A New Promise, a New Trio

The Goa Kingdom.

The "model" kingdom of the East Blue.

Revered as a model of Civilization and order, it is the most beautiful place in the East Blue.

It boasts stunning scenery, sweet air, and a comfortable living environment.

However, all of this is in relation to the Kingdom's center.

The king and nobles of the Goa Kingdom were all exceptionally kind-hearted people who could not bear to see the poor.

They successfully excluded "unnecessary" things from the country very early on, implementing a successful system of social segregation.

The entire Goa Kingdom was divided into two completely isolated parts: a central region and a suburb.

The central area includes: the royal palace, the noble district, and the slums.

The latter includes: natural villages, jungles, gang strongholds, landfills, or also known as Gray Terminal.

·

Foosha Village, Makino's little tavern.

The most challenging region in the Goa Kingdom is undoubtedly the Gray Terminal.

Foosha Village is a natural village in the suburbs. Although it is poor, its environment is much better than that of Gray Terminal.

A swaying purple-haired swordsman pushed open the tavern door and waved to the crowd inside. "Yo~ Today, all your drinks are on the table! Also, Suo's General Store has just received a new batch of straw hats, discounted price, first come, first served!"

"Hahaha, forget about the straw hat, Yasuo's on the tab! Let's drink to our hearts' content today!"

"Lord Yasuo, is doing business overseas really that easy?"

"Hahaha, Zoro, you're so righteous!"

"Yes, yes, you're the real Zoro! That Moss Head is so energetic!"

The men, young and old, all raised their drinks and laughed heartily.

But after laughing, they immediately shouted at the proprietress:

"Makino, another case of that Short-Lived Ghost Niulanshan liquor!"

"I, Short-Lived Ghost, will brave the world!"

"I want vodka, of course, the Short-Lived Ghost brand!"

Since Gragas took the helm, the variety of alcoholic beverages produced by the Big Bird Consortium has greatly increased.

It not only differentiates between high-end, mid-range, and low-end wines, but also offers a variety of products including beer, distilled spirits, rice wine, and red wine.

With its excellent taste and relatively low price, the Short-Lived Ghost series of alcoholic beverages has firmly captured the mid-to-low-end alcohol market in scattered areas of the East Blue, the first half of the Grand Line, Wano Country, and other seas.

As for high-end liquor, it's not something that can be captured in the market simply by relying on taste and price.

Many of the drinks that, in Gragas's words, are merely name-based, are regarded as status symbols by the upper class for various reasons, and thus they firmly control the market.

Especially considering that this world has the Celestial Dragons, a unique group.

The Celestial Dragons consider it a high-end drink, even if it's just a pot of urine. Local nobles like the royal family of the Goa Kingdom would regard it as a fashion trend from the Holy Land Mary Geoise, and then the whole country would drink urine.

Of course, having witnessed all sorts of bizarre marketing practices in his past life, Ma Qiao also has many ways to open up the market for high-end liquor. However, for the time being, keeping the Big Bird Consortium away from the sight of those arrogant Celestial Dragons is still a relatively safe strategy.

In short, these days, in the small Foosha Village tavern, besides the locally brewed liquor, the Short-Lived Ghost series from the Big Bird Consortium is the most popular.

On ordinary days, these poor but fond of drinking villagers mainly come to Makino's tavern to brew their own wine, and occasionally order some Short-Lived Ghost to satisfy their cravings.

But since Zoro is paying the bill today, everyone should naturally enjoy the Short-Lived Ghost.

Just as everyone was shouting "Great Zoro!", the tavern door was pushed open again.

The people who walked in were Zoro, who had an unapproachable look on his face, and Zoro, who had an equally serious Luffy.

"Yasuo... Big brother..."

Zoro practically spat out those words through gritted teeth.

"Now that you've returned to the village, accept my challenge once more! Today, I will reclaim the honor that belongs to me as a swordsman!"

"Yeah, that's right, Yasuo, we will never acknowledge you as our leader. Only that man deserves to be our leader... Ouch! You bastard!"

A bottle flew over, hit Luffy on the head, bounced, and landed in his hand.

