Chapter 327: Backward: What does it mean to carry private goods?
The town of Shields is a relatively wealthy town, and the Navy took this into consideration when it placed Melville nearby - it could provide some help and a number of jobs to the relatively poor Melville.
Because of the previous alarm, the townspeople had skillfully hidden themselves in places far from the coast or in their basements. In such an era, it was very important to build a hidden basement at home, whether it was for hiding people or money.
Many townspeople stood on high ground and watched the naval battle in the distance. After confirming the victory of the navy, they cheered and spread the good news to everyone. Every time the navy defeated the pirates, it was a great joy for them. Today, probably every family would have a few more delicious dishes or bottles of good wine on the dinner table.
The residents who came to take refuge were jubilant and trotted back to their homes or shops, nervously checking whether their houses were damaged or their goods were missing.
In the festive yet tense atmosphere, only a small group of people were walking against the flow of people, looking for businesses that had reopened and going in to spend money.
"Welcome! All fresh fruits are 20% off today!" the owner of a small fruit stall greeted enthusiastically.
"There's such a good thing?" Zhang Da was also stunned, then he waved , "It's all covered!"
The boss was delighted. It was easy to make money today. Even with the discount, he made more than usual. So he quickly sorted the fruits into boxes, only taking out a few of each type and putting them aside, and putting another large bag.
Zhang Da also pointed at the bag of fruit and asked, "What does this mean?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm not selling this bag. I heard that the battle was very difficult, so I plan to go and visit the injured sailors."
Not only the owner of this fruit stall, many people have already rushed to the naval base carrying meat, vegetables, eggs and other things.
People are all made of flesh and blood. Seeing those familiar faces fighting desperately to protect the town and the fierce pirates, they were grateful from the bottom of their hearts.
Although some people think that they should fight for the salary, many people know that the most ordinary marines only earn tens of thousands of berries a month. Why risk their lives? It's all for the sense of responsibility and justice in their hearts.
The townspeople had heard stories about navies that deceived their superiors and bullied their subordinates, and they knew how lucky they were to have a responsible force stationed nearby, so they admired and were grateful to these lovely soldiers.
Zhang Da also regretted asking that question. He might feel guilty if he went back to the naval base to eat and drink. But he felt relieved when he thought about it, since it wasn't the marines who paid for it.
He rented a flatbed truck on the roadside, loaded a few boxes of fruit, and continued to purchase other things.
Tom sat in the car as a matter of course. This lazy cat would never stand if he could sit, and would never sit if he could lie down.
Wendy, who had just consumed a lot of energy, also got into the car at Perona's instigation. Perona got in naturally on the pretext of taking care of her.
Zhang Da also pointed out: "Shouldn't some people come down and walk on their own? Eating high-sugar, high-calorie foods all day long and not liking to exercise, be careful not to become as fat as Lu Dashan!"
Tom imagined himself getting fatter and shook his head to indicate that it didn't matter. He could just lose weight if he got fatter. It was very easy to lose weight.
Zhang Da also waved away the white bubbles above his head: "I'm not talking about you."
Perona snorted, "What do you care? Just think of it as the interest on my snacks you stole! Didn't you say you were going to buy snacks?"
"You only care about snacks. I'm going to take you to the pet market and sell you right now."
"Why a pet?!"
Amidst the laughter, everyone walked around the main streets of the town. The car was loaded with more vegetables, meat ingredients, a few more boxes of toothpaste, and some other daily necessities.
Altria held a string of meatballs in her left hand and a plate of Taiyaki in her right hand. She turned her head and stared at a cold drink shop, and her eyes seemed to say that she wanted to eat popsicles.
A few minutes later, everyone had an ice cream in their hands, except Ye Yan, who dressed himself up as an ice cream. He said this was called "Cold in Winter", and at night it could also be called "Cold in the Moonlight", which was a very artistic work.
When they came out of the cold drink shop, the boss not only refused to take any money, but also wanted to pay Ye Yan a salary and asked him to help distribute flyers.
Ye Yan repeatedly explained that this was performance art, but in the end he still took the flyers and money, and walked around advertising enthusiastically: "Escrem Cold Drink Shop, new products on the market, 20% off!"
