Chapter 181: First To Arrive
“Hm? What’s wrong? Mister Silbaz.”
“Ah, ah!”
“Nothing.”
Being suddenly asked such a cold question by Miss La, Rayleigh abruptly snapped out of his contemplation and quickly changed the topic.
“By the way, does Miss La actually know my surname?”
“Because I once saw Your Excellency’s bounty poster. After all, you might be even more famous than you imagine.”
“Haha! Being praised by such a cute person like Miss La, even I can’t help but feel proud.”
“But compared to a mortal like me, isn’t Miss La the more astonishing one? To lead a ship alone at such a young age…”
“The captain of the Beasts Pirates… I remember it’s Kaido, right? It seems Miss you have earned his deep trust.”
“You’re too kind. It’s just that the other executives in the crew aren’t suited to attend this occasion.”
『Other executives… So this little girl is actually an executive too.』
Thinking this in his mind, Rayleigh continued to fish for more useful intel from Miss La’s mouth under the guise of casual chat.
“Haha! No need to be modest. Kaido must feel secure sending Miss La you to lead the team, so surely Miss you have some extraordinary qualities?”
“It’s just that I’m relatively good at handling these trivial little matters.”
Miss La smiled as she looked at the man before her, who was like a silver vessel.
Though compared to Gem, his light wasn’t too dazzling and even instinctively restrained, a human who could emit his own light was already quite rare on this sea.
Perhaps Miss La’s line of sight was too direct, making Rayleigh feel a bit uncomfortable under her gaze.
It was clearly just an ordinary gaze from a girl, yet it gave him the illusion that his soul was being seen through.
With this in mind, Rayleigh gave up on continuing to probe her and turned his line of sight back to the kids’ group.
……
“Obei, get on your knees, sis is begging you—”
Bang!
Before Oxi could finish speaking, her forehead took another shot.
.”If you don’t speak properly next time, I’ll directly blast you in hand cannon mode.”
“Eh… no no no.”
Oxi covered her head with one hand and pulled Oberra to the corner with the other, whispering:
“Ahem~ It’s like this… blablabla~”
“What ‘blablabla’? Speak clearly, I don’t have a skip option here.”
“Tch~ eh ah~”
“I promised that red-nosed brat over there to give him a pistol.”
“Then just give him one. Isn’t grabbing any from the factory on the way back enough?”
Obei now had no interest in these old gadgets without any fantasy elements.
“Uh… I promised him a custom version, so…”
“So you don’t want me to make one for him?”
Obei looked into Oxi’s eyes, her tone gradually turning dangerous.
“No.”
Seeing Oxi shake her head before her, Obei’s expression gradually softened.
“Good, at least you know—”
“Not one, two.”
……
“Eh eh eh~ Don’t go, Obei!”
Seeing the other turn to head straight back to the cabin, Oxi immediately grabbed Obei’s sleeve and pleaded:
“Just do me a favor, help your sister out~”
“You don’t want your sister to lose face by failing to keep a promise to a child, right~”
“If word gets out, the moment you step out, people will point at you and say: ‘Oh~ Aren’t you the sister of that kid-deceiver?~'”
“I don’t care, but your fame…”
Obei was once again shocked by her own sister’s shameless logic.
She widened her eyes and stared closely at that face somewhat similar to her own, as if trying to discern what material this thing was made of.
What is this?
No face, invincible under heaven?
“Ha~”
Jhin had already proven that people laugh in extreme speechlessness, and now Obei said with a smile:
“I gotta say, you’re something else~ Waving your hand and making promises out there, then making me clean up your mess?”
She now felt like she was watching her husband come home from racking up gambling debts outside, then asking for money like a little wife.
“Hehe~ Who else but my best little sister~”
Seeing the other’s tone soften a bit, Oxi immediately showed a fawning smile.
“Daga, oral walu!”
Obei coldly rejected her the next second:
“The days of swiping your thick skin like a credit card are over!”
“Promises you made, you handle yourself. I don’t have the free time to waste on you.”
“But, but I can’t do it.”
Her usual foolproof method wasn’t working this time, and Oxi’s tone grew panicked.
“Whether you can or not is your problem, I don’t care and won’t get involved.”
“Either find someone else, or grab a fire poker and fake it. Don’t come to me again.”
Obei’s attitude was exceptionally firm this time.
“Come on~ Just help me out~ My dear Obei~”
Oxi still wouldn’t give up, hugging Obei’s arm and starting to act cute.
“If even you won’t help me, wadataxi…”
“HA NA SE!”
Obei mercilessly flung her hand away; she was tired of this guy’s fake performance.
“Gu~”
Oxi, who fell to the ground accordingly, weakly propped herself up on her side, covering her mouth and sobbing:
“If I’d known it would be like this, why did I bother begging my sister? Now it makes my sister seem like the villain; it’s my fault.”
“But the bitterness in my heart is even more mottled than that night on Sky Island with my sister.”
“Wah wah wah~”
Oxi’s whole act immediately drew everyone’s attention around them.
Feeling the gazes cast from all around, Obei felt as if countless eyes were pointing at her. Even though her resolve was firm, she couldn’t stand this kind of shameful play in public.
“Tch! Fine, I got it!”
“I got it!”
“Get up already.”
“If you don’t mind the embarrassment, I do!”
Thin-skinned ones can never beat thick-skinned ones, huh~
……
“Say it, red-nosed brat. What kind of gun do you want.”
Coming before Buggy, Obei asked impatiently with arms crossed.
“Ah! I… I want two guns. O, one gold…”
“Tch~”
“Alright alright, write down your requests on paper later and give it to me.”
Listening to the other’s stammering, Obei directly waved her hand to interrupt; she had something else she wanted to know more.
“By the way, what soul-bewitching potion did you feed that guy? Or did you promise her some ridiculous condition?”
“Ah! I, I just promised to let her pinch my nose.”
Buggy subconsciously shielded his red nose as he said.
“Ha? Just that?”
Obei raised an eyebrow in disbelief, and then…
Squeak—
A sound like a toy duck being squished echoed on the deck.
“Mm~ So this is the feel, like a rubber ball. Indeed quite fun.”
Obei casually withdrew her hand, nodded, and voiced her “post-pinch impression.”
Just now, before anyone could react, she had very naturally pinched Buggy’s red nose.
“Eh eh eh!”
“How could you!”
“I haven’t even pinched it yet!”
“Obei, you jerk!”
Before Buggy could say anything, Oxi couldn’t hold back first.
She’d endured so hard, thinking of honest business—one hand gun, one hand nose pinch—yet someone beat her to it!
It was like the little cake she’d put in the fridge for tomorrow being secretly eaten at night! No, a hundred times more infuriating!
And worse, she even described the feel after pinching!
Damn it, all the anticipation is gone in an instant!
Today’s win-loss: Oxi’s defeat~
