"Apologize."
When Rayleigh wondered what he should do, Shinra said that word.
"Apologize to me."
"....." Rayleigh.
While Rayleigh was stunned, Shakuyaku frowned and asked in a whisper, "What did you do?"
"I..." Rayleigh hesitated, then said softly, "I peeked at what they did for the past few days."
Shakuyaku directly slapped the back of his head as she shouted. "Apologize!"
Yes, Shinra might not be able to kill the two, and if they wanted to, they could run away, and he wouldn't be able to catch them, but they were afraid of his ability, which could turn everything into a desert. Unless one had a powerful Haki, it was impossible for them to defend against this attack that robbed all their moisture.
Aside from the Saobody Archipelago, if Shinra somehow knew where their home was, what would happen?
They could imagine that their home would become a desert wasteland where no one could live!
"I am sorry."
Because of this, Rayleigh lowered his head and apologized; yet, even so, Shinra didn't erase the sandstorm and still caused a disaster on the island. As for the outside, it was impossible to know what was happening since all communication methods became meaningless under his Camouflage Space, and unless one could leave the island to report on what was happening, no one would know what had occurred.
"...are you not going to erase this sandstorm?"
He had apologized, but Shinra hadn't erased all of the sandstorm, yet when he was about to say something, Shinra said, "Teach me that special ability first and give your sword to that woman beside you."
"...." Rayleigh.
Shinra was lucky that Rayleigh didn't plan to kill them, and just peeked at them secretly, but inwardly, he wanted to curse this bastard for scaring him.
The ability to hide one's presence.
Rayleigh had this ability that made it hard for him to be detected, and Shinra didn't feel surprised when he saw it. Instead, he felt that it was abnormal if Rayleigh could become the Vice Captain of the Roger Pirates with just his swordsmanship and a simple Haki.
Letting out a helpless sigh, Rayleigh gave his sword to Shakuyaku, and as expected, Shinra appeared as the sandstorm slowly disappeared, but even so, the sand was everywhere, causing a mess on this island.
Still, when the two wanted to ask something, Shinra said, "Just focus on teaching me. I won't answer any questions."
"...." Rayleigh and Shakuyaku.
They had many things that they wanted to say, but in the end, they held them back.
Why did they do so?
Because Shinra was powerful.
If Shinra were so weak, he wouldn't be given such respect and cautious treatment.
After all, Shinra wasn't Luffy, who had the backing of many, or Portgas D. Ace, who was similar to his father more or less.
Or rather, in the world of One Piece, all the connections started with a fight.
When one's fighting ability reached a certain point, those with a high position started to have respect for them and wished to work under them.
So, Shinra's big reaction to turn several gigantic mangrove trees on this island wasn't wrong at all. Instead, by using the power he gained, he earned their respect and understanding that he wasn't someone they should mess around with.
The world of One Piece might appear fun and happy, but Shinra knew well that for those who were weak, their life was like living in hell.
Still, facing Shinra's unfriendly nature, Rayleigh scratched his hair helplessly, then looked at the destruction that was caused by Shinra, yet strangely enough, he didn't have a rejection to teach him.
"Let me teach you about Haki."
Haki.
This was the special ability of the people of this world.
While many people described this ability in various ways, if Shinra had to put it simply, it was a will, an aura, or simply a form of life energy manipulation.
Within the application, three types of techniques existed, known as the Observation Haki, Armament Haki, and the Supreme King Haki.
Observation Haki was named as such, as it utilized an aura to detect everything in its surroundings, much like a sixth sense.
The Armament Haki, on the other hand, manipulated one's aura into that of armor to defend, to increase their attack, and also to be able to fight those whose bodies couldn't be touched, like Shinra, who had taken the ability of the Logia Type of the Devil Fruit.
Lastly, the Supreme King Haki was a rare type of Haki that was awakened within one in a million.
As for the use of?
It was to dominate.
The simplest way was to release their Supreme King Haki, causing their opponents to lose their will to fight and defeat them without even doing anything, or inflicting a weakening effect.
Frankly, all the types of Haki had further developments, and as long as one could further develop such an ability, they would definitely become one of the powerhouses in this world.
"Okay, that's enough. We will leave now."
"Huh?" Rayleigh was stunned silly after Shinra said that. "Why do you suddenly want to stop? Don't you want to learn it?" He could see that Shinra was the most talented young man, especially in terms of learning, and as a teacher, of course, he was happy to learn from a smart student, but unexpectedly, this guy told him to stop?
"No, I have learned all of them."
"..." Rayleigh, Shakuyaku, Robin, and Carina.
"Also, you are a shitty teacher. Your explanation is simply horrible."
Shinra felt so exhausted when he recalled how Rayleigh taught him, but fortunately, he wasn't as idiotic as Luffy, so he understood more or less what Rayleigh wanted to say, and even if Rayleigh couldn't explain, he could use his Sharingan to copy him.
"...." Rayleigh.
Shinra didn't lie since Rayleigh wasn't a good teacher, especially if one had watched One Piece.
Under the tutelage of Rayleigh, while Luffy had grown stronger, his growth was just so-so, and he didn't even understand the further development of Haki. Instead, when he was beaten by Kaido, one of the Four Emperors or one of the strongest Pirates, his growth quickly became so high that it even awakened the Nika Nika no Mi form.
Shinra couldn't deny that Rayleigh was strong, but if one compared the improvement that was gained by Luffy after being taught by him to Kaido, who could teach Luffy to manipulate the Supreme King Haki, further application of the other type of Haki, and even awaken the Nika Nika no Mi in just few fights, it was easy to tell who was a good teacher, right?
'Let's learn under Kaido-sensei!'
As Shinra thought so, he left with Robin and Carina toward the Fish-Man Island, causing Rayleigh to be in a daze, then let out a helpless sigh.
However—
"Thank you."
"....." Rayleigh.
Their beginning might be rough, but even so, Shinra learned a lot from Rayleigh, and in the future, if this guy needed something from him, he didn't mind helping. In the end, he gave them money, which Rayleigh wanted to accept, but was taken by Shakuyaku.
"..." Rayleigh.
Still, Rayleigh looked at his old lover, who was staring at the ship that started its journey to the Fish-Man Island, then asked, "Say, Shakuyaku, do you think I am a shitty teacher?"
"Well, yes." Shakuyaki nodded since even she didn't understand Rayleigh's explanation.
"....." Rayleigh.
"What did you expect? You are a pirate, not a scholar."
"....." Rayleigh.
"Can you just comfort me by saying that I am the smartest man in the world?"
While Rayleigh asked helplessly, Shakuyaku looked at him softly and said, "Well, you might not be the smartest, but I love you."
"...."
Rayleigh was in silence, then reached Shakuyaki's slender waist. "Still, part of him is similar to me."
"You mean you want to keep more lovers like him?! You bastard!"
As Rayleigh was once again beaten, Shinra, Robin, and Carina started their journey to the Fish-Man Island.
"By the way, are you okay to let him go?" Shakuyaku asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, he might cause trouble for Shanks and the others."
"Hmm... It's fine, isn't it? The world of Pirates is like this, after all."
The strong devour the weak, and the weak can hide in the corner if they don't want to be eaten.
The Age of Pirates had been started by his captain, and frankly, Rayleigh was a bit tired of waiting, as it had been so long, but no matter how the world would be, at his old age, he just wanted to rest and watch from the corner.
Still, he probably never expected that in the future his life would be far from peaceful.