Admiral Kuzan

A dim oil lamp hung on the beam, swaying and emitting a faint glow.

The entire tavern seemed to be shrouded in a hazy veil.

Everyone in the tavern was stunned by this scene.

The man's cries faded away, and the tavern became quiet in an instant.

Gulixiati leaned back in the chair, half-lifted her hood, and looked carefully at the man in front of her.

His shoulders were broad but his waist was narrow. Beneath his muscular body were a pair of incredibly long, straight and slender legs, and his body proportions were extremely perfect.

He seems like a nice guy, perfect for spending time with.

Gulixiati couldn't help but feel a little moved: "Thank you, would you like to have a drink together? It's my treat."

Kuzan turned around, and the light flowed from his shoulders, illuminating a sharp-edged face.

He was wearing a casual shirt with the buttons unbuttoned to his chest, revealing his half-exposed tan chest muscles. He looked lazy and casual, without any sense of oppression as he did in his navy uniform.

"Ah la la," Kuzan lowered his eyes, and parted his sexy thick lips slightly. His voice was low and bubbly, but his words were unexpectedly playful. "The beautiful lady invited me, so of course I should be the one to treat her."

Gulishati was amused and said, "Then I will respectfully obey your command."

"Please, beautiful lady."

The two sat opposite each other across a wooden table, with the oil lamp swaying overhead, the light flickering.

In the dim light and shadow, Gulixiati's face became a little hazy. The moment she raised her eyes, there seemed to be a dark tide surging in her eyes, as if hiding endless stories.

Kuzan's sight was deeply attracted by those eyes. He seemed to recall something and said uncertainly: "The lady looks... familiar."

Gulixiati raised her eyebrows slightly when she heard that, a smile flashing in her eyes. "Huh? Such a cheesy pick-up line."

"No, no," Kuzan waved his hands quickly, frowning as he recalled, "I do feel like... I've seen the young lady somewhere."

The smile in Gulixiati's eyes remained unchanged, but the hand holding the wine glass tightened quietly: Could he have seen my wanted poster?

The photo on the wanted poster was really ugly. She had just experienced a battle and was in a very disheveled state. It didn't look like her real self.

However, there is no guarantee that anyone will recognize her.

"You must have remembered it wrongly," Gulishati tilted her head slightly, smiling and changing the subject easily. "By the way, I haven't asked for your name yet."

"I'm Kuzan, what's your name, miss?"

Kuzan? Such a familiar name.

Wait, it seems that the newly appointed admiral of the navy is called Kuzan.

Gulishati's breathing paused, and her eyes swept across Kuzan's eyebrows and eyes inch by inch.

This man also looks exactly like the admiral!

Gulishati's drunkenness disappeared instantly.

Seeing that Gulishati hadn't responded, Kuzan gently asked, "Miss? Are you drunk?"

He lowered his head and happened to meet a pair of eyes filled with alcohol and fire. There was a mischievous smile on the corner of her lips, which was both tempting and dangerous.

Kuzan's pupils suddenly tightened, and the valve of his memory was suddenly knocked open by that smile.

The sunset at the age of seventeen dyed a wet beach red. A woman with the same wicked smile looked back in the sunset glow and turned into a hot wave.

The face of the woman in front of him gradually overlapped with a figure in Kuzan's memory, without any difference.

That was a memory Kuzan had dreamt of countless times. He stood there in a daze, unable to help but wonder if it was all just another illusion of his.

"Ah, I'm a little drunk." Gulixiati raised her hand to her forehead, the back of her fingers covering most of her face. "I have to go home."

Gulixia stood up very quickly and rushed out of the tavern door like a gust of wind.

"Please wait a moment." After Kuzan reacted, he hurriedly stood up and tried to chase, but his long legs accidentally hit the corner of the table.

The wine glass fell onto the table, and the tavern owner rushed over and blocked Kuzan's way.

"Guest, you haven't paid yet."

When Kuzan finished paying the bill and chased her out the door, she was nowhere to be found.

Gulishati quickly ran back to the pirate ship docked on the coast.

"Sister Xiati, you're back so early..."

Alexander, who was in charge of night watch, was grabbed on the shoulder by Gulishati before he could finish his words.

"Raise the sails, weigh the anchor, and set sail immediately!"

"Ah? But it's late at night."

"There's an admiral on the island."

“Huh?!”

"Sail!"

The Redvers quickly raised its sails and slowly sailed away from the unknown island.

——

The sun is high in the sky

Shanks and his friends had been traveling around the Sunbass Sea and were on their way back to Windmill Village.

On the deck of the Redvers, people were either fishing, cleaning their weapons, or doing nothing, just lying lazily, talking and laughing.

Meli was lying on the railing, holding a simple fishing rod in his hand, and there were already two small fish the size of a palm in the bucket at his feet.

"Huh?" Meli suddenly found that this sea area seemed familiar and was not far from Nami's Orange Island.

