Chapter 152 Arriving at Mogu Town, the Junior's Request for a Duel
On the coast of the Kingdom of Women, Yameng looked at the small sailboat going farther and farther away, feeling a little nostalgic.
"Goodbye, Arthur."
The stern of the sailboat rotated automatically and the sail was raised to leave Amazon Lily.
On the deck of the sailboat, Cooper was holding a record pointer and a map, while Arthur was analyzing the information in the newspaper.
"After that battle, they actually united to fight against the navy?" Arthur realized the consequences of that battle on the pirate forces.
This greatly weakened the combat capability of a hegemonic force, allowing the navy to take advantage of the situation and trigger a war that lasted for a whole year.
The Beehive Island incident saw a great unity among pirates unprecedented in the history of pirates.
This was something he had not expected.
"Cooper." (Arthur, let's go to the Sabaody Archipelago, where we can get information about Barrett.) Cooper acted as a navigator and sought advice from Arthur.
"It's a good choice for the start of a comeback." Arthur said to it, "Listen to you, Cooper, be more decisive and don't ask me everything."
"Ku..." (Oh)
"Wait, do we have money?" Arthur asked Cooper.
"Cooper!?" (Where did we get the money, Arthur? We have been eating and living in the Kingdom of Women for free this year) Cooper reminded.
"Okay, then you can just perform on the streets and make some money."
Cooper shook his head helplessly. Arthur had many ways to make money, but he didn't expect that he would let him make money.
"Don't want to?" Arthur noticed that Cooper was a little reluctant, and said, "Then let's sell the boat and steal another one when the time comes."
"Cooper." (Arthur, the best town to get intelligence information is here.) Cooper pointed to the Grand Line Navigation Map.
Arthur leaned over and looked at the location on the map that Cooper's eagle claw fingernail was pointing to.
It is Mogu Town near Gaya Island, a lawless area.
"Going there again? Well, let's go." Arthur agreed immediately.
After confirming the destination, Cooper walked to the rudder and began to steer the sailboat.
Arthur put away the newspaper, walked from the side of the boat to the stern, drew out the black knife Ice Dragon and sat at the stern and began to swing it.
Every swing creates a powerful driving force for the sailboat, allowing it to sail quickly in the doldrums.
This greatly reduces the sailing time.
From morning to noon, we arrived at the Magic Valley Town Pier in less than a few hours.
In the afternoon, as dusk approached, the sea beyond was a fiery red.
Gaya Island, Mogu Town Pier.
Celebratory pirate music and singing spread throughout the town.
Although it is a lawless area, the living standards of the pirates on the island are not low.
A small sailboat slowly approached the shore, led by a red-haired boy named Shanks.
Following him on the left was a taller man with a cigarette dangling from his lips named Ben Beckman.
On the right side, there is a fat man holding barbecue and smiling. His name is Laki Lu.
"It's a no-man's land, it looks really messy. I hope there are some pretty women here..." Ben Beckman looked at the living environment on the island with curiosity.
There were robberies, gunfights, and endless fights everywhere.
"Boss, what kind of people can we recruit here? These people are just a bunch of trash!" Laki Lu said loudly while standing at the dock.
Such words caused dissatisfaction among the people at the Mogu Town dock, and they all moved towards the three of them.
Shanks wore a straw hat and overalls, and pulled the brim of his hat down. He looked up at everyone with a smile on his face:
“I hope some powerful characters will appear.”
Just as he finished speaking, the calm Shanks saw an eagle on top of the pier signpost stretching its neck, swaying to the music and enjoying it.
This made his calm expression pale and he recognized Cooper with three claw marks on his eyes.
He walked to the dock sign, looked up and met Cooper's gaze, and asked, "Cooper? If you are here, then... he should be in this town too, right?"
"Him?" Seeing Shanks's shocked expression, Laki Lu curiously asked who it was: "Who are you asking about, Boss?"
"As for Condor Cooper, the rumor that the legendary man killed John alone for it a year ago has been circulating to this day." Ben Beckman watched Cooper happily swaying his body to the music.
I have already figured out in my mind who Shanks was talking about.
"Ku..." Kuber opened his eyes and looked at Shanks, who now looked somewhat mature, and recognized him at a glance.
Suddenly, Cooper spread his wings and greeted him.
"Is Arthur...Mr.... here too, Cooper?" Shanks continued to ask him, sweating profusely.
Cooper stretched out his claws and pointed at a bar near the dock.
Shanks immediately led the two of them over there.
"It's so exciting, is that man really there?" said Ben Beckman, who is now four years older than Arthur, expectantly.
