Mission complete!
Garp sprang to his feet on the spot,
shouting:
"Are you kidding me, Roger?!"
"Who do you think I am?!"
"How could I possibly do something like that?!"
With that, Garp stormed off.
Xiu hadn't expected Garp's reaction
to be so strong.
But Roger, beside him, watched
Garp walk away in silence and burst out laughing.
"Thanks, Garp!"
"That's just the kind of man Garp is
-he'll definitely do it!"
Xiu shrugged.
"As long as you're happy...
It's got nothing to do with me."
Then he left the dungeon too.
Back on deck,
he happened to see a flash of golden light.
"Yo! Young Xiu~"
"Oh, it's Uncle Kizaru."
Kizaru adjusted his sunglasses. "I don't think I'm old enough to be called uncle yet, young Xiu."
"But you're older than me."
"But I'm still dashing and handsome~"
"You're older than me."
"Hey, hey, hey, I'm still pretty good-looking!"
"You're older than me."
Kizaru: "..."
He rolled his eyes,
then turned to Gion beside him and asked:
"Has young Xiu's tongue
always been this sharp?"
Gion nodded repeatedly.
The corner of Xiu's mouth twitched.
"Little bunny,
let your conscience guide what you say,
or lightning might strike you down."
After some idle chatter,
he greeted everyone,
then went to the dungeon to guard Roger.
After all, they still had to deliver Roger to Impel Down.
If anyone from the Roger Pirates
tried to snatch Roger away en route,
the entire Navy would suffer a massive humiliation.
With nothing to do for the moment, Xiu went to the bow.
Garp was sitting there, sulking.
"Xiu, what do you think he meant by that??"
"Does he think we're that close?!"
The moment Xiu sat down, he heard Garp complaining to him.
After complaining for a long while, Garp sighed.
"Where's that island?"
Xiu smiled and said:
"Old man, didn't you say you weren't close?"
At that, Garp's face alternated between red and white.
Xiu didn't tease Garp any further,
and told him where Rouge was.
Then the two fell into a long silence.
Garp seemed to be reminiscing about his youthful days.
Of course, most important of all
were the days he and Roger had spent chasing each other.
Xiu wasn't idle either.
He asked silently:
System, is the mission complete?
[Temporary mission!] [Fight Whitebeard!] [Instant defeat: Inheritance Degree +%] [Sustained combat, evenly matched: Inheritance Degree +%!] [Defeat Whitebeard: Inheritance Degree +%!] [Second condition completed! Evenly matched! Inheritance Degree +%!] [Apply increase? Yes/No?]
Xiu felt rather annoyed.
Because of Roger's interference,
the system had judged that the two hadn't finished their battle,
and were evenly matched!
Still, it wasn't too bad.
At least he'd earned ten percent inheritance progress.
That would improve his strength considerably too!
At that thought, Xiu said inwardly:
Don't apply it yet. I'll deal with it when I get back.
After closing the system interface, Xiu's mood improved too.
Just then,
the Den Den Mushi on Xiu rang.
Buru buru!
"Xiu! How did it go? Are you all okay?"
The moment he answered, Sengoku's booming voice came through.
"Yo, Uncle Sengoku!"
"Mission complete. Roger's been captured."
Sengoku, on the other end of the Den Den Mushi, was visibly stunned,
then his face filled with wild joy!
"Xiu, you're sure you're not joking?!"
If it was a joke,
Sengoku might even want to kill him...
"Am I that kind of person? Uncle,
keep that up and I might just quit!"
"Hey, hey, Xiu, I'm just excited!"
"Little bunny! Explain it to this uncle for me."
Looking thoroughly displeased,
Xiu casually tossed the Den Den Mushi to Sengoku,
then lay on the deck, enjoying the sea breeze.
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku! Here's what happened..."
Gion then gave Sengoku the most concise account possible of what had happened.
From Xiu's duel with Marco,
to Xiu's duel with Whitebeard,
to Roger appearing and surrendering himself.
After hearing it all,
Sengoku gained a new understanding
of Xiu's combat strength!
"Fleet Admiral Sengoku, Xiu didn't mean to get angry with you,
so I hope you'll forgive him."
"Please don't hold it against him."
Hearing Gion's worried words,
Sengoku froze for a moment.
Whoa... that ice-cold beauty, Gion,
could say something like that??
Something's going on here!
"Ahem, understood, Gion. That's all for now!"
Click!
He quickly hung up.
In the office, Sengoku looked somewhat awkwardly
at Vice Admiral Tsuru beside him.
On Vice Admiral Tsuru's forehead, he could practically see
a huge bulging vein...
She'd gone out on one mission,
and someone had already stolen her away??!
"Well... Tsuru,
it might not be what you're thinking."
"Besides, Gion isn't that young anymore..."
Vice Admiral Tsuru sighed.
"Forget it. Let them be..."
"Let's put this matter aside for now.
Impel Down must be ready to receive Roger!"
"Absolutely nothing can go wrong!"
PS: How about a few more tips~ Look, I have to ask you every chapter.
Are you nice and comfy reading while lying down?
I know~ But your dear author is still sitting here typing!
Boo-hoo-hoo o(╥﹏╥)o