"Uh…"
Garp was once again at a loss for words. He hadn't expected Shirayama's refusal to join the Navy to be so straightforward.
He had assumed Shirayama would give a laundry list of excuses, but the reasoning was brutally simple and grounded in reality.
"What? Did you think I'd spout a bunch of nonsense? Sorry, but that's just not who I am," Shirayama said, rolling his eyes in exasperation.
"Haha! Good, good! I've never met such an amusing young man before. No wonder that kid T-Bone speaks so highly of you—you really do have your own unique charm!"
Hearing this, Garp laughed heartily, his impression of Shirayama only improving.
Meanwhile, the villagers stood off to the side, watching the two of them sitting casually on the beach. The scene was surreal, as though they were old friends catching up after years apart.
Their awe of the massive naval warship anchored nearby grew. With a ship like that, how could any pirate hope to escape its devastating firepower? They couldn't imagine how anyone could face such a juggernaut with mere human strength.
"Alright, enough with the chit-chat. Get to the point already. My chest is killing me, and I want to go home and sleep," Shirayama interrupted, cutting the lighthearted conversation short.
"It's nothing serious," Garp replied, waving dismissively. "I just came to see you. If possible, I wanted to invite you to join the Navy. But seeing how things are, it doesn't seem likely."
"Fine, we'll put that aside for now. Let's talk about something else instead," Shirayama said, suddenly shifting his demeanor to one of sly cunning as he rubbed his hands together with a mischievous grin.
"And what would that be?" Garp asked, his instincts immediately on alert as a sense of foreboding crept in.
"You injured me, so it's only fair you offer me some compensation, right? Otherwise, I'd be suffering for nothing," Shirayama said, his expression resembling that of a fox closing in on its prey.
"You're a clever one, aren't you? Always looking for an opportunity to gain the upper hand," Garp replied, shaking his head with a mix of amusement and exasperation.
"Fine. As long as it doesn't go against Navy interests and isn't something unreasonable, I'll compensate you."
Garp figured Shirayama would probably just ask for money or some other mundane favor. What else could he possibly want?
"Good! Straightforward, just the way I like it. In that case, teach me Shave (Soru) from the Navy's Six Powers!" Shirayama said, grinning wide enough to show off his pearly teeth.
"Wait, what did you just say?"
For a moment, Garp thought he must have misheard. Of all the things Shirayama could have asked for, this was the last thing he expected.
"I said, teach me Shave from the Navy's Six Powers!" Shirayama repeated, rolling his eyes at Garp's apparent confusion.
"And why would you want that?"
Now convinced he hadn't misheard, Garp couldn't help but feel curious. Why would Shirayama, of all things, forgo money or material compensation to ask for a technique?
"Are you stupid? In this world, if you're strong enough, you can have whatever you want!" Shirayama shot back with a scornful look, as though Garp were the naive one in the conversation.
"Uh…"
For the third time, Garp was left speechless. Shirayama's logic was too unpredictable, and Garp found himself struggling to keep up.
"Enough talk. Your turn to answer—yes or no?" Shirayama pressed, seizing the moment to push Garp for a decision.
"Let me think about it," Garp replied, his expression unusually serious as he stroked his chin in deep thought.
"This kid… no one can say for sure what path he'll take in the future."
"If he ends up joining the Navy, that's fine. But if he chooses the life of a pirate, teaching him Shave would be like arming a future enemy…"
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