Chapter 173: Red-haired Pirates Set Sail, Garp Returns
The Pirates wouldn’t be content just listening to the Train Crew boasting, although the boasting was quite interesting and opened their eyes.
Inspired by the Train Crew’s tales of adventure experiences, Jesus Bu fully unleashed his ancestral talent for boasting, refusing to back down and ignoring logic entirely, inflating the combat power displays of the Pirate World by dozens of times.
As the Captain who appeared most frequently in his stories, Shanks could split the sea with a single slash, and shattering heaven and earth was commonplace.
Facing March 7th’s suspicious gaze from Luffy, Shanks covered his face in extreme embarrassment, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into, and hurriedly tugged at his First Mate for help.
Ben Beckman was also a bit embarrassed. With his exceptionally high intelligence, he had been silently listening to the Captain and Train Crew converse, clearly knowing that they were most likely telling the truth, while Jesus Bu was purely boasting.
He hurriedly stopped the utterly shameless Jesus Bu from continuing to boast, but he also didn’t want the Red-Haired Pirates to become mere foils at the banquet.
Having basically figured out the Train Crew’s nature, Ben Beckman began guiding the crew members to shift the topic from adventure stories to the bizarre and wondrous unique islands.
Combat power definitely couldn’t compare, but strange scenery was another matter.
Reverse Mountain, Sabaody Archipelago, Fishman Island, Pink Island, Cake Island, Zou Island, Sky Island…
One magical island after another indeed left the Train Crew in awe.
Some of them were rare even in the Universe.
Finally, Meng Huaifeng used the original Song of Minds to conclude the banquet that had lasted over four hours.
…
The next day.
“Luffy, think about it, become a Pirate again.”
Shanks finally remembered the significance represented by the Rubber-Rubber Fruit, squatting in front of Luffy with a face full of smiles.
“No way, Pirates are too lame, I want to be a Pioneer exploring the Sea of Stars!” Luffy said firmly.
Under the Train Crew’s explanations, the two basically understood the concepts of Planet and Universe.
“To adventure in the Universe, you at least need to conquer the Planet under your feet, right?” Shanks coaxed.
“Hmm, that makes some sense, but I’m still not becoming a Pirate.” Luffy said.
“Whether you become a Pirate or not doesn’t matter, I’ll wait for you on the Grand Line, wait for you to conquer this Planet.” Shanks placed his hand on Luffy’s head and breathed a sigh of relief.
Once you set out to sea, whether you’re a Pirate or not isn’t up to you.
No matter how much you deny it and claim to be a Pioneer, as long as you’re not from an affiliated country or the Navy—our own people—in the World Government’s eyes, you’ll just be Pirates.
He believed that as long as Luffy didn’t directly run off with the Train Crew, under the guidance of Fate, the person chosen by the Rubber-Rubber Fruit would ultimately fulfill his mission.
Fortunately, the Train Crew had already refused him yesterday because Luffy was too young.
“I heard the Grand Line is very dangerous, you’re so weak, won’t you die before I even grow up?” Luffy said with some concern.
The Pirates burst into laughter again; seeing the boss embarrassed was too amusing.
“Thanks a lot for your concern.” Shanks ruthlessly pinched Luffy’s cheek, and Luffy shook his head desperately.
Shanks stood up and touched his straw hat.
The person chosen by that fruit now had a grander dream, not limited to just being a Pirate.
The old Captain’s will seemed somewhat backward now, even constraining him; better to keep it himself.
“If I didn’t have unfinished business, I’d really want to join your adventure.” Shanks smiled at the Train Crew.
“It seems you carry a heavy burden, I wish you success.” Miss Himeko blessed.
In this chaotic World, some people always carry heavy loads forward, blooming with earth-shattering Light at some moment in the Future.
The person before them was likely one of them.
“Thank you for Miss Himeko’s auspicious words, see you again on the Sea if fate allows.” Shanks said farewell, though they probably wouldn’t meet again, but for men of the sea, wasn’t that perfectly normal?
Shanks turned and boarded the Pirate Ship: “Lads, hoist the sails, set sail!”
The Red-Haired Pirates set out on their journey again.
“Shall we get a Ship too, see those bizarre islands they talked about yesterday, and take a trip along the Grand Line?” Meng Huaifeng suggested.
“That’s a good idea.” Miss Himeko agreed; Huai Feng probably had this idea even before getting off the Train.
