Chapter 68 Lurking on Ghost Island

Seeing Nami go out to look for Luo, Cheng Xi was relieved and cut off the contact with the other side.

After dealing with the prostitutes and guests in the house, Cheng Xi returned to her room, closed the doors and windows, and just started to organize the materials at hand, she heard the Den Den Mushi in her belt ringing.

She quickly pressed the answer button, and the voice of Rosinante came from the other end of the phone: "Good afternoon, Cheng Xi."

Cheng Xi: "If you have something to say, please tell me."

"I heard that Luo went to Wano Country."

"You are well-informed."

"Have you seen him? Is he okay? Has he not been bullied?..."

Countless questions made Cheng Xi not know which one to answer first. Obviously, he also had Luo's Den Den Mushi number, but he had to go to the trouble of calling himself, just like a parent who was worried about the safety of his child but was too embarrassed to say it openly and could only call other relatives secretly to ask.

Cheng Xi patiently answered them one by one, but omitted the questioning of Luo by the female ninja. It was not because she was good-tempered and wanted to do less, but because she planned to let Luo do it himself to relieve his anger in the future.

"I'm going to hang up now. Do you have anything else to ask?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and then a concerned voice came from the man: "Cheng Xi, be careful."

Cheng Xi said firmly: "Well, Cheng Xi promises that Wano Country will be liberated without any damage."

Then she hung up the phone, wrote and drew on the paper, and began to prepare for the liberation of Wano Country.

Fortunately, a few days later, Okiya's mother said that there was news from Onigashima that those big shots seemed to have some happy events, and it happened to be the big day of the Fire Festival, so many geishas were needed to dance and accompany the wine.

Originally, these places were not for the Okiya, but because the first courtesan of Wano country made a mistake at the banquet of Lord Orochi a few days ago and was killed on the spot by Lord Kyoshiro, the courtesans in the brothel were panicked and in a bad state, so they were found this time. 

Mom selected a dozen geishas with beautiful looks and graceful dancing in the store, and told them to be careful to serve those adults and not to say things that they shouldn't say, and then let them go back to the house to pack up and prepare to board the ship to enter Onigashima together at night. 

Cheng Xi was also among these geishas. On the way to Onigashima, the sisters told her that she must restrain her previous temper when she arrived on the island. These big guys are used to being sought after by others, and they can't tolerate any disobedience from others. 

Especially for these little people, if they are not careful at all, it will be unpredictable whether they live or die, and their bodies will be separated. 

Next to Cheng Xi, a beautiful geisha wearing a dress with calamus patterns looked at the snow-white walls in the cabin and sighed quietly. 

In the eyes of outsiders, compared with the villagers in Jiuli who lacked water and food and often starved to death, the prostitutes in the flower street had delicious food and exquisite jewelry every day, which was a life that many people envied. 

But for countless nights, even they themselves were not sure whether they could see the sun tomorrow morning. To the superiors, the lower-class untouchables in Jiuli and the glamorous and beautiful courtesans in the flower street were just slaves, the difference was only between middle-class slaves and lower-class slaves. 

General Orochi was licentious and cruel, so would the adults on the island be kinder? 

As if on the edge of an abyss, treading on thin ice, when will this kind of day end... 

Perhaps sensing her fear, Cheng Xi walked over and grabbed her hand, comforting her with his eyes and actions. 

Soon, this kind of day will end soon, and I will let each of you live freely and happily under the sun. 

On the ghost island, there were special people to set up rooms for them. After they were done, the geishas didn't care about resting, fearing that their skills would become rusty in a strange place, so they continued to rehearse the dance. 

But just when the ginkgo leaf-shaped plectrum touched the strings and made the first tone, they received news that those big shots were holding a banquet and needed them to sing and dance and accompany the wine to cheer. 

Everyone didn't dare to have any complaints, but they were infinitely uneasy in their hearts, fearing that they would lose their lives in other people's territory, so they hurriedly put on their makeup and rushed to the banquet with their musical instruments. 

The banquet had been going on for a while, and the atmosphere gradually became heated. Cheng Xi took a rough look and knew almost everyone in the seats. Some of them had met before, and some had been seen in the bounty order and information. 

