Chapter 40 The dust has settled,

but can she really be as stable as before?

The answer is no.

The seagulls on the white flag, which symbolize peace and order, have become the gunfire and bullets that burn down other people's homes and paradises. The word "justice" behind the navy's cloak gradually spreads into the branches of the tree of omniscience. Every document she handles is densely written with the word "history".

Cheng Xi diagnosed from her limited medical knowledge that it might be because she saw with her own eyes that the navy, which claims to be "just", personally led the killing and destruction this time, so she suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder of the Demon Slayer Order.

She went to see a psychologist, but because it involved CP and the admiral of the navy, and involved too many senior officials, the psychologist of Marinford not only failed to counsel her well, but scared herself into having psychological problems, and asked Cheng Xi to comfort them not to be afraid.

In the end, she only got a slightly more reliable suggestion - resignation.

A word awakened the dreamer, Cheng Xi's eyes lit up, and he was a little moved.

But she was still a little entangled. The so-called positive forces in this world were only the navy, the security officers under the navy, and the world government. Where could she go after resigning?

Moreover, she had worked in the navy for so many years, and she had a lot of feelings for her parents, relatives, and soldiers. And her current identity could better help her collect intelligence and rescue civilians.

Whether to go or stay, this question troubled Cheng Xi for several days, making her hesitant and upset. She

looked three points more angry than usual, and she wished that she could feel the low pressure in the air around her after driving a hundred meters. The oppression was comparable to Sakaski, which frightened many soldiers of lower levels and weaker strength and trembled, and dared not look at her directly.

Until one time, a large-scale pirate attack occurred on a certain island. The manpower was not enough, but because the Celestial Dragons were traveling in the West Sea and were tired of the protection of the CP and the World Government, they suddenly gave an order to let the navy serve as the escort this time, regardless of the lives of so many innocent civilians, and arbitrarily transferred most of the navy, just to protect a despicable, arrogant, stupid, bad and brain-dead Celestial Dragon. 

This time she finally couldn't stand it anymore. After handling the tasks on the island, she returned to Marinford and was so excited that she didn't sleep all night. She wrote a resignation report overnight and got up early the next day to hand it in to the office desk of the Navy Marshal. 

After submitting her resignation, she didn't feel as heavy as she imagined. Instead, she felt much more relaxed from the inside out. The haze that had been shrouding her eyes for a long time had dissipated. From then on, the sky was high for birds to fly, the sea was wide for fish to jump, the mountains were high and the waters were far, and the world was free for her to stay. 

Afterwards, Cheng Xi went to the cafeteria for breakfast. As soon as he entered the door, he saw two familiar figures in front of him. He glanced at Sakaski and Borsalino, trying to suppress the urge to hit people in his heart and ignored them. Unexpectedly, Borsalino took the initiative to step forward and greeted her: "Long time no see, Cheng Xi, how have you been recently?" 

Cheng Xi said angrily: "Oh, it's Sakaski's blessing, it can't be worse." 

Sakaski extinguished the cigar in his mouth: "Cheng Xi, you are very good, but you are too impulsive in doing things and speaking." 

"What do you mean by this?" 

"This matter is a decision made jointly by the World Government and Marshal Sengoku. It involves serious secrets. I am just following orders." 

"Does the government's order also include blowing up the refugee ship?" 

"The scholars of O'Hara can understand the text of history and try to restore the ancient weapons. That thing has the power to destroy the world. If they sneak into the refugee ship and escape successfully, the harm caused by the ancient weapons will be greater than the Demon Slayer Order." 

"They just want to study history, they are not interested in those ancient weapons." 

"If the government says they have them, then they have them!" Sakaski looked at Cheng Xi, his tone firm, "Don't be so naive, remember your position and identity." 

Cheng Xi pulled off the navy cloak behind him and threw it to the ground, tilted his head, and his momentum was no less than his: "Now it's gone." 

"The World Government is stupid, the CP organization is stupid, the navy is..." 

When she said this, the onlookers in the room couldn't help but prick up their ears, for fear that Lieutenant General Cheng Xi would scold them too. 

"The navy is quite obedient." 

The soldiers breathed a sigh of relief. 

Borsalino: "Hey, Sakaski, little Cheng Xi, everyone calm down, don't quarrel." 

