Chapter 271: Saving “big Ice” Kaido
Time rewound to after Kaido drank and collapsed to the floor…
Due to being caught off guard by this sudden incident, the scene briefly showed signs of losing control.
After all, according to that pirate whose entire arm was already severely frostbitten, Kaido now had no breath.
A man as monstrously strong as a monster, who had been captured and executed dozens of times by the Navy without a single hair out of place, and had forged an indestructible body through countless battles, actually collapsed directly after taking a sip of alcohol, his breath cut off…
This made everyone suspect if something Devil Fruit-related had been mixed into the alcohol.
But fortunately, as soon as a certain name was shouted by Em, the pirates on site calmed down instantly, as if they had swallowed a calming pill.
After that great battle a few months ago, the name Miss La gained a special kind of magic within the Beasts Pirates.
She was not the captain, but sometimes she was even better than the captain.
Like a magical incantation, no matter what problem arose, shouting this name would definitely solve it.
Even in a situation like now, where the real captain seemed to have kicked the bucket.
『Miss La, this name seems…』
Hana-zō, who had witnessed all this from the side, grew even more curious about the person named Miss La.
The last time he came here, he had heard Kaido and that red-haired little girl mention this name; it seemed she was her sister…
But how to put it, Kaido’s attitude toward the person named Miss La was extremely strange—strange enough that Hana-zō couldn’t find a suitable adjective for it at the moment.
“Buru~Buru~”
The Den Den Mushi’s sound rang out, drawing Hana-zō’s line of sight over.
“Hello, this is Miss La.”
The Den Den Mushi was picked up and began imitating; as expected, it was a girl’s voice… a girl’s voice that was very pleasant—in fact, almost too pleasant.
『It was just like the legendary Siren…』
『What kind of person was the other party, exactly?』
The restlessness in Hana-zō’s heart was soothed by this magical voice, and he even began inappropriately imagining her appearance… but his wild thoughts were quickly interrupted by Wright’s anxious voice.
“Miss La, bad news—Governor-General Kaido is in trouble!”
Hearing that it was indeed Miss La’s voice on the other end, Wright hurriedly explained the current situation.
“Go on.”
The voice on the other end remained calm, completely unaffected by Wright’s urgency.
“Governor-General Kaido just drank that barrel of Snow Wolf Wine you brewed back then.”
“Oh.”
“You mean that failed batch?”
“Did you accidentally take it out?”
Still with a completely flat tone, as if hearing a boring cold joke.
That barrel of Snow Wolf Wine marked with a golden wolf head was an experimental batch that Miss La had made at the time to improve the recipe and increase production.
But the result was that the potency was too strong; the thing that came out was completely unsuitable for ordinary people to drink.
That rollercoaster-like sensation of life and death cycles was too intense; people without a strong enough constitution would even drop dead on the spot after drinking it…
Later, due to an accident, it was discovered that the alcoholic beverage it volatilized helped improve the quality of other ordinary Snow Wolf Wine. Plus, Miss La had lost interest in further refining the recipe at the time, so it was locked away in the corner of the wine cellar.
But this time, because the wine cellar had been filled with all sorts of new wine as compensation from the World Government, the space inside was all messed up and crammed full, leading to the mix-up during transport…
“No need to worry; Captain Kaido won’t die. He’ll just be unconscious for a while.”
Miss La spoke to reassure them.
“But, but the Governor-General has no breath anymore…”
“Hm? Just one sip normally wouldn’t cause such a violent reaction.”
After all, normal people wouldn’t take a second sip of this stuff in short order; with just one sip’s amount, for Kaido’s constitution, it would at most cause blackout like with Hana-zō for a while.
“Uh… Captain Kaido drank quite a bit this time, um…”
Wright found it hard to describe Kaido’s posture when drinking; in any case, normal people probably wouldn’t grab the barrel and pour it straight down their throat like that.
“How much did he drink?”
Miss La asked directly.
“…Half a barrel.”
“…”
“Miss La?”
The silence on the other end made Wright start to feel unease.
After a long while, Miss La finally spoke:
“Just leave it like that; no need to do anything.”
“Eh?”
“This, this means Governor-General Kaido will wake up on his own?”
Wright and everyone else secretly breathed a sigh of relief in their hearts.
“No, this means for you all to be careful yourselves and not get frostbitten by that lump of stuff.”
“Ah?! Then, then what about Governor-General Kaido?”
“You don’t need to worry about him.”
“Phew~ That’s good then.”
“Anyway, it won’t rot and stink for a while; just deal with it after the alcohol’s effects wear off.”
Miss La’s current tone sounded just like she was instructing Wright on how to dispose of a wet lump of garbage on the floor.
“Ah, ah?”
Wright on the other end of the Den Den Mushi had his eyes widen upon hearing Miss La’s words.
“D-don’t joke, Miss La. Hurry and tell us how to save Governor-General Kaido!”
“Regrettably, the one joking isn’t me.”
“Downing half a barrel in one go… Since Captain Kaido likes to drink in such a joking manner, letting him rot like a joke sounds pretty good too.”
“Drinking himself to death… It sounds ridiculous, but it suits him pretty well, doesn’t it?”
“…”
Wright on the other end of the Den Den Mushi fell silent; he didn’t know what to say and could only turn his gaze to Em.
“Sigh~”
Taking the Den Den Mushi from Wright’s hand, Em spoke helplessly:
“Miss La, this time it was Mr. Kaido’s fault; he got a bit carried away.”
“From now on, regarding drinking matters, I’ll help keep an eye on him too; I won’t let Mr. Kaido be so unrestrained again like this time.”
“So please come save him this once.”
“…”
“I’m busy with my own things right now.”
“You all go find Aoxi and have her give Captain Kaido simple CPR.”
After a long silence, Miss La finally spoke.
After all, she couldn’t really let Kaido just croak like a joke, right~
“Don’t do it yourself; physical flames can’t defend against that chill.”
“Got it.”
Click~
Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Miss La let out a soft sigh.
『Phew~ I hope this time it’ll teach you a lesson, Captain Kaido.』
『Fine wine, delicacies, beauties… those are certainly tempting, but ‘dream’ is the only desire truly worth your indulgence.』
…
“Uh… so Boss Kaido got poisoned by fake alcohol?”
Aoxi, who had received the Den Den Mushi call, rushed to the banquet hall without stopping; as soon as she entered, she saw everyone circled around like they were observing a crime scene.
And in the center of the circle was Kaido, who was neither breathing in nor out.
“Eek~ This is way too tragic; even his soul’s frozen into an icicle.”
Walking closer along the path cleared by the pirates, Aoxi was instantly chilled and rubbed her arms.
Compared to others who only got frostbitten on touch, Aoxi, who was extremely sensitive to souls, could directly sense that chill permeating between souls.
“Ha~”
Breathing on her hands, then rubbing them together a few times, Aoxi extended her hand and hovered it above Kaido’s chest.
Zap~
Bang!
A faint electric current flashed by, and Kaido’s body immediately shuddered.
The thick ice layer was directly blasted open by a bolt of lightning from above, after which the wind of life was forcibly infused, and the originally stalled life cycle finally continued.
The long cold winter finally ended, and the vigorous summer bloomed and spread from within Kaido’s body…
Thump~
The heart began to beat, the chest began to rise and fall… Kaido as a whole began to slowly come to.
“Phew~”
“This booze really packs a punch!”
