“How do people get off this ship?”
When Liam woke up the next morning, Shanks was still fast asleep.
He roughly kicked Shanks awake. The two yawned and stretched as they pushed open the cabin door together and stumbled out.
Compared to last night, when men and women came and went, chatting and laughing, the cabin was now quite empty, with hardly anyone in sight at this early hour on the ship.
It was rare for anyone like Liam and Shanks to be up this early on this ship…
Liam and Shanks left the cabin and went out onto the deck, which was also quite deserted.
Looking at the hazy dawn over the distant horizon, feeling the fresh sea breeze, Liam suddenly asked:
Shanks stretched lazily and looked around. “I have no idea… This ship doesn’t seem to dock very often!”
Pleasure District, the Flower Boat on the Sea.
Mostly dealing with underground world business.
Maybe they are not as despicable as pirates, but they certainly do not have a good reputation.
“Oh, someone is cleaning. Let’s ask.” Shanks noticed a female attendant moving on deck and went over to inquire.
The attendant, who had changed to the morning shift, walked casually on deck and tossed some garbage into the sea. She politely explained to Shanks, “Most of the guests have their own ships docked nearby and leave soon after, not staying on board for long… Our ship, the Den Mushi, has its own line. Experienced sailors or pirates who know that a Flower Boat is passing by can contact us through Den Den Mushi if they want to come aboard for some fun. But there are also guests like you who choose to disembark the next time the Flower Boat docks.
The girl smiled, finding such guests quite pleasant. Staying on the Flower Boat until it docks can be quite expensive.
“I see…” Shanks nodded.
Meanwhile, Liam casually asked a question without approaching, stretching his muscles. His body radiated a shiny black Stand energy, and the battle armor emerged from it. Together they began a simple morning routine on the deck.
The attendant was probably happy to take a break and stopped with Shanks to watch Liam work out.
Liam and ‘B.I.B.’ threw punches and kicks at each other in a well-rehearsed manner.
To the eyes of the accompanying girl, the dark-haired young man was punching and kicking the air on the empty deck…
“Is he… training or playing?” The attendant asked curiously.
“Maybe both,” Shanks chuckled. Out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of a somewhat familiar figure, the woman from yesterday who had nearly wiped out this insignificant pirate crew.
“Sloley Sama,” The servant girl stuck out her tongue and quickly walked over to greet her before returning to work.
Sloley Sama, a user of the Zoan Ability, moved casually about the deck. It’s unclear if she noticed Shanks or Liam, who was also up early to train.
Liam, however, noticed her.
He and ‘B.I.B.’ seemed to stick together as they pushed and pulled, reminiscent of older men practicing Tai Chi in the park.
The slightly glowing eyes of the shiny black armor. Suddenly, Liam lunged forward, sending it flying.
B.I.B.’ floated over to the woman who was casually moving her limbs on the deck.
Snap, snap, snap… Sloley swung randomly, making crisp sounds in the air.
The black shadow rushed toward her, landing in front of her. But her gaze and expression did not change.
B.I.B.’ circled her once and then floated back to Liam.
“Gulu…”
Liam’s stomach growled. He and ‘B.I.B.’ followed their usual habit and practiced the ‘gymnastics’ his biological mother had taught him.
Sloley Sama was casually warming up and leaning against the ship’s railing, lighting a long pipe from somewhere. She casually glanced over at the boy, who was finishing his “gymnastics” not far away.
“Fuh…”
Sloley Sama blew out a puff of smoke and suddenly asked, “Kid, where did you learn those moves?”
Liam, who was about to have breakfast with Shanks, turned away from her words. “From my family. Why do you ask?”
“Oh…” The woman took a drag from her long pipe, appearing thoughtful behind the smoke. “Is that so.”
“Elder sister, is there something wrong with these movements?” Liam asked.
He knew that the woman before him, skilled in Rokushiki, was probably a secret agent of the World Government, possibly a member of the CP, gathering various information from gray industries like the Pleasure District. She might have seen something in the gymnastic moves taught by his biological mother.
“Nothing wrong with it, it just looks familiar…” Sloley exhaled a faint ring of smoke. “I feel like I’ve seen similar martial arts moves somewhere.”
Probably feeling that there was nothing more to discuss with a child, she said a few more words and walked to the other end of the deck on her own.
“Martial arts?”
Liam and Shanks returned to the cabin together. Liam unexpectedly looked at his hands. “This set of moves has no power at all, it’s just gymnastics. How could it resemble any martial art…”
In the fragmented memories of his biological mother, Lily, scenes of her had been seen by Liam many times. He had practiced this set of “gymnastics” hundreds of times and never felt that these movements, which at most could improve body coordination, had anything to do with “martial arts”.
“Shanks, what do you think?”
“Me?” Shanks chuckled. “I think the woman didn’t seem to be lying. As for the rest, I’m not sure.”
They arrived in the spacious hall. Compared to last night’s revelry, it was now quiet and deserted. Most of the hostesses had retired to their cubicles, but a few slept wrapped in blankets on the couches. The attendant girls were cleaning up the place, picking up empty bottles and other trash. Liam and Shanks sat down in a small restaurant in the corner and ordered breakfast.
Liam still had an amazing appetite and the commotion of having breakfast so early in the morning stunned the serving girls.
Shanks, on the other hand, seemed ordinary, with a modest appetite and an elegant demeanor even while eating.
Liam took a green Den Den Mushi out of his pocket, placed it on the table, and dialed it to summon some food.
The little green mushi immediately perked up and began to eat.
Watching this strange little creature, Liam exclaimed, then turned to the shiny black armor standing guard beside him and exclaimed again.
“What’s up?” Shanks asked, taking a sip of soup and putting down his spoon.
“I think I know… why it can see my ‘ghost’,” Liam said thoughtfully.
“Oh?” Shanks, even though he hadn’t heard Liam talk about it before, had already noticed the peculiarities of this green Den Den Mushi with his keen observation skills.
Liam patted the little green Mushi who was busy eating and said to himself, “Den Den Mushi can change their appearance to look exactly like the person they’re communicating with, right? I think… if you think about it, they are naturally masters of perfect control over their own bodies and can change at will!”
Shanks leaned back and scratched his chin in surprise. “Huh, now that you mention it…”
“And this little guy, even within the Den Den Mushi, is quite the individualistic type…” Liam remembered that ‘B.I.B.’ had also come into contact with other Den Den Mushi, but had never been seen, let alone touched, by those Den Den Mushi. “It’s probably because of the unique life energy that it can see my ‘spirit’.”
They chatted casually over breakfast.
After a while, people came out and gathered around the bar, rubbing their seemingly hungover heads and continuing to order drinks.
Listening to their loud chatter, it seemed they were all pirate hunters.
Liam sent ‘B.I.B.’ over to get a closer look at what these people were bragging about.
……
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