As for Kozuki Oden's arrival, some welcomed him with smiles, while others did not bother putting on a good face at all. Even if the two pirate crews were on fairly good terms, no relationship could be so good that it had no friction at all.
Baichuan, however, was very interested in him, especially after learning that he came from Wano.
Everyone knew Wano was a country of samurai. Practically everyone there was one, which meant their swordsmanship had to be extraordinary, especially for someone as powerful as Kozuki Oden.
So Baichuan immediately abandoned Rayleigh and asked Oden to teach him swordsmanship and Haki instead.
Oden naturally agreed to Baichuan's request with great delight. Having someone lead him into the crew more quickly was a good thing for him, and Rayleigh was also more than happy to be rid of one burden, though he felt a bit unhappy inside. What, did that mean he was considered inferior to Oden?
People were like that. When they had something, they did not cherish it. But once they lost it, they felt a little regret.
Shanks, on the other hand, was rather pleased. This way, Mr. Rayleigh could teach only him.
Still, Oden's training was much more systematic than Rayleigh's, especially in swordsmanship. A large part of Rayleigh's swordsmanship had been developed through his own exploration.
Oden's swordsmanship, however, had been passed down through generations, refined again and again, leaving behind only the essence. Every single day, Baichuan's understanding of the sword improved noticeably.
Two months passed just like that, and Oden had fully familiarized himself with life aboard Roger's ship. The other crew members had accepted him as well, and Oden's personality was genuinely excellent.
He was lively, playful, and at times as childish as a little kid. There were also the two Minks who had boarded with him, a cat named Nekomamushi and a dog named Inuarashi.
When Baichuan first saw them, he was honestly stunned. He had never expected a race like that to exist in the world of One Piece, humanoid animals. But after thinking about how Fish-Men and merfolk already existed, it did not seem that strange anymore.
Those two were fairly strong as well, ranking somewhere above average among the Roger Pirates.
Among everyone, the one who had changed the most over these past two months was Baichuan.
Just standing there, he gave off a feeling of sharpness, as if his edge were fully exposed. Oden had told him that once he could completely hide that aura back within his body, he would have stepped into the realm of a Great Swordsman.
Because of that, Baichuan had barely practiced swordsmanship recently. Instead, he had spent most of his time sitting cross-legged in meditation, trying to restrain his own aura.
Still, the gap between a swordsman and a great swordsman really was as wide as heaven and earth. Some swordsmen could spend their entire lives and never rise beyond the level of an ordinary swordsman. Though Baichuan was confident he could reach the level of a great swordsman, he also knew it would take sufficient time to build up to it.
His Armament Haki had also improved gratifyingly. He could already coat his sword with Haki now. It was still somewhat fragile, but it was at least effective against Devil Fruit users.
"This is so boring, day after day."
By now, they had reached the first half of the New World and were almost at Fish-Man Island. The pirates they ran into could no longer match them at all. Most of them could not even exchange a few blows with the Roger Pirates.
Even so, there were always some overconfident rookies who came to challenge them. Such people usually ended in only three ways.
The first was burial at sea.
The second was that Roger took a liking to their crew and spared them.
The third was that they became an affiliated crew under the Roger Pirates.
As for recruiting new members, that was already impossible. The Roger Pirates were at full capacity. In terms of top-tier combat power, aside from Marine Headquarters, there was practically no force left that could rival them.
"Hahaha, well, that's because we're the Roger Pirates!"
By now, every one of them took pride in being a member of Roger's crew.
"Don't worry. There's never a shortage of war on the sea."
Roger had naturally heard his crew's complaints, but there was not much he could do. He could hardly go around begging others to start a war with him. That simply was not in his nature anymore.
Just then, dozens of pirate ships descended from the sky, crashing into the sea with booming splashes that sent waves flying everywhere. And the one that landed directly in front of the Oro Jackson belonged to Roger's other great rival, Golden Lion Shiki.
Only Shiki could pull off something like this.
"Long time no see, Roger."
Shiki greeted him with wild arrogance, then burst into loud laughter. This time, he had clearly come prepared. In his eyes, this battle was no different from catching a turtle in a jar.
Even if the Roger Pirates had more high-end fighters, that still could not withstand a human wave strategy. With dozens of pirate ships on his side, if every ship fired even one volley of cannonballs, it would already be enough to make things miserable for Roger's crew.
"Shiki, you really came prepared this time."
Though Roger looked fairly relaxed on the surface, he was actually tense inside. In this kind of situation, they could not even run if they wanted to.
Especially with Golden Lion's troublesome Devil Fruit ability, catching up to them would be effortless.
This was also Baichuan's first time seeing Golden Lion. Yet despite the situation, he felt no tension at all. If he remembered correctly, then this should be the battle later known as the Battle of Edd War, the battle the Roger Pirates would win without truly fighting to the bitter end.
So strong.
That was Baichuan's first feeling when facing Golden Lion. It was the instinct of a swordsman. In the field of swordsmanship, Golden Lion should be considered one of the absolute best.
"Join me, Roger."
"That won't do, Shiki. We've built up quite a few grudges between us over the years."
"Waaah!"
Buggy cried out in fright. Looking at the situation before them, there was no way they could win.
"Maybe we should just surrender to Golden Lion first."
"I mean, you've already become impossible to cut apart no matter how many times someone slices you, so why are you still this scared?" Shanks said to Buggy.
"But I still have plenty of weaknesses, you idiot!" Buggy snapped in exasperation.
"Right, Mr. Crocus, how's the captain's illness? He shouldn't be fit to fight, right? As the doctor, hurry up and stop him!"
"What a shame. He's actually in excellent condition right now."
Crocus slung his harpoon over his back, clearly looking eager to join the fight himself.
Buggy wanted to ask Rayleigh for help, but Gaban grabbed hold of him first.
"Give it up. We've been with Roger this long, and we've still never managed to talk him out of anything."
"How can this be...?" Buggy wailed helplessly.
"Have faith in Tom's Oro Jackson. Roger doesn't have much time left," Rayleigh said in a calm tone.
Just then, Shiki spoke again.
"How many times have I said this, Roger? Sure, we had plenty of grudges back when we were younger, but let's forget all that. As long as you have the location of the weapon that can destroy the world, and I have my forces, and we use the perfect plan I've spent years building, we could rule the entire world immediately."
"Become my right-hand man, Roger."
Shiki extended a hand and invited him once more.
"I'm not interested in ruling anything, Shiki."
"If you can't do what you want, then what's the point of being a pirate? No matter how much pressure you put on me, Golden Lion, I refuse your offer."
"So your answer is to make me kill you here?"
Shiki's tone suddenly changed, murderous intent bursting forth.
From the moment the two pirate crews met, the sea had already ceased to be calm. The waves rolled violently, and the ships crisscrossed over the water around one another.
"It means I'm going to crush all of you instead," Roger shot back without yielding in the slightest.
The Roger Pirates were the first to open fire, and their cannons struck one of the pirate ships beside Shiki's flagship.
/-\
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