His persuasion did not work at all. Sakaski still said that she was an emotional little brat, and Cheng Xi scolded him as an old man with little affection and righteousness. The more they quarreled, the angrier they became. Later, they did not quarrel. 

It turned into a fight. 

The final result was that both sides were injured and all were injured. 

Cheng Xi suffered a burn on his right shoulder, but Sakaski was not much better. She used a sword to cut a big gash on his ribs. Both of them were bleeding. The parties did not say anything, but the soldiers who were watching curiously were frightened and at a loss. 

After simply bandaging the wound, although Zefa was worried about his child's injury and cursed Sakaski a thousand times in his heart, he still symbolically punished her and Sakaski to write a 3,000-word self-criticism for the sake of navy discipline. 

Cheng Xi stayed in the office for an hour and a half very well, and then handed Zefa a self-criticism book. It was roughly estimated that there were more than 20 pages of paper. On the top page, a few big words of self-criticism were neatly written in ballpoint pen. He felt a little warm in his heart. Xixi was still the well-behaved and sensible child. Sure enough, the fight was all Borsalino's fault. 

After handing him the apology, Cheng Xi ran away from the office at an uncharacteristically fast speed. Zefa opened her apology and saw the contents. He almost fainted. 

It said: I'm sorry, I shouldn't have destroyed the corner of the cafeteria during the fight. That was one of the few delicious curry rice windows in the cafeteria. I delayed the soldiers' meals. I'm sorry. I delayed Auntie's work. I'm sorry, blah blah... 

The whole text is thousands of words, with apologies everywhere, but she didn't show her apology for the fight. 

"Cheng Xi!!!" 

His roar could be heard from a long distance in the corridor. Cheng Xi couldn't help but feel lucky that she ran fast, otherwise she would have been beaten. 

After leaving the headquarters building, she planned to go to the store she usually went to to buy a cup of milk tea, but on the way she saw the despicable, ugly and cowardly CP officer who had shot Olivia in O'Hara before. It seemed that his name was... Spandine? 

His nasty face that day emerged in his mind. Cheng Xi now felt like he was on his last day at work in the company. He could do whatever he wanted and no one could stop him. 

Spandine walked out of the most upscale and expensive restaurant in Marinford. His steps were unsteady and his face was red. He looked drunk. Several other CP9 members followed him cautiously. 

Cheng Xi walked over and drew his sword to attack. CP9 felt her murderous intent and quickly fired back in defense, but it was too late. After a fight, they were beaten black and blue in the face and screamed in pain in just a few minutes. 

Then she went to the training ground to teach Yushula sword skills calmly as if nothing had happened. 

At noon, she received a call from Sengoku on Den Den Mushi, asking her to go to her office. When she arrived there, before Sengoku could criticize her for having fought twice in the morning, Garp, who was eating senbei nearby, started praising her, saying that she was a hero at a young age and could beat up anyone she wanted, and that she was so cool, etc. She felt a little embarrassed by all the praise.

"Garp." Sengoku glanced at him, and Garp decisively shut up, scratched his head, and concentrated on chewing his senbei.

"You..." Sengoku sighed and was about to scold her, but Garp interrupted him again and assigned Cheng Xi a mission to go to Apala Island to investigate the remnants of the Rocks Pirates.

Cheng Xi was about to refuse.

"My wound hurts..."

Garp: "The bonus is five million Baileys."

Cheng Xi's eyes were suddenly full of light, and he saluted with an excited tone: "I will complete the task even if my wound hurts so much!"

After she left, Zhan Guo asked Garp: "Garp, what are you talking about? Hasn't the CIPHER POL agency already investigated it clearly? There is nothing on that island! It's useless for her to go there."

Garp: "No, but this child has been too irritable recently, so let her go there to play for a few days to relax."

Zhan Guo was speechless: "How dare you say that others have a bad temper!?"

Because it was a task to collect information, Cheng Xi planned to act alone this time. Yusula and Kaisha wanted to go with her, but Cheng Xi refused and asked them to stay in the training ground to practice the new move they learned.

"Practice the sword well, I will check it when I come back."

Yusula: "I know, I know, I will definitely be able to use it proficiently."

