Pirates: Starting from Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation

"Come on, let's hurry. I can't wait to taste Alabasta's wine."

Red-Hair said eagerly.

Lin Mo was actually a little tempted too.

The two immediately quickened their pace and entered the town.

Then, guided by the townspeople, they arrived at the largest tavern in town.

"Hahaha, I can finally have a good drink." Red-Hair pushed open the tavern door with a hearty laugh and let Lin Mo enter first.

Lin Mo stepped into the tavern without ceremony.

The two reached the tavern counter one after the other. Red-Hair immediately waved and said, "Shopkeeper, bring us a case of your best wine."

"A case? Sir, are you planning to take it with you?" the Tavern Owner asked strangely.

Red-Hair bared his teeth in a grin. "Of course we're drinking it here."

"Huh? A whole case? Can you finish it by yourself?" the Tavern Owner asked in astonishment.

Red-Hair pointed at Lin Mo beside him and laughed. "I've got this kid with me. The two of us can finish it. Stop wasting time and bring out the wine."

As he spoke, Red-Hair pulled out a handful of Gold Coins from his pocket and placed them on the counter.

The Tavern Owner's eyes lit up. He hurriedly collected the Gold Coins and immediately nodded and bowed. "Of course, of course. I'll bring you our best wine right away."

When the other customers in the tavern saw Red-Hair casually producing a handful of Gold Coins, they grew terribly jealous.

"What a rich man. If you have more money than you know what to do with, why not treat us to some wine too?"

"Hahaha, you're dreaming. He doesn't even know you. Why would he buy you wine?"

"You can't say that for sure. Maybe he really is willing to treat us. Hey, red-haired brother over there, what do you think?"

Red-Hair curled his lips and said casually, "Sure. But I only brought that much money, and it should be enough to buy several cases of wine. Let's all drink together."

"Huh? Did I hear that right? He actually agreed to treat us!"

"Hahaha, this little brother seems like a pretty decent guy."

"That's right, that's right. He really is a good man. Little brother, what's your name?"

Red-Hair removed the Straw Hat from his head and placed it on the counter beside him. With a crooked smile, he said, "Me? My name is Shanks. But my name isn't important. You'd better remember the name of this kid beside me. His name is Lin Mo."

Lin Mo said helplessly, "You sure talk a lot..."

"Hahaha." Red-Hair burst into hearty laughter.

After hearing Red-Hair's words, the tavern customers began discussing among themselves.

"Shanks? I feel like I've heard that name somewhere... Hmm, I can't remember."

"Lin Mo? I've never heard of him at all. Why do you want us to remember this child named Lin Mo?"

"Wait a minute. This kid named Lin Mo looks only a few years old. Can he even drink? It's not good for an adult to bring a child to a tavern for drinks."

"Tch, what do you know? Everything has to start from childhood. There's nothing wrong with teaching a child to drink from a young age. Maybe our drinking capacity isn't even as good as this kid's, hahaha..."

While the tavern customers chatted and laughed,

the Tavern Owner carried a case of fine wine over and placed it in front of Shanks.

Shanks immediately opened a bottle and handed it to Lin Mo.

Lin Mo accepted it without hesitation and took a large gulp straight from the bottle.

Seeing how readily Lin Mo drank, the Tavern Owner couldn't help sighing. "Children these days have such good drinking capacity."

"Shopkeeper." Red-Hair bared his teeth in a grin. "The Gold Coins from earlier should be enough to buy several more cases of wine, right? Bring them all out and distribute them among the other customers. Let's drink together."

"Huh?" the Tavern Owner asked in surprise. "You're from out of town, aren't you? You don't even know anyone here, yet you're treating everyone to drinks?"

Red-Hair waved his hand indifferently. "Drinking should be lively, like holding a banquet. It's only fun when everyone drinks together, makes merry together, and laughs together. Don't you agree?"

The tavern customers answered in unison, cheerfully, "That's right!"

Chapter 70: Alabasta: The Courageous Desert Thieves

Red-Hair was someone who loved holding banquets. Lin Mo understood that better than anyone.

