Partners

Li Ziming cleaned his bar. The liquor on Whiskey Peak was pretty good; at the very least, after tasting it, Li Ziming felt it could fully satisfy his bartending needs.

"Hohohoho, so this is where my partner stays? What a shabby place." A distinctly frivolous female voice came from the doorway.

"Welcome." Li Ziming smiled. Though she acted rather flippantly, he never turned away a customer.

"Are you Mr. 5?" The woman standing before Li Ziming was fashionably dressed, though her taste in clothing was something he truly could not praise. One look and all he could see were lemons. Her hat bore lemon patterns, her earrings were lemons, her clothes were covered in lemons, and even the umbrella in her hand was adorned with lemon designs.

"You're my partner? Don't tell me your codename is Miss Lemon." Li Ziming teased.

"Are you trying to die? My codename is Miss Valentine!" The woman glared at Li Ziming. "I'm warning you, I ate the Kilo Kilo no Mi. I'm a Kilo Human, and I can freely alter my weight..."

"So you never have to worry about gaining weight?" Li Ziming said with a grin.

"You really are looking for death!" Miss Valentine's body suddenly floated upward. "Watch me crush you to death!"

"That's quite an interesting way to attack." Li Ziming suddenly appeared beside Miss Valentine. What terrified her was that he was hovering in midair as he looked at her. "But what if you miss your target and slam yourself into the ground?" Li Ziming asked curiously.

"None of your business!" Miss Valentine roared furiously. "No one can dodge my attack!"

"Is that so?" Li Ziming suddenly gave a wicked smile, then reached out and grabbed Miss Valentine by the head.

"Y-you, what are you trying to do?!" In her panic, Miss Valentine even forgot to cancel her ability.

"Nothing." Li Ziming smiled with exceptional warmth, then began swinging Miss Valentine around like a windmill by the head.

"Waaaaaah!" Miss Valentine's terrified scream rang throughout Edenhell. Before long, Li Ziming felt the weight in his hand suddenly increase.

"Did she pass out?" Li Ziming slowly stopped spinning. By then, Miss Valentine's eyes had turned into spirals.

"Did I go a little overboard?" Li Ziming scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "I'll give her a glass of lemonade as an apology, then."

"What did you do to your partner?" Robin's voice drifted over. "Miss Valentine looks like you completely broke her."

Li Ziming shrugged. "I merely taught her, as her partner, how she should conduct herself in the future."

"Training her? I never took you for that type." Robin sounded surprised.

"I suppose so." Li Ziming did not deny it. "But why does the vice president have time to visit me?"

"Oh? Didn't you invite me to visit your bar?" Robin sat directly at the counter. "Aren't you going to give me something to drink?"

"Juice or liquor?" Li Ziming asked.

"I heard you seem to be quite skilled at mixing drinks, so make me something suitable for a woman." Robin smiled at Li Ziming.

"No problem, yada." Li Ziming briefly considered the cocktails in his mind that were suitable for women, but he soon made his choice.

He took white crème de cacao, green mint liqueur, fresh cream, and ice from the shelves and poured them into a shaker. Before long, a pale green drink was placed before Robin.

"Grasshopper. Please enjoy." Li Ziming pushed the drink toward Robin.

"Not fair! I'm your partner! I want one too!" Miss Valentine had somehow woken up. Seeing her partner eagerly fawning over someone else left her quite displeased.

"Fine, this one is yours." Li Ziming added some ice to a glass of lemonade and handed it to Miss Valentine as well.

"Hmph. Even if you make me the finest drink to apologize, I won't easily forgive what you did to me just now!" Miss Valentine still seemed deeply bothered by the experience of being spun around by her head.

"Want to do it again?" Li Ziming's smile looked like nothing less than a demon's smile to Miss Valentine.

"No, no, no!" Miss Valentine hurriedly shook her head, then lowered it and peacefully enjoyed her lemonade.

