The Narcissistic Commander

On the beach of Melbourne Island, all the surviving pirates were tightly bound with ropes, kneeling neatly in a row, unable to move at all.

The captain of the Red Crocodile Pirates looked completely disheveled, his tone full of desperate begging as he sighed repeatedly.

"Hey, isn't this a bit much... I really didn't expect to provoke you."

He completely caved, pleading bitterly, "Let us go, we know we were wrong! We'll never dare to come and cause trouble on the island again!"

At a stone table nearby, Charlos sat quietly, picking up the cherry wine on the table and taking a light sip, his brows relaxed and looking exceptionally comfortable.

Amina stood at his side, smiling as she refilled his cup again, and gently advised, "It's very sweet, right? But you mustn't drink too much."

Hearing this, Charlos turned his head to look at her, his face full of puzzlement, "Why?"

"Because you'll get drunk if you drink too much."

Just as the two were chatting, at the end of the sea level, a well-proportioned Marine warship slowly broke through the waves, moving steadily toward Melbourne Island.

The residents of Melbourne Island watching from the shore instantly burst into an uproar, crying out in alarm one after another.

"Oh gosh! There are really Marines coming!"

Charlos slowly put down the wine cup in his hand, his expression calm.

"I said there would be Marines coming, you can just rest easy."

The group of pirates bound to the ground instantly turned pale, instantly panicking, shrieking and wailing.

"No! It's completely over now!"

"We're going to be locked up in Impel Down! Help!"

"We'll never dare to be pirates again!"

Panic-stricken cries and screams rose one after another, resounding across the entire beach.

At that moment, Aunt Adona walked over carrying a full bag of fresh cherries, gently placing the fruit in front of everyone with a gentle opening, "Take these to eat on the road."

Charlos picked up a cherry at random and tossed it into his mouth, the clear, sweet fruity aroma instantly melting in his mouth.

"So sweet."

Just as he wanted to decline, Aunt Adona hurriedly waved her hand with a smile, "Eat up, eat up, we still have plenty of cherries on our island, we aren't short of this bit."

The Marine warship slowly stopped near the village, and a squad of Marines hurriedly ran down to the beach. The young Marine leading them wore a wide Marine coat, raising his hand to stylishly flick his blonde hair, his posture arrogant and narcissistic.

"Residents of Melbourne Island, welcome your great Lieutenant Commander Gale!"

A Marine soldier hurried forward to report, "Lieutenant Commander Gale, there is no Marine branch here on Melbourne Island."

"Of course I know, do you need to remind me?" Lieutenant Commander Gale waved his hand impatiently, completely brushing off his subordinate's words.

The blonde lieutenant commander spun around in a flashy manner, raising his delicate chin with a smug look on his face.

"How is it? Were you charmed by the handsome Lieutenant Commander Gale's dashing looks?"

Charlos, holding his wine cup, froze on the spot, not moving an inch. Amina beside him was also stunned into a daze, in her absent-mindedness letting the cherry wine slowly spill over, washing over the back of Charlos's hand.

Charlos snapped back to reality with a start, hastily crying out, "Hey, it's spilling, it's spilling!"

Amina hurriedly pulled back the wine bottle, her face full of apology, "Sorry, Charlos, I was just entranced."

Lieutenant Commander Gale's ears twitched slightly, precisely capturing the commotion over here, and he immediately turned to look at Amina with a frivolous smile.

"Hello, little lady. Were you charmed by the handsome Lieutenant Commander Gale?"

Amina hastily waved her hands repeatedly with a look of disgust, "No, no, no, no, you're too narcissistic, I almost felt a bit nauseous just now."

Lieutenant Commander Gale's face twitched fiercely, forcibly putting on a magnanimous expression, "Forget it, a kid like you simply doesn't understand aesthetics."

With those words, Lieutenant Commander Gale's feet slipped, and he landed directly in front of the residents with a dashing slide to his knees, spreading his arms wide in the image of someone basking in universal adoration.

"Ah! I, the great Lieutenant Commander Gale, shall lead all of Melbourne Island toward glory and splendor!"

