: Refusal, farewell, encounter
After Dragon voiced his invitation,
the atmosphere abruptly grew tense.
Hina looked at Dragon with a grave expression.
Based on what she knew of Xiu,
Hina believed there was absolutely no way he would betray the Marines!
But in Hina's mind, Dragon had already
been labeled a "madman"!
Meanwhile, Dragon and Koshiro hoped
Xiu would join them!
At that moment, Xiu...
was utterly bewildered deep down.
When Dragon appeared,
he had imagined he might have to fight him.
But he had never expected
that this guy actually wanted
to invite him to join the Revolutionary Army!
"Why did you think of asking me to join you?"
Hearing Xiu's question,
Dragon answered without the slightest hesitation, "Instinct!"
Xiu: "..."
Instinct, my ass!
Did everyone in the pirate world do things so casually?!
Whitebeard would start fighting someone, then tell them to call him Pops!
And now you fucking popped up out of nowhere
and immediately asked me
to join the Revolutionary Army!
Had you all lost your minds?!
Xiu pressed a hand to his forehead, feeling his temples throb.
Could I really be
completely out of place in this world?
Xiu felt he had been acting like an idiot just now,
coming up with all sorts of guesses about the reason...
"So, will you join us, Xiu?"
Dragon's voice was full of anticipation.
Xiu hurriedly waved his hands.
"No! I'm doing just fine right now.
Go run that blasted army of yours yourself!"
"I see..." Dragon felt a little disappointed.
But instead of continuing to invite him, he asked,
"Then, as a Marine, are you going to arrest me?"
At those words, the atmosphere grew tense again,
and Koshiro tightened his grip
on the Wado Ichimonji in his hand.
Xiu, however, shrugged,
breaking the tense atmosphere.
"We'll talk about that the next time we meet."
"For Uncle Garp's sake,
I'll let you go this time..."
As soon as those words fell,
Dragon immediately recognized them as a lie!
Based on his understanding of his own father,
Dragon could be almost certain
that if Garp were here,
he would never let him go.
Even if he was his own son!
Still, Dragon did not press the matter.
He laughed a few times and said,
"Hahaha! Xiu, you really are an interesting man."
"In that case, I can't stay here any longer."
Koshiro spoke quietly from beside him.
"Are the food supplies ready?"
Dragon nodded solemnly.
"Yes. Rest assured, Mr. Koshiro!"
With that, Dragon gave Xiu a long look,
then left once again, carried away by fierce winds.
Within Xiu's perception,
Dragon made no stops along the way,
instead returning straight to the ship by the shore
and sailing out to sea...
"Um, Xiu... are you going to shut down my dojo?"
Koshiro scratched his head awkwardly.
It was bad enough that someone had discovered he was stockpiling food for the Revolutionary Army,
but the person who discovered it was a Marine...
And that Marine had even learned their leader's name.
It was easy to imagine how helpless Koshiro felt now...
Xiu could see Koshiro's embarrassment too.
He smiled and reassured him,
"Don't worry, Mr. Koshiro.
Let's just pretend nothing happened..."
Only then did Koshiro relax.
"Stay here for lunch, Xiu."
"I'll cook myself!"
Watching Koshiro pat his chest,
brimming with confidence in his cooking,
Kuina raised both hands beside him.
"Stay, big brother~~
Dad's cooking is really good!"
Xiu looked at Kuina as she bounced around
and patted her head with a smile.
"Sure. We'll have your dad cook lunch today."
After enjoying a delicious lunch,
he prepared to say goodbye to Koshiro.
"Mr. Koshiro, thank you for your hospitality."
"We'll be leaving now."
Hearing Xiu's words,
Mihawk forced himself to stand.
"Vice Admiral Xiu, would you grant me an unreasonable request?
Please don't refuse my challenge next time!"
Xiu smiled and said,
"Sure, but your swordsmanship
will have to improve considerably."
Mihawk nodded firmly.
Xiu did not linger any longer.
He returned to the warship with Hina.
"Vice Admiral Xiu, where is our next destination?"
Hina asked from beside him.
Xiu shrugged.
"In about ten days,
Roger will be publicly executed.
Let's head back to Loguetown.
Plenty of notorious pirates must have gathered there already!"
"Yes, Vice Admiral Xiu!"
With that, she turned and ordered her subordinates to head for Loguetown.
Three days passed in a flash.
Xiu's warship sailed across the sea,
while Xiu himself was doing his daily training.
Just then, Hina hurried to his side
and said anxiously,
"Vice Admiral Xiu, pirates have appeared ahead to port!"
Xiu stopped training and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"Hina, how many times have I told you?
Stay calm when you encounter pirates."
"But... but judging by the flag,"
"that's the [Big Mom] Pirates!"
Xiu's brows knitted tightly at her words,
and he thought to himself,
Why would Charlotte Linlin's pirate crew appear in the East Blue?
After all, given her relationship with Roger,
she wouldn't go to all this trouble to come
watch Roger's public execution, would she?
PS: Hey, have you watched One Piece? If you don't tip me, watch out-I might put a bounty on you!
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