A Visit to Sister Shakky's Bar

"Mu Chen, you were right. Those eyes were beautiful and unique—something rarely seen. But that was nothing. Hardly anyone had even heard of, let alone seen, the Genjutsu those eyes possessed. That was the problem."

At that, Mu Chen grew a little nervous and clenched his fists slightly, suddenly feeling that things did not look good.

With such rare eyes and Genjutsu, many people might set their sights on him or even study him. This included—

Zefa frowned deeply and pointed upward with a finger. Mu Chen understood instantly. "Teacher Zefa, you mean the Celestial Dragons? My ability is rather special, so I could easily become a target. The most likely outcome wouldn't be slavery, but being recruited into a CP organization. But what difference would that make from being a slave?"

It seemed Mu Chen had been thinking too simply. He had never considered such things before, but now that he thought about it, wasn't that just how the Celestial Dragons were? Whenever they saw something rare or valuable, they would seize it. Not only did they enjoy keeping all sorts of races as slaves, they even dissected them for research.

That immediately made Mu Chen think of Yan Zaijing. The Marines could protect him, but if his rank was not high enough, it would still be difficult to handle things properly.

"Teacher Zefa, I understand. I'll have to be more careful in the future. Before I become a vice admiral, it would be best not to use Genjutsu in front of others."

Just as Teacher Zefa had said, the most likely outcome for someone with Genjutsu was not having their eyes gouged out, but being forced into a CP organization. That was an intelligence department. Genjutsu would make interrogating criminals effortless. If they found he was no longer useful, they might eventually gouge out his eyes for collection or research. Genjutsu had far too many possible uses.

Forget it. Mu Chen did not want to think too much about it. Those were matters for the future. Besides, if the Celestial Dragons really came for him, he would just fight them.

Days passed one by one. Ever since Mu Chen had gotten Kuzan's warship, he had been heading to the Sabaody Archipelago every few days to slack off. His Slacking Points rose quickly, reaching over forty thousand in just a few days.

Not only that, Mu Chen had also learned Geppo during this time.

Geppo was an excellent skill. It really would not do to go without it.

"Mu Chen, you brat, you're here!"

At that moment, Mu Chen appeared in a bar near Area 13 of the Sabaody Archipelago. The one calling out to him was Silvers Rayleigh.

Mu Chen acted as though he were one of the family, found a recliner, and lay down in it.

"I haven't been here in a few days. I came to slack off at your place."

"Sister Shakky, a drink, please."

Mu Chen spoke lazily to the beautiful short-haired woman smoking nearby.

As it happened, when he had come looking for Rayleigh a few days ago, he discovered that Rayleigh had long since gotten together with Shakky. Speaking of retirement, Shakky had retired even earlier than Rayleigh. Her identity was far from ordinary as well—she had been the former empress of Amazon Lily from two generations ago and the former captain of the Kuja Pirates. She was a major figure in her own right.

"Mu Chen, you really don't treat yourself like an outsider. Aren't you a Marine?"

Rayleigh was rather helpless in the face of Mu Chen's behavior. Mu Chen was a Marine, while they were pirates. How had they really ended up hanging around together?

"Mu Chen, don't listen to Rayleigh. I think this Marine little brother likes Shakky very much."

Rolling his eyes, Mu Chen said, "Sister Shakky treats me better than Rayleigh does. Unlike Uncle Rayleigh, he acts like it'll kill him if I lie on his recliner."

"You brat, you call me Uncle but call Shakky Sister. Aren't you embarrassed?"

Rayleigh no longer knew what to say to Mu Chen. Mu Chen was like a shameless piece of sticky plaster—every time he came, he had to lie on Rayleigh's recliner. He called Rayleigh Uncle but called Shakky Sister. Even favoritism had its limits. "Can you even compare yourself to Sister Shakky?"

"Just look at all those wrinkles on your face, then look at Sister Shakky's skin. It's so tender it looks like it could break with a touch. Calling her Sister already makes me feel like I'm calling her old."

Mu Chen's praise immediately made Shakky beam with delight.

"Little brother Mu Chen, your mouth is so sweet. Unlike this old fellow—he doesn't have a shred of humor."

Caught between Mu Chen and Shakky's combined attack, Rayleigh was so crushed that his head nearly drooped to the floor.

Wrinkles. No humor. Rayleigh wanted to find a hole and crawl into it. Why had he ever let Mu Chen know where he lived? But then again, even if he had not told him, Mu Chen would definitely have found him anyway.

"Hey, little brother Mu Chen, you became quite famous at Marine Headquarters recently. You actually defeated Kuzan."

"Sister Shakky, your intelligence is as accurate as ever, but that was only a coincidence." Although Shakky had retired here with Rayleigh, she was an intelligence expert, and her information network was incredibly reliable. "Still, I think you'd better not return to Marine Headquarters for the next few days."

Mu Chen was puzzled by Shakky's words. "Why?"

Shakky's face turned serious. "Golden Lion Shiki will probably head to Marineford within the next few days. If you go there, you'll be walking straight into your death!"

Mu Chen had already heard Sengoku and the others mention that Golden Lion Shiki was coming to Marineford, but this was the first time he had heard intelligence that Shiki would arrive within days.

"That's right, Mu Chen. Golden Lion is not someone you can handle. Back then, Golden Lion Shiki was someone even Captain Roger had to avoid. He also has his Flying Fleet. He always regarded Captain Roger as his only rival in this world. Now, he has only one reason for going to Marineford."

Rayleigh took a sip of wine, his eyes filled with memories of the past. "To prove that he was stronger than Roger, right?"

Mu Chen naturally knew why Golden Lion was going there, but if he did not return to Marine Headquarters in this situation, would he not become a deserter?

Now that he had this intelligence, he still needed to notify Teacher Zefa and the others, just in case.

"Yes. He even brought his Flying Fleet, so I advise you to stay at Shakky's place for a few days first."