"Wahahaha! Captain, you lost so badly!"
"He knew when to quit while he was ahead. Smart man."
"Ooh! It's rare to hear such high praise from the Vice Captain!"
"Heehee~ That red-haired old guy is going to be mad enough to die because of you, dear Xie Wen, meow~"
(=ω=)
"Big Brother Xie Wen is the best, meow!"
(=`=)
"Hmph! Nothing but clever little tricks, but nicely done, meow!"
(=`へ=)
Although Xie Wen had conceded of his own accord, neither Shanks's pirate companions nor the members of the Palico Research Commission thought Shanks had won.
And Shanks himself felt the same way...
"Hahahaha! You got me!"
Shanks scratched his red hair and shook his head with a wry smile.
Although he had felt a little frustrated at first, with his easygoing personality, Shanks would never take such a minor matter to heart, nor would he force Xie Wen to keep fighting.
And Xie Wen had done it precisely because he had anticipated that.
If it had been a shameless old man like Garp, or a ruthless man of few words like Hawk-Eye, they certainly would not have let him get away with fooling them so easily.
With the fight over, Shanks wanted to follow pirate custom and bring Xie Wen and the others along for a feast, but Xie Wen stopped him.
"Do you have some time after this?" Xie Wen pointed at Hua Mei Meow beside him. "If possible, could you give my cat some pointers...?"
Previously, by referring to Rayleigh's performance in battle and Xie Wen's "inside information," Hua Mei Meow had worked out the Observation Haki Killer technique herself, but comparing it against the genuine version should still help her.
Then there was Divine Departure. Although its effect seemed to be nothing more than using Conqueror's Coating