After seeing the pink figure in the middle, Cheng Xi suddenly understood what they meant by "big happy event". 

The Beast Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates have formed an alliance! 

It's not easy to do, Cheng Xi has a headache about this, but things have come to this point, and they can't give up halfway, so they can only bite the bullet and continue to do it. 

She stood in the back corner, lowering her eyebrows and eyes, with a submissive look, like an ordinary geisha who was shy and timid when she suddenly saw so many big shots. 

Suddenly a loud female voice interrupted her thoughts: "I heard that the revolutionary army has sneaked into Wano Country." 

"Cheng Xi! Mama~" 

The voice scared her and she shuddered involuntarily. She thought she had exposed her identity. She raised her head and looked at the strongest queen in the sea with vigilance. 

"She must be among them." The aunt drank the rice cake and red bean soup in the bowl and said fiercely, "I will never let her go this time." 

Fortunately, her identity was not exposed. Cheng Xi returned to the cowardly expression just now, thinking, I am standing in front of you, do you think I am a bit like before, if you have the guts, kill me! 

Unexpectedly, the aunt's next sentence hit her head directly: "I want to catch her and marry Katakuri. Their children will definitely be the most perfect offspring in the whole sea." 

Cheng Xi:? 

Thank you for the invitation, but I declined. 

Cheng Xi was puzzled, bewildered, and bewildered. 

If her memory was correct, it seemed that her ex-fiance was called Cracker, right? 

He changed so quickly...? 

Lingling, can you please ask for the consent of the person concerned? 

Anyway, I don't agree. 

Aunt doesn't care about other people's wishes. As the only queen of the Kingdom of Totland, she requires her children to obey her orders absolutely and not to disobey in the slightest. 

In her opinion, Katakuri is extremely powerful and is her greatest masterpiece. As for Cheng Xi, he is also powerful, has magical powers, and is a rare race. If the two of them get married, they are simply a perfect match. 

Just thinking about it, she can't wait and has begun to look forward to Katakuri's wedding cake. 

Cake~cake~, delicious wedding cake! 

Big Mom said to Kaido who was drinking heavily beside her: "Hey, Kaido, if you catch that girl, just hand her over to me." 

"..." Although Kaido was drunk, he was not drunk to the point of being ridiculous. He glanced at Jin below and said perfunctorily: "That girl is very clever, let's talk about it after we catch her." 

Others may not know, but he knows that Abel has been secretly in love with Cheng Xi for many years. 

The key is that only Kaido knows about this.

He is one of the Four Emperors, a great pirate. He can't spread the love affairs of his subordinates everywhere, right? But if he doesn't say it, it's not a good feeling to be the only one in the world who knows about it, and he can't discuss it with others.

Occasionally, when Kaido asked Jin about this after drinking, he would always calmly change the topic to other aspects.

In this way, Kaido, the Four Emperors, has been holding back a love gossip in his heart for nearly 30 years without sharing it with others.

The tunes of the six-stringed koto and the shamisen sounded, and the beautiful geishas began their dance. They were dressed in gorgeous clothes and had hair buns like clouds. With their elegant dance steps, the pearls, flowers, and hairpins collided with each other, making a cool and crisp sound.

Cheng Xi stood in the most inconspicuous corner.

The sisters in the okiya said that she had a bad temper, was not good at music, and was not good at dancing. Except for a beautiful face, she had nothing else.

But she didn't think so.

Cheng Xi admitted that she was not very good at playing the shamisen, but she was proficient in guitar, sanxian and erhu, especially erhu. She played "Erquan Yingyue" with her own sad and desolate tune, which made many people cry!

Dancing was a piece of cake for her. She had been training since she was a child. Whether it was physical strength, body flexibility, or reaction ability, she was no problem, and her memory was also good.

So what was the problem?

Cheng Xi thought for a long time, and after seeing the elegant and charming dance posture and charming eyes of the young lady next to her, she finally realized it.

Charm, yes, it was charm.

The young lady next to her timidly threw a very charming wink at Jin, graceful and graceful.