Besides, Red-Hair was naturally a bold, generous man who didn't care about trivialities.

So there was nothing strange about Red-Hair's lavish act of treating everyone to drinks.

Just as the Tavern Owner was delivering the wine Red-Hair had bought to each customer's table, and everyone was happily drinking together, the tavern door was suddenly kicked open.

A man wearing a tea-green headscarf, with a hairband set with a blue gem tied around his forehead to hold the scarf in place, entered arrogantly with a group of underlings. His appearance was truly alarming.

When the newcomers appeared, the previously cheerful atmosphere in the tavern was shattered.

"T-They're the Desert Bandits!"

"What? Why have they entered the Town? Where are the guards protecting the Town?"

"We're doomed. I heard the Desert Thieves burn, kill, and loot without restraint. If they set their sights on us, we're finished. Why are we so unlucky..."

The tavern customers were horrified.

The leader of the Desert Bandits laughed smugly. "Ahahahaha! You're really unlucky to have caught my eye, Dack! Hurry up! If you don't want to get hurt, hand over all your money and valuables!"

Dack's underlings carried guns and blades. They scattered throughout the tavern, grinning wickedly as they held out their hands and demanded money from the customers. Anyone who refused to cooperate was robbed by force.

The Tavern Owner cowered beneath the counter.

The tavern descended into chaos.

Only Shanks and Lin Mo continued drinking leisurely.

One of Dack's men chased someone to the counter and pressed a long blade against Shanks's neck. He snarled viciously, "Hurry up! If you don't want to die, hand over all the money on you!"

Shanks glanced at him, then raised both hands with a smile. "All right, all right, I'll give it to you. But rob us if you want—just don't hurt any innocent customers."

"Hey! Did you misunderstand something? We're the Desert Thieves! Don't even think about bargaining with us. Hurry up and hand over the money!"

Red-Hair cooperatively took out the small amount of Gold Coins he had left.

Dack's man snatched the Gold Coins and shifted his gaze to Lin Mo, who was still drinking. His attention was immediately drawn to the Sandai Kitetsu hanging at Lin Mo's waist.

The Sandai Kitetsu had a relatively plain appearance. Anyone who didn't understand blades wouldn't be able to tell its value.

Unfortunately, the man robbing Shanks and Lin Mo knew a thing or two about blades. He recognized Lin Mo's sword at a glance—it was a Kitetsu!

Although he also knew that Kitetsu was a Demon Sword,

the value of Kitetsu was still worth taking a risk for.

Dack's man moved the blade from Shanks's neck to Lin Mo's neck, then said viciously, "Hey, brat, give me your sword!"

Lin Mo drank his wine and expressionlessly shifted his gaze to the man who dared threaten him with a blade. His tone was indifferent. "Take the blade away."

"Hey! Do you want to die? Hurry up and give me the sword at your waist!" Dack's man said rudely. "If you don't cooperate, I'll kill you!"

"I advise you not to do that." Red-Hair finished the bottle in his hand in one go, then took another bottle from the case and opened it. He said lightly, "That kid isn't someone you can afford to provoke. Besides, that sword isn't something you can control. For the sake of your own life, take the money and leave. Don't go looking for death."

"Bastard! Do you really think I don't dare kill this brat?" Dack's man snapped. He suddenly swung his long blade at Lin Mo's head.

Lin Mo remained seated and continued drinking.

When the long blade struck his neck,

there was only a crisp crack, and Dack's man's blade broke.

Lin Mo's neck remained completely unharmed.

"Huh? How could this happen? My blade... How did it break?" Dack's man said incredulously.

Red-Hair drank his wine and said with a half-smile, "Not bad. Your Armament Haki has improved quite a bit."

Lin Mo silently continued drinking.

"Hey, what happened? How did your blade break?"

"You're useless. You can't even deal with a child. Hahaha."

"Hoppy, need some help? If you give me half the share of money you get this time, I'll help you, hahaha..."

The man named Hoppy looked at the broken blade in his hand, his face turning from green to red. "My blade must have been used for too long, so it broke. Hmph, brat, don't get smug. I'll show you how terrifying the Desert Thieves are!"

