Chapter 230: Chance Encounter (part 1)
Red Line, forty kilometers north of Mary Geoise, behind a small dirt hill.
Three figures, one large and two small, were huddled together, squatting on the ground as if studying something.
“Eh… so amazing, what is this thing?”
“Shh—don’t talk, she can’t be disturbed right now.”
“Ah… oh, oh!”
……
“Hum~ Heaven spirit earth spirit~ Supreme Lord Lao come show your spirit~”
“Bless me to succeed this time!”
“This is already the seventy-eighth time, it should hit the soft pity by now~”
“Please don’t get off-banner!”
Muttering words no one could understand, in the red-haired girl’s palm, a dice-sized Golden Cube was gradually turning the same color as her hair.
This process was extremely slow, and judging by the girl’s whole body straining, it was also very taxing…
The blue-haired girl beside her had her hands clasped tightly, staring at the red-haired girl’s palm while silently calculating in her mind…
『77%…83%…95%…98%… just a little bit more.』
Finally, as the progress bar in the blue-haired girl’s mind reached the end, that Golden Cube fully transformed into a vibrant crimson red!
Sizzle—!
A thunderous sound not of this world flashed through everyone’s Soul.
“Mmm hmm hmm… yay! Success!”
“Wuhu~”
“This Young Master did it!”
Clap! Clap!
The red-haired girl excitedly stood up and high-fived the blue-haired girl and the black-haired middle-aged man beside her.
“Haha! I really am a genius!”
“Mm-hmm~”
Picking up the crimson Cube—or rather, 【Phantom God Alloy·Red】—Aoxi admired it jubilantly.
Unlike the one synthesized with Obei, which was as serene as Death【Phantom God Alloy·Blue】, the Cube in Aoxi’s hand brimmed with fervent agitation, like a Volcano ready to erupt at any moment.
“Now I have a lead on my Special Weapon. Let me think, what should I make it into… spear? Great Sword?”
“No no no, definitely Gloves…”
“Haha! This thing looks so pretty! Little Girl, what is this?”
Just as Aoxi was lost in thought, the black-haired middle-aged Uncle nearby asked curiously.
“Hmph~ This, well, this is…”
“Hm?”
“Wait, Uncle, who are you?”
“Why are you here?”
Only now, fully focused on handcrafting the alloy, did Aoxi notice the extra person beside her.
『Only noticing now?!』*n
A Navy patrol team that had watched the entire process from afar all inwardly complained.
“Obei?”
“Don’t look at me, I don’t know either.”
“This Uncle has been here since earlier. I didn’t ask because I was afraid of disturbing you.”
Facing Aoxi’s questioning gaze, Obei responded matter-of-factly. To her, nothing was more important than a successful Experiment.
“Uh… so Uncle, who exactly are you?”
“Haha! I’m Navy on Patrol around here.”
“Little Girl, have you seen any suspicious people around lately?”
The black-haired middle-aged man dusted off his Pants and stood up, asking casually.
“No.”
Aoxi shook her head innocently.
“We’ve been here for many days and haven’t seen a single living soul… ah, except you guys.”
“Is that so~ This is really Trouble…”
The middle-aged man scratched his Head, looking annoyed.
“What’s up? Is something wrong?”
“It’s like this. Lately, it seems some restless guys have been doing bomb attacks, disturbing a group of annoying World Nobles up ahead.”
“Eh…? What terrorist stuffed themselves and came all the way up here for attacks?”
“Who says it isn’t~”
“Those scum in the south are overreacting too. Such a small thing and they make me come out personally.”
The middle-aged man picked his nose, looking displeased.
“Oh~ Wage slave on overtime, that’s rough.”
“Uncle, you have it hard too~ Actually having to duty in a godforsaken place like this.”
Aoxi patted his calf in comfort.
“Alright alright, you two Brats, if nothing’s wrong, hurry home. Don’t stay in this dangerous place.”
“What if you run into those bomb guys or those Celestial Dragon scum? That’d be Trouble.”
Garp reminded them kindly. In his mind, the latter were far more dangerous than the former.
“Bogard, split off a team to escort these two Brats home.”
“Um, Vice Admiral Garp…”
The man in the Suit named Bogard hesitated to speak.
Aoxi thought he was troubled, so she waved her hand grandly:
“Eh! No need to trouble you guys.”
“Since the Experiment’s done, we can just fly back.”
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Indigo and crimson Light flashed by, and two pairs of distinctly styled Wings unfurled from behind Obei and Aoxi.
“Bye-bye, Uncle.”
“Mm, take care on the way.”
“You too. Hope you get off work soon.”
……
“Wait a minute!”
Just as the three were about to wave goodbye, Bogard finally couldn’t hold back and spoke up.
“Hm?”*3
Seeing the three puzzled faces turn toward him, sweat began to faintly bead on Bogard’s forehead under his hat brim.
“Vice Admiral Garp, these two might be the culprits disturbing the Holy Land.”
Aoxi: “Holy Land?”
Obei: “Disturbing?”
Garp: “Culprits?!”
The one large and two small faces looked at each other in bewilderment.
“You’re joking, right? How could kids this small…”
“Vice Admiral Garp, they’re not ordinary kids!”
“They’re Beasts Pirates Executives!”
Bogard placed one hand on his sword hilt and pulled a Newspaper from his pocket, showing its contents to Garp.
“Eh! Is, is that so?”
Garp’s eyes widened in disbelief as he looked at the Photograph in the Newspaper, then at the innocent-looking Aoxi and Obei.
“They don’t look like it at all…”
Due to Morgans’ candid shutterbug genius, the photos of the two little ones in the Newspaper had a vibe that severely mismatched—even opposite—their real selves.
Of course, ordinary people would recognize them at a glance.
But Garp wasn’t ordinary…
Looking at the cold, arrogant 【Underworld Princess】 in the photo, then at the lively, cheerful little girl in front of him…
Is this photo you.jpg
Doesn’t look like it at all~
The blue Little Girl next to her too—icy cold, totally different from the grinning Brat in the photo…
“Th-this photo is you two?”
“Mm~ It’s us~ What’s wrong?”
“You’re Pirates?”
“No metal—”
“Aoxi, we should go.”
Obei had already realized they were specifically here for them.
But since the Experiment was done, she didn’t want extra trouble and urged Aoxi to leave quickly.
“Eh~ Wait! You can’t leave!”
“Are you the ones making explosions near the Holy Land?”
“No.”
Obei said calmly and steadily, her firm tone making even Garp doubt himself.
“Do you have any connection to the Beasts Pirates?”
“No.”
“This Newspaper…”
“Fake News.”
“But…”
Garp wanted to say more, but Obei cut him off:
“Mister, if you can’t produce direct evidence linking us to the incident you’re investigating, please let us leave first.”
“After all, we’re just ordinary passersby.”
“Oh well~ So that’s it.”
“Sorry, wasted your time.”
Garp clapped his hands, ready to let them go.
But just as Obei was about to pull Aoxi away, a Den Den Mushi rang out…
“Puru~ Puru~”
“Hello, who is it?”
Pulling the Den Den Mushi from her bag, Obei answered directly.
“It’s me, Obei.”
An ethereal voice came from the other end.
“Captain Kaido wants you back now. We’re about to go to war with the Wald Pirates.”
“…”
“Yes, understood.”
Click~
The Den Den Mushi hung up, and Obei calmly put it back in her bag.
The atmosphere at the scene suddenly became awkward.