"A man who created so many rumors by himself, hahaha, I didn't expect he would be on this island!" Laki Lu said excitedly after taking a bite of the meat in his hand.
Shanks, with a serious look on his face, led them to the door of the bar that Cooper pointed to.
"I say, do you have any money? You can't eat and drink for free here, understand?"
"If you don't have money, just pay with your fingers! I'll rip you off so you'll learn a lesson..."
He looked at the bar counter, where a group of criminals surrounded and threatened Arthur, who was wearing a black robe and had thick hair.
He immediately opened the door and walked towards that place.
He took out a bag of money from his waist, squeezed into the crowd and put it in front of the table: "I'll buy this man's drink."
"Ah?" The criminals were stunned and looked at Shanks: "Who are you?"
"This is my senior. Please be flexible and give him some face." Shanks said to them politely.
"Well... for the sake of money, let's do this." The boss picked up the purse and agreed immediately: "But let me tell you in advance, this guy is holding expensive wine!"
"I understand. Just charge according to the price. Don't say anything more." Shanks sat next to Arthur, without any aura of a captain.
He sat upright, staring at Arthur with a somewhat surprised look on his face as if he looked sad.
"I'm so sad... I'm so poor on my 23rd birthday, I even want to kill them to cheer me up." Arthur slowly turned his head and looked at Shanks who was smiling beside him.
Such words surprised Shanks and his two deputies.
He said he wanted to kill people right away. That's too scary.
"Uh... this is not like you..." Ben Beckman observed Shanks' behavior, as if he was full of respect for Arthur.
"Birthday? What a joke! A person of your level has a birthday, and no one helps you celebrate?!" Laki Lu couldn't believe it.
It was so loud that everyone else in the bar was confused.
The boss, in particular, had a look of fear on his face, as if he felt he had offended some big shot.
"Um, Mr. Arthur, why are you here?" Shanks asked him respectfully.
In response to Shanks' question, Arthur stated his purpose: "To get information. Do you know where Barrett is?"
Barrett…another character with a terrifying reputation that shocked everyone.
"Uh, this... I'm not really sure..." Shanks said with a wry smile: "But, today is your birthday, right? Let us celebrate for you, Mr. Arthur!"
"You kid, you don't have any purpose, do you?" Arthur narrowed his eyes and stared at Shanks, then glanced at the two people behind him.
I thought to myself, “Has this guy recruited Laki Lu and Ben Beckman now?”
"Hahaha, no, no, Mr. Arthur! It's just a reunion party after a long separation. Come on and drink! Drink!" Shanks picked up the wine and poured it for Arthur himself.
"You are probably not yet an adult, right? How can you drink?" Arthur continued to ask him.
"Don't care so much. We are pirates, Mr. Arthur. Buggy and I have drunk together in private so many times before, haha." Shanks smiled and raised his glass to Arthur.
Even Roger gave up his will. He didn't want to follow the world government's legal drinking age of 18.
"..." Arthur raised his glass and clinked it with his, then drank the expensive whiskey in one gulp.
"Time flies so fast, Mr. Arthur." Shanks drank a glass and reminisced about the past with Arthur.
"Yeah, you also offered a reward of 100 million berries? You defeated one of the Shichibukai, right?" Arthur said to him, remembering the news in the newspaper.
"It's okay. Compared to you, Mr. Arthur, I'm nothing." Shanks even felt that he could not compare with Arthur.
Seeing Shanks so low-key, completely different from when he was in Rogue Town, Arthur snorted and laughed.
"Let's not talk about that for now, let's celebrate Mr. Arthur's 23rd birthday!" Shanks stood at the front desk and shouted to everyone in the bar: "Everyone, I'll buy you a drink, but how about you help me celebrate my senior's birthday!"
"Oh——!" Hearing that someone was treating them, all the guests in the bar, led by Shanks' atmosphere, cheered for Arthur.
"Hiss..." Arthur was a little confused. Finally, he understood why Shanks was able to recruit so many powerful partners.
In terms of how to deal with people and the baking atmosphere, I have learned the essence of Roger.
The party began and there was laughter and joy in the bar.
After three rounds of drinking, Shanks carried Ben Beckman to Arthur and introduced him:
"Mr. Arthur, this is the partner I recruited during my trip to the North Sea. He is ten years older than me. His name is Ben Beckman and he is extremely powerful!"
"It's a pleasure to have heard of your name. In your hometown in the North Sea, they all call you the Lone Dragon." Ben Beckman saw that Shanks respected Arthur so much.
