Chapter 48
Becoming the center of attention wasn't your intention, but embarrassing Beckman wasn't something you would do either. After recovering, you accepted the flowers from Beckman and returned his polite smile.
"Thank you, the flowers are just as beautiful as the person who sent them."
Your words made Marco, who was preparing to physically separate you from Beckman, laugh, and the belatedly realized Red and White crew members laughed even louder. Only Beckman, who had turned his attention to you, realized he had gone from teasing you to being teased, and helplessly facepalmed.
"Beckman is probably tired, so you should come with us. It'll save him the trouble of taking care of you."
You don't consider yourself the type to actively seek trouble, but Marco's words, coupled with Beckman's haggard and helpless expression, make you think Marco is right.
“That’s true. We’ll leave the rest to Marco.”
So, the crew members who were still trying to recruit you to the Red Team booed in disappointment amidst the White Team's echoing voices, mixed with "complaints" that Beckman hadn't hooked you. Because they were badmouthing Beckman to his face, you and Marco walked a distance ahead, taking the opportunity to tease Beckman's crew member about the big bump on his head that Beckman had given him.
Seeing that Bai Tuan and you were some distance away from them, the crew member closest to Beckman sighed quietly, "I never thought that even the first mate could make a mistake."
After the "interaction" just now, Beckman, whose emotions were relatively stable, lit a cigarette and casually answered the questions about the crew members next to him.
“She doesn’t fall into the category of ‘mistakes’.”
Based on Beckman's understanding of you, even if he used all the methods he uses to pursue women, it wouldn't work if you weren't interested. As for the flowers earlier, they were just Beckman's way of easing the tension.
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While you were searching for supplies, you found quite a few ingredients that could be cooked, as well as a ready-made cook and a ship's doctor. However, the cook was Sachi, and the ship's doctor was Hongo, and judging from the scaffolding they were in, they had been there for a while.
"I didn't expect you to have already started cooking. This saves us the trouble of setting up the scaffolding!"
Marco's words elicited harmless laughter from the White Team and a helpless expression from Sachi.
"We don't need to set up the scaffolding, but we still need to do odd jobs. Let's have the redheads come and help out too."
Sachi, who volunteered to provide lunch for both ships, said this. Beckman, who was still exchanging information with Hongo about their encounter, turned and said something. The crew members surrounding the two of them gradually walked towards the open space where Sachi was to help. You are also in the line of helpers, responsible for selecting ingredients.
"I don't want to be knocked out by a poisonous mushroom."
These are Satchel's exact words when he asked for your help. They make a lot of sense, but the crew members who were helping weren't happy about it, saying that Satchel was treating them differently. Faced with the accusations from both the red and white crew members, Satchel raised his right hand and gestured "don't worry about it" to you, then turned around and addressed their complaints.
"What you're saying, do you even have the attention to detail? Entrusting the task of identifying poisonous mushrooms to guys who can't even tell the difference between salt and sugar is practically gambling with their lives!"
Upon hearing this, the group that had been teasing Sachi for treating them differently lowered their heads to deal with the ingredients in their hands. Only Hongo, who had exchanged information with Beckman, walked up to you and naturally formed the "Mushroom Squad" with you.
To be honest, dealing with Beckman and Lem was still within your capabilities. But when it came to taking care of you in the Red Team, and then dealing with Hongo who left you unsure how to face him, you became a bit reserved. Noticing this, Sachi looked Hongo up and down. Hongo, sensing Sachi's gaze, looked up and returned Sachi's gentle smile.
"I'm not very good at assisting others, but I'm quite good at identifying plants."
Towards the end, Hongo's gaze fell on you. When your eyes met, you unconsciously nodded, having received Hongo's help before, then lowered your head as you realized what you had done. Even if Sachi was slow to understand, he knew what Hongo and you had been through.
"Are you just helping out? It looks like you have ulterior motives."
Sachi raised an eyebrow and, as he spoke, consciously moved towards where you were standing, intentionally shielding you behind him. Hongo, his intentions exposed, didn't deny it, and his gaze, which had been on you, naturally shifted to the brightly colored mushrooms.
"Pirates are the odd ones out if they don't want anything, right? If a pirate says he doesn't want anything, he's usually the type who steals from his own backer."
Anyone with a discerning eye can see the implication behind Hongo's smile, let alone someone like you who knows Hongo well. Even if Hongo didn't explicitly state who the subject of "embezzlement" was, judging from the current situation, Hongo is clearly implying something about Sachi.
Sachi frowned slightly upon hearing the ambiguity in the local dialect, and remembering that you were still behind him, he changed his words.
"Offending the chef when preparing a meal is not a good habit."