Usopp, Luffy, Zoro and Sanji have all met him and successfully made friends with him.

But the last time she went to buy oranges, the villagers of Cocosia reacted too excitedly, and Merry had no chance to see Nami at all, which made her feel a little regretful.

Now, passing through this familiar sea area, Meli couldn't help feeling a little itchy.

The urge to meet Nami popped up in my mind and I couldn't suppress it.

Action speaks louder than words.

Meli put down his fishing rod and ran to Gulishati who was reading a newspaper.

"Aunt Xiati, this place is not far from Windmill Village. I want to... uh, go to the sea to practice alone. Yes, you guys should go back first."

Meli's excuse was lame, and at the end, he looked away guiltily.

Gulixiati frowned slightly: "You are alone? What if you encounter danger?"

"Don't worry, I'm incredibly strong now. Ordinary people can't beat me in the sea." Merry straightened his back immediately, hands on his hips, full of confidence. "If things really don't work out, I can always call on the Sea Kings for help."

"Hahaha, I almost forgot that Merry has such a powerful skill. Then just do whatever you want."

Shanks had appeared behind the two of them at some point, holding a big fish he had just caught.

Although Gulishati was still a little worried, she softened her heart after seeing Meli's sparkling eyes.

She picked up a piece of cake at hand and stuffed it into Meli's mouth. She dipped her fingertips in some icing sugar and smeared it on the tip of Meli's nose.

"Okay, don't play outside for too long, be safe, and come back early."

"Yeah." Meili stuffed his mouth with pastries, puffed his cheeks and nodded, mumbling, "Then I'll go."

As soon as she finished speaking, she waved to Shanks and his group, turned around and ran to the railing.

With a splash, the pink little octopus mermaid jumped into the sea.

The Redvers continued to move forward, going further and further away.

The sunlight shines through the sea, breaking into thousands of golden ribbons that hang down into the deep sea.

Meli swam freely in the seabed, and the broken light created circles of rainbows on her body.

From time to time, small fish and shrimps circle around the pink octopus mermaid, and she happily communicates with the surrounding marine creatures.

A gray shadow came to Meli at an extremely fast speed.

It was a light gray dolphin, which circled around Meli happily several times and made happy calls.

“Hiss—hiss—”

Meili's eyes curved with joy, and a string of bubbles came out of her mouth: "Would you like to help me lead the way? Thank you~"

"Hiss—" The dolphin rubbed Meli's palm with its snout, then turned and swam southwest.

After swimming a few meters, he looked back at Meli and called out a few times to urge her.

"Here I come."

Merry followed the dolphin, silently cutting through the current and swaying forward.

——

The waves hit the rocks, making a loud noise.

Nami and Nojigo were wearing dresses and small sandals. They were holding buckets and tongs in their hands and jumping happily among the reefs. From time to time, they bent down to pick up some small snails and clams and threw them into the bucket.

Bellmère carried the sea-hunting tools and followed the two children with a smile. From time to time, he bent down to turn over a reef, picked up the octopus, crabs, shrimps, etc. hidden in it, and threw them into the net bag.

A big shrimp swam in the water, and Nami immediately jumped over and grabbed it with a pair of pliers.

The shrimp was very agile. It moved like a snake in the water and quickly avoided the clamps.

Nami had only picked up some small snails and clams just now, and she finally saw such a big shrimp. How could she let it go?

"Don't run!" Nami chased after him, attacking frantically, pinching and pinching, "Don't even think about escaping from my palm!"

The prawn sensed the danger and rushed left and right, dodging desperately in the water.

Under Nami's persistent pursuit, the prawn finally couldn't escape the fate of being caught.

"Ahahahaha, I caught it!" Nami laughed triumphantly.

"Be careful and stay safe."

"I know~~"

"Bellmaire——"

Not far away, Nokigo suddenly shouted in surprise, "Come and see, there are so many sea cucumbers here!"

When Nami heard this, she immediately ran over.

In the puddle next to the reef, dozens of plump "black sausages" were lying densely packed.

"Wow, there are so many, pick them up quickly." Nami stretched out the clip in surprise and poked one of them.

Bellemeier also came over. After seeing the long black strip in the water, he couldn't help laughing. "This is sea eggplant. Although it is also a sea cucumber, its taste and nutritional content are much worse than that of sea cucumber."

Nojigo's face suddenly turned disappointed. "Huh? Can't I eat it?"

"It's not that they're inedible, but they're a bit troublesome to prepare, and the taste isn't that great. Sea eggplants won't run away, so we can keep looking for them. If we don't find anything, we can come back and pick up sea eggplants."

"Okay. I'll keep looking."

"Hehe, I just caught a super big shrimp."

"Wow, it's really big. Where did you catch it?"

"It's right over there."

"Let's go, there might be some prawns there."

"Be careful, don't slip."

“I know—”