Everyone looked at each other in bewilderment. Rui Mengmeng asked curiously, "Why is he so skilled?"
Zhang Da also said: "On the one hand, it's because I'm thick-skinned, and on the other hand, it may be because I've done this kind of odd jobs many times and I'm used to it."
Facts have proved that the owner of the cold drink shop has a very sharp eye. Ye Yan's appearance attracted a lot of people's attention, especially children and young girls who had no resistance to Ye Yan's style and cuteness. Many people took photos with Ye Yan and then happily went to find this store with a flyer. The owner of the cold drink shop made a lot of money.
Ye Yan, who had just finished handing out flyers, caught up with his companions and asked with a proud look on his face, "How is it? Do you know how powerful my performance art is?"
"Brother Yan, if I can't afford to eat in the future, I will have to rely on you." Zhang Da also patted him on the back. He felt that it was a pity for Ye Yan to distribute flyers with his image, temperament and business ability. He was more suitable to work in some indescribable store and be the husband of the Weaver Girl.
Ye Yan rolled his dead eyes and stared at Zhang Daye: "I always feel like you want to murder me."
"That's not the case!"
…
After delivering the goods back to the ship and returning the cart, Zhang Da was also invited by the navy to visit the naval base.
When the marines in the base who knew about the situation saw the Amber Tour Group, they all showed gratitude. Whether it was helping to intercept the shells flying to the island or rescuing dying comrades, the marines' favorability towards them increased rapidly.
Wendy, in particular, received the most attention, because it was this child who pulled their comrades back from the brink of death one by one, and she was so cute.
Lieutenant Lipa said, "I'm sorry, the base commander and Captain Monka are seriously injured and cannot meet with guests, so I have to receive you all."
"It doesn't matter who comes to receive us." Zhang Da also asked, "But are their injuries dangerous?"
Lieutenant Lipa replied, "No problem. The necessary surgery has been done. The doctor said that I just need to recuperate slowly."
"That's good." Zhang Daye and his companions, led by Lieutenant Lipa, took a brief tour of Branch 153.
Compared with the naval branch on the Sabaody Archipelago that Zhang Da had also seen, the conditions here were very average. Both the area and the construction level were not as good as those of Sabaody. This might be because the base commander did not impose heavy taxes like Monka did later, so the funds were limited.
There is nothing much besides a simple building and a square used for training. This square is the one where Zoro was tied to the cross and exposed to the sun while starving.
However, no one cared about this except Zhang Daye. What attracted them most was the cafeteria at the base.
In order to thank the Amber Travel Group and celebrate the victory, the Navy arranged a banquet in accordance with the highest level of the branch. Except that drinking was not allowed, there was a wide variety of food.
However, because they had spent half a day shopping and eating beforehand, and the chefs of branch 153 were average in cooking skills, Altria went easy on them and didn't let the chefs get too tired from cooking.
But even so, Lieutenant Lipa and his men were shocked. When the chef submitted the statistics of material consumption, the base commander was also shocked.
The base commander had a splint on his left hand and a cast on his left leg. He was now lying on the bed and letting Lieutenant Lipa hold up the report for him to see. He said with a headache, "Do you think we should suggest to the headquarters that a clause be added to the military regulations that prohibits inviting the Amber Tour Group to dinner without permission?"
Lieutenant Lipa had a drop of sweat on his forehead. "It's too much to treat the soldiers' benefactor like this just because of a meal..."
"That's true." The base sighed, "Forget it, take the report back and revise it, and report the damage."
Now it was Lieutenant to have a headache. How should he write this report? Our unit had a fierce battle with the pirates. All of our members were injured, no one was killed, a number of shells were consumed, and two cannons were damaged...
There is no problem with these. However, if we add to that the loss of 100 kilograms of beef, 200 kilograms of mutton, 100 fish, and 500 kilograms of seasonal vegetables in the battle, in addition to some oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar, and the loss of 21 plates and one damaged plate...can this headquarters be believed?
…
"Burp!" Tom burped and took a sip of hot water. A few seconds later, he burped again and took another sip of hot water...
Perona and Wendy gently patted Tom's back, hoping to relieve his symptoms. The hiccups were not a disease and Wendy could do nothing about it.