He quickly got to his feet, stepping forward quickly to grab the hand of a young local girl on the island with an ambiguous smile.

"Beautiful lady, would you care to join me for dinner?"

The girl's expression was awkward, and she immediately yanked her hand back swiftly, offering a helpless reminder, "Would you mind tending to those pirates first?"

At that moment, a marine raised his hand to speak, "Lieutenant Commander Gale, should we take all these pirates aboard the ship? Or transport them in batches?"

Lieutenant Commander Gale looked utterly impatient, turning back to scold, "Hey! Don't interrupt me while I'm talking to a lady! We'll talk after I'm done chatting!"

"Understood, Lieutenant Commander." The marine obediently lowered his head, not daring to say more.

Rukia sidled up to Charlos, whispering, "Charlos, is this lieutenant commander's head a bit messed up?"

Charlos nodded heavily, his face filled with helplessness, "I anticipated that there are many outrageous people in this world, but this outrageous is a first for me."

Lieutenant Commander Gale turned to look around, and finding that everyone's attention was not on him, he felt somewhat awkward for a moment, coughing lightly twice to put on official airs.

"Forget it, as the great Lieutenant Commander Gale, naturally I must prioritize my primary duties."

He strode over to the group of pirates, raising his foot to kick fiercely at the Red Crocodile captain's face with a harsh tone.

"It's all because of you, growing up so ugly yet still daring to come out and be a pirate!"

The Red Crocodile captain suffered the pain, aggrievedly retorting, "Is there any rule saying pirates have to be good-looking?"

"You still dare talk back?" Lieutenant Commander Gale's temper flared up instantly, unleashing a flurry of fierce kicks at the Red Crocodile captain.

Charlos couldn't bear to watch any longer, turning to look at Amira, "Amira, help me get a bathrobe ready, I'm going to take a bath. I really can't bear to watch this anymore."

Hearing this, Amira and Amina immediately fluttered their wings and took off, flying toward the luxury ship anchored offshore to start preparing a bathrobe for Charlos.

Nico Robin stood in place, lowering her head to flip through the books scavenged from the island. After reading through them carefully for a moment, she looked up at Charlos, "I've pretty much finished reading the books here, can I take these few with me, Charlos?"

Charlos nodded indifferently, "Mhm."

Yet Robin still stood there without moving.

Charlos asked in confusion, "What's wrong?"

Robin's brows softened as she asked softly, "Do I need to pay? Taking other people's books for nothing doesn't feel quite right."

Charlos casually felt around in his pockets, finding that he wasn't carrying any valuables on him, and immediately looked up, shouting toward the direction of the luxury ship, "Amina, toss some money down!"

The next second, a heavy lump of gold was thrown down from above the deck, landing steadily in Charlos's hand.

He handed the gold nugget to Robin, "Take it, use this to buy these books."

Robin accepted the gold nugget, shaking her head slightly, "This is way too much."

"It's fine, you can keep the rest yourself," Charlos said casually.

Robin obediently accepted, carefully putting away the gold nugget and the books.

On a distant, nameless island.

Shalria lightened her footsteps, quietly sneaking around behind Garp as her arms instantly covered themselves in a layer of pitch-black Armament Haki. She leaped forward fiercely, shouting loudly, "Hey, old fogey, take this!"

Garp absent-mindedly picked his nose, muttering casually, "Huh? This little girl, haven't you taken enough beatings yet?"

His body shifted lightly. The punch Shalria threw with all her might smashed fiercely into the ground, and with a boom, the giant boulder before her shattered straight into pieces.

Shalria turned her head, shouting defiantly, "Again!"

Thud!

After a muffled sound, Shalria went down straight to the ground, paralyzed, just as expected. Staring up at the sky in a daze, she muttered to herself, "So many stars in the sky..."

Akali landed at that moment, stepping up behind Garp and speaking helplessly, "Vice Admiral Garp, please go a bit easier on her next time. If you actually beat Shalria into a fool, that wouldn't be very good."

Garp laughed heartily, waving his hand, "It's fine, it's fine! Old man knows what he's doing, hahaha!"