Chapter 178: Chance Encounter
“Ah~ So boring~”
“Sister La, when can we get there~”
On the deck, Aoxi yawned boredly.
Since departing from Fenrir’s port until now, they had been drifting at sea for several days.
Clearly in the New World, but this voyage so far had not encountered any extreme weather… bright sunshine during the day, gentle sea breeze at night, making people drowsy.
This dull and boring voyage was really hard for the bouncy Aoxi to endure.
“We’re now approaching the outermost edge of the Totland Sea Area, and we should arrive at the destination by tomorrow at the latest.”
“Eh— Still one more day~”
Hearing Sister La’s answer, Aoxi directly went limp like a noodle and hung on the fence.
“By the way, that Obei is really impressive, staying in the cabin these past few days, doesn’t she get bored?”
“She won’t.”
Sister La answered affirmatively.
Facing Obei’s obviously abnormal routine, she surprisingly hadn’t shown any intention to interfere up to now.
Speaking of which, not long ago after watching those tech old-timers from South Blue tinker out many black tech gadgets, Obei followed suit and made a cybernetic prosthetic limb.
And after discovering that this thing actually worked, she was like having her Ren and Du Meridians opened, completely obsessed with the feeling of doing her own science DIY.
She finally understood why the scientists in this world liked to do their own thing.
No one pointing fingers, completely relying on her own will to assemble the things imagined in her mind into reality… this feeling was simply too exhilarating!
Now Obei was like finally breaking through the unconscious self-imposed restriction called “common sense,” then finding a brand new track, with her entire style shifting in a strange direction.
【Qua! The invincible “God’s Talent” can’t be limited by mere “common sense”!】
【As long as I want to, then I can do it!】
The gear named Obelisk finally started turning at this moment!
Hearing the “sizzle sizzle sizzle” sounds from the cabin and her own sister’s occasional bursts of mad laughter, Aoxi dismissed the idea of going in to check.
“Sigh~”
“You say, no ship passes by for me to command~ This is really~”
Aoxi sighed, then changed her expression and flopped back onto the railing.
“There is one.”
“Eh? Really?!”
“Where, where?”
Hearing that there was really a ship nearby, Aoxi bounced up with a “whoosh,” finally catching sight of other living people!
“It’s twenty sea miles ahead of us, and the other side has quite a few people.”
In Sister La’s perception, the other side had about twenty-one people, and the intensity of several of those presences was not even weaker than Kaido’s.
However, the reason it was “about” was because one of those presences was very strange.
Just like Schrödinger’s cat, when Sister La focused her perception on him, he definitely existed, but when she slightly shifted her perception away, that person immediately ceased to exist.
（The non-existent twenty-first person）
“Then what are we waiting for, hurry and steer the ship over, Sister La!”
“No need to rush, the other side has also spotted us and is heading this way.”
“And this group isn’t simple.”
Twenty sea miles was already beyond the range perceivable by ordinary Observation Haki, and also exceeded the visual horizon limit on the sea; both sides’ figures should have been completely obscured by the sea horizon.
But for the other side to sense each other’s presence at such a distance like Sister La, their Observation Haki was definitely top-tier.
“Be careful, their intentions are unclear, get ready for battle first.”
Being cautious is always the right choice.
Hearing Sister La’s words, the other crew members on the ship returned to their posts one after another, entering full alert.
Twenty minutes later…
“Yo~ Hello there, beautiful little girl.”
“Are you heading to the Whole Cake Island founding ceremony?”
A lean man wearing a captain’s hat and sporting a mustache leaned at the ship’s prow, smiling and greeting toward Sister La’s side.
“Mm, that’s right.”
Sister La nodded to the other side, saying nothing extra.
She had already recognized who the person was.
“Haha! What a coincidence then.”
After getting an affirmative answer, the man nodded to a blond man at his side, then raised his voice again:
“Is your captain here? We want to discuss something with him.”
“Our captain isn’t here.”
“Eh? The captain isn’t here?”
“Oh~ This is a bit troublesome.”
Clearly, the absence of a captain on a sailing ship was beyond his expectations.
“Then little girl, who is in charge of this ship?”
“It’s me.”
“Eh?!”
“I am the highest person in charge on this ship.”
Sister La repeated.
Seeing the other’s surprised and somewhat incredulous expression, Sister La smoothly asked:
“May I ask who Your Excellency is…”
“Ah? Ah… Oh!”
“My name is Roger, Gol D. Roger. I’m a pirate.”
『It’s him after all, didn’t expect to run into him like this.』
The name and face matched the man from her impressions who died once at the beginning of every episode, even Sister La felt a bit emotional.
『Pirate King, huh…』
“Oh oh oh! You’re that Roger?!”
Before Sister La could speak again, Aoxi couldn’t hold back and flew right in front of the man, wanting to take a close look at this “living” Pirate King.
“Captain, be careful.”
An unseen Mythical Zoan suddenly appeared on their ship in an instant; the people around Roger, including Rayleigh, were all a bit tense.
That speed was no joke; almost none of their Observation Haki had reacted!
“Hahaha! No worries, this little one has no malice.”
Compared to the others’ tension, Roger seemed rather carefree, showing no wariness toward Aoxi at all.
Besides his natural disposition, like a typical protagonist setup, Roger also had an ability beyond the ordinary.
That was his Observation Haki could “hear the voices of all things.”
And now, though he couldn’t hear Aoxi’s own voice, everything around her was telling Roger that the girl before him was no dangerous person.
Looking at this equally exceptionally pretty little one in front of him, Roger asked kindly:
“Little girl, do you know me too?”
“Of course, I’ve seen your face countless times in all sorts of places.”
“I’m Osiris, nice to meet you~”
Aoxi extended her little hand.
Now she wouldn’t have to say the awkward line “I know the Pirate King, but the Pirate King doesn’t know me” anymore.
“Haha! What an interesting brat!”
Roger unceremoniously shook Aoxi’s hand, then turned to his first mate and the two kids beside him:
“Rayleigh, and Shanks and Buggy, looks like your luck is good; this journey won’t be boring.”
“Yeah.”
Rayleigh nodded, releasing his grip on the sword hilt.
After confirming the other had no hostility, he too developed some interest in this self-familiar little girl.
As for the redhead and Red Nose duo on the ship, they were currently hiding behind the mast, peeking at Aoxi with half their heads exposed.
“Hey, hey! Shanks, that sister has red hair just like you! But she looks so pretty!”
“Mm, and she’s really strong. I didn’t see her movements clearly at all just now.”
“It was just like a bolt of red lightning.”
“Ah?! What red nose! Are you mocking me, you guy?”
“I said lightning~ lightning!”
……
Thinking about it, Obei sticking to the traditional science route honestly won’t work; the later tech in One Piece is way too wild, with stuff like Gundam cyborgs coming out. Sure enough, she still has to go the shrimp dumpling route~