"Hehe." Robin smiled at the sight. She had originally believed Li Ziming was merely another schemer like the Desert King Crocodile, someone who wanted to accomplish something, but seeing him like this made her hesitate.

Shaking her head, Robin began tasting the Grasshopper Li Ziming had mixed. As she raised the glass, the refreshing fragrance of mint and the aroma of cocoa liqueur washed over her. One sip, and the rich, smooth sweetness of fresh cream immediately filled her mouth.

"It's a very good drink," Robin said with a sigh. To be honest, she had truly never tasted a drink like this before. With a flavor this sweet, perhaps it could no longer be called alcohol. Dessert might be a more fitting name.

"I'm glad you like it." Li Ziming shrugged.

"You may have a mission soon, so you'd better prepare yourself." Robin spoke to Li Ziming. "This can also be considered a chance for the boss to see how capable you are, so make sure you perform well."

"So soon?" Miss Valentine asked in surprise. "You're pretty strong, aren't you?"

"At least stronger than you. Didn't you just verify that?" Li Ziming looked at Miss Valentine with amusement.

"You really are an incredibly annoying guy." Miss Valentine said indignantly. "Once this mission is over, I'm definitely reporting to headquarters and asking for a new partner." As she spoke, she threw the glass in her hand at him.

"Looks like you really don't want to partner with me." Li Ziming caught the glass, rinsed it with water, then took out a cloth and began wiping away the moisture. "Then who would you rather partner with?"

Miss Valentine slumped across the table. There were some other senior agents, but either they were completely not her type, or she simply lacked the ability to remove their current partners. After thinking it over and over, she realized that the guy before her was actually the most suitable match for her.

"Ahhh, why are all the people in our organization such difficult bastards?!" Miss Valentine said as though she had given up entirely. "Could it be that our organization's recruitment standard is based on how awful someone's personality is? The worse their personality, the easier it is for them to join?"

"If the boss heard you say that, he'd definitely dock your pay." Robin said with a laugh.

"They dock pay too? It really does sound like a proper organization. It doesn't feel like a criminal organization at all." Li Ziming was somewhat surprised by Baroque Works' structure. Judging from the benefits alone, it already resembled the underworld organizations from his original world. For a pirate to possess such management insight, along with the cunning Crocodile had shown in his scheme to overthrow Alabasta, Li Ziming felt that many people might be underestimating that Desert King.

"Of course. But if you don't want to collect your pay, that's fine too. I'm sure the boss would be delighted." Robin teased.

"Forget it. I still need my salary to keep this bar running." Li Ziming shook his head. "Besides, if there are few missions, it's hard to find such a good deal where you get paid for doing nothing. And even when there is work, I'm sure my wonderful partner, Miss Valentine, can complete it perfectly by herself."

"Why aren't you working?!" Miss Valentine demanded angrily.

"That's quite an outright declaration of laziness." Robin looked at Li Ziming with amusement. "Is it really appropriate to say that in front of me, the vice president?"

"What's inappropriate about it? Besides, I merely think that now that I finally have a partner, wouldn't it be a waste not to properly exploit... obtain her help?" Li Ziming completely ignored Miss Valentine's furious glare.

"You said exploit just now, didn't you?! You definitely said it, didn't you?!" Miss Valentine glared viciously at Li Ziming.

"What an awful man." Robin looked at Li Ziming speechlessly.

"So, Vice President, what do you think of this awful man? Are you becoming a little curious? You know, when a woman becomes curious about a man, that's the first sign of falling for him." Li Ziming looked at Robin with a hint of flirtation.

Robin suddenly felt that the man before her was utterly shameless. She rolled her eyes and had no desire to pay him any attention.

"Hey, you two, don't ignore me!" Miss Valentine's furious shout filled Edenhell.

Grasshopper (Green Grasshopper)

Ingredients: white crème de cacao, green mint liqueur, fresh cream.

Method: Add all ingredients and ice to a shaker, shake for about five seconds, then pour into a glass.