"Whether you call me 'Big Brother' or not, according to the agreement, you're now my little brother. Let's drink!"

Yasuo, munching on a blade of grass, chuckled and said, "I made a lot of money overseas this time, so everything's on me today!"

As he spoke, Yasuo tossed another bottle of Short-Lived Ghost over, Zoro caught easily.

"Short-Lived Ghost, Sauce-Scented Bomb?"

Zoro wanted to refuse firmly, but...

After a fierce internal struggle, his Adam's apple bobbed, he swallowed hard, and then raised the bottle and gulped it down.

"Good wine!"

Zoro let out a long sigh of relief, "It's been a long time since I've had such delicious sake since I left the dojo."

"Then why don't you go back to the dojo for a drink? You don't have anything to do in Foosha Village anyway..."

A bystander asked, "Did you forget the way back to the dojo?"

Zoro immediately flushed red, and veins bulged on his forehead. "How could I be lost? I am... I am a walking compass!"

As if to echo Zoro's words, a South Bird emerged from his Moss Head, pointing south and calling out "Cuckoo Cuckoo Land."

This made the onlookers in the tavern laugh even louder.

"Damn it, one day I'll chop that damned quack doctor and that Dean Ma to pieces! Then I'll stew this bird for my drinks!"

Zoro gritted his teeth, while Luffy happily patted his friend on the shoulder:

"As captain, I have to say something to you, Zoro. We rely on this South Bird for everything at sea; it's our navigator! How could you possibly stew it...?"

"That's so unconvincing!"

A group of onlookers pointed at Luffy, who was drooling all over the place Luffy, and loudly criticized him.

As for the poor South Bird, it was so frightened that it quickly scurried back into its nest made of green algae.

"Haha, with young people like you around, Foosha Village has become so much more vibrant!"

As Makino wiped the dishes, she said with a smile, "If only Ace and Sa... uh, if only Ace were still here."

Makino's words Luffy's face darken, but he quickly regained his carefree expression:

"Misi, Misi!"

"If Yasuo's treating today, I want barbecue... um, I want grilled bird!"

"You bastard, you still can't forget about eating my bird, can you?"

"Zoro, your lines are terrible!"

Village Chief Shilabu, wearing a fisherman's hat, watched the three energetic young men wrestling together, raised his glass, took a sip, and a faint smile appeared on his face.

Makino is right. Thanks to these young people, the village has regained its former vitality!

"Makino, Garp say when he's going back to the village to visit his family? He should have arrived by now in previous years, right?"

The village chief's words were like a thunderclap, causing Luffy and Zoro, who were wrestling, to stop fighting at the same time.

The name "Garp" is a nightmare not only for Luffy, but also for Zoro.

I was just strolling around "Loguetown" when this violent old man punched me in the head.

Hitting him in the head was bad enough, but this old man actually went and kidnapped himself to that shady hospital.

Zoro still remembers the terrifying bio-chemical attack he suffered when Garp tucked him under his arm.

Under everyone's gaze, Makino, who owned the only Den Den Mushi in the entire village (excluding the Big Bird Den Den Mushi of King Luffy and others), scratched her cheek and recalled:

"Mr. Garp seemed to have mentioned before that he would be returning to the village later due to illness."

"Nani?"

Not only Luffy and Zoro, but everyone in the old Foosha Village stared wide-eyed, their faces filled with disbelief. "How could a monster like Garp get sick?! Faker!"

"That's really true."

Makino shook her head. "Mr. Garp said that during a physical examination at Shurima Hospital, a cavity was found, and he underwent tooth extraction by Dr. Dr. Mundo."

When the topic of tooth extraction came up, Luffy immediately recalled the terrifying scene from years ago.

That doctor, more terrifying than a butcher, used a bone saw the size of an axe to cut open the gums...

Even King Luffy, who fears neither heaven nor earth, couldn't help but shudder at this moment.

I never imagined that Grandpa would be so ruthless to his grandson, but even more ruthless to himself!

If Garp knew what Luffy was thinking right now, he would definitely say without hesitation, "You little bastard, do you understand? They even gave us two boxes of eggs!"