Zhang Da also pulled Tom's cheek and scolded him: "Just eat, why do you swallow the plate together, and swallow more than 20 of them! Do you feel uncomfortable now?"
Tom glanced at Altria with an innocent look on his face. He probably thought that seeing how deliciously she was eating, he couldn't help but eat faster and faster, and before he knew it, he had swallowed the entire plate.
Altria's expression was even more innocent. Is it wrong to eat something that looks delicious? When she saw Tom eating the plate, she thought that the plate of this branch was made of special ingredients, so she secretly tried to take a bite...
She covered her mouth, her teeth were a little painful. Maybe she could ask Shark Chili how to take care of them when she has time?
"Burp!" Tom shrugged his shoulders and burped again. The shaking of his body was transmitted to Zhang Daye through the hand that was pinching his cheek.
Zhang Da also felt a slight tremor all over his body, which spread all the way to the top of his head. Finally, even his hair stood up and he let out a faint "hiccup" sound, proving that sound is produced by vibration and that a medium is needed for transmission. He was so scared that he quickly let go.
Everyone suggested various methods, such as drinking water, deep breathing, and exercising, but the condition got worse and worse. Finally, whenever Tom hiccuped, the vibration would be transmitted from his body to the Amber, and the whole ship would shake, and the sound made it sound like the Amber was hiccuping.
"No...really?! Don't praise me like that...Zhang!" Zhang Da's voice even shook with Tom's hiccups.
If the Amber continues to shake like this, they won't be able to set sail.
"How about scaring Teacher Tom?" Rui Mengmeng suggested, and she was not spared.
So Wendy and Perona bared their teeth and claws in front of Tom, acting ferociously, and making a 'terrible' roar from their mouths: "Awoo~"
Very fierce.
Zhang Da also covered his face and asked, "Are you two planning to kill him with cuteness?"
Tom looked at the two fierce little girls and continued to respond with burps.
Wendy and Perona were dejected. At this moment, a dog barking suddenly sounded behind Tom: "Woof woof woof..."
Tom was startled and dug his four paws in panic a few times. He quickly jumped to the top of the mast, hugged the flagpole and trembled, looking around for the vicious dog.
Finally, Tom only saw a big ice cream waving at him from below: "It's okay, I just imitated the dog's barking sound, just to scare you, are you still hiccuping?"
Tom was stunned. He touched his chest and it seemed that he had stopped hiccuping. But he still didn't dare to go down. How could he imitate a dog's barking so realistically? It sounded just like the real thing. His skill was almost catching up with Jerry's.
"Don't believe it?" Ye Yan understood Tom's expression and explained, "This is the professional skill of the night watchman, 'bionic ventriloquism'. It's no problem to imitate the sounds of animals."
As he spoke, Ye Yan began to imitate the barking of dogs, birds, and mice, all of which were imitated vividly. Tom then slid down hesitantly, thinking as he slid down, everything else was very similar, but was the sound of a mouse like that?
Tom suddenly found himself as a cat and could hardly remember what a mouse sounded like.
After saying goodbye to Paul's family in Melville, the Amber set sail again.
Wendy began to distribute gifts to everyone, such as wreaths, hairpins, candies, cookies, rice crackers, etc., all of which were given to her by the enthusiastic marines when she left the naval base.
When Wendy walked out of the base gate, she was holding a wobbly mountain of gifts in her arms, which even blocked her vision. Perona was so envious that she clamored to learn healing magic.
Zhang Da also opened a bag of senbei and started chewing them, feeling that he was now on the same level as Sengoku Garp.
After floating for a while, he asked, "Where is the next stop?"
Shark Chili unfolded the sea chart and pointed: "The next stop is Orange Town, a town similar to Shields Town. We will be there tomorrow."
Orange Town is where the great Buggy appeared in the original plot. It was also the earliest battlefield of the Four Emperors' War. But now Buggy has been sent in by them. The only interesting place on the island is a pet food store.
Zhang Da also looked at Tom, Xia Lulu and Altria, wondering whether he should buy some pet food for them.
Shark Chili continued, "But we have enough food and don't need any supplies, so we don't need to stop. It will take about three to five days to reach the next island. There is only a small village on the island called Xiluobu Village. I heard that there is a sniper on that island who is very famous in the East China Sea."