Cheng Xi also followed suit, imitating the young lady's appearance, while dancing, she

rolled her eyes at Jin...

Cheng Xi:...

This is not what I imagined.

She quickly lowered her head, hoping that no one would notice her embarrassment.

Now Cheng Xi finally realized her shortcomings and accepted the facts.

In the following dance, Cheng Xi tried to reduce her presence, and danced in a rigid manner according to the steps she had memorized in her mind.

Fortunately, few people paid attention to them. The aunt only had rice cake and red bean soup in her eyes, Kaido was drinking all the time, and the other pirates had their own thoughts. Even Quinn, the only one who was interested in beautiful women, only watched a little at the beginning, and then immersed himself in the memory of the dead Wano country's oiran, Kozuki, with tears in his eyes. Cheng Xi danced the whole dance without any danger.

After the banquet, the geishas returned to the room, and the atmosphere relaxed. They privately patted their chests and discussed the powerful momentum and majestic posture of the adults they had just seen. This was also the only fun in their boring dance practice. 

Cheng Xi sat in front of the mirror, impatiently took off a bunch of heavy hairpins on her hair, and lay on the low table. To outsiders, she was resting her eyes and relieving her physical fatigue after a day of running around, but in fact, she was secretly exploring the situation inside Onigashima. 

The embarrassment just now flashed through her mind. Cheng Xi secretly made up her mind that next time there was such a hidden activity, she would not participate in it herself. She would trick Sabo into dressing up as a woman. 

This fantasy consumed too much of her attention, so Cheng Xi did not notice that the geishas' whispering had stopped since some time, and the room was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop. 

When she realized this, she immediately opened her eyes and became conscious in an instant. Her hands subconsciously reached for the two hidden swords, but quickly retracted. 

She turned around and found that the tall man who wrapped herself tightly was standing in front of Cheng Xi, and the pair of eyes revealed under the mask were staring at her intently. 

Jin waved to the others, and those geishas who were very good at observing words and expressions left one after another. Cheng Xi pretended to be confused and wanted to go out with them. 

Unfortunately, the man had seen through her little thoughts long ago, and stood at the door, blocking her with his body. 

Cheng Xi lowered her head and pretended to be afraid: "Master Jin, do you have any instructions for me?" 

The situation was so awkward that Cheng Xi began to scratch the ground with her toes, wishing she could dig out two more Wano countries. Then she found something even more embarrassing, that is... 

she was wearing clogs! 

The action of scratching the ground with her toes was so clearly exposed to the air. 

Silence, silence, silence is the ghost island tonight. 

"Cheng Xi." 

Jin called her name, but Cheng Xi was not sure if this was a trick, so she pretended to be puzzled and kept her head down. 

Jin's tone was very sure: "Cheng Xi, long time no see, you really came here." 

"Who is Cheng Xi...? I don't know her, did you recognize the wrong person, Master?" 

Jin: "Don't pretend anymore, I'm sure you are Cheng Xi." 

"In fact, I recognized you at the banquet just now." 

Cheng Xi was puzzled. Recognized what? Did you recognize me just by rolling your eyes? 

Then you are really a genius. 

She was ready to continue playing dumb, but she didn't expect the man's next words to leave her speechless. 

"I noticed that your eyes are very familiar, very positive and upright, and don't look like you're dancing at all." 

Having been exposed, Cheng Xi simply stopped pretending, deactivating the fruit ability, taking out the sword and holding it in his arms, alert in his heart, and jokingly said: "Then your eyes are quite powerful, you can even expose my disguise." 

While praising him, he casually praised himself. 

Jin stretched his arm in front of Cheng Xi, spread his palm, and showed the plum candies he had just held in his hand. 

"Do you eat candy?" 

Cheng Xi looked at Jin's palm. She was very familiar with the plum candies on it. They had brown skin, ordinary packaging, and were cheap. There were 20 plums in a large bag for 100 Baileys. 

The candy ball was transparent. After licking off the sweet candy shell, half a pitted plum would be wrapped inside. The overall taste was sour and sweet, the kind of candy she often ate when she was a child. 

But she didn't eat it much when she grew up. 

Cheng Xi didn't take the candy, but looked up at Jin. 