As he spoke, Hoppy immediately snatched a revolver from one of his companions, aimed it at Lin Mo's head without hesitation, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet shot toward the back of Lin Mo's head.

Just as it was about to hit him, Lin Mo casually tilted his head. The bullet brushed past his hair and flew away, striking the wooden wine cabinet not far in front of him.

Hoppy froze for a moment, then immediately pulled the trigger again and fired every bullet in the revolver. "You must have dodged by pure luck just now. Let's see how you dodge this time. Die, brat!"

Lin Mo shook his body impatiently and dodged every bullet Hoppy fired at him.

Then he turned around and glanced coldly at Hoppy.

If Lin Mo had merely dodged the first attack by luck, then dodging all these subsequent attacks could definitely not have been a coincidence.

Hoppy had never expected that the brat he had looked down on so much would be able to dodge every one of his bullets. When Lin Mo turned around and stared at him coldly, Hoppy instinctively retreated half a step. "W-What's going on? What exactly is with this kid? Why can he dodge so many bullets? This can't be real!"

Hoppy's companions also widened their eyes one after another, each wearing an expression of utter shock.

Red-Hair propped his cheek up with one hand and held a wine bottle in the other as he smiled at Lin Mo. His tone was light. "Looks like you've mastered your Observation Haki pretty well too."

"What's going on?" At that moment, the leader of the Desert Thieves, Dack, strode toward Hoppy.

Hoppy quickly hid behind Dack and said nervously, "Boss, that brat isn't normal. I suspect he's a monster."

"What monster? He's just a brat." Dack had been busy robbing the other customers in the tavern and hadn't noticed what happened on Hoppy's side.

"Boss, let's leave," Hoppy said fearfully.

Dack glared at him angrily. "Bastard, who do you think we are? Even if we leave, we're taking every last bit of wealth in this tavern with us!"

Dack stared darkly at Lin Mo and pointed the Spiked Club in his hand at Lin Mo's head. "Brat, it seems you scared my subordinate pretty badly. Hmph! Then let me see what you're capable of!"

With that, a bloodthirsty glint flashed through Dack's eyes. Without another word, he swung the Spiked Club he had forged from special materials—one capable of smashing even rocks to pieces—with full force at Lin Mo's head.

Lin Mo silently wrapped Armament Haki around his right hand. As Dack's specially made Spiked Club came close, he directly punched it head-on.

There was only a dull bang.

Right before everyone's eyes, Dack's Spiked Club was smashed into pieces by Lin Mo's fist.

Chapter 71: Alabasta: Oh No, We've Been Discovered

The entire tavern fell silent in an instant.

Dack, the leader of the Desert Thieves, stared in disbelief at the Spiked Club that now had nothing left but its handle.

His underlings were all filled with terror.

Lin Mo glanced at the fragments of the Spiked Club clinging to his fist. He couldn't help frowning slightly before shaking the fragments off.

That simple shaking motion made Dack think Lin Mo was about to punch him. Terrified, he hurriedly retreated several steps.

"W-We'll let you off today. Men, retreat!"

With that, Dack immediately led the way outside.

His underlings hurried after him.

After they left the tavern, cheers erupted inside.

"That was great! I never would've thought you were so powerful, Lin Mo."

"No wonder Shanks wanted us to remember you. It turns out you really aren't an ordinary brat."

"You actually scared off those vicious Desert Thieves. Lin Mo, you're incredible."

"Ah, what a shame. Our money was still stolen. But at least everyone's safe, hahaha... This feeling of surviving a disaster is pretty thrilling."

The Tavern Owner poked his head out from beneath the counter. Seeing everyone laughing and drinking again, he thought for a moment before saying, "Everyone, drink as much as you want today. I won't charge you."

"Huh? Really, Shopkeeper? We can drink a lot, you know. Be careful we don't drink you into bankruptcy, hahaha..."

"Since the Shopkeeper is being so generous, we won't hold back, hehe."

"Shopkeeper, bring out the wine, bring out the wine! Everyone here has survived a calamity together. Nobody's leaving until they're drunk today!"