"Come on, I will bring you the specialty cakes there when I come back." In the sun, Cheng Xi smiled and waved goodbye to them.

At this time, the Kingdom of Sizkaal.

Mihawk was about to leave the island. He was walking towards the port, but someone called him on the way.

"Hey, young man!"

He stopped and looked down. The person who called him was the old lady who owned the flower shop when Cheng Xi bought flowers that day. Her face was full of kindness and peace. She looked at Mihawk as if she was looking at her own child.

He asked, "What's the matter, old lady?"

The old lady: "Are you together?"

Mihawk didn't react for a moment: "What?"

"It's the girl who was next to you before, the one who often walked with you. Seeing how close you were before, you must be very happy now, right?"

This sentence hit Mihawk's heart and soul. He didn't have the courage to tell the old lady in front of him that he and Cheng Xi had a big fight, and they were separated and hadn't seen each other for a long time.

"When that child mentioned you, her eyes sparkled. She said that her love for you could not be discounted, so she bought a full-price rose to confess her love to you." The old lady saw her younger self in Cheng Xi, and smiled and sighed, "You young people's love is so straightforward and passionate, and you never hide it." "

Like..." Mihawk was silent for a moment, then turned back to his previous residence. Thinking of that possibility, his steps became more and more hurried.

Opening the door of Cheng Xi's bedroom, they had a quarrel suddenly at that time, and Cheng Xi left in a hurry. The furnishings in the room basically remained the same. Mihawk walked to the desk, made full preparations, and pushed away all the debris covering the paper. Just as he thought, there was a big check mark and a small red heart behind the "Like" option.

All the scenes of their past interactions suddenly flooded into Mihawk's mind. His fingertips trembled slightly, his Adam's apple rolled, and he could feel his heartbeat pounding and accelerating. 

Mihawk quickly calmed down. At this moment, he confirmed his feelings, so he went to the dessert shop to pack Cheng Xi's favorite dessert, and went to the flower shop to buy a bunch of roses that were even more fiery and hot than that day. 

The old lady was puzzled by his sudden departure just now, and guessed some information from his subtle expression: "What are you doing..." 

"We quarreled because of a misunderstanding." 

The old lady didn't know what to comfort. 

But he said seriously: "I will go to her to apologize and resolve the misunderstanding. The difference is that this time I will take the initiative to confess to her." 

Mihawk got on his own boat, and his destination was Marinford. He wanted to find her, apologize to her, seek her forgiveness, and tell her his love and love. 

On the Grand Line sea route. 

Cheng Xi was speeding on the sea in his own boat. The shadow of a warship gradually appeared on the sea. When he got closer, he realized that it was Kuzan's warship. 

"Good afternoon, Kuzan." 

Seeing Cheng Xi unexpectedly, Kuzan couldn't help but smile: "Good afternoon, Xixi." 

He was on a voyage for a long time this time, and he hadn't seen Cheng Xi for nearly three months. 

"Xixi, where are you going?" 

"Uncle Cap gave me a task, to investigate some information on Apala Island." 

This kind of investigation should be done by scouts, so why send her? Maybe there is some special task, he guessed in his heart and suggested: "I'll go with you." 

Cheng Xi rejected his kindness: "No, you just finished the mission, you should go back to Marinford and have a good rest, I can do it alone." 

Her ability is very suitable for investigation and hiding, and she probably can't help much if she goes by herself, so Kuzan put away his thoughts and said, "Well, last time..." 

Cheng Xi's tone was a little hurried: "I went to O'Hara and saw the truth. This kind of thing can't be explained clearly in a short time. When I come back, we will find a tavern to talk all night and have a good chat. I'm leaving first, goodbye." Kuzan 

: "Goodbye, be safe." 

Watching Cheng Xi's figure slowly disappear in the sea, Kuzan always felt that the goodbye was said too hastily, but they will meet again soon, and he can take advantage of this time to think about what to say to Cheng Xi at that time. 

As a result, when she turned around, she saw her men's faces full of gossip, and they were just short of having the word "gossip" printed directly on their foreheads. 

When they were still several nautical miles away from the winter island of Apala, a smell of gunpowder penetrated Cheng Xi's nose. She quickened her speed and reached the coast to find that the pirates had already begun to rob returning merchant ships. 