Jin was also looking at Cheng Xi. The dim light shone on her body, flickering and adding a swaying halo to her. 

When their eyes met, their thoughts stayed at the moment when they first met each other through the endless river of time. Although the memories were far away, her eyelashes and smile were still clearly visible. 

Thirty-one years ago, Jin was sixteen years old. At that time, he had been locked up in Vegapunk's laboratory as a test subject for several years. 

The Lunaria clan has lived on the Red Earth Continent for generations. Because of their strong physical fitness and ability to adapt to various harsh living environments, they are called the natural enemies of God. The World Government is afraid that this race will threaten its rule, so it will destroy them all. 

Jin is the only remaining bloodline of the Lunaria clan. 

Although the World Government is afraid, it covets their race's innate strong survival ability. Therefore, it did not kill Jin directly, but locked him up in the laboratory and extracted his blood day and night for research. 

I was locked in the room, day and night, with no concept of time. All I could see were snow-white walls and researchers in white coats coming and going.

Jin couldn't remember how many painful and numb days he had gone through.

Until one day, after another blood draw, when all the scientists had left, a small figure sneaked into his room.

The little girl looked young, probably only about thirteen or fourteen years old, with sparkling eyes, very beautiful, wearing a bright yellow sports jacket, which was one of the few bright colors in his long white years.

Jin: "I have finished drawing blood today."

Cheng Xi explained: "I am not a nasty scientist who came to draw your blood."

"Then who are you?"

"Well..." Cheng Xi thought for a while, and then told his identity to the boy opposite: "I am a family member of the navy. After following Aunt He's warship to the island, I got lost on the island and walked here."

Jin didn't say anything, and looked at her with suspicion.

How could such a heavily guarded research institute easily let a child get lost and run here.

"Okay, I just lied to you." Cheng Xi spread his hands and said helplessly: "Actually, I didn't get lost. I sneaked in by myself."

"I guess there must be some bad things in this laboratory, so I sneaked in. Now it seems that my intuition is still quite accurate."

Jin: "Then what will you do after seeing these? Will you take me out?"

He didn't know why he said such a sentence. The little girl in front of him was only about thirteen or fourteen years old, younger than himself, and looked short and weak. She didn't look like she could take him out at all.

Cheng Xi tilted his head and actually thought about this proposal seriously: "Well, I'm sorry, I'm too weak now, and I don't have the ability to take you out."

She was just scolded by Senior Garp yesterday for being the worst navy he had ever led. She started to get tired and panting after running 50,000 meters. Her strength training was also unsatisfactory, far worse than when he was young.

"Do you mean that you will take me out of this laboratory when you are capable?"

Cheng Xi said with a firm look in his eyes: "Of course."

Not only him, Cheng Xi wanted to work harder and save more people.

But now she is a weakling with no strength, so she still has to try her best to improve her strength.

Cheng Xi's positive and upright eyes are like a bow that has accumulated a lot of strength, pulling the string called "hope" in Jin's heart. Even if the future is still bleak, the seed of expectation has fallen.

"By the way, my name is Cheng Xi, what's your name?"

"Abel."

This is the first time Jin told others his name.

Cheng Xi repeated it softly: "Abel."

Jin was slightly stunned when he heard his name after being called "No. 1052" for a long time.

"Abel, I have been missing for a long time. If I don't go back, they will be suspicious. So, bye, see you next time."

Cheng Xi waved goodbye to him and got up to leave. Maybe it was because this was the first time Jin saw such a lively and energetic peer, completely different from the cold attitude of the experimenters in the laboratory before, he was actually reluctant to let Cheng Xi leave.

After reaching the door, Cheng Xi turned around and walked to his side, reaching into the wide pocket of her sportswear and rummaging around. There were too many things in her pocket, hair ties, band-aids, coins... a mess.

Finally, she took out three candies and put them in Jin's hand: "Oh, I just bought a new pack yesterday, but I didn't expect that there are only three left now."

"This candy is delicious, try it."

After saying that, he left the room.

After he left, Jin clumsily tore open the candy wrapper and carefully put the candy with a transparent shell into his mouth.

