Chapter 8:

The lively banquet of the enthusiastic pirates lasted until the late night. The other customers and waiters in the tavern had already left, and only the members of the Red Hair Pirates were left in the entire tavern.

Shanks's refusal to Gabu's question not only failed to dispel their doubts, but made them even more curious about their boss's love life.

So everyone drank Shanks beer one after another, trying to get him drunk and then get some useful information out of him.

But the result disappointed them. No matter how much alcohol he drank, Shanks refused to reveal the past between him and Cheng Xi.

If asked too urgently, they would just keep repeating the same few sentences, "Oh, yes, Cheng Xi is very cute." "Cheng Xi is indeed gentle and strong." "Cheng Xi is omnipotent and knows everything."

"Cheng Xi... blah blah."

Everyone was speechless. Thinking of the rich love history of their own deputy chief, the boss seemed to be an inexperienced young man when it came to love.

Maybe Shanks will have to learn about love from Beckman in the future.

Everyone partying all night.

The next morning, when it was just light, Cheng Xi had already gotten up, packed up, and arrived at the tavern.

The weather was still a little cold in the morning. Cheng Xi was wearing Shanks' black cloak and holding a bag of spare clothes prepared last night.

The lights in the pub were still on. She pushed open the door and was hit by a strong smell of alcohol.

Looking at the empty wine bottles scattered on the table and the floor, and the drunkenness on everyone's faces, she asked in disbelief, "You guys...are drinking all night?"

Everyone nodded in agreement.

The moment the door opened, a breeze came in, bringing with it the unique coolness of the early morning. Everyone sobered up a little after being blown by the wind.

Cheng Xi asked uncertainly: "Are you guys still sailing today?"

Still nodding.

Cheng Xi was speechless. They were really not the same kind of people and were not on the same boat. It seemed that Shanks’ crew members were also a bunch of troublemakers.

She walked to Shanks. Shanks thought he was sober when the door opened just now, but now looking at Cheng Xi walking slowly towards him, he felt drunk again.

"Good morning, Cheng Xi." He greeted.

"Good morning, Shanks." Cheng Xi replied to him, and then asked, "When do we set sail?"

"Two hours later." Shanks was still thinking, but Beckman on the side put out the cigarette in his hand and replied to her.

"Okay, thank you." After hearing the answer he wanted, Cheng Xi thanked Beckman politely. Afterwards, I went to the pub kitchen to make myself some breakfast.

The pirates holding a party all night here are from the Four Emperors. Even if they wanted to dine and dine or rob the tavern directly, the tavern owner would not dare to resist. What's the big deal about holding a party all night? So the boss handed the store to them with confidence last night.

For breakfast, Cheng Xi made fried eggs, ham, bread and hot milk, which he had long been tired of. He ate them solely to maintain basic physical characteristics.

She couldn't believe how sunny, cheerful and optimistic she would be if she could eat fried bean curd pancakes and mutton and green onion buns filled with meat now.

At this moment, Cheng Xi decided on the direction of his retirement life, which was to open a breakfast shop on the island.

"Shanks, here, drink it." After finishing breakfast, Cheng Xi handed Shanks a glass of water.

"Oh, okay." Shanks took the glass of water and without thinking, drank it in one gulp like beer. Then he savored the water and found it was warm with a hint of sweetness.

"What is this?" He asked after he finished drinking it.

Cheng Xi: "Honey water, it's for hangover relief, otherwise you might have a headache later."

Although it seems that Shanks, who has been drinking for so many years, should be familiar with the feeling of a hangover.

Shanks:!

He now feels that he is the happiest man in the whole world after drinking the honey water made by Cheng Xi.

The other members of the Red Hair Pirates who witnessed the whole process: ...

No, you two...

can't you just behave like normal adults and stop being so innocent?

The Redvers is a majestic two-masted ship with a full range of artillery and great power. The sail is painted with the logo of the Red Hair Pirates, a skull with three red scars on the right eye. On the bow is a statue of a beast with sharp horns, which looks very majestic.