Am I too late, and they have ended their disguise? 

She quickly drew her sword and attacked the enemy, as fast as lightning and as strong as thunder. The pirates had never expected that such a powerful opponent would appear out of thin air, and they quickly took out their weapons to fight back. 

As expected of the remnants of the Rocks Pirates, their strength is a world apart from those small pirates. There are all kinds of masters such as fruit ability users who make people headache, swordsmanship geniuses, weapon masters, etc., and often just after beating one, another one comes up. 

She couldn't count how many people's necks her sword had cut, how many people's chests her sword had pierced, how many pirates' lives she had taken away with the sword and shadow. She only knew that after she had dealt with these people, she had many large and small cuts on her body, and blood was flowing out, but she was glad that these were all skin injuries, and her bones and internal organs were not seriously injured. 

The setting sun in the evening was more beautiful than fire. Cheng Xi inserted the tip of the sword into the beach, used the force to stand up, pressed a few acupoints on her body to stop the bleeding, and looked around. The civilians who were trembling with fear just now have all escaped. She smiled with relief. 

It's good that everyone is still alive. 

At this time, the captain of the group of people just now slowly walked out from an inconspicuous corner, stood in front of Cheng Xi, and looked at her with a condescending expression. 

The man in front of her was tall and thin, with long light purple hair, wearing a burgundy long coat, a knife on each side of his waist, and a bottle of rum in his right hand with an armband.

Cheng Xi frowned slightly, an ominous premonition surged in his heart, and the dusty memories in his mind began to break through the seal: "Is it you?"

Captain John, a former member of the Rocks Pirates, who was said to love to look for treasures everywhere.

He handed the rum in his hand to Cheng Xi: "Want a sip?"

Cheng Xi refused vigilantly: "Thank you, no."

She asked again: "Are you here to seek revenge on me?"

John shook his head: "Why should I seek revenge on you?"

"Because I killed your crew."

To Cheng Xi's surprise, he was not angry, but thanked her: "That's really a thank you."

"What are you crazy about?"

Captain John's tone was full of yin and yang: "I found a big treasure, and I was thinking about how to get rid of them and take it all for myself. After all, these people are not easy to deal with. I didn't expect you to suddenly appear here and get rid of them all. Lieutenant General Cheng Xi, you really helped me a lot."

Cheng Xi pulled the sword out of the ice and snow and pointed it at Captain John.

"Now it's your turn to deal with you."

At the same time, in a corner of the island, a scout covered in wounds woke up from a coma, found out his current situation, and immediately took out a Den Den Mushi to report the news to the headquarters.

Bubble, bubble~

Sengoku was in the office at this time, receiving Kuzan's report. He picked up the phone and heard an anxious and painful voice from the other side, mixed with some hatred: "General Sengoku, Spandain gave us wrong information because he was too lazy to do it. Now all the 49 pirates of John's pirate group are staying on Apala Island. Only Vice Admiral Cheng Xi is fighting on the coast. He is now injured. Please support, please..."

Before he finished speaking, he fainted again.

Everyone in the office who heard the news was shocked and full of emotions. Garp dropped the senbei in his hand to the ground. He felt guilty and worried. In a moment, he had arrived at the port and was ready to set sail. Behind him was Kuzan, who was also anxious.

On the beach, John stretched out his hand to move the tip of the sword facing him in a different direction, and invited her calmly.

"We don't have to be enemies. Why don't you quit the navy and be a pirate on my ship."

Cheng Xi: "It's been less than half an hour since you told me that you wanted to kill my own crew members, and you invite me to be your crew member. If I agree, then one of us must be crazy."

"You're right." Captain John actually thought about this problem seriously, and then proposed another idea that he thought was great and smart, "Why don't you marry me, so that we can be a family, and I can give you one tenth of my treasure." 

Cheng Xi had a distorted expression on his face, his brows wrinkled into a "川" shape, and he slapped him twice in the face, disgusted to death: "Are you sick? If you don't have a mirror, you can always use your urine to look at yourself." It was 

the first time that Captain John was despised like this. He was furious and raised his hand to hit back, but Cheng Xi dodged him, grabbed his arm and slapped him twice in the face, making him see stars and stunned. It took him a long time to recover. 

