Chapter 177 Childish Demon Number One
On the azure sea, the Sword of Giebeck, raising its black pirate flag, broke through the light morning mist and headed in its predetermined direction.
Shiki opened his eyes, pushed open the door, and walked to the ship's side under the fearful gaze of the trainee crew member who was bending over to wipe the deck.
Hmm?
Without needing to search further, the color, like a burning fire, caught Shiki's eye.
Ah, that red-haired intern.
Shiki was momentarily stunned before remembering that the red-haired man was an apprentice whom Rocks had casually recruited into the pirate crew on a whim.
The guy who should have been wiping the deck and peeling potatoes with the other interns was openly sitting on a barrel, chin in hand, staring blankly into the distance. Even though most of the regular crew members, including Shiki, were awake and active on deck by now, he didn't bother to put on any act. He was slacking off openly and without any restraint.
Of course, Shiki wasn't angry. This wasn't his ship, and his relationship with Rocks wasn't close enough for him to act as a master and criticize this parasitic behavior.
Shiki paused, then walked toward Shanks with great interest.
Shanks looked up when he heard the sound.
"Red... By the way, what's your name? And what's the name of your accomplice, your partner?"
"...Shanks, Val."
Shanks looked remarkably young, and Shiki, the Golden Lion without the comical yet terrifying ship's wheel stuck in his head, had a somewhat subtle expression.
Before Shiki suffered the dreaded baldness that plagues middle-aged men, as he did later in life, he now had a head of warm, golden, fluffy hair. His hair was twice as thick as a normal person's, and with a slight natural curl, it made his blond hair look like a lion's mane, layer upon layer, making his figure appear exceptionally robust.
"Vell, what a beautiful girl's name."
Violet's rare scholarly air at sea left a deep impression on Shiki. Shiki, who enjoyed appreciating beautiful women, secretly felt a little regretful when he recalled the scene of Violet standing in front of them and recommending herself.
She's a pretty young girl to his liking, but she's still a bit young and hasn't fully matured yet. It's just a pity that she's been targeted by that heartless guy, Rocks, and who knows when she might end up drowning.
In Shiki's view, although Rocks had previously appeared to be exceptionally tolerant of Violet's offenses, the guy was unpredictable and could change his mind at any time and prepare to take action against Violet.
If Shiki were truly as clever as her face suggested, she would have known to seize the opportunity presented by the bet between Rocks and her, and simply run away, never to have any further contact with the Rocks Pirates.
Given Locke's personality, as long as he doesn't act out on one person twice, then Willie, who has taken a step back, will be out of Locke's sight, and he won't waste time searching for her all over the world.
"But even if she's a stupid beauty, it doesn't matter." Shiki laughed heartily. "How could she possibly cross the Calm Belt and the dangerous Grand Line by herself? Even if she's lucky enough to find us, she'll probably be exhausted, and any random crew member could easily take her down."
Shanks glanced at Shiki silently, offering no response to his "wonderful" wish.
"Okay, Shanks, keep up the good work. If you perform well, I'll recommend you to Captain Rocks to become a full crew member."
“…Thank you so much, Shiki-senpai.”
"Haha, no problem, no problem."
Shiki laughed and turned to leave, and soon saw Stusi searching the entire ship for people.
“Ski!” Stussy called out to Ki, “Have you seen Newgate?”
Thinking of Stussy's infatuation with Newgate and his almost obsessive pursuit, Skeeter's lips twitched. For once, he felt a surge of camaraderie and didn't tell Stussy that he had seen Newgate's back at the stern of the ship.
"Damn it, I sacrificed my beauty sleep and face mask time to prepare this delicious breakfast, and it's going to get cold if this continues." Stusi's beautiful face twisted for a moment, and she bit her full red lips and said unwillingly, "Lingling has given birth to so many children like popcorn, and I still haven't succeeded."
"If breakfast gets cold, will the medicine I finally managed to get not be as effective... No, I have to find Newgate quickly!"
Stussy, in her high heels and carrying an astonishingly large plate for her size, began searching the ship for Newgate like a bloodthirsty hound.
Shiki pressed his back against the bulkhead, holding his breath as he watched Stussy disappear from his sight.
“Phew—in some ways, Stussy is more terrifying to Newgate than Lox.” At least he had never seen Newgate avoid Lox the way he avoided Stussy.
"Ugh, Roger is so awful!!!"
Another angry shout rang out. Shiki turned his head and saw Gloriaosa, codenamed Flameflower, sitting in the corner, holding a newspaper, her cheeks puffed up with anger, complaining incessantly.
As the most beautiful woman on the sea, even though her name has been gradually overshadowed by Shakya, who succeeded her as the new Nine Serpent Empress, the young Flame Flower still retains her charm.
Even as she was grumbling about how Roger had been so close to the Sword of Giebeck last time, yet refused to be a gentleman and grant a lady's wish to come and see her.
The group of fools around her, completely infatuated with Flame Flower, still wholeheartedly agreed with everything she said, their eyes sparkling with love, and joined in loudly condemning the young man named Roger.
With a snap, Flameflower suddenly stood up and kicked all the people who had just been talking badly about Roger to the ground.
"What rude fellows! How could I allow my beloved to be slandered by you!" Flameflower angrily kicked everyone over, then carefully put away the newspaper with Roger's picture on it. "Roger must have approached the Sword of Gibber last time because he felt my sincere and passionate love. Has he finally realized that my feelings are serious and is willing to reciprocate?"