He had been drinking nutrient solution and other reagents to maintain life characteristics for too long, and he almost forgot what sweet tasted like.

It turns out that sweetness is a taste that can make people happy. Concentrate on savoring this sweetness. Later, when it became too sweet, the sour plum wrapped inside was revealed. The two original flavors neutralized each other and mixed into a more delicious taste.

The bright color had long gone, but there was still a sudden yellow on the floor. Jin walked over and saw that it was the hair tie that fell out of her pocket when she took out the candy.

Jin bent down to pick up the hair tie, thinking that if Cheng Xi came here again next time, he would return it to her.

However, when Cheng Xi really came here again as he thought, Jin hesitated, and did not return the hair tie to Cheng Xi until the end.

Cheng Xi would come to see him about once every month to a month and a half. Although each meeting was not long, Jin really cherished it.

This was the only time in his numb youth life when he was happy.

Every time Cheng Xi came to see Jin, she would bring him some snacks, some of which were specialties bought from various islands, and some were small cakes or fruit pies baked by her on a whim.

Jin had never felt kindness at that time, so he thought that Cheng Xi's kindness to him was the most sincere feeling in the world, and he also wanted to give her a return gift.

But now he is the meat on the chopping board in the laboratory, and there is nothing extra to give to Cheng Xi except himself.

"Do you want to touch my wings?"

The boy blushed and finally mustered up the courage to say this.

"Hey, is it really okay?"

"Yeah."

In fact, Cheng Xi had wanted to try the feel of his wings for a long time, but she had never been embarrassed to ask before. Now that he took the initiative to bring it up, of course she would not refuse.

Cheng Xi gently stroked Jin's wings with her palm. His feathers were very shiny, black and bright, light and smooth to the touch, but very resilient.

The touch of her fingers was a little cold, but it made Jin feel an inexplicable itch, like an electric current running through his body, causing his blood flow to speed up and his whole body to feel numb.

Am I... sick?

Fortunately, Cheng Xi's touch did not last too long. Compared with bird feathers, she preferred to rub furry animals such as cats, dogs, and red pandas, so she stopped quickly after satisfying her curiosity.

After Cheng Xi left this time, Jin sat there in a daze for a long time, trying to recall the strange feeling in his body just now. Is this kind of emotion called love?

A teenage girl is in the growth period. Every time she comes, she changes a little bit. The baby fat on her face gradually fades, her cheeks become thinner, her figure becomes taller, there is a sword behind her, her ears are pierced, and her bangs are long.

He has always remembered these little changes.

But those bright and beautiful eyes have never changed.

When Cheng Xi came to see Jin for the last time, there was obvious joy on his face. He told Jin that the navy had brought a very troublesome pirate to this island. This pirate has a bad temper and will definitely destroy this laboratory. Then he will be free.

"It just so happens that I will go to the Navy Headquarters for training soon, and I will not be able to find time to see you for a long time."

"Abel, I wish you peace and happiness in the future, and everything goes well."

She said this with a smile, and it was obvious that she was happy for Jin's upcoming freedom.

Later, as he said, the pirate named Kaido destroyed the entire laboratory and took him away.

Cheng Xi was a ray of light in his young life, and Lord Kaido was the salvation that led him out of the abyss.

From then on, there was no longer Experiment 1502 in the Vegapunk Laboratory in the world, only the Three Disasters Jin of the Beast Pirates.

...

Cheng Xi looked at the candies in Jin's hand, hesitated to move, and joked: "You won't put drugs in the candies, right? After all, I am now a big man with a bounty of 3.5 billion, which is very valuable."

The man whose face was covered by the mask could not see any emotions, and his tone was flat: "You also reached out and gave me a handful of candies in the laboratory that day, Cheng Xi, I will not poison you."

Time was frozen at this moment, and Cheng Xi vaguely saw the young and immature boy in the laboratory thirty years ago from him.

She finally chose to believe him, grabbed a plum candy, peeled off the candy wrapper, put the candy in her mouth, and the familiar sweet taste instantly filled her entire mouth.

Jin: "Do you like it?"

"Yes."

"Is it because it represents the memory of your youth?"