You agree with that, because a chef might add something to an order that offends a diner, but Sachi shouldn't be that kind of person. And Hongo, who understood Sachi's implication, wasn't afraid, using his profession to demonstrate that Sachi's suggestion was nothing to fear.
"It also depends on who the chef works with."
A silent battle unfolds during their conversation. Working alongside them, you feel immense pressure and just want to finish your work and find somewhere else to be. Luckily, Marco arrives just in time, successfully escaping the mushroom squad and joining the potato-peeling team with the simple phrase, "Isn't this my forte?"
Once it's confirmed that you've joined the Potato Squad and are some distance away from them, Sachi is finally able to say something he couldn't say before because you're there.
"Do all the people in your Red Team like to scare people? One by one, they come over and scare her if you're not watching her closely."
In the end, Sachi threw the poisonous mushroom aside with such force that it was as if he had thrown the red ball in his mouth, not the mushroom.
Knowing he was in the wrong but still defending his own in front of outsiders, Hongo smirked and coldly stated his thoughts: "If it's about her, in my opinion, the people on your ship aren't much better. A perfectly healthy person becoming this weak—doesn't that mean you haven't taken good enough care of her?"
At least while you were on their ship, aside from that accidental enemy attack, Hongo never let you get hurt, and you never went hungry. Heaven knows how distressed Hongo was to see you looking sickly. He's just better at enduring things than Lyme.
"Hey, is what you're saying any different from saying my medical skills are bad?"
"That's not what I meant at all, I was just stating the facts."
Completely shedding his gentle doctor's facade, Hongo snapped back at Marco, who, feeling slighted, didn't bother discussing Hongo's affairs with him. "You're not a member of the Red Brigade," Hongo thought, "there's no need for me to tell Hongo about you."
As you join the potato-peeling group, you listen to the crew members of the Red and White teams recount their experiences on the journey. Almost everyone encountered terrain they were not suited for, and some even met companions who had been dead for a long time. Combining the information they provided, you become increasingly certain that this island is a "living thing" capable of understanding people's hearts, and the seemingly endless desert that you could not see as far as the eye could see also makes sense.
Thinking about this, you can't help but feel grateful that it was just a desert and not Crocodile. If it were Crocodile, even if you knew he was fake, the body that remembered the fear Crocodile brought would be frozen in place by the illusion.
"Are you feeling unwell? Why don't you go and rest over there? We have plenty of people to help you."
The crew member closest to you said with concern, and you, successfully roused from your reverie by the crew member, responded with a faint smile.
"I'm fine, I was just thinking about what delicious food Sachi would make, and I got a little distracted."
"I see! Sachi's cooking is indeed delicious, it's normal for you to be distracted!"
The crew member who accepted your explanation responded with a crescent-shaped smile, and then the two of them continued with their work in perfect harmony.
The advantage of having more people is that there is more labor, but the disadvantage is that everyone's efficiency varies. For example, after collecting a lot of wet wood, they couldn't get it to fire, making Sachi shake his head repeatedly.
"Even if Ace were here, it would take him ages to get this pile of wet wood burning."
"No, is that how you use Ace?"
Marco, sensing the ambiguity in Sachi's words, promptly retorted, and the back-and-forth banter made you and those around you laugh non-stop. Sachi and Marco, belatedly realizing what was happening, joined in the laughter.
Despite the laughter, they still needed to gather dry wood to eat. To prevent the crew from making a fool of themselves again while gathering wood, Sachi entrusted this important task to Marco.
"We'll have to rely on you to see when we can eat, Marco."
"This statement carries a lot of pressure."
Marco, entrusted with this "important task," shook his head helplessly but did not refuse. After that, Marco and Beckman, who offered to help him share the burden, left together, so the job of looking after the crew on the beach fell to Sachi and Hongo.
So the pirates, who could hold a banquet as long as there was fire, started singing pirate songs with different rhythms after their vice-captain, who could control the situation, left. While singing, they also picked up the tools at hand to play music.
It wasn't exactly bad, but it wasn't particularly good either. The only thing you could tell was that they were genuinely enjoying themselves.
Just when you thought their singing was none of your business, the two people closest to you enthusiastically invited you to join the "choir," which startled you, as you had never heard the original version or the lyrics.
"My words,"
Don't be shy! Just sing along with us!
"Yeah! They sang like that without any embarrassment, it's no big deal!"
Seeing that the two had talked to this point, you couldn't find a reason to refuse. You could only piece together the meaning of the next line of lyrics from their inconsistent singing.
You don't know if you're singing correctly, but the pirates sitting around you are having a great time, and their loud voices have successfully drowned out your singing, preventing anyone from hearing you sing off-key.
And so it was. Sachi, who had wanted to stop his crew from making a ruckus, saw you trying your best to keep up with the lyrics among them and let you enjoy a moment of fun on the beach, not knowing what would happen next.
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