"Ah... is this what mutual love is? It's so touching. Although there have been so many difficulties and setbacks along the way, that's precisely what makes love so beautiful." Flame Flower paced back and forth. "Then why didn't Roger come to see me last time? Was something preventing him?"
"No, I must suggest to the captain that we stop the ship and turn back now to find the Roger Pirates!"
Shiki, who listened to the whole thing: "..."
Love is a terrible thing. He used to enjoy the admiration and even love of beautiful women, but ever since he was forcibly taken to the ship by that bastard Rocks and met Stussy and Flame Flower, he has developed a psychological shadow over the word "love".
Women are indeed easily bound by emotions. Are there no women who don't pursue love?
"Ha, what? Who's looking for me?" Lingling's lazy voice rang out, "Wanweike, who is that... oh, that long-necked man."
"Ha—I already have a child from the Long Neck tribe, so he means nothing to me anymore."
"Hmm, you like me? MAMA, love, what a joke... Rather than discussing men who are no longer of any use, my unborn child and I need some delicious ice cream puffs and chilled sparkling wine!"
"Yes, Mom, I'll prepare the dessert you want right away."
...Is it really okay for pregnant women to eat ice cream and drink alcohol?
As a typical free-spirited seaman, Shiki never considered being bound by women or family, but he still possessed basic common sense.
...However, Lingling is a strong woman who can fight even while pregnant. Ice cream and alcohol are simply not going to have any effect on her or the little ones who have her blood in their veins.
After walking this far, Shiki's originally golden, spiky hair had all fallen flat.
Are there hardly any normal women on the Sword of Gibbe? They're either a bunch of fools blinded by so-called love or madwomen who want to have children of every race.
Shiki sighed, thinking that today was really not a good day to go out. He was about to turn around and go back inside to drink all day to kill time when he opened the door and saw a very familiar black-haired kid sitting in his chair. After hearing the door open, the kid turned around, reached out his hand to him, and said "Hi".
With a bang, Shiki slammed the door shut, his eyes wide open, looking terrified and incredulous as if he had seen a ghost in broad daylight.
No, when did Vera come to his room?
That's impossible. There are sailors on the Sword of Gibbeck on watch in every direction. They would have spotted any approaching ship.
Besides Rocks, Newgate, Shiki, Linlin, and others are all masters of Observation Haki. It's impossible for Shiki to board the ship so quietly without attracting anyone's attention, and even sneak into his room during the short hour he was away.
Haha, it must be a hallucination caused by him not being fully awake.
Shiki took out his key to lock the door, but suddenly felt a pull from within on the handle.
Wow, that's some real strength!
Shiki almost got pulled into the room by Violet without realizing it. After staggering for a moment, he subconsciously lowered his body and tried to fight back against Violet.
But he quickly realized that on this ship, where Observation Haki experts were gathered together and everyone was so uncouth that they were just randomly "looking around," he would be noticed very soon if he showed any unusual behavior.
With a pale face, Shiki pushed the door open and entered the room, then slammed it shut before anyone outside could see who was inside. After locking the door, he stood in the doorway, using his body as an insurmountable barrier for Violet to leave.
Violet: ?
Vera narrowed her eyes and crossed her legs in complete relaxation: "Don't be so tense, Shiki."
"Aren't you surprised or amazed to see me?" Vera asked, utterly bewildered by Skeeter's somber expression. "Aren't you curious about how I got on this ship?"
Even as an all-powerful player, Violet felt that it was quite remarkable that she had located the Sword of Gibbe in just one day, managed to sneak up on it unnoticed, and boarded the ship without anyone noticing.
This was equivalent to performing a spectacular magic show surrounded by a hundred cameras, which greatly increased Vie's desire to share.
"Not curious."
Shiki decisively rejected Violet's temptation. He was neither curious about how Violet came to be, nor about how Rocks would react if he found out that he had messed up the task Rocks had given him in just one day.
As Shiki watched as Vera's temples throbbed, he took back what he had said earlier. This was no rare beauty with an elegant demeanor; she was clearly a troublemaker!
He shouldn't have been so quick to talk to Locke in the first place. If he hadn't, Locke wouldn't have noticed him. If Locke hadn't noticed him, he wouldn't have given him the task of preventing Val from boarding the ship. If he hadn't been given this task, he should have been gloating over other people's misfortunes instead of staying here agonizing over it behind closed doors!
"Don't worry." As if she could read Shiki's mind and wish she could put a sack over her head and throw her into the sea, Violet calmly reassured her, "I won't appear in front of any other crew member besides you."
"Huh?" Shiki was stunned. He was a little confused. Wasn't it Violet who had declared that she would board the ship even if Rocks disagreed? So why was she changing her mind now that she had already boarded the ship? "Don't you want to be a member of the Rocks Pirates anymore?"
"Ha, even if I only took a day to get on the ship, even if no one can stop me, if Captain Rocks is determined to refuse, I can only be a stowaway."
"So I've changed my mind now, I'm not going to prove my abilities to him anymore."
"I want him to acknowledge my existence, to come to me on his own initiative, and to let me be his crew member."
Shiki: "..."
Looking at Vera, whose face showed no sign of joking, Shiki genuinely felt it was difficult to judge.
And what's wrong with you two, Violet and Lox? You two are acting like sulking elementary school kids.
Even those little brats like Lingling wouldn't fight in such a childish way!
Shiki: "...That's hard to say. I wish you good luck."
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Author's Note: Shiki: When gods fight, I suffer the consequences [cracked]
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