In a private room on the second floor of a restaurant behind headquarters, everyone was gathered around a table. Kuro sat at the head of the table, with Lida and Kuro on his left and right, and their respective subordinates, including Sazel, who was now a colonel, on the left and right.
Tina sat opposite Kuro, with her subordinates by her side. She rested one hand on the back of her chair, crossed her legs sexily, and smoked a cigarette like a female boss.
The navy is made up of warlords and big shots, and there's not much of a proper way to conduct themselves.
"Come on, don't be shy. I brought all the stock from my office. This stuff is very expensive."
Kuro picked up the wine bottle on the table, poured some into his glass, and then looked at Tina, who had the same wine bottle in front of her, both containing red wine.
Tina raised an eyebrow upon hearing this, picked up the wine bottle in front of her, and with a flick of her thumb, popped off the cork, which was already half empty, and poured out a very rich-looking liquid into the glass.
She picked up the wine glass, swirled it gently, smelled it, and looked at Kuro in surprise: "Bordeaux? Where did you get it?"
Kuro chuckled: "A friend of mine who is a king gave it to me. You have a very good nose, you can smell it right away, don't you need to taste it?"
"I drank it once before, and I wiped out a pirate crew and got this bottle of red wine."
Tina swirled her wine glass, her lips seemingly stained... It's nothing, she took a small sip, licked her lips, and said, "This kind of wine, once you drink it, there's less left; it's no longer produced."
There once was a country on the high seas that produced a great deal of red wine, called 'Bordeaux'. They produced only this one kind of red wine. The wine originally had other names, but because of the fall of the 'Bordeaux Kingdom', people used 'Bordeaux' to refer to this bottle of wine.
The market price is one million Berries, but you can't buy it at all. If you take out a bottle, as long as it's genuine, it will start at thirty million.
It's a very precious kind of wine; I never expected Kuro to have it.
“This stuff is really good. If you like it, I’ll send you two more bottles later. I’m not as fond of cigars as I am of alcohol,” Kuro said.
David somehow got hold of it and just shoved a whole case into his hand. He wasn't usually that particular about the taste of wine; he usually drank good wines that cost millions of dollars a bottle, and that was enough to satisfy him. This kind of wine, in fact, didn't taste as good as those that cost millions.
But no matter what it is, if you add historical factors, it becomes sentimental, and with sentiment, it becomes valuable.
Even if it's just a pile of poop, as long as someone tells him that it was made by the Pirate King and is the only poop in the world that has been preserved, then someone will want it.
For no other reason than that this thing is rare, has become famous, and the Pirate King is dead.
When a person dies, the price goes up again, and then it becomes a work of art.
Otherwise, why would nobody want Kuro's excrement?
"Tina won't stand on ceremony." Tina nodded.
She didn't stand on ceremony with Kuro. She herself was a lover of alcohol, and with such fine wine, she could collect it and enjoy it anytime.
"I want to drink it too..."
Lida stood by, watching longingly.
"Children shouldn't drink alcohol, they should drink soft drinks." Kuro poured her a glass of juice himself.
"Hey, Kuro, are you doing this on purpose? I'm already twenty-one!" Lida shouted. "I'm a year past the drinking age!"
The age at which this person drinks wine on the sea is also twenty.
But... it seems no one follows the rules. Even children will have a glass of malt or rum. Drinking has long been the norm on this sea.
Kuro knew this a long time ago.
"Even if you're past the age of drinking, it won't work with me. Fruit juice is so delicious, so sweet and sour."
Kuro rudely moved the glass full of juice in front of Lida, ignoring her resentful look, and smiled at Tina, "Tina, you took the wine too. Tomorrow, work harder and get me a few more warehouse-sized black guns."
"How many warehouses? Tina is very tired."
Tina took a drag of her cigarette and shook her head: "But Tina will do her best."
"It's good that you meant it." Kuro smiled, handed the cup to Sentomaru beside him, and said, "You Muggle, how did you let that old coward into the New World?"
"Who?" Sentomaru didn't react for a moment.
But facing Kuro's almost scrutinizing gaze, Sentomaru thought for a moment and then suddenly realized, "Sam William?"
He had previously been stationed in Sabaody Archipelago, and William had already made an escape attempt. Later, Kuro personally ordered that if they encountered this person again, they must do their utmost. However, Kuro did not hear any news about him afterward.
“It’s not my fault, brother. I was already on high alert in Sabaody, but that guy didn’t even come to Sabaody. He probably prepared in advance and bypassed Sabaody to go to the New World,” Sentomaru said.
He really did as his older brother Kuro said. After all, as the younger brother, he had to do what his older brother said. Besides, he had been 'specially trained' before and knew what Kuro was like when he got angry, so of course he dared not disobey.
"Never been there?"
Kuro stroked his chin, looking somewhat puzzled, and said, "It seems you were cautious enough back then, but how come you became so arrogant after arriving in the New World? I wonder if you've corrected that."
"Speaking of which, Brother Kuro, do you know what's been going on with the old man lately?"
Sentomaru seemed to remember something and asked, "I haven't heard from the old man in a long time. He doesn't go on missions anymore and just stays at headquarters every day. When I ask him, he just smiles and doesn't answer."
"Haven't he always been like this?" Kuro said without any surprise, "If he weren't like this, he wouldn't be himself. But... he's never gone out even once?"
"Yes, he hasn't gone out even once, nor has he had any missions. It's as if the Navy has nothing to do with him," Sentomaru affirmed.
He and the old man were in frequent contact, unlike Kuro who was afraid of trouble and just stayed in his own little world even at headquarters.
"Hide your strength and bide your time?"
Kuro raised an eyebrow and said, "Impossible, this old man doesn't need to do this, and we haven't been sidelined. Strange..."
In his view, this situation would normally mean that the old man had been sidelined, but that's not the case. Kizaru's faction has quite a few people under their command, and they all hold important positions.
It's impossible for the faction to be stripped of power and sidelined.
As for the old man himself, Kuro is the second-in-command of the faction. If anyone should be sidelined, it would be Kuro. He himself is standing here, so it's normal for the others to be sidelined as well.
This is a bit strange, a bit out of character. Although the old man may have been slacking off a bit, being used to being an actor and a sailor, he still had things to do.
Why haven't you left the house in months?
"Forget it, he has his reasons, but he didn't tell us. So let's not get involved and continue drinking." Kuro waved his hand and picked up his glass.
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