Chapter 284: Reorganization
“Haha! Why are you acting just like La now, like an old nanny.”
“Jinbe is already eighteen years old. It’s time for him to stand on his own.”
“At his age, I had already made a name for myself on the Sea… cough~”
“Gulp gulp~”
Wearing a floral insulated shirt with a dark jacket draped over his shoulders, Brother Burufaruto leaned against the railing and took a swig from the bottle of Fish-Man Island’s specialty fine wine.
Perhaps due to overexertion in recent years, a few wrinkles had appeared at the corners of his eyes, his stubble was no longer as neatly groomed as before, and he faintly showed signs of aging.
Aoxi frowned upon seeing him like this.
“Uncle Burufaruto, didn’t I tell you to quit drinking? Where did you pull this bottle from?”
In a few quick steps, she reached Brother Burufaruto, ignored his dodging action, and snatched the half-empty bottle from his hand with a cold expression.
“Don’t you know your own body’s condition?”
“If you keep drinking without restraint like this, you might suddenly drop dead one day. You still think you’re a young man in his prime?”
Plop~
She directly threw the bottle into the Sea and said to Brother Burufaruto’s face, half worried and half angry.
Perhaps it was the hidden damage from the three days without food and nine meals of starvation in the Fish-Man District during his childhood, or maybe the accumulated visible and hidden injuries from countless harsh battles erupting later…
In short, during these years of quiet development for the Beasts Pirates, Brother Burufaruto’s physical condition suddenly began to decline, as if this peaceful environment was instead a burden on his body.
Now under fifty years old, theoretically in his prime, he often experienced insomnia and shortness of breath at night, and frequently couldn’t help coughing… Whenever that happened, he would habitually cover it up with drinking.
And because he was often away from Fenrir Main Island on daily tasks without La’s daily supervision, this unrestrained drinking further damaged his health, forming a vicious cycle.
Brother Burufaruto was just an ordinary Fish-Man, without special lineage or Kaido and Ember’s indestructible nature… This terrible habit was undoubtedly wearing down his body step by step.
Fortunately, Aoxi discovered this in time.
She forcibly dragged him to the hospital on the island, had the doctor fully examine Brother Burufaruto’s body, and upon learning his health condition was not optimistic, she took over his responsibilities and forced him to rest properly.
She even specially learned a full set of medicinal cuisine recipes from La to help condition his body after decades of depletion, forcing him to eat them on time every day.
……
Looking at the bottle bubbling in the Sea, Brother Burufaruto touched his forehead helplessly and said:
“Come on, Aoxi~ Your uncle only has this one hobby. If you suddenly make me quit completely and never touch it again, that would be the death of me?”
“Besides, it was just a little sip. I didn’t drink much…”
“This isn’t about drinking more or less, Uncle Burufaruto.”
Looking at his face, Aoxi shook her head seriously:
“The doctor said if you start conditioning your body now in time, there’s still a chance to recover.”
“But if you keep indulging like before and don’t learn to control yourself… You don’t want to suddenly have a stroke one day and end up like a little goldfish, only able to lie in bed yelling ‘No!’ do you?”
“When that time really comes, I won’t be bringing you the bedpan.”
La’s flames could heal wounds and even cure illnesses, but they had little effect on this kind of wear and tear accumulated over years.
Aging and death were inevitable paths of life, marks left by time, and La herself had no desire to forcibly interfere with the natural process of life leading to death.
After all, even stars eventually extinguish.
“…”
Brother Burufaruto fell silence.
Aoxi’s threat had some effect. Brother Burufaruto wasn’t afraid of death, but he absolutely could not accept becoming a cripple lying in bed babbling.
『Fine, just consider it paying off debts for my past self.』
Comforting himself in his heart like this, Brother Burufaruto sighed and said honestly:
“Got it, got it.”
“I won’t touch alcohol anymore, even if you’re not watching me.”
“You can rest assured.”
“…”
“Mm.”
Seeing his guarantee, Aoxi also showed a satisfied smile, then turned to prepare to leave the ship.
She wasn’t on the departure list this time; she had simply come aboard to instruct Brother Burufaruto to properly eat his daily medicinal cuisine.
After all, the medicinal cuisine made from many vegetables and herbs didn’t taste good at all, and without proper instructions, he might not eat it obediently.
In fact, aside from those personally cooked by La herself, whether made by Aoxi or the chefs specially assigned for Brother Burufaruto, they all tasted about the same—only slightly better than chewing raw herbs.
Now that she had explained everything, Aoxi waved goodbye to the two and jumped off the ship.
She still had many things to do next; having taken over Brother Burufaruto’s daily work, she was no longer as idle as before.
“Aoxi.”
Watching her departing back, Brother Burufaruto suddenly called out her name again.
“Hm?”
“Is there something else?”
Aoxi turned her head in confusion.
“Be careful when you’re out on missions, and stay safe.”
“Mm, got it.”
“…”
“Aoxi.”
“Hm?”
Aoxi turned her head again.
“Nothing, just wanted to call your name.”
……
The Minotaur set sail, sea breeze filling its sails stained with tar and indelible grime from years of use, heading toward Fish-Man Island.
Brother Burufaruto was going this trip to meet an old friend who had been missing for many years.
They had grown up together in the Fish-Man District since childhood, later setting out to sea one after another, but soon Brother Burufaruto lost track of him.
Until recently, when the subordinates responsible for placing orphans from the Fish-Man District said he seemed to have returned to Fish-Man Island, so Brother Burufaruto decided to go see him personally and ask where he had been all these years.
As for Jinbe, before officially setting out to sea, he wanted to return to Fish-Man Island once; it was the starting point of his life and would also be the starting point toward his dream.
“Speaking of which, Brother Burufaruto, you and Miss Aoxi really get along well.”
“She often talks about your health when she’s training me.”
Sitting cross-legged on the deck, Jinbe chatted idly with Brother Burufaruto while practicing the Armament full-body flow training method Aoxi taught him.
“Well~ After all, we’ve been together for five years, and I basically watched her grow up.”
“Compared to the hard-to-approach La and the always solitary Obei, Aoxi is actually the one who’s spent the most time with everyone in the organization.”
“And with her personality, it’s hard for anyone not to like her, right?”
“Indeed.”
Jinbe nodded. Aoxi’s lively and cheerful personality, sincere treatment of others, combined with her increasingly perfect appearance over time, made it hard for any normal person to resist her charm.
In fact, as Aoxi’s activities on the Sea increased, her fans among the public and even in the Navy were steadily growing, and quite a few private fan clubs and support groups had been formed without her knowledge.
Those who risked sneaking close to take photos of her were mostly from these support groups; those photos were veritable hard currency comparable to gold within their organization.
“Speaking of which, there are rumors lately that the pirate crew is about to make a big move. Is what Miss Aoxi’s busy with related to that?”
Recently, a rumor had been circulating within the Beasts Pirates—Kaido seemed to plan to withdraw the entire pirate crew from Fenrir Island.
At the same time, these people heard that the Beasts Pirates internal structure would take this opportunity for a second reorganization, redefining the executive list and groupings… It was said Kaido had even drafted new executive titles.