Luffy thought about it for a moment, but ultimately decided not to take out the Big Bird Den Den Mushi to send a message of condolence to his grandfather.

Thinking about it carefully, the fact that he postponed his visit to his family due to injury is actually a great thing for me!

At least for now, I don't have to get Riot Games!

Luffy raised his beer and happily took a sip, then immediately spat it out.

"Hey~ Zoro, Yasuo, how can you guys like drinking something so awful! Shanks too..."

Shanks? Hmph!

Just then, the door of the Makino Tavern was suddenly kicked open violently. "What a nostalgic name!"

A group of men dressed in white bandit attire swaggered in.

"Huh?"

Luffy rubbed his eyes, looked closely, and then exclaimed in surprise, "Hig the Higuma? Weren't you eaten a long time ago?"

"Damn it, Sun Bear (Higuma's original name is a transliteration of Sun Bear, one is a phonetic translation, the other is a semantic translation) is dead, and I am his younger brother Sun Dog!"

With bloodshot eyes, the Sun Dog shouted, "Do you know how many years I've been searching for revenge against Shanks? Do you know what I've been through all these years?"

"Boss, haven't you been spending all these years eating, drinking, having fun, and keeping your wife company on the mountain?"

"Shut up!"

The Sun Dog glared at the outspoken henchman.

Just kidding, Shanks already had a bounty of over 100 million Beli many years ago.

His own bounty was less than Sun Bear's 8 million Beli, only 3 million Beli.

Besides, according to the newspapers, Shanks has become some kind of Emperor of the Sea with a bounty of four billion Beli. Does he really want to risk his life to seek revenge?

What will happen to my sister-in-law if I die?

Therefore, revenge is absolutely impossible!

However, while seeking revenge against Shanks is out of the question, it doesn't mean we can't get some "interest" from that little brat from back then.

The Sun Dog hadn't expected this at all.

As the poor outside the central region of the Goa Kingdom ran out of money, the bandits' lives became increasingly difficult.

Having just heard that a rich man named Yasuo had appeared in Foosha Village, Sun Dog decided to take his underlings to borrow some money from Yasuo.

I was surprised to see that kid from back then right away.

Back then, the Sun Dog also followed Brother Sun Bear to Foosha Village.

In the subsequent conflict, the Sun Dog escaped with his life by feigning death at the hands of Ben Beckman, a feat roughly equivalent to that of Kizaru.

Seeing Luffy today brought back both old and new grudges.

The Sun Dog grabbed a beer bottle and smashed it powerfully towards Luffy's head.

With a bang, the bottle shattered, spilling liquor Luffy's head.

"Ah!"

The onlookers gasped in surprise, and Makino covered her mouth.

However, Luffy remained motionless, letting the wine and blood flow together.

"Hahaha, you brats who've been clamoring to be pirates, you're still as foolish as ever!"

The Sun Dog laughed triumphantly, then grabbed another bottle and smashed it on Zoro's head.

Zoro maintained his cool expression, arms crossed, motionless.

One onlooker asked, "Why didn't they fight back? Aren't these young men supposed to be good fighters?"

Immediately, more experienced onlookers stepped forward to explain:

"No, this is what a real man is like! A man's dreams need no explanation."

"Why waste your time on someone with different values?"

The Sun Dog looked at the two men, whose eyes were resolute yet who were letting him beat them, and curled his lip in disdain. "Pretentious bastards."

As he spoke, he shifted his gaze to the next person.

A swordsman with a shakuhachi (similar to a flute) hanging from his waist, a knife, and a gourd of wine.

"Heh heh, all three-knife guys look like cowards, but you, with only one knife... um? Purple hair? You must be that rich outsider, right?"

The Sun Dog bent down, grinning maliciously, and asked, "It's really good to be rich. How about it, outsider? If you give me 500,000—no, 1 million Beli —protection money every quarter, I'll protect you in this area. How about it? Isn't that a good deal?"

Yasuo continued drinking, not even looking up, and said, "I refuse."

"Reject?"

"You little brat, you're asking for trouble now!"

