Chapter 116: Pirate Town (part 2)
“Phew~~”
“Little sister, this isn’t a place for someone your age. Where are your adults?”
The boss smoothed his breath with his hand, and when he spoke again, his tone wasn’t as irritable as before.
This wasn’t because he had a good temper; good guys couldn’t survive in a place like this.
It was because after he looked up and clearly saw Aoxi’s face, he naturally couldn’t get angry.
This was the discrepancy brought by attractiveness.
Just like what that pirate empress would say decades later: “Whatever I do will be forgiven, because I am too beautiful.”
With a face like this now, Aoxi could be as unreasonable as she wanted, and the other party would only think she was naughty, even a bit cute.
If it were Kaido instead, then… this shop would have everything.
“There’s no sign at the door saying no minors allowed~”
“Alright, alright, just give me some signboard snacks.”
The boss wanted to say more, but Aoxi directly waved her hand and sent him off.
She actually came here for serious business; the earlier provocation was just to draw the attention of everyone in the tavern.
She had no intention of finding a punching bag to vent all the pent-up frustration from the journey.
“Ahem!”
Seeing everyone notice her, Aoxi jumped down from the stool, arrogantly pushed it neatly back to its original position, then put her hands on her hips.
“OK! Brothers! All eyes on me, I have an announcement!”
With that, she pulled a stack of belly from her pants pocket and held it high.
“If anyone can arm wrestling win over me, these fifty thousand belly are his!”
Splash!
This was the sound of tables, chairs, and stools scraping across the floor; most people in the tavern stood up at this moment.
An eight- or nine-year-old little kid suddenly pulling out a not-small amount of belly in a place like this—it looked like a pie falling from the sky no matter how you saw it.
You have to know that the people in this town aren’t any good men or believers; you could hit seven or eight with bounties on their backs just by throwing a stone.
Because of the sky island magnetic field, almost all the pirates who set out from the starting point of the Grand Line and chose this route were trapped here.
Facing that recording pointer pointing to the sky, some pirates chose to mock themselves and then give up continuing the voyage, returning to the Four Seas.
Some pirates chose to pick another route and start over from the beginning.
And the remaining pirates chose to waste away on this small island, then mock every newcomer as “seniors.”
Most of the people in Magellan Town now are these pirates whose dreams were cut off, who voluntarily degenerated in the mud of reality.
So this place, like Hachinosu Island, is a pirate island in name and truth.
“Me!”
A skinny pirate was the first to react and raised his hand.
Almost all the money in his pocket had gone to the casinos in town, and he was currently in a state of not having money for food.
“Get lost! Skinny Monkey, it’s not your turn yet!”
A thick arm wrapped in chains directly flipped the skinny pirate over, then a big man with a full beard and bandages around his upper body stood up.
“It’s Fulaihai’er, his bounty is as high as five million belly.”
“Ground Demon”—Fulaihai’er, named for his habit of using the thick chains wrapped around his arm and long nails to nail opponents to the ground.
Having been famous for a long time with a solid bounty, he was a notable figure in all of Magellan Town.
“A man of his caliber wouldn’t care for this little money, right?”
“Didn’t you know? Heard he accidentally bumped into a group of passing great pirates before, and all his money was extorted.”
“Hiss~ What pirate dares to extort the Ground Demon?”
“Seemed like, seemed like it was called the Hound Pirate Crew. Heard their captain’s bounty is over twenty million!”
“That high?!”
“Yeah! Heard Fulaihai’er had his arm chains wrapped to the stern by that group, then thrown into the sea and dragged for several sea miles!”
“He only survived by offering up all his savings!”
“No wonder he’s been wrapped in bandages lately…”
Ignoring the surrounding chatter, Aoxi sat directly across from Fulaihai’er.
“Come on.”
“Hmph! Little girl, I don’t know your background. But with so many people watching, I just hope you can honor the bet.”
After that previous lesson, Fulaihai’er had become cautious overall, and he reined in his arrogance when facing unknowns.
“No problem! A real man keeps his word.”
“But just to be clear, I won’t go easy on you just because you’re injured.”
Aoxi slammed the stack of banknotes on the table—five genuine ten-thousand belly bills.
Burufaruto brand, honest dealing.
“Refreshing! Then I… Huh? What are you doing?”
Looking at the small hand extended by the other party, Fulaihai’er asked puzzledly.
“Entry fee! One thousand belly per time.”
“You weren’t really planning to get something for nothing, were you?”
“Uh…”
Fulaihai’er hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and squeezed out two five-hundred belly coins from his pants pocket.
The other party was right; he really didn’t dare believe in a deal with no investment for huge returns.
“Here!”
“Any other conditions, spill them all.”
Seeing how cooperative the other party was, Aoxi didn’t keep him in suspense.
“No other conditions. Just that if you lose, you must answer one question truthfully.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
“Good! Let’s go then.”
One big and one small hand awkwardly clasped together.
“Hah!”
Fulaihai’er twisted with all his might!
Fulaihai’er had the advantage!
Fulaihai’er was about to win!
Fulaihai’er narrowly lost…
Looking at his own arm, which was about to win, suddenly sweeping a hundred seventy degrees to slam onto the table, this five-million bounty pirate was momentarily stunned.
Huh?
What happened?
He, he lost just like that?
Impossible?
“You’re kidding! Fulaihai’er lost?!”
“You didn’t let her win on purpose because the little girl across is cute, did you?!”
“You passing up such a good opportunity, then I won’t hold back, Fulaihai’er.”
“Get lost, it should be my turn next!”
…
Ignoring the surrounding chatter, Aoxi stared into the other’s eyes with a smile and said:
“Hey~ you, whatever Ground Demon.”
“You said it—honor the bet. Now answer my question honestly.”
“Don’t think about lying; I can see through lies~”
“You, you ask.”
Without arguing or reneging, Fulaihai’er honestly honored the bet.
That burst of immense force just now made him realize that the abnormally cute little girl in front of him was someone he couldn’t afford to provoke.
And that “strange drift” a month ago had taught him to tuck in his tail when facing those stronger than him.
“Whoa~ I like sensible people like you.”
Aoxi pulled the other’s two five-hundred belly coins to herself, then propped her chin with both hands and asked:
“Islands floating in the sky—ever heard of them?”
