Chapter 5 Tavern Party

After listening to Cheng Xi's complaints, Shanks replied confidently: "I am a pirate. Of course pirates have to drink themselves and invite others to drink and hold parties!"

Cheng Xi was helpless and wanted to continue pinching his face like before, but she found that Shanks had grown a lot taller over the years and she needed to stand on tiptoe, so she gave up this move: "You invited me to drink before, but it wasn't my own money!"

She added: "You are just a naughty kid."

Another gust of cold wind blew, and the coolness came. Shanks took off the black cloak behind him and draped it on Cheng Xi.

There was still a hint of his scent on the cloak, and it was a little warm.

Cheng Xi is 1.73 meters tall, quite tall, but looks a little petite compared to Shanks' muscular figure. The cloak completely covers her. After Cheng Xi adjusted the position of her backpack and sword, she grabbed both sides and wrapped them around her body, leaving only her head exposed.

"Cheng Xi."

"What's wrong?"

"Are you really... not going to continue being a marine?" Shanks asked again uncertainly.

Cheng Xi: “Yeah.”

She couldn’t help but complain in her heart: Why do you, a big pirate, care whether I am a navy or not? Do you want to play a game with me where you run away and I chase you, and you can’t escape even if you have wings?

"Today is both the end and the beginning of my timeline. Instead of always being trapped in sadness and dwelling on the past, it is better to forget everything and start a new life."

Shanks didn't quite understand what she was saying, but the only thing he was sure of was that from today on Cheng Xi had left the navy.

Shanks said excitedly: "Great, let's have a party together to celebrate Cheng Xi's new life!"

...

The two of them walked and talked, walked out of Mount Mis and arrived at the residential area. The dark and silent environment suddenly opened up, and the bright lights shone on the two of them, which seemed vaguely warm.

Coincidentally, the tavern where the Red Hair Pirates held the banquet was the same tavern where Cheng Xi had lunch.

After a whole afternoon of cleaning, wiping off the blood, and replacing the broken tables and chairs with new ones, all traces of the fight had disappeared.

If you hadn't experienced it yourself, no one would have thought that a fight had just taken place here at noon.

After Cheng Xi and Shanks entered the tavern, the originally noisy atmosphere immediately became quiet.

The first reaction of the Red Hair Pirates members: What the hell is going on! ?

They were shocked, but they didn't know what to be shocked about first.

When the boss just went out, his face was full of sadness, and there was a gloomy aura around him. But now he is completely different from when he went out! ! With the happiness that could not be concealed at all and the corners of his mouth that turned up unconsciously, I'm afraid that even if he was forced to not hold a banquet for a month, he would agree with a smile, right?

I clearly said when I went out just now that I was going to visit an old friend, but who is this beautiful lady next to me now?

When he went out, he was a healthy boss, but when he came back, his clothes were covered with blood. The most puzzling thing was that the cloth used to bandage his body was a girl's coat, while the boss's own cloak was draped on the beautiful woman next to him, wrapping her tightly.

It's even hard to tell whether the boss was injured or if there was some weird hobby between the two of them.

The wine bottle in Jesus Bu's hand was hanging in the air, the chicken leg in Laki Lu's mouth no longer tasted good, and even the monkey Mengshida stood there in a daze, staring with wide eyes in confusion.

Their shocked and curious gazes shifted from Shanks to Cheng Xi, and then gradually shifted to Beckman, trying to infer some useful information from his expression.

Beckman: Don't look at me, I don't know what's going on either.

The ship's doctor Hongo spoke first, breaking the silence: "Hey, boss, how did you get this wound?"

Shanks: ...

Cheng Xi: ... Silence

. It's impossible to tell the truth in this situation, otherwise the members of the Red Hair Pirates will laugh to death!

Shanks changed the subject and introduced Cheng Xi to his companions: "Everyone, this is my friend, her name is Cheng Xi, she will be sailing with us on the Red Force for a while."

Cheng Xi took her hand out of her cloak, waved at them, smiled and greeted them gently: "Hello everyone, my name is Cheng Xi, I'm sorry to trouble you for the next period of time."

"Haha, no trouble, no trouble." "I didn't expect that the stupid boss would actually know such a beautiful friend. Why didn't you tell us before?" Everyone smiled back at her, with the unique boldness of a pirate.

Shanks then introduced the members of the Red Hair Pirates to Cheng Xi one by one.

Sure enough, Shanks was right. Not only the musician monkey, but the rest of the crew were also very interesting. Cheng Xi and Shanks walked into the tavern, sat down, and quickly became friends with them. The room was filled with laughter.