This time he was really angry, and his tone was mixed with the coercion of a great pirate: "Join me or die, you choose one." 

"I really don't understand, there are so many great pirates in the New World, why don't you go find Whitebeard or Big Mom to team up with them, why are you so obsessed with me?" 

"That's because I have been following your news for so many years." 

Cheng Xi unconsciously took a few steps back, and her disgust almost solidified into a entity. Just as she was about to scold him, she was shocked by his next words. 

When Cheng Xi was thirteen years old, she had not yet joined the navy. Once out of curiosity, she followed Garp's ship to sail out to sea. On the way, she encountered the John Pirates. After defeating the enemy and seizing supplies, she accidentally opened a video Den Den Mushi on the ship. Inside was the image of the Celestial Dragons conducting slave hunting and slaughter in the Valley of the Gods sixteen years ago. The end of the video was a knight called Jegarcia who said that this kind of hunting would be carried out in a non-member country every three years on average. 

After watching the video, Cheng Xi developed a high fever because of the great shock. The body's self-protection mechanism actively erased this memory from her mind. After she recovered from the illness, she lost this memory and always thought that it was a cold and fever caused by the strong wind and low temperature at sea. Now after being reminded by Captain John, she remembered everything. 

The hatred in her eyes when she watched the video left a deep impression on Captain John, so he kept paying attention to Cheng Xi. Rocks's attack on the Valley of God failed in the past. Now he plans to imitate that year and attack Mary Joa. Of course, the main attacker is Cheng Xi. He doesn't like power and fame like Rocks did back then. He only likes money. When the time comes, let Cheng Xi go to the front to attract firepower, and he can steal the treasures of the Celestial Dragons in Mary Joa without anyone noticing. 

Captain John is still chattering in her ear, trying to persuade her to join him by using a two-pronged approach of painting cakes and PUA. 

"Shut up." Cheng Xi raised his sword and attacked, "I refuse your invitation!" 

The two of them started fighting, and the wind and clouds changed color in the midst of the swords and shadows, and countless dust and snow were rolled up. Their swords were deadly, as if they were going to tear the sky open. It was unknown what kind of monster Rocks was. His crew members were all very strong. 

A sharp knife light came, and Cheng Xi was hit in the abdomen and fell in the snow. The fishy and sweet smell rushed up his throat, and he spit out a large mouthful of blood. Of course, John was not much better. He was blinded in one eye by Cheng Xi and fell on the iceberg next to him. 

She barely stood up, and another murderous aura came from behind and pointed at her heart. Cheng Xi dodged quickly, but still failed to dodge. He was shot in the right shoulder. A strange feeling of dullness immediately swept over his body. Captain John took this opportunity to launch a fatal attack on her. Fortunately, the amulet he carried with him at the critical moment helped Cheng Xi block the attack. 

The attacker was holding a video Den Den Mushi in his hand. Although he didn't shoot Cheng Xi's heart, he was also excited. He muttered to himself that he would use this video to go to the Kingdom of Totland to find Big Mom and Master Cracker to exchange for the bounty. 

The Big Mom Pirates had issued a hunting order for Cheng Xi for nearly a year, but no one had been able to catch her. Now that he had attacked Cheng Xi, there was also the famous Captain John in front of him. Under the double attack, this woman's life was not long. When the time came, he took the Den Den Mushi to collect the bounty. Maybe in addition to Bailey, Master Cracker would give him a cadre position. 

He fantasized so happily that he didn't notice that Cheng Xi's attack had already come. Until his death, this man had been holding the Den Den Mushi that could never bring him treasure and honor. 

Cheng Xi quickly adjusted his breath, and the battle continued. She was covered in blood, her clothes were rustling, her eyes were red, and she exuded endless murderous aura and oppression, like a cruel murderer. 

She wanted him to die! 

Even if they both perish. 

… 

It was snowing, pressing the dust, snowflakes and tiny pieces of ice raised during the fight back to the ground, and burying all the cold bloodstains. Only the moon, which was originally cool and bright, hanging high in the sky, was dyed a faint blood red. 

When Kuzan arrived, her body was just carried out from the deep sea by a white whale. He ran to Cheng Xi desperately, and although he had already stretched out his hand, he was still trembling and dared not touch it. 