“I want to be the Captain!” Star said enthusiastically.
“Be the Captain my foot, we’re not a Pirate crew.” March 7th elbowed Star, sending him crashing down.
“I think it won’t be long before we’re labeled as Pirates once we set out.” Meng Huaifeng said with narrowed eyes.
“How is that possible? We won’t do Bad Deeds, only Good Deeds, how could we be treated as Pirates.” March 7th said in disbelief.
“From what Shanks said yesterday, it’s entirely possible.” Yan said.
“We’re definitely different.” March 7th said confidently.
“If we’re labeled as a Pirate crew, can I be the Captain?” Star was still hung up on being Captain.
“Even if we’re labeled as a Pirate crew, we’re not really a Pirate crew.” March 7th glared at Star.
“Want to make a bet?” Meng Huaifeng said.
“Bet we will, but you can’t deliberately do Bad Deeds.” March 7th agreed without hesitation, but she grew a bit clever, issuing the warning in advance with Vigilance.
“How could we possibly do Bad Deeds.” Meng Huaifeng said.
“Exactly, March, you’re slandering us, apologize.” Star said with hands on hips.
“Ah, sorry.” March 7th reacted and hurriedly said.
“Hm?” Everyone suddenly looked toward the direction where the Red-Haired Pirates had left.
In the distant Sea, two auras were continuously clashing, one of which was Shanks.
The other aura was much stronger than Shanks, and the two sides were clearly fighting.
“Should we… go help?” March 7th asked.
“Help who? The other one seems to be the Navy. If we help Shanks, you and Meng Huaifeng’s bet will probably lose before we even set sail.” Yan teased.
“Uh…” March 7th looked conflicted.
“No need to bother, Shanks is at a disadvantage but can definitely escape if he wants to run.” Meng Huaifeng shrugged.
The two auras grew farther and farther, seeming not to be fighting head-on.
“Ignore them, this island hasn’t been fully explored yet. Everyone, act freely, explore, and depart for the next island the day after tomorrow.” Miss Himeko said.
“As for the Ship…” Miss Himeko hesitated a bit; building one from scratch would be quite troublesome, or use Gold to buy one locally?
“If only Uncle Yang were here, with a wave of his hand, everything would be ready.” March 7th said nostalgically.
“Leave it to me. Though I don’t have Uncle Yang’s mastery, editing a Ship is no problem.” Meng Huaifeng said confidently.
“Then I’ll trouble you, Huai Feng.” Miss Himeko said.
“Miss Himeko, I’ll need you to design a blueprint for the Ship. Without a blueprint, what I edit might turn out very crude.” Meng Huaifeng said a bit embarrassed.
Miss Himeko nodded.
The Train Crew split up. Miss Himeko, March 7th, Hong Kou, Po Xiao, and Su Xiaoli went to the capital of the Goa Kingdom, shopping in groups. Yan flew several laps around the island, landing in a village where a Conflict was occurring.
Star relied on his amazing intuition to head straight to the Uncertainty Terminal. The massive Trash mountain made Star feel like he’d entered paradise. Zhu Zhuqing entered the forest, cultivating while recording the plants and animals of this World. Dan Heng dove into the Sea, very interested in this World’s marine life.
Pioneering, of course, means going to pioneer whatever you’re interested in first.
Meng Huaifeng went around Windmill Village buying materials like wood, Hemp Rope, Scrap Iron, and such from the villagers as the foundation for editing the Ship. Editing purely from nothing couldn’t exist permanently and would continuously consume Energy.
Luffy stuck to Meng Huaifeng like a little tag-along, asking more about pioneering.
Meng Huaifeng handled his tasks while casually answering Luffy’s questions.
Luffy’s Understanding of pioneering became more concrete, and his determination to become a Pioneer grew stronger.
A white dog-head Warship appeared on the sea horizon, heading toward Windmill Village.
It was Navy hero Garp’s vessel.
After chasing the Red-Haired Pirates for half a day, the old man who missed his Grandson finally gave up the pursuit and turned back.
Still a few thousand meters from the Dock, a white figure had already shot into the sky from the Warship, flying toward Windmill Village.
“Hahaha, brat, Grandfather’s back, did you miss Grandfather?”
The person hadn’t arrived yet, but Garp’s hearty voice had already spread throughout the village.
Meng Huaifeng clearly saw Luffy shiver, his eyes showing joy mixed with a hint of fear.
