After two days of travel, the Silver Pirates had finally reached the Sabaody Archipelago. It didn't cause much of a stir among the island's residents, though—they simply took the Silver Pirates for a crew of rookie pirates.
The Navy, however, was a different story. As the island closest to Naval Headquarters, and the island with the most nobles, every pirate who set foot here couldn't escape the Navy's surveillance, or close enough to it.
When the Navy learned that the Silver Pirates had set sail again, there was a genuine uproar at Naval Headquarters.
They had assumed the Silver Pirates would fade into obscurity forever. They never expected them to return.
"No. I'm going out there to arrest them again."
That was the first thing Akainu said after hearing the news of the Silver Pirates' comeback. After all, as one of the people who'd taken part in the operation back then, the plan's failure was a humiliation for the Navy.
But Sengoku kept him in check for the time being. Now wasn't the moment for an all-out war with the Silver Pirates.
Five years ago, their strength had already been that terrifying. Now, no one knew what their true strength really was.
Still, there were a few people on the Sabaody Archipelago who remembered the Silver Pirates. After confirming it again and again, their hearts couldn't help but sink into panic.
They knew that five years ago, Shirakawa had already been a great pirate with a bounty over one billion.
Even if he'd stagnated, Shirakawa would still have the strength of a pirate in the hundreds of millions. But judging by the way the Silver Pirates carried themselves, they clearly hadn't regressed.
Looking at those confident, self-assured expressions, their strength must have grown considerably.
"Alright, once we're on the island, you're free to do as you like. As the final stop of the first half of the Grand Line, this place is full of interesting things."
After the crew disembarked, Shirakawa said to them.
"Got it, no problem."
The crew had been longing to visit this place for ages. After all, it was said to be a paradise for the rich and a hell for the poor.
Here, if you had money and power, you could buy anything. If you had nothing, then you were nothing here.
"But while you're here, be careful of the slave traders. Not that I'm worried about any of you getting kidnapped or anything, but it's still best to stay on guard."
"Don't worry, Captain. If any slavers dare lay a hand on us, we'll make sure they get a taste of how cruel this world can be."
"Good. Dismissed."
As for the underage member of the crew, Taeyeon, she stayed with Shirakawa.
"Captain, where are we going?"
Following behind Shirakawa, Taeyeon asked quietly.
"To see an old acquaintance." Coming to the Sabaody Archipelago, there was no need to guess who Shirakawa wanted to see. Apart from Rayleigh, it couldn't be anyone else.
"Captain knows people here too?"
Hearing Taeyeon's words, Shirakawa raised an eyebrow, then turned around to face her and said seriously,
"Why couldn't I know people?"
"No, I just thought that besides the crew, the Captain wouldn't really know anyone else."
"Uh... well, now that you mention it, he was kind of a crewmate once."
After saying that, Shirakawa thought about it carefully and realized she had a point. The people he knew were either former or current crewmates, or friends of his crewmates.
As for anyone else, he really didn't know many.
Walking down the road, Shirakawa noticed several groups tailing him—more precisely, eyeing Taeyeon at his side.
A cute little girl like that wasn't something you saw every day around here. If they caught her and sent her to the auction house, she'd definitely fetch a good price.
But Shirakawa didn't take the people behind him seriously at all. Without exaggeration, a single fart from Shirakawa could probably blow them all to death.
Of course, Shirakawa would never do something so uncouth.
The men behind them kept waiting for an opening, but they found that Shirakawa never left the little girl's side. So they decided to force the issue.
They had numbers on their side. A few of them would block Shirakawa, while two others would snatch Taeyeon directly. That was the plan they'd just agreed on.
As he walked, Shirakawa noticed several men blocking his path.
"Hey, kid. Be smart and hand over the little one behind you."
"Oh-ho." Shirakawa let out a surprised sound.
These weren't just slave traders anymore. This was outright robbery.
"You people are pretty brazen, pulling this kind of bandit act in a place like this."
"Quit yapping, kid. Hand over the little one, now."
One of the men pulled a dagger from his waist and gestured at Shirakawa with it.
"And what if I don't?"
Shirakawa's tone was teasing.
"If you don't... heh, then don't blame us for not being polite."
The man sneered.
"Fine. Show me exactly how impolite you plan to be."
A cold smile tugged at the corner of Shirakawa's lips as he looked at them the way one might look at a group of corpses.
"Boys, get him! Chop up this ungrateful bastard!"
Seeing this scene, Taeyeon's expression showed no trace of panic. She stood calmly behind Shirakawa.
With her Devil Fruit ability, she felt these guys wouldn't even be a match for her—so how could they possibly be a match for her captain?
Watching the men charge at him, Shirakawa sneered.
His body didn't move at all. The men rushing toward him instantly collapsed to the ground, as if some heavy weight was pressing down on them.
"What the hell?"
The two men behind Taeyeon who'd been about to make their move froze on the spot. They had the sinking feeling they'd picked a fight with someone terrifying.
Just as the two of them prepared to retreat, a sudden gravity pressed down on them as well.
"You all came together. Running away now would be desertion."
Shirakawa's voice fell on the two men's ears like a thunderclap splitting a clear sky.
"They already knew we were here."
That was the thought running through both men's minds. How else could the pressure have landed on them so perfectly?
They wanted to speak, but they could no longer open their mouths.
"Remember—next life, when you pick a fight with someone, make sure you look into their background first."
After saying that, the men pinned to the ground suddenly coughed up blood from the corners of their mouths. They were dead beyond saving.
Their internal organs had been crushed to pieces under that pressure.
Some timid women in the crowd screamed.
But after Shirakawa left, Navy personnel quickly arrived to handle the scene. Since people died on the Sabaody Archipelago almost every day, they were extremely familiar with this kind of work.
Corpses like these were actually some of the better ones—no external wounds, not too gruesome to look at.
But the ones who could kill like this were often the most dangerous of all.
/-\
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