Cheng Xi's blood was almost drained out, her skin was as pale as snow, and she held the sword called Shi Qing tightly in her arms. Her eyes, which were originally lively and smart, were now closed. Snowflakes fell on her, covering her cheeks with a layer of transparent thin ice, lifeless.

A tear fell, bringing a little warmth to her already cold body.

Sure enough, the goodbye was said too suddenly. Now that they are no longer friends, they will never meet again.

Half a month later, Cookie Town, Cookie Island.

The newspaper gull delivered the newspaper on time. When Cracker saw the news of Cheng Xi's death, his first reaction was to question it. This must be fake news. The little girl was quirky. He had been catching her for nearly two years and couldn't even catch her shadow. How could she die suddenly?

She must be afraid of being hunted by the Big Mom Pirates, so she deliberately made up fake news to confuse herself. She is getting smarter and smarter. She can even think of this method.

Unfortunately, his self-deception was interrupted in less than an hour.

After the attacker died that day, the person next to him stole the video telephone bug and came to Cracker to ask for the bounty. He was still worried about what to do if the woman was only seriously injured. Unexpectedly, today's newspaper can prove his "merit".

Watching the moment when Cheng Xi was poisoned by the needle in the video, Cracker's breathing almost stopped, his heart began to ache, and he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. For a long time, he couldn't believe this fact.

Now he finally confirmed that his love and hatred for her were the same.

He didn't want her to die.

Compared with the killing order, Cracker wanted a living Cheng Xi, locked her up in Totland, no, locked her up in Cookie Town, imprisoned and tortured her for life, so that she would never be able to leave him.

The person next to him was already anxious for his reward, Cracker turned his gaze to him, and the man felt a burst of anger for no reason. He didn't understand why Lord Cracker was angry about something that should have been a happy thing.

The man shrank and said, "Lord Cracker, what's wrong with you?"

"Actually, I haven't told anyone that I like my fiancée very much..."

Hearing this, the man was sweating and trembling all over. He regretted stealing the Den Den Mushi. Even if he explained it clearly now, he would still be accused of deceiving a cadre. As weak as he was, how could he resist the wrath of the famous and never-defeated Minister of Cookies of the Charlotte family?

...

In the year 1503 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Hancock, who was only 12 years old, and her two sisters joined the Nine Snakes Pirates as interns. When they went out to sea for the first time, they encountered human traffickers who tried to knock them unconscious and sell them as slaves. At the critical moment, Hancock subdued the human traffickers with the moves that Cheng Xi taught her. Perhaps because of the shock, she fell into a coma after returning to Amazon Lily and fell seriously ill.

In her dream, Hancock saw herself in another world. After being branded with the seal of the Celestial Dragon, which represents slaves, she lived a humiliating life of four years worse than death.

That kind of pain, that kind of humiliation, even in a dream, even if there were only a few fragments, still made her feel fear and despair.

The moment she opened her eyes, she finally understood what the light of liberation that Cheng Xi-sama was talking about.

In 1510 of the Sea Circle Calendar, the leader of the Sun Pirates, Fisher Tiger, was seriously injured after being attacked by Vice Admiral Borsalino. He refused human blood transfusions. When he was dying, the amulet given to him by a human girl he met that year played a role, maintaining his physical characteristics. Tiger fell into a coma and recuperated on Fishman Island. In order to avoid enemy sneak attacks, Jinbei announced to the public that he was dead.

In 1511 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Shiratori Yusura was promoted to the position of vice admiral and founded the Magnolia Force in the same year.

In 1512 of the Sea Circle Calendar, Princess Otohime was assassinated, but because of the advance defense of her subordinates, she only suffered some minor injuries.

In 1517 of the Sea Circle Calendar, a boy named Ace from the East China Sea went out to sea and became a pirate.

In June of the same year, Cheng Xi was resurrected on the Fette Island in the South China Sea, and met the Four Emperors Shanks. He boarded the Redvers and entered the Grand Line. He stopped at a small island called Furrens, summoned six shop assistants from another world, and started a new life.

Everyone thought that the stories about love and hate, tears and laughter, gain and loss related to her had come to an end.

But in fact, romance never dies, flowers bloom again, the moon rises in the east, and another story has quietly begun. They will meet again in the end.