Red-Haired Shanks...
One of the Four Emperors who ruled the New World like an emperor.
No matter how hard Maud racked his brains, he couldn't figure out why someone of such stature would come to a shabby shop like this.
So much so that he failed to respond to Shanks right away.
Shanks was already used to reactions like Maud's and didn't mind. Instead, he turned toward Sunny behind the counter and raised a hand in greeting.
"Yo, Nini. Long time no see."
"L-Long time no see."
"Why did you cut your hair?"
"Well, um, Saul said my hair was too long and would waste water when I washed it, so he made me cut it."
Sunny lowered her gaze, her heart beating a little faster as she casually came up with an excuse.
At that moment, Saul was leisurely walking down the street with some packed-up leftovers when he suddenly sneezed violently. He wiped his nose, thought for a moment, and suddenly developed an ominous feeling. He instinctively quickened his pace.
Inside the shop, Shanks smiled helplessly and said, "Saul really is as... thrifty as ever."
"Uh, you came this time to...?"
Sunny tactfully changed the subject and asked why Shanks had come.
"Same as always. I came to buy some wine from my hometown."
Shanks laughed heartily, passed Maud, and came to the counter.
Only then did Maud belatedly look at Shanks's back.
I accidentally slighted him.
Fortunately, Shanks's personality was different from that of the other Four Emperors...
The curly-haired Yasopp glanced at Maud inconspicuously, then followed Shanks along with Lucky Roux, who was holding a chicken leg.
Maud silently watched their backs, composed himself, casually pulled the shop door mostly shut, then stepped aside and observed Shanks and Sunny chatting.
Judging from the content of their conversation, Shanks seemed to be a regular customer at the shop.
What left Maud most speechless was that Shanks had come to the shop to buy wine, not weapons.
Wait, did the shop even sell wine?
Maud suddenly remembered the entrance to the basement downstairs.
Could that be a wine cellar...?
Behind the counter, Sunny had changed from her usual self and seemed somewhat nervous.
However, when she learned that Shanks had come for wine, she remembered Saul's previous firm and heartbroken instructions. Her resolve as a member of Saul's Weapon Shop immediately returned.
She raised her head and looked Shanks straight in the eye, saying seriously, "After you carried away all the wine last time, Saul gave me strict orders. He said we could sell to anyone—but not to you."
"What?"
Shanks was startled. He turned toward Lucky Roux and asked in confusion, "Did we not pay last time?"
"We paid. It's just that... while moving the goods, we took two barrels of wine that the boss had deliberately set aside."
"..."
Shanks fell silent for a long while, then sighed. "So that happened."
After sighing, he leaned toward Sunny, shifted his focus, and asked in a lowered voice, "Is Saul home?"
Sunny answered bluntly, "No."
"Then this will be easy."
Shanks looked completely serious.
"You...!"
Sunny's eyes widened.
Before Sunny could say anything else, Lucky Roux understood what Shanks meant and placed the money for the wine on the counter. Then he walked toward the staircase with practiced ease.
As Sunny watched Lucky Roux head toward the wine cellar, she instinctively started to step out from behind the counter to stop him.
Thump—
Just then, a soft sound came from the counter.
Sunny followed the sound and saw that, during a lull in the conversation, Yasopp had taken a smoothbore flintlock and a short-barreled flintlock from the display rack and gently placed them on the counter.
"Little Nini, how much are these two guns?"
Yasopp leaned forward, folding his arms on the countertop.
His timing was so difficult to describe, yet his expression didn't look like he was joking. He really intended to buy the guns.
Sunny glanced at Lucky Roux's back, then at the two guns on the counter. She gritted her teeth inwardly, sighed, and quoted the prices with a heart as dead as ashes. "The smoothbore is 1.2 million Beli. The short-barreled one is 3.8 million Beli."
By then, Lucky Roux had disappeared from sight. He had probably already gone down to the wine cellar.
"Whistle—"
After hearing Sunny quote the prices, Yasopp whistled. He didn't object to the seemingly unreasonable prices and simply pulled out the money.
Shanks glanced at the smoothbore flintlock strapped behind Yasopp and asked, "You've decided just like that? Maybe Saul can repair it."
Yasopp curled his lip. "Boss, do you want to wait in the shop for Mr. Saul to come back?"
"Haha."
Shanks laughed indifferently. "It's not like we have anything else to do. We can carry the wine away first, then come back again."
"..."
Yasopp was speechless for a long while. He shook his head and said, "Forget it. Let it end here. As an old companion, it's already done its best."
As he spoke, he removed the smoothbore flintlock from his back and placed it on the counter.
This gun was the first old companion he had brought out of his village. After accompanying him all this way, it had ultimately failed to withstand the ravages of time.
Even though he had consciously used Armament Haki to nourish it, in the end, that had only been a belated effort to mend the damage.
After all, he was a sniper. He specialized in Observation Haki rather than Armament Haki.
Moreover, he had only learned Armament Haki several years after setting sail. By the time he realized he should use Haki to nourish his beloved gun, it was already too late.
As time passed, his first old companion could only be reduced to a backup gun.
And now, as its deterioration grew more severe, it was struggling even to serve as a backup.
Yasopp had already felt this deeply during his regular maintenance.
With no other choice, he could only take the final option—replace the gun.
Sunny glanced at the old smoothbore gun Yasopp had placed on the counter and said calmly, "I'm sorry, but this shop doesn't accept secondhand guns, especially broken guns!"
When she said "broken guns" at the end, she emphasized the words.
"It isn't broken. It's just old."
Yasopp noticed Sunny's pointed remark and felt rather helpless.
"We don't accept old guns either!"
"..."
"Haha."
That was Shanks's cheerful laughter.
Yasopp shook his head and said, "I'm not selling it. Just tell Mr. Saul that I left it here."
"Can't you just throw it away? It isn't useful anymore anyway."
"That won't do!"
Yasopp looked serious. "Have Mr. Saul keep it. Maybe one day he'll be inspired and transfer the old companion's 'heart' into another gun. When that happens, it can at least continue its journey in another form."
"Actually, you have another option."
The speaker was Maud, who had been watching from the side all along.
Hearing Maud's words, everyone present couldn't help looking at him.
Meeting their gazes, Maud, who had already calmed down, showed no trace of nervousness. His tone was solemn and serious.
"Give it to me, and I'll carry it with me for another stretch of the journey."
Thanks to Master Qingquan Liuxiang and the Governor of Luo City for the 500-reward donations; thanks to Ghost Hand Wen Wuhen for the 200-reward donation; and thanks to Dao | Dao Fa Zi Ran and reader 20190527115205323 for the 100-reward donations.
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