Chapter 148: Refill The Wine, Relight The Lamps, And Restart The Feast
“Kaido Captain, could you please explain?”
The newcomer’s voice was very gentle, but no emotions could be discerned.
Because he was facing away from the sun, Kaido couldn’t see her face clearly, but he, covered in blood, instinctively averted his gaze from those eyes staring straight at him.
“H-How come you’re here? Where’s Burufaruto?”
Kaido deliberately changed the subject, while cursing Burufaruto inwardly for being unreliable—he had clearly instructed him not to let her know about this.
When he got back, he would definitely…
“It has nothing to do with Burufaruto. I just happened to be right across from him when you contacted him.”
She seemed to see through Kaido’s mind at a glance and spoke up to clear Burufaruto, since he really hadn’t told her anything.
“Tch~ Then…”
“I brought the wine.”
“So now can you answer me? Why did you suddenly go out without a word, and end up beaten like this?”
“Because I wanted to fight, that’s the reason.”
Kaido directly closed his eyes and gave up.
“Mm, because of your willfulness, the remaining stock of Snow Wolf Wine on Fenrir Island has been cleared out.”
“I should have asked you—these wines were meant to be reserved as diplomatic gifts and foreign trade samples, right? They can’t be used lightly until the technology for artificially cultivating raw materials matures.”
“And you agreed at the time.”
“N-Nag! Even if I… I agreed then, so what? Can’t I change my mind now? I’m a pirate.”
“Morning orders changed by evening, breaking faith with subordinates—nothing could be worse.”
“Kaido Captain, I hope you understand that the harm of going back on your word and losing trust is far greater than those few barrels of wine. If today you for a bit of wine…”
“Alright, alright! I was wrong, okay?”
“Don’t say any more.”
Kaido directly turned his head to the side, then closed his eyes and lay flat on the spot.
“Gurahaha! Kaido brat, you’re really in a sorry state.”
Whitebeard, who had also come close, saw that Kaido was actually being lectured by a little girl who suddenly appeared until he couldn’t lift his head, and found it highly amusing.
“Is this your daughter? She’s really cute.”
Whitebeard carefully sized up the little girl in front of him.
Mm, judging by age she’s younger than Marco, but she’s extremely beautiful… no, actually, beautiful to an excessive degree.
And she gave him an extremely eerie sense of conflict.
Theoretically, anyone who saw this face once would absolutely never forget it, but after Whitebeard looked away, he immediately couldn’t recall her appearance.
It was simply the ultimate contradiction of the most unignorable thing and the most easily overlooked thing combined.
“No, this is an executive of my pirate crew, her name is Ra.”
In front of an acquaintance, Kaido felt too embarrassed to keep lying on the ground like an ostrich.
However, upon hearing Kaido’s words, Whitebeard frowned, his expression turning unpleasant.
“Putting a little girl like this in an executive position—you’re really regressing more and more, brat!”
As a typical chauvinist, Whitebeard was strongly opposed to bringing women to the battlefield.
Even Waidi Bei, whom he had taken in for special reasons, he usually tried not to let participate in battles.
Let alone that this Ra in front of him was still an underage child.
“Hmph! So what if she’s a child? When I was her age, I had already rolled through piles of corpses several times.”
“Newgate, don’t apply your ways to us!”
This was a clash of ideals between the two pirate crews.
The Whitebeard Pirates followed a typical patriarchal model, where Whitebeard as the father would try his best to shield his sons from wind and rain until they could stand on their own.
As for his daughters, he tried not to let them come into contact with danger.
Elders protecting the young, men protecting women.
A very simple and pure philosophy.
In comparison, Kaido seemed much more ‘modern’.
His pirate crew adhered to true egalitarianism.
No matter your race, gender, or age… as long as you have ability, you’re in a high position and can do as you please.
Otherwise, whether you live or die—who cares.
“You snot-nosed brat…”
“Hmph! Newgate!”
“I admit you’re strong, and I’m indeed not your match yet.”
“But those waste sons of yours who only hide behind you to avoid wind and rain— even all together, they’re no match for my Beasts Pirates executives!”
“Ra, show them what you can do.”
“…”
Whoosh—
A gust of wind blew by, but no one made a move.
“Ra—”
“Kaido Captain, I hope you understand. I came here this time to resolve the incident, not to start a new one.”
With that, she lightly made a gesture, and twenty wine barrels slowly descended from the sky.
『Mm? This ability is somewhat similar to that guy Shiki’s.』
Seeing this, Whitebeard roughly guessed how she had appeared on the island so silently.
This should be some kind of Devil Fruit power similar to【 Fruity-Fruity Fruit】 Superhuman.
“The wine has been delivered, so I’ll take the person now, Mister Edward.”
With that, she gave Kaido a look to follow, but Kaido clearly still didn’t want to leave.
“Don’t waste any more time, Kaido Captain.”
“Aoxi and the others will be back soon. You should return to the island to discuss the pirate crew’s next planning.”
“Oh? They’re coming back so soon?”
Hearing this, Kaido immediately got up, wiped the blood from his face—indeed, business matters more.
“I’ve given you the wine, Newgate. I have things to do, so…”
Kaido originally wanted to transform and leave directly, but seeing those wine barrels, he couldn’t quite step away.
“Guwoo~”
A full twenty barrels of wine!
Ten of them were top-grade Snow Wolf Wine that he usually hated to drink himself, and the other ten were undoubtedly no slouches either.
Kaido knew with Ra’s personality, once she promised something, she absolutely wouldn’t cut corners—if she said it was the best wine on the island, it certainly was.
Lately, with this brat watching him, he hadn’t gotten to drink heartily much…
“Gurahaha! Sons! Banquet time!”
Completely ignoring Kaido’s gaze, Whitebeard directly shouted to his sons on the shore to come over, preparing to drink heartily.
As one of the top overlords in the New World, surprisingly he hadn’t drunk much good wine.
Having sent almost all his treasure back to his hometown, this world-shaking man usually could only afford the cheapest wine, or occasionally mooch some from his sons to satisfy his craving.
“Ooh~ Banquet, banquet!”
Once again, Marco the overly energetic intern was the first to arrive—the ability of the Bird-Bird Fruit always let him outpace others.
“Whoa? Such a pretty girl!”
“Old Man, who’s this?”
“This is an executive of my pirate crew.”
Kaido answered first.
“Executive? A kid this young is an executive?”
Marco was a bit skeptical—after all, he was still just an intern on the ship.
“If you come to my side, I’ll make you an executive too.”
“Hey! Kaido, why haven’t you left yet? I’m starting the banquet—get lost!”
“Uro-ro-ro! Don’t be so distant.”
“We haven’t seen each other in years—let’s properly get together this time.”
With that, Kaido smoothly picked up a wine barrel from the ground, popped the lid, and poured it into his mouth.
“Gulp gulp~”
“Ha~!”
Lucky draw—it’s Snow Wolf Wine!
Smelling the overflowing wine aroma, Whitebeard couldn’t sit still either.
“Hey! Put down my wine!”
“Don’t be so stingy~ Hey, you Pineapple Head brat, move all these to Newgate’s ship—we’re having a banquet!”