While Hongo was treating Shanks' wound, Cheng Xi reminded him: "He still has a little fever, maybe he caught a cold."

Everyone: My pirate captain, the emperor of the sea, got sick with a fever because of a cold? It's impossible no matter how you think about it!

Hongo tentatively took Shanks' temperature...

and he really had a fever.

And Beckman...

Really, these idiots were so easily diverted by a big idiot like Shanks!

Today is still a day when the mate is worried about the Red Group.

Beckman took out a cigarette and put it in his mouth, but his lighter was probably soaked in water or something, and it didn't light up after several attempts.

This scene was seen by Cheng Xi who happened to be looking up at the sky.

The helpful Cheng Xi suddenly ignited a flame at her fingertips, and then she swung it in Beckman's direction. The flame on her fingertips went out, and Beckman's cigarette started burning.

The entire process took less than three seconds in total, leaving Jesus and the others shocked.

Looking at the sparks burning on the cigarette, Beckman said to Cheng Xi, "Thank you."

"That's amazing." Jesus Bu exclaimed.

Then Cheng Xi successfully harvested a group of starry eyes.

In the battle, even if the members of the Red Hair Pirates saw powerful abilities such as the ability to fly, spit fire, or split the sky and earth, they would just snort coldly and then face the battle calmly.

But if they saw a woman with fire in her hands lighting a cigarette for the mate in a bar, they would exclaim, wow, how magical.

Punch: "Cheng Xi, is this the ability of your fruit?"

Cheng Xi: "No, this is my own ability."

Shanks: "This is nothing, Cheng Xi will be even more powerful."

He had a proud expression on his face, as if the person who was angry was not Cheng Xi, but himself.

Then he looked at Cheng Xi with anticipation.

Cheng Xi: It was as if she was showing off her talent in front of her parents...

She raised her right hand, first extending her index finger, from which clear water flowed, then her middle finger, which released crackling lightning, and finally a small grass slowly grew on her ring finger.

"すごい!"

Once again, I received a group of starry eyes!

Cheng Xi retracted his ability and took a sip of orange juice.

At this time, she found that there was a piece of fruit pulp in the cup that was bigger than the others, so her attention was attracted by this piece of fruit pulp.

Beckman's steady voice sounded, he looked at Cheng Xi and asked, "What a magical ability, are you from a rare race?"

Cheng Xi replied casually, "No, I'm Han."

Others began to discuss, "Han? Never heard of this race." "I haven't heard of it either." "It's not recorded in any books."

Then everyone looked at their smartest first officer, Beckman.

Beckman shook his head: "I don't know this race either."

Everyone: It is indeed a rare race!

The waiter came over and put a small bowl of fruit on the table. Cheng Xi looked up and found that it was the same little girl from noon.

"It's you. Why haven't you gotten off work yet so late?"

The waiter's face turned red when she asked her, and she stammered, "I... I'm about to get off work."

Cheng Xi looked at the bowl of fruit on the table: "I didn't order any fruit. Little girl, did you send it to the wrong customer?"

The waiter was a little shy: "No... I didn't. This is something I wanted to give to you myself."

"Me?" Cheng Xi was a little unbelievable.

"Yeah." The waiter said in a low voice, "Um, sister, thank you for what happened at noon."

"It's nothing. It's my duty as a navy..." She realized the change in her status and quickly changed her words, "It's just a small favor."

"Then I'll accept it. Thank you." Cheng Xi said gently to the waitress. Seeing her accept it, the girl was visibly happy and then went about her own business.

Cheng Xi picked out the big red apple from the basin, cut out a plate of cute bunny apples with a knife, stopped the waitress when she passed by, and handed her the plate of bunny apples: "Little sister, this is for you."

"For me?" the girl asked in disbelief.

"Hmm."

"So cute!" exclaimed the waiter.

She took the rabbit apple and thought about it for a long time before finally plucked up the courage to introduce herself: "Sister, my name is Irene."

"My name is Cheng Xi."

After Irene left, Cheng Xi turned around, only to see Shanks looking at her with his puppy eyes downcast and expectant.

"Cheng Xi, I want one too."

"How old are you? Do you still think of yourself as a child?"

"I'm ten years old."

Cheng Xi:...

"But there are no apples in the bowl." After Cheng Xi said that, he saw Shanks' sincere and innocent expression, so he had no choice but to peel an orange and make it into the shape of a goldfish, and then decorated it with a blueberry as an eye, and handed it to Shanks.

Shanks ate his own orange goldfish contentedly, leaving the other members of the Red Hair Pirates stunned.