Shanks assigned Cheng Xi a room next to the captain's room. It wasn't large, but had good lighting, and was fully furnished. It looked clean and tidy, probably because someone cleaned it regularly.

After saying thank you to Shanks, Cheng Xi began to tidy up the small room where he would live for a while in the future.

Shanks went to the tavern to buy some more wine. When he returned to the shore, the Redvers was ready to set sail. He was about to board the ship, but he keenly noticed the unusual movement on the sea in the distance.

He looked towards the unusual movement. The calm blue sea was frozen, and an expressionless man was riding a bicycle and cutting an icy road on the sea.

From a distance, Shanks sensed the identity of this person.

Admiral Aokiji of the Navy Headquarters.

Why is he here?

Realizing this, the Red Group members prepared to meet the enemy.

Aokiji's bicycle gradually approached the coast, getting closer and closer to Shanks.

The Red Team members thought that there would be only two possible scenarios: either they would pretend they didn't see anything, pass each other by tacitly, and continue doing their own things, or they would have a big fight.

They believed that the first possibility was more likely to happen. After all, a war between the admirals and the Four Emperors would be a major and troublesome event that could shock the world.

Aokiji thought so too. He has always implemented "leisurely justice". Without the orders of the government and headquarters, there is really no need to go to war with the Four Emperors.

What's more, he has more important things to do today...

Originally, everyone could just stay like this without disturbing each other, but Shanks suddenly said to Aokiji: "Hey, Admiral Aokiji, long time no see. Are you busy with official duties recently?"

When he asked this, the smile on his lips was harder to suppress than Beckman's gun, and he looked very happy.

Everyone in the Red Group was surprised and didn't understand what their boss was trying to do.

He usually doesn't even pay attention to the financial situation of his own ship, so why is he concerned about the admiral's official business for no reason?

Aokiji: "As long as you don't cause any more trouble, my official duties will naturally be free."

Shanks: "The weather is really nice today. You are going to the mountains to see her when you come to the South China Sea this time."

Hearing this question, Aokiji did not answer him, indicating his agreement.

Shanks was still in high spirits, and he kindly gave Aokiji a bottle of wine. Although Aokiji didn't know what his purpose was, he still accepted it.

Shanks advised: "Time flies. It's been seventeen years already. Some things should have been let go long ago."

Aokiji looked at Shanks, wondering why he said these inexplicable words to him.

“Think of today as the end of the past and the beginning of the future on the timeline.”

Aokiji: ...?

Red Group: ...?

What timeline, starting point and end point? How did my boss come up with such a cultured and profound-sounding sentence?

Beckman was even more surprised. If he remembered correctly, this sentence was the first sentence of a very popular book about political intrigue and scheming twenty years ago. He also collected this book and placed it on the third shelf of his bookshelf. Why would Shanks read his book when he had nothing better to do?

Aokiji: "Can I understand that this is you, a pirate, trying to persuade me, a navy officer, about the great principles?"

Shanks: "You can understand it that way."

It happened that Cheng Xi had finished cleaning the room at this time. She planned to walk out of the cabin and go to the deck to see if she could help. Just as she was about to leave the cabin, the monkey Mengshida's instinct as a beast told him that he must not let Cheng Xi leave the cabin!

So Mengshida quickly jumped off Punch's shoulder and ran into the cabin. He took Cheng Xi's hand and led her inside.

"Eh?" Cheng Xi was a little confused by its sudden movement, "Are you hungry?"

Meng Shida was not hungry, but for the captain, it could be hungry.

Mengshida nodded.

So Cheng Xi took it to the kitchen in the cabin to find bananas to eat.

On the shore, Aokiji's tone was still cold, and it was impossible to tell his emotion: "I'm afraid this enthusiastic pirate will be disappointed. I still don't intend to forget the past."

After that, he rode his bicycle towards the interior of Fate Island without looking back, and no longer listened to Shanks.

Shanks shouted at his back: "Really? Admiral Aokiji, then you continue to reminisce about the past. I want to start a new life."

He looked towards the cabin, where his Chengxi was.