So this kid still didn't know about Armament Haki...
Golden Lion Shiki's eyes shifted as he glanced around. With a cigar between his teeth, he grinned and said, "You brat, come inside first."
After Ares entered the room, he immediately closed the door.
"Have a seat first. I'll go get something."
When Golden Lion Shiki reappeared, he was already carrying several bottles of rum.
He sat boldly across from Ares, crossed his legs, and threw his head back laughing. "Jahhahaha... Ares, want some booze?"
"This is the finest liquor from my private collection. Even if that fellow Whitebeard offered to buy it, I wouldn't let him have a drop!"
As he spoke, he flicked a finger. With a sharp clack, the cork flew off the bottle.
However, Golden Lion used his powers to suspend the cork in midair. In the end, it shot down with a whoosh and landed squarely on the table.
"I don't drink," Ares replied indifferently, then continued asking, "What exactly is Armament Haki?"
His heart held nothing but yearning and curiosity toward Armament Haki.
That was because Armament Haki could let his body withstand a Famous Sword!
It could make his physique even stronger!
Ares's heart burned with anticipation, and his ferocious, beast-like eyes burst with intimidating brilliance.
"Heh heh."
Golden Lion chuckled. Holding his cigar in one hand, he lifted the bottle with the other and gulped the liquor down as if it were water. Half the bottle vanished in an instant.
A look of pleasure and enjoyment appeared on his face as he laughed. "Hahaha... How can a pirate not drink?"
"A pirate can go without food or weapons, but never without alcohol!"
"Ares, give it a try. You'll fall in love with this stuff. I'll tell you what Armament Haki is after you finish this bottle!"
As he spoke, he opened another bottle of rum and placed it directly in front of Ares.
Golden Lion wore a playful, intrigued smile. He took a deep drag from his cigar, looking so comfortable that he seemed to be floating in the clouds.
He wanted to see what kind of reaction this fellow who had never drunk before would have to liquor like this.
Ares frowned slightly and picked up the bottle between two fingers. The bottle, which would require an ordinary person to use one hand to hold, was like a lighter in his grasp.
Ares brought the bottle's mouth to his lips, then paused slightly, because he had never drunk alcohol before.
Seeing Ares's hesitation, Golden Lion burst into laughter. "Drink up! I'll tell you what Armament Haki is after you do."
"And how to cultivate Armament Haki."
The moment he finished speaking, Ares raised a finger, and the liquor in the bottle gurgled into his mouth.
A sharp, spicy sensation immediately spread through him, searing his throat. The feeling of the liquor entering his esophagus was equally intense.
The blood throughout his body began to surge faster with excitement.
Or rather, his blood pressure was rising!
"Cough, cough!!!" Ares immediately began coughing. It was his first time drinking, yet he had swallowed more than half a bottle in one go. The stimulating heat made him physically uncomfortable.
A burning pleasure suddenly spread through his stomach and intestines.
The fiery heat in his stomach actually felt warm and comforting!
Seeing Ares's awkward state during his first drink, Golden Lion immediately burst out laughing. "Jahhahaha... A pirate's life without alcohol is incomplete!!"
"Alcohol is a pirate's material and spiritual necessity!!"
"You'll understand someday just how wonderful drinking is!!"
He casually picked up his own bottle as well, tilted his head back, and drank boldly. The sound of gulping accompanied the up-and-down movement of his Adam's apple as the liquor poured straight into his stomach.
Shiki found it incredibly refreshing.
After the strong liquor entered Ares's stomach, he initially found its taste rather harsh and didn't like it much.
But the next second, he suddenly felt as though his entire body were floating. His mind grew hazy, and the dizziness gradually intensified.
"So this is what drinking feels like?"
"It feels like my body has become lighter..."
His face began to feel hot. It had already turned completely red, though he himself didn't know it and only felt overheated.
Ares opened his mouth and poured the remaining liquor from the bottle into it. In his dizzy state, he no longer found it as unpleasant as he had at first.
The stimulating pleasure instantly swept through his nerves. He muttered, "This liquor... hic~"
"This liquor tastes good..."
"My body feels hot."
His normally sharp and fierce gaze had become somewhat unfocused. Seeing the alcohol on the table, he reached out for it almost unconsciously.
Imitating Golden Lion's earlier action, he flicked the cork away with a clack.
The cork shot into the wall with a bang like a bullet.
Holding the bottle between two fingers, Ares poured it into his mouth and gulped it down. A bottle was a lot for an ordinary person, but for Ares, whose body stood four meters tall,
it was tiny.
A bottle disappeared into his stomach in just two or three seconds.
Then he immediately started on another bottle.
Seeing this, Golden Lion's expression changed, and he hurriedly shouted, "Hey, hey! You little drunkard, you can't keep drinking! This is fine liquor I've kept for years."
"You can't finish it all at once!!"
But Ares was too drunk and dazed to hear a word Golden Lion said. He continued to gulp down another bottle.
Golden Lion immediately spread both arms to shield the bottles in front of him like the mother hen in a game of chase. With his cigar clenched between his teeth, he said, "Ares, you aren't really drunk, are you?!"
"You can't drink any more of this!!"
His heart ached. This was fine liquor he normally couldn't bear to drink, and this brat had already polished off three bottles!
He only had a dozen or so bottles in total.
He had lost a full fifth of his collection!
"Hm?!"
Ares's head swayed unsteadily, first to the left and then to the right. When he saw Golden Lion guarding the liquor, he reached out and pushed him aside.
But how tremendous was Ares's strength?
Drunk, Ares couldn't judge the magnitude of his own power at all.
Golden Lion was completely unprepared, and in an instant, his entire body was thrown away. With a bang, he crashed straight through the glass window nearby!
He flew out of Skull Castle and slammed heavily onto the street outside with a boom.
A cloud of dust billowed into the air!
Broken stones went flying.
The commotion immediately caused a panic among the pedestrians in the street!
"Did you see clearly what just fell down?!!"
"How could something suddenly fall from the sky?!!"
"It seems to have flown out of Skull Castle!!! What happened?!!"
"Did anyone see what happened?!!"
"·········"
A large crowd quickly gathered around, all of them staring toward the center of the dust cloud.
The next second.
Golden Lion's battered figure floated out of the dust. Covered in dirt, he looked so wretched that everyone around him was stunned.
"Golden Lion—Shiki?!!"
Before you continue