Chapter 21: Cheers
The King of Cang, formerly a government employee, now cannot stand the darkness of officialdom, so he disregards the constraints of the law, punishes the evildoers privately, practices what he believes to be justice, and thus becomes a terrorist.
Now Mori Ouwai asked if it was possible for this person to be recruited into the Port Mafia.
Ace thought about similar examples and said: "It's more difficult. People like this prefer to work alone and be their own boss."
In the year he died, among the 11 supernovas with bounties exceeding 100 million yuan, it seemed that there was one who defected from the navy and became a pirate, and he seemed to be a general.
Such people usually have their own ideas. If they join a stronger force, especially if this force is opposed to their own ideas, conflicts will easily arise. The will of the organization will hinder their own wishes, so such people prefer to work alone or start a new organization.
Of course, there are also those who want to use other organizations to achieve their own goals. They will generally turn around and attack other organizations, replace one with the next, and abandon them without hesitation after squeezing out their value.
Mori Ogai originally didn't want to get any answers from him. After all, with Ace's way of thinking, Mori Ogai didn't think he could give any constructive answers. And by comparison, his own considerations were definitely more comprehensive than his, so he just asked casually.
"That being said..."
But Sen Ou still wants to give it a try.
After all, he chose to be the leader of the mafia, isn't it for the sake of the teacher's wish for the stability of Yokohama and to fight evil with evil? This is a common topic with the King of Aoi! There is hope for his assimilation!
Mori Ougai looked at his schedule and realized that he had to meet A in a few days, so the matter of the King of Cang had to be postponed.
…
"Bang——"
The wide cube with golden light was smashed by the black fist. Lan Tang quickly dodged a few steps, and the ground where he was standing was crushed by a foot.
He stood a few steps away and looked at Ace's retracted leg, his eyebrows slightly raised: "It turns out that the leader also has special abilities."
Just as Ace was about to deny it, Mori Owl stopped him urgently.
[If someone asks you about this in the future, just say it's a supernatural power.]
【……oh.】
So Ace nodded, "Come again!"
He rushed forward again after saying this.
Suddenly, several golden cubes appeared in front of him, encircling Ace in a large area and constantly changing his position.
Lan Tang is a user with space-related special abilities. Each golden cube is a space of its own. As long as he wants, he can control the positions of others at will.
However, even he did not expect that the leader's "superpower" could actually break the spatial wall of the "coloring book".
This match lasted extremely long. Ace couldn't get close to Lan Tang at all, but Lan Tang couldn't trap Ace either, so he could only go back and forth.
Lantang is a type that is strong in both close combat and ranged combat, but his close combat cannot break through the defense of Armament Haki, and the same is true for ranged combat. After Ace lost the ability of the Burning Fruit, he is only good at close combat. He is very strong in close combat, but he cannot get into Lantang's body, so the two of them can only waste time.
In the end, it was Mori Ougai's body that ran out of energy first, so the competition was stopped.
Comparing the two sides, Ace still ran too much. But Ace was still not satisfied with his physical condition. Compared with the situation when he was always sick at the beginning, he now truly felt that this body was too weak.
Ace sat on the floor of the underground training ground, panting. He looked up at Lan Tang, who was standing not far away but not approaching. He patted the floor next to him and called out, "Why are you standing so far away? Come and sit!"
Lan Tang: “…”
He paused for a moment, then slowly walked over and sat down next to him.
"The leader's style is different from what I thought before." He said slowly.
Ace froze, and subconsciously began to ask for help from the smart person in his body: [Mr. Ougai?]
Mori Ogai: [……]
Mori Ogai: [You can do whatever you want, just don't reveal your identity.]
Sen Ou Wai is too lazy to care about him. What's the point of his advice? If you can execute it well, it's fine. The question is, do you execute it well?
Luckily, he is not familiar with most of the people in the organization, otherwise he would be exposed in no time :)
【Oh!】After receiving such a reply from Mori Owl, Ace immediately started to let go. He asked casually, "So what do you think of me?"
This question cannot be answered casually. After all, Mori Ogai is the boss, the top one. A bad answer may affect his work. Lan Tang thought about it and answered: "Boss... Taijutsu is very powerful."
Ace gave a thumbs up: "You are great too!"
Lan Tang: “…”
I always feel that the leader is different from the last time we met.
"Go out for a drink?"
Lan Tang made a confused sound: "...Ah?"