Naturally, he lowered his body and greeted Arthur.
He then picked up his glass and clinked it with Arthur's.
"Do you know where Barrett is?" Arthur asked Beckman after drinking Beckman's toast.
"Uh..." Beckman was stunned and responded, "I only know that there are rumors on the sea recently that he is wreaking havoc, but the exact location is not clear."
Arthur was a little disappointed to see that the other party didn't know.
"This is Lu, Laki Lu, Mr. Arthur, a super fast chef who cooks super delicious food!"
Faced with Shanks' enthusiastic introduction, Arthur seemed very calm and responded to him with a smile.
"How fast?" Arthur felt a little emotional about this.
Shanks was stunned when he heard Arthur's words, a little embarrassed: "Uh... Anyway, it's very fast. Compared with you, it's a little slow."
"Boss!" Laki Lu was a little unhappy when he heard this: "I want to see how strong the guy who made you humble yourself is."
"Lu!" Shanks hurriedly stopped him, knowing that Lu wanted to help him save face.
"It's okay, just a little exchange." Lu insisted on getting up.
"Oh?" Arthur was also interested after hearing this and asked him, "How do we compete?"
"Of course it's a duel, a friendly duel." Lu said to Arthur and found that the other's eyes turned cold.
"Friendship? Isn't it a duel of life and death?" Arthur looked sharply at Laki Lu's fat body.
With this body type, yet so fast? The contrast is quite big.
Laki Lu felt that Arthur didn't mean it as a joke when he talked about a life-and-death duel, and cold sweat broke out on his forehead.
At the same time, he felt an invisible sense of oppression from Arthur, causing him to swallow.
"Haha... Mr. Arthur, don't bother with him..." Shanks saw that Arthur was serious and hurried to persuade him: "Let's drink... drink..."
Arthur stood up, picked up the black knife Ice Dragon and stretched: "I drank too much, I want to stretch my limbs."
"Oh, I told you to be careful with your words..." Shanks was helpless, covering his face and shaking his head.
"I...how would I know that he would talk about life and death so easily..." Laki Lu was a little shocked, although as a pirate.
But from the aura, it can be felt that his level is completely not on the same level as Arthur.
He also didn't know much about Arthur's deeds.
"Mr. Arthur is a man who often deals with the god of death. You should be careful." Shanks had no choice but to hope that Arthur would show mercy.
"Let's go, Fatty." Arthur walked towards the door and called out to Laki Lu with his back turned.
Laki Lu followed Arthur's footsteps. Since the challenge had already been issued, there was no point in being timid and he just went for it.
Next to the street lamp late at night.
The streets of the dock town of Mogu Town.
Lu and Arthur stood opposite each other, about ten meters apart.
"A duel of life and death, or friendship? I won't hold back my strength, so you better be careful." Arthur yawned and asked Laki Lu.
Laki Lu, who had been intimidated by Arthur, stammered to him, "Friendship...Friendship...Friendship."
"Well, come on." Arthur held the scabbard in his left hand and waved at him with his right hand to attack.
boom!
The moment he finished speaking, Laki Lu gritted his teeth, disappeared from the sight of everyone on the street, and rushed towards Arthur.
The speed was so fast that ordinary people could not catch it with their naked eyes. In an instant, he appeared behind Arthur and punched Arthur in the back of the head.
Arthur turned around and twisted his neck to dodge. The terrifying punch rushed from his neck into the air behind him. Arthur tilted his head and praised him, "So decisive."
"The attack was detected in advance..." Laki Lu was shocked. So far, no one he met had ever noticed his speed.
When Laki Lu was about to move again, he felt his throat tighten.
Arthur grabbed the fat and thick neck with his bare hands, threw it into the air, and slammed it onto the wooden floor.
"Ahem..." Laki Lu's body suffered a violent collision and he coughed up a trace of blood from his mouth.
"Okay... okay! Mr. Arthur, the winner has been decided..." Seeing this, Shanks immediately went over to stop it.
Beckman on the side was so shocked that his scalp was tingling, analyzing Arthur's movements and breath.
Whether attacking or dodging, his heart was eerily calm, without even the slightest fluctuation.
How can Laki Lu defeat such a person?
"Huh..." Arthur let go of Lucky Lu's neck, watched Shanks go to check on his partner, and asked, "Where's Buggy? Isn't he with you, Shanks?"
Shanks looked at Laki Lu who had fainted with a serious expression.
I feel that Arthur was too harsh, as if he had no regard for my past friendship and had not given me any face at all.