Cheng Xi: "No, I just like to eat candy."

After many years, even though her taste has changed a lot, she still thinks this ordinary and cheap plum candy is delicious.

It tastes sour and sweet, and tastes very good.

No!

Cheng Xi suddenly realized that her consciousness began to dizzy, and her whole head was groggy.

She supported her body with the sword and said angrily: "Abel, you are really good. You have improved a lot following Kaido. You have learned to play the emotional card."

No, Kaido's brain can't think of such a strategy. He must have learned it by himself.

Jin took out a seastone collar from his pocket. Through the leather gloves, he could feel the power of the sea.

Cheng Xi rolled her eyes at him.

This time it was real.

But Jin pretended not to see it.

He knew that with Cheng Xi's physical fitness, this drug could not make her unconscious. It would only make her confused for a few minutes. Only a high-purity seastone collar could restrict her movements.

It was the familiar seastone again. Cheng Xi was not panicking this time. She couldn't fall into the same pit four times. So before Jin came close to her, she used all her strength to use her fruit ability to make several layers of flesh-colored foundation to cover her neck. The foundation had a good texture and was very docile. It looked no different from her skin. It was easy to deceive a straight man like Jin.

Just now, Cheng Xi was still struggling with her identity after being exposed. What should she do with the attack plan of others? Now it was a good time to pretend to be caught and lower her guard.

Damn Jin, you dare to lie to me. Then I will blow up the whole ghost island to vent my anger.

After confirming that she was handcuffed, Cheng Xi simply closed her eyes and went straight to the point of being bad.

Jin thought that he didn't control the amount of drugs he took, and called her name worriedly: "Cheng Xi, Cheng Xi?"

Cheng Xi: "Shut up, I'm dead, I don't want to talk to you."

After hearing her reply, Jin was relieved and carried her to his room gently.

I ran into Quinn on the road. Seeing Jin holding a woman in his arms and wearing a seastone necklace around her neck, I thought it was really the sun rising from the west, so I teased him a few times, but Jin ignored me.

"This stinky brat!"

Because of his attitude, Quinn was upset, so he went to find Kaido and said a lot of things like Jin might be holding a female spy in his arms.

Although the banquet was over, Kaido hadn't stopped drinking. He said nonchalantly: "Jin just told me about the female spy. She is Cheng Xi. You don't have to worry about it."

"Cheng Xi!?" Quinn's eyes popped out of their frames in surprise. "The big cadre of the Revolutionary Army with a bounty of 3.5 billion, the Moon Goddess Cheng Xi, was captured by Jin just like that?"

Without any soldiers, and it seemed that he didn't have any injuries on his body, it must be said that Jin's ability is still quite strong.

Kaido nodded: "Yes, it's that little girl."

Quinn asked: "Will that perverted bastard who likes torture kill Cheng Xi in a few strokes?"

"Why don't you hand her over to me, I will definitely be able to get information."

Although it is worth 3.5 billion Baileys, Cheng Xi's thin body, in the hands of the sadistic guy Jin, I don't know if she can withstand three whips, not to mention other weird punishments.

It is true that beauties have been short-lived since ancient times!

He thought of his poor Xiao Zi again...

"She won't die, she will definitely not die. Jin was so distressed when the girl had a bruise on her hand."

Kaido's tone gradually became impatient: "They have a good relationship, why are you interfering, why are you so incapable of reading the eyes?"

Quinn felt a little aggrieved, why can't he read the eyes, Jin only showed a pair of eyes every day, can't he read the eyes! ?

But instead of feeling aggrieved, he felt more surprised: "They...the two...have a good relationship!?"

Kaido's eyes lit up when he heard this question. He had kept this secret in his heart for more than 30 years. If he didn't tell it, he might be dead by the time he got to the ground. So he poured a bowl of wine for Quinn: "You definitely don't know about this..."

"Let me tell you..."

"But later..., this kid Jin is stubborn, and then..."

Quinn: Damn, what a big melon!

"Then why didn't you go find her later?"

"And then?"

The room was filled with gossip about Kaido and Quinn.

Quinn's eyes have never been so full of curiosity in the rest of his life!