What on earth is the boss doing!

Just for a piece of fruit, are you pretending to be pitiful in front of a little girl?

When it was confirmed that the Red Hair Pirates would hold a party here all night and would set sail early tomorrow morning, Cheng Xi said hello to Shanks and said that he was a little tired and wanted to go to the hotel to sleep and replenish his energy. He would be back on time at six o'clock tomorrow morning to set sail with them.

When she said she wanted to leave, Shanks became a little afraid that all this was just a wonderful experience in a dream, so he asked her, "Can you not go to sleep?"

"No," she said in a straightforward refusal.

"Why?"

"Because I'm tired."

"But you never said you were tired before."

"It's different this time."

"Why is it different?"

So Cheng Xi told Shanks about his rich experience today.

As usual, I got up early and went to the cafeteria for breakfast. I saw Sakaski and had a conflict with him. I fought with him. As a result, both of us were injured and a piece of the Navy cafeteria was torn down.

I was forced by Teacher Zefa to write a self-criticism for an hour and a half. When I went out, I saw Spandine and couldn't help scolding him. Then I fought with CP9 again, but I won this time.

Uncle Karp saw that I was too irritable and had a bad temper recently, so he assigned me some tasks and asked me to go on missions. In the meantime, I had to divide my energy to teach Kai'Sa, Yushula how to practice sword skills, organize logic, and quarrel with Kuzan. I also fought several times during the mission. Although I won this time, I was also injured.

After resurrecting, he defeated two pirate groups in the tavern, then went to the mountain to sweep his own grave, and met you when he came down the mountain.

Shanks: This eventful day...

Shanks put himself into Chengxi's world and couldn't even count how many fights he had with others during this day.

This really requires physical strength.

Cheng Xi: "Bye, see you tomorrow."

Shanks was still not sure whether she would disappear tomorrow morning, and in a hurry he said directly: "I'll go with you!"

Cheng Xi: "..."

Has my deafness become this serious?

Cheng Xi assured him again and again: "I really just went to sleep to replenish my energy. I definitely didn't have any intention of secretly holding a banquet to eat meat."

Shanks: ...

Shanks was so embarrassed that he wanted to punch himself twice. Why on earth did he say that? ?

By the time he reacted, Cheng Xi had already left the tavern.

Shanks looked at his companions who were full of gossip, and said nothing. He just sat there, waiting for their "interrogation"

. When they didn't interrogate him, he started complaining first.

Snake: "Boss, that girl looks like she has just reached adulthood. You are going too far."

Laki Lu nodded and bit off a chicken leg: "Yes, yes, although she is very beautiful, she is still a young kid who drinks juice."

Shanks argued: "It's not what you think. We have known each other for a long time."

"And Cheng Xi just looks young. She is already twenty-one years old."

Knowing each other for a long time... only twenty-one years old... Shanks' explanation did not dispel his companions' complaints. Instead, the look in his eyes when he looked at his captain became more and more meaningful.

Beckman asked worriedly, "Are you sure you want her to follow us into the Grand Line? If there is an enemy attack, Shanks, can you protect her?"

Everyone nodded. Indeed, although the little girl had amazing abilities, she did not seem to have the slightest aura of a strong person. From what she said, it seemed that she planned to get off the ship alone after reaching an island in the Grand Line.

As Laki Lu said, still a young brat drinking juice.

As pirates, they all knew exactly what cruel experiences a beautiful, weak young girl with magical powers would encounter when sailing alone on the Grand Line.

Shanks said firmly, "I will protect her, not to mention..."

"Chengxi, she's very strong."

This is true. In his impression, Cheng Xi has never needed anyone's protection since the day he met her. Instead, she has always been the one who protects others.

Everyone was a little curious. Their captain was already a top-level warrior in this ocean. How powerful could someone be to be praised as so powerful by him?

Gabu: “How strong is he?”

Shanks was just about to tell her about Cheng Xi’s heroic achievements in the past, but suddenly remembered that she had asked him to keep it a secret, so he had to reorganize his words.

Shanks: "The last time we met she said her fists were half as powerful as her uncle's."

The Red Hair Pirates laughed: "Boss, what are you talking about? What does being half as powerful as your uncle's prove?"

"Hahahaha." Everyone laughed.

Only Beckman still had some sense and asked him, "Who is Cheng Xi's uncle?"

Shanks: "Ah, his uncle is a navy man. We have dealt with him before."

When he said this, everyone immediately became curious and stretched their necks, waiting for the answer.

Shanks: "It's Vice Admiral Garp, nicknamed Iron Fist."

Everyone: ...