Back at the Navy Base, White Ghost examined the sword in his hand. "Sword training, huh?"
He walked to the training ground and began practicing according to the training methods from his hometown, as he remembered them.
These were actually the basic movements of Japanese Kendo. In Japan, no matter the school, all styles are fundamentally similar.
However, Chinese double-edged sword techniques have many more basic movements beyond these eight. The basic movements of Chinese sword arts include: drawing, leading, lifting, parrying, striking, thrusting, pointing, collapsing, stirring, pressing, chopping, cutting, washing, clouding, hooking, scooping, slashing, picking, wiping, shaving, stabbing, and circling. The characteristics of Chinese sword arts are their lightness, agility, grace, and elegance.
White Ghost practiced like this, over and over.
"No feeling? Well, what kind of feeling can I expect after just a short practice?!"
In the time that followed, White Ghost practiced his sword, participated in battles, and didn't neglect his physical training, continuing until he reached the age of 16.
At this point, White Ghost had grown to 1.9 meters tall, with a perfectly balanced and muscular physique.
As he swung the great treasure sword faster and faster, he gradually seemed to find a certain feeling.
White Ghost suddenly slashed forward. Swish! A sword energy about 10 meters long flew out from the great treasure sword.
"Hoo, have I finally become a Swordsman?"
White Ghost relaxed his entire body, then suddenly his eyes widened. Conqueror's Haki burst forth, causing strong winds to rage around him and the sea to churn. Countless fish and shrimp floated on the surface of the water.
White Ghost walked back to the Navy Base, constantly reflecting on his own shortcomings.
Swordsman!
Armament Haki and Observation Haki had also awakened in the previous battles, and Conqueror's Haki could now be controlled at will.
His proficient Six Styles and strong body were good for low-end combat, but for high-end battles, he lacked experience.
Currently, he could only continue to refine his sword techniques, Armament Haki, and Observation Haki.
Conqueror's Haki Coating was still a long way off; he had to take it one step at a time and not be too hasty, as he didn't have some heaven-defying system!
Today was Smoker's day to go to headquarters for training, so he needed to see him off.
White Ghost returned to the entrance of the Navy Base.
The on-duty soldiers immediately saluted him. "Lieutenant Commander, sir!"
White Ghost nodded: "Hmm, thank you for your hard work, everyone."
Over the years, he had participated in countless battles and his military achievements had earned him the rank of Lieutenant Commander at the Navy Base.
White Ghost walked past the training ground, and two Marines quietly discussed him after seeing him.
Soldier A: "Is that our Navy Base's Lieutenant Commander White Ghost?"
Soldier B: "That's him. He always charges to the front in every mission, and his destructive power is astonishing.
He likes to kill pirates and then plunder their treasures. He says that while he isn't a pirate himself, if a pirate finds the Great Treasure, he'll kill that pirate, and then the Great Treasure will be his own."
.........Hmm!
White Ghost walked to the office, pushed the door open, and looked at the Base Commander sitting at his desk: "Colonel, you were looking for me?"
The Base Commander was used to this guy entering without knocking, so he wasn't surprised.
The Base Commander looked at White Ghost seriously: "Smoker is about to set off for headquarters to receive better training. He'll be boarding the ship soon.
I want to ask you one more time, are you sure you don't want to participate in this session's training camp?"
White Ghost thought for a moment and shook his head: "Base Commander, I won't be joining that training camp.
For me now, there isn't much difference between training at headquarters and training here."
The main reason was that there were still a few unresolved matters in the East Blue, making it inconvenient to travel to the Grand Line.
Garp had also returned twice over the years, both times asking him to go to headquarters, but White Ghost had refused him both times.
The Base Commander looked at White Ghost and sighed!
"Alright, make your own decision. Just don't regret it later."
The Base Commander thought of something and looked at him: "A group of pirates arrived in town today, you need to pay attention to them."
White Ghost was puzzled: "What kind of pirates require special attention?"
The Base Commander explained: "It's the Red Hair Pirates. The Red Hair Pirates have been roaming the Four Seas for the past two years.
Moreover, their strength is formidable. As long as they abide by the rules, keep a close eye on them."
White Ghost slapped his forehead: "Oh! Red-Haired Shanks, the super rookie of these past two years. I'll go meet him later and see how much he's grown."
"Understood, I'll go keep an eye on Red-Haired Shanks now," White Ghost said, then walked out.
White Ghost walked along, thinking that he didn't need to see Smoker off; he should have already left.
According to the original story, that guy wouldn't stay in the Grand Line for long, and he wasn't in such a hurry to enter the Grand Line himself.
"Sigh!" The Base Commander looked at White Ghost walking away, his heart filled with mixed emotions.
At first, he thought he was a high-ranking official's son who was just here to gain experience.
But the more he observed him, the more he liked him. This was a monster-level genius, with strong learning ability and great talent.
He just wouldn't listen to orders and was unrestrained!
If he was told to handle daily office work, he'd dump everything on his subordinate and go out on patrol or train instead.
He wouldn't even touch clerical work, and if he didn't want to do something, he wouldn't do it no matter what.
Thinking of this, the Base Commander let out a long sigh. Such a troublesome person truly made him both love and hate him.
White Ghost walked down the street, preparing to head towards the plaza.
Finally, he thought about it and figured Red Hair was probably there to mourn Roger, so he wouldn't go there. He'd just wait at the port instead.
At the plaza, Red Hair and his crew looked at the execution platform:
"Captain, I will strive forward with your will. Now I set off for the Grand Line.
Captain, I've also found my own companions now. Can you see them?"
