To be honest, it had genuinely shocked her.
She still remembered the sight of Rayleigh shedding tears for Shirakawa back then. But now that Shirakawa was alive, Shakky was genuinely happy—after all, she and Rayleigh shared a bond that ran very deep.
"Maybe now Rayleigh can finally pull himself out of his grief over Roger, at least for a while."
It was already the early hours of the next morning, but ships were still docking one after another at the Sabaody Archipelago's port.
"So what's your plan now?" Rayleigh asked Shirakawa as they walked.
"I plan to set sail again in five years. Lay low for a while, and strengthen the whole crew in the meantime."
Shirakawa laid out his plan for Rayleigh. Of all people, Rayleigh was the one Shirakawa trusted most right now.
"That's wise. With your current strength, you're still not quite ready to take on the New World."
"So, Vice Captain, care to have a bout?"
Shirakawa arched an eyebrow.
"Forget it. These old bones of mine can't keep up with you youngsters anymore."
Rayleigh refused without a second thought. He knew Shirakawa's current strength wouldn't be a match for his own, and besides, he no longer had the heart for fighting.
All he wanted now was to live in seclusion, a retired old man at peace with the world, gambling when the mood struck.
"Tch. Boring."
"Though I have to say, that fox mask suits you. Fits your temperament."
"You think? I thought so too." Shirakawa had tried on plenty of masks, but in the end, the fox one suited him best.
"Looks like you'll turn out to be a cunning and treacherous man yourself."
Shirakawa didn't argue the point. In the New World, strength alone wasn't enough—you needed sufficient cunning to match.
Just like the Summit War that would come later. Was Whitebeard strong? Immensely so. Yet even he had lost vast numbers of his forces because of Sengoku's stratagems.
Before long, Rayleigh had led Shirakawa to the Grove 60s district.
"You people have some nerve, running a casino in a place like this."
Shirakawa remarked with some surprise. Grove 60 and above was primarily the Navy's garrison zone and the World Government's entry and exit point. To live in this district, you didn't just need money—you needed power too.
"Heh, we don't have that kind of nerve. Word is this casino was opened by a noble. The idea was to ensure his own safety while gambling, and over time, it turned into a high-end gambling establishment."
Rayleigh led Shirakawa straight into a bar, donning a mask just before they entered.
"This thing actually comes in handy sometimes. I still can't afford to expose my identity, after all."
Rayleigh's mask was essentially an eye-patch, only covering the upper half of his face.
"I know. If you were to announce in a casino that you're Silvers Rayleigh the Dark King, Marine Headquarters would probably send people swarming in to surround the place instantly."
"Heh."
Rayleigh shot Shirakawa a look, as if to say, I'm not an idiot.
/-\
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