Sure enough, on the third day after Shirakawa's duel with the Golden Lion, the Marines had already blasted out the news.
In a certain stretch of the South Blue, the Silver Sword Shirakawa had clashed with the great pirate of the New World, Golden Lion Shiki. The battle was said to be ferocious, ending with the Golden Lion retreating heavily wounded and the Silver Sword claiming a resounding victory.
Anyone could tell this was pure Marine fabrication, topped off with an especially attention-grabbing headline: Shocking! The Silver Sword Did This to the Golden Lion!
At the same time, Shirakawa's bounty was massively increased yet again, jumping from 650 million to a full 1 billion Berries. That figure was already sky-high—even in the New World, people with bounties reaching one billion were exceedingly rare.
"What?! I lost to that snot-nosed Silver Sword brat? And I came back heavily wounded? Go on, show me where I'm heavily wounded! I'm still hopping around just fine, dammit!"
Upon learning the news, the Golden Lion was naturally furious. He immediately decided to go find Shirakawa for a rematch, only to be stopped by his subordinates. He was eventually talked down with reasoned, heartfelt pleas that struck him deep.
Still, Shiki mentally chalked up another black mark against Shirakawa, and his hatred toward the Marines deepened.
"Those Marines can't do a damn thing except cook up fake reports."
With that, Shiki crumpled the newspaper into a ball and hurled it to the floor.
"Pops, look! The Golden Lion actually lost to that kid Shirakawa!"
Over on the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, pineapple-headed Marco held up the newspaper for the man seated at the head of the crew—Whitebeard.
"So that brat's already reached this kind of level, huh?" Whitebeard glanced at the paper and remarked. Although the Marines' report was definitely watered-down nonsense, the fact that the Golden Lion had withdrawn from Shirakawa's hands was an indisputable fact.
"But even if he's gotten stronger, so what? He's no threat to us. Don't forget—I'm Whitebeard." Whitebeard's entire presence abruptly shifted as he spoke with overbearing confidence. He had the strength to back up those words. The strongest Paramecia, the World's Strongest Man—those titles weren't just for show.
"Yeah, we're the Whitebeard Pirates! Gold sword, silver sword, whatever—if they dare come picking a fight with us, we'll send every last one of them to the bottom of the sea!"
A burst of raucous laughter erupted across the Whitebeard Pirates' ship. They took immense pride in being crew members of the Whitebeard Pirates. In their eyes, Pops was invincible. Unbeatable.
"More news about the Silver Pirates? Let's see what they've done this time."
In modern terms, the Silver Pirates had practically been flooding everyone's feed lately. There was a piece of news about them almost every day or two. Ordinary citizens had long since grown accustomed to it, but this time, the captain of the Silver Pirates had dropped a genuine bombshell on them.
"The Golden Lion—you mean that Golden Lion?"
People all over the world couldn't stop talking about it, all of them stunned. To them, the Golden Lion was an untouchable, legendary figure.
"The Golden Lion nearly wiped out the Roger Pirates back in the day, and now he's been beaten by someone who walked off Roger's own ship. Think that's karma?"
"Hahaha! I bet that rooster-headed bastard is absolutely livid right now."
Over at Marine Headquarters, they were discussing the matter too. That last line came straight from Garp's mouth. He could already imagine exactly what kind of expression would twist across the Golden Lion's cockscomb-like head.
"Garp, how about you worry about Roger for a change? Roger's your responsibility, and right now he's about to stir up something massive. Yet you've still got the leisure to stand here laughing!"
Fleet Admiral Kong scolded Garp, a note of exasperation in his voice—like a teacher disappointed in a promising student.
By all logic, with Garp's tremendous strength, he had clashed with Roger hundreds of times. But every single time, Roger managed to slip away cleanly. Kong was beginning to suspect there was something fishy going on between the two. If he didn't know Garp's character as well as he did, given Garp's habit of deserting his post, Kong would've long since stripped him of his rank—hero of the Marines or not.
But the Marines couldn't afford to lose Garp right now. Kong had to remain stationed at headquarters and couldn't just go gallivanting about. Zephyr had already retreated to the back lines. The three Logia users hadn't matured yet. Relying on Sengoku alone was nowhere near enough to carry the Marines' banner.
And so, the reason Garp could strut around Marine Headquarters so brazenly and so freely wasn't just his monstrous strength. It was also because he knew that if the Marines lost him, their footing in the New World would grow more precarious by the day.
Whoever said Garp was simple-minded, a big overgrown man-child? In truth, he was crafty as hell.
How else, when his own son was the leader of the Revolutionary Army and his grandson a notorious pirate, could he still sit rock-steady in the seat of a Marine Headquarters Vice Admiral? You think that's possible without a few aces up his sleeve?
"To think that brat can already contend with an opponent like the Golden Lion..."
The one speaking was none other than Jorah's master, Orr. Shirtless, he gazed at the newspaper reporting the battle between Shirakawa and the Golden Lion. The ferocious scar across his body was especially fearsome. That's right—this scar was left on him by the Golden Lion himself.
Back in his day, Orr was also a renowned master swordsman, and the Golden Lion could even be considered his junior. But in the end, he had fallen to the Golden Lion's blade. A large part of the reason Orr lived in seclusion now was because of the Golden Lion. Had the Golden Lion not dealt him that crushing sense of defeat, who knows—he might very well be a great pirate famous throughout the New World today.
"I wonder how Jorah's doing."
Of his two disciples, the one he worried about most was naturally the younger one. No matter the world, no matter the era, the youngest was always the most doted upon. Besides, his senior disciple Mihawk didn't need his concern at all. Mihawk was proud and solitary, a self-reliant man with a clear measure of his own limits. He knew exactly who he could challenge and who he couldn't.
But Jorah was different. Rash personality, impulsive actions. If Jorah hadn't met Shirakawa, Orr had planned not to let him leave until he became a true master swordsman. It could be said that Shirakawa's appearance had completely liberated him.
"Captain, you're thoroughly famous now!"
This time, every member of the Silver Pirates was brimming with excitement. Before, they could only be considered promising rookies—Supernovas at best. But now, that had changed entirely. After Shirakawa defeated the Golden Lion, the word "rookie" could no longer be used to describe them. Even if they sailed into the New World, pirate crews that had long entrenched themselves there would likely detour around them at first sight.
Of course, Shirakawa was also overjoyed. Through this battle, he had finally stepped into the ranks of the world's pinnacle.
/-\
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