Standing beside Red Hair was a small girl, bright-eyed and very cute.
There were also Benn Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux holding roasted meat, Limejuice, and a few others.
After watching for a while, Red Hair led the way towards the port, and the group followed behind him.
At this moment, Benn Beckman said: "Shanks, I heard there's a troublesome guy here in Loguetown. It's better if we don't provoke him."
Shanks smiled: "Well, we'll see. Aren't we about to set off now?
I met that guy before when I was in Loguetown. I didn't expect him to have grown so much, hahaha."
Uta, beside him, asked: "Shanks, is that guy very strong?"
Shanks thought for a moment: "Well, he should be very strong, I guess. After all, I only saw him a few years ago. He should be formidable now, hahahaha."
When they arrived at the port, Shanks suddenly stopped, his gaze fixed forward.
He saw a person sitting on the ground by their ship, none other than the guy they had just been discussing.
That guy held a bottle of wine, drinking it with gurgling sounds, and a great treasure sword was stuck in the ground beside him. His gaze was directed towards them.
White Ghost stood up, drew his great treasure sword, and looked at Shanks, saying:
"Well, it's been many years, Shanks, long time no see!"
Shanks's expression was not good, because the crew members left on the ship were all lying on the ground.
Benn Beckman and the others gripped their weapons, ready to fight at any moment.
Uta stared, a little dazed, at the 1.9-meter tall man in a shirt, with beautifully sculpted muscles and handsome, enduring features.
Shanks frowned: "White Ghost, are you going to start a war with our Red Hair Pirates?"
"War? No." White Ghost shook his head.
"I just want to see how much the successor on Roger's ship has grown. After all, I was there when Roger said those words."
After White Ghost finished speaking, he suddenly widened his eyes, and black Conqueror's Haki directly pressed down.
Shanks also unleashed his black-red Conqueror's Haki, protecting his crew.
The black and black-red Conqueror's Haki collided and pressed against each other.
At the Loguetown Navy Base, the alarm blared: "Quick, quick, gather to support Lieutenant Commander White Ghost!"
The Base Commander frowned, his gaze directed towards the port.
Two powerful auras were constantly clashing there, one moment gaining the upper hand, the next moment losing it.
Why did that guy charge over alone?
The adjutant ran over: "Colonel, Lieutenant Commander White Ghost said we only need to evacuate the nearby civilians and must not engage the Red Hair Pirates, otherwise we will suffer heavy losses for nothing."
The Base Commander was furious: "What a joke! Justice will not yield!"
Uh... the adjutant cautiously spoke: "The Lieutenant Commander also said when he left that although the Red Hair Pirates don't have many members, they are all elites, and we would only be a hindrance if we went."
The Colonel's face darkened: ..."Bastard!"
"Whoa, whoa, this guy also has Conqueror's Haki," the members of the Red Hair Pirates all looked surprised.
"Conqueror's Haki, which only one in a million people possesses, exists in a small place like Loguetown?" Benn Beckman bit on his cigarette.
White Ghost felt this Conqueror's Haki, which was on par with his own, and showed little surprise on his face.
Both of them simultaneously increased their Conqueror's Haki, and finally, the two waves of Conqueror's Haki exploded directly, turning into stardust that scattered around.
White Ghost narrowed his eyes: "Shanks, your Haoshoku is pretty good," he said, raising the great treasure sword in his hand.
Red Hair stared at him: "You're not bad either!" He also drew his own sword.
"You guys get on the ship first."
Benn Beckman and Yasopp exchanged glances, then slowly ran onto the ship.
Seeing that White Ghost had no intention of stopping them, the group quickly boarded the ship and moved away from the shore.
"Alright, the troublesome people are gone. Now it's just the two of us." White Ghost looked at Red Hair with a fierce expression.
Red Hair looked at him seriously: "I didn't intend to fight you, but since the sword is drawn, I cannot back out of the battle."
Both of them looked at each other, searching for possible weaknesses.
With a "Duang" sound (with special effects), the great treasure sword in White Ghost's hand was coated with a black Haki.
He lunged towards Red Hair.
The sword in Shanks's hand was also coated with Haki, and he swung it at the attacking White Ghost.
With a clang, the two weapons collided, and a white shockwave spread out from the center, making a loud whooshing sound as it blew around.
Both of them gripped their weapons tightly with both hands, gritting their teeth, looking at each other. (At this time, it was Red Hair's first time at sea, so he still had both hands.)
"Clang!" White Ghost forcefully parried Red Hair, then swung his sword vertically at him again.
Shanks quickly blocked, clearly at a slight disadvantage in terms of strength.
The two of them exchanged blows, back and forth.
On the ship, Uta watched the two fighting: "Both of them are so strong! This is the first time I've seen anyone fight Shanks like this."
Yasopp said: "Of course. That guy is known, along with Garp, as a 'Contributor to the Peace of the East Blue.' Who knows how many people he's killed."
Uta looked at the person fighting Shanks on the shore, her face filled with surprise.
Benn Beckman nodded: "That guy especially likes to rob pirates.
I heard that any pirate he targets who has committed many evil deeds gets completely cut down, and then their treasure is taken as his own.
Those who haven't committed atrocities just have their treasure stolen, their crew tied up, and the innocent ones are sent away."
Uta was even more surprised. She looked at Benn Beckman, then at White Ghost, unable to believe that this was something a Marine would do.
Benn Beckman continued: "Don't be surprised. That guy's catchphrase is, 'I'm a Marine with no sense of justice. Isn't it only natural to kill and rob pirates?'
He also has a nickname: 'The Marine Thug!'"