…
Lan Tang had no idea how he was dragged to this bar playing rock disco by the leader who had suddenly become so lively and outgoing. The bar was dimly lit, almost entirely from the rotating balls of colored lights overhead. There was even a small dance floor at the other end where men and women were dancing passionately.
It's so noisy.
As an elegant Frenchman with sophisticated tastes, Lan Tang prefers to sit in a small bar playing soft, perhaps slightly sad blues, gently shaking the wine glass in his hand and slowly sipping expensive red wine.
And here, this noisy disco gave him a bit of a headache.
Although disco originated in France, it is generally young people who like it. Lan Tang believes that he is no longer the kind of young person who likes high-intensity rhythms.
He was pulled by the leader to sit in front of the bar, staring blankly at the bar table. Perhaps because the light was dim and the colorful lights were flashing, it caused a great obstacle to his vision. The bartender on the inside of the bar did not notice his absent-mindedness and just asked casually: "What would you like to drink?"
Lan Tang managed to regain his consciousness and heard the leader sitting next to him say loudly: "We...of course we want rum! Rum! A big glass of rum! Lan Tang, what about you?"
...Sea? Sea of what?
Lan Tang came to his senses, but he did not ask the leader about what he had let slip. He just memorized the syllable and planned to investigate it later. He answered the bartender's question first: "...any glass of red wine will do."
After taking the wine poured by the bartender, Ace quickly took a few big gulps to cover up the unspeakable words that almost came out of his mouth.
It was a close call, I almost got exposed!
Ace finished a large glass in a few gulps, asked the bartender to pour another one, then tilted his head and looked at Lan Tang: "Lan Tang, your drink from such a small glass must not be satisfying at all, right? Drink a big glass with me!"
Lan Tang: “…”
He hesitated for a moment and declined, "It seems a little wrong to drink red wine from a cup other than this one."
Ace didn't care: "Then drink rum with me!"
Lan Tang, who had just rejected the leader once, said: "...Well...Okay..."
My boss is too enthusiastic. It would be a bit unemotional to refuse him.
The bartender changed his glass to the same large one as Ace's. He took a sip and first the fragrant and spicy aroma entered his nose as well as his mouth. Then, the spicy and stimulating taste, along with the sweet taste, rolled down his throat along with the crystal clear liquor.
Ace put his arm around him and pressed on his shoulders, holding up a wine glass in his other hand, and said with a playful smile: "How is it? Not bad, right? Let me tell you, drinking is more enjoyable if you drink in big gulps! Haha!"
As he said that, he took another big gulp, completely ignoring Lan Tang who was coughing non-stop after being choked by his arm.
Why is the leader... so different from before? He remembered that the leader who gave him the task before was still an elegant and noble mafia leader. How come today... he has become as rough as the pirates in the shabby taverns in the Nordic stories who drank and ate meat?
Could it be that because the hidden dangers within the organization have been resolved, its hidden nature has begun to be exposed?
After Lan Tang finished coughing, he couldn't help but enter the sage time.
"Are you feeling warmer now?"
"...Huh?" Lan Tang was stunned for a moment, and looked sideways in surprise at the leader who was still hugging him.
Seeing that he didn't understand, Ace added, "Didn't they say that drinking strong liquor can warm up the body? I see that you usually wear so many clothes and you keep complaining about being cold. It seems like you are very cold... Well, do you feel warmer?"
Lan Tang was really stunned this time. He subconsciously felt the burning sensation in his stomach as if it was being burned by a flame, then pulled his scarf and replied softly: "... Yes, it is indeed... warmer."
"Ah? What did you say? I didn't hear you clearly--" Ace subconsciously asked in a louder voice.
The disco on the dance floor really affects people's hearing.
So Lan Tang also raised his voice, "Chief, I said - it is indeed - getting warmer -"
"Haha! That's good!" Ace's hand holding the wine glass came over and collided with the wine glass held by Lan Tang, making a "ding--" sound. "Come on! Cheers!"
As he said this, he gulped down the glass of wine in his hand. He exhaled the alcohol and smiled as he placed the glass in front of the bartender, "More!"
The bartender lifted the bottle and refilled his drink.
Lan Tang looked down at the wine glass in his hand and the crystal clear amber wine swaying in it, and suddenly the corners of his mouth slightly raised. He raised the wine glass and drank it all in one gulp.
Ah... my stomach feels so warm...