Enraged by this, the Sun Dog grabbed a bottle from the side and smashed it down on Yasuo's head with only a fraction of its force.

It doesn't matter if someone else's head gets smashed.

The Sun Dog still doesn't want to smash the brain of this long-term meal ticket.

However...

"You little brat, you think you're so great, huh?!"

"Face the storm!"

With a roar from Yasuo, a Wind Wall, almost tangible, suddenly appeared in front of Sun Dog.

But...

Yasuo, that piece of trash, clearly forgot that Sun Bear's beer bottle attack is a melee basic attack, and that his Wind Wall can't block melee attacks.

This kind of operation...

With a consistently low score of 0/11/5, Yasuo's score dropped to 0/11/0 after the removal of the Statikk Shiv. His routine plays included using reverse Wind Walls, E into turrets, Flash dodge auto-attacks, and Flash Q minions.

Although there are some minor flaws in the operation, Yasuo is still a level 9 champion with decent equipment.

Before the beer bottle hit Sun Dog's head, he used a max-level E skill to teleport behind Sun Dog, then landed a critical hit with a Q.

"You... why don't you play by the rules..."

Before collapsing, the Sun Dog's eyes widened.

"Feel sorry."

Yasuo flashed a dashing profile. "I'm not one of those pirates who play house, I'm a revolutionary... a revolution... is bloody..."

"But... why this place...?"

"I'm used to it... Sorry..."

As he spoke, Yasuo forcefully spun the katana that was stuck in the Sun Dog's buttocks.

Zoro, who had been maintaining a cool pose, trembled with excitement the moment he saw the katana drawn.

But as Yasuo inserted it into Sun Dog's burning hot rectum, Zoro opened his mouth wide and then angrily questioned:

"Yasuo! Do you even know what kind of Famous Sword that is in your hand?"

"How could you... how could you... how could you use it to do such a vile thing!"

Yasuo glanced at Zoro, who was somewhat on the defensive, and slowly drew his katana.

"Brother Zoro, Famous Sword is meant to serve people. A sword is just a tool. Once you master the art of swordsmanship, even a tree branch can become Famous Sword."

"This sword is Enma, which I stole from a brothel overseas... no, I bought it from overseas for a large sum of money."

"The sword is a fine sword, but remember this: you are Roronoa Zoro, a man determined to become the World's Greatest Swordsman, not just a stand for Kozuki Oden's sword, understand?"

After saying a bunch of things that Zoro only vaguely understood, Yasuo disgustedly wiped the excrement-covered Enma on Sun Dog clothes, then took out disinfectant and sprayed it vigorously for a long time before finally reluctantly sheathing his sword.

"Tomorrow morning at nine o'clock, same place, I accept your challenge once again."

"But this time, I'm going to add a new wager. If you and Luffy are still defeated by me, then... we'll do something big together. Do you dare?"

"Cut!"

Zoro curled his lip, revealing a somewhat wicked smile, "I couldn't be happier!"

"Luffy, what about you?"

Yasuo turned to Luffy, who was staring blankly at the Sun Dog that had been stabbed to the ground.

He took off his Straw Hat, frowned, and something inside him seemed to soften slightly.

It wasn't until Yasuo repeatedly asked him that he came to his senses.

"Let's pull off a big heist?"

"I'm going to be the Pirate King! Why would I be afraid of causing trouble!"

Luffy, gripping his Straw Hat, said confidently, "And this time, I'm definitely going to beat you to a pulp, you bastard Yasuo!"

"Haha, then I'll wait and see!"

Yasuo and Zoro raised their glasses, Luffy raised his milk glass, then after thinking for a moment, pinched his nose and let Makino pour him a glass of wine. The three young men clinked glasses together.

In a daze, it seemed as if that summer, the three children had clinked three wine bowls together.

"Village head."

"Why?"

"It's good to be young, isn't it?"

"Don't talk like you're old, Makino... Besides, looking at these three guys, I have a bad feeling. Yasuo is probably even more of a troublemaker Ace and Sabo... For the first time, I really hope Garp goes back to the village soon..."

The village chief sighed, downed the Short-Lived Ghost in one gulp, and then let out a satisfied burp.