That old bastard Rayleigh, all he does is brag!
"Uncle Rayleigh, thank you so much for taking care of Luffy six months!" Xia Chen said to Rayleigh with a faint smile.
Although Xia Chen's body is younger than anyone else on the ship, he has lived two lives, so his mental age is much older!
He was bigger than most people on the ship, except Brook!
Therefore, Xia Chen mostly treats Luffy, Zoro, and their group as his younger brothers.
"There's nothing to take care of. They're not children anymore; they don't need an old man like me to take care of them!"
"And you've already paid me! Now that I'm back in Sabaody, I can officially retire and won't need to go for coating anymore, hahaha..."
"That won't do, Uncle Rayleigh, you have to finish one last job before you can retire!" Xia Chen joked with a smile.
"Um?"
Hearing this, Rayleigh was a little puzzled, but before he could ask, Xia Chen smiled and said:
"Give our ship a coating! I won't trust any coating that isn't done by Uncle Rayleigh!"
"Oh~ Haha! Okay!"
"Now that you mention it, I realize you haven't entered the New World yet. Your incredible strength almost made me forget you're still a teenager and haven't even been to the New World!"
"A newbie, huh? Haha..."
"No problem, leave the coating work on your ship to me. I guarantee you'll reach Fish-Man Island safely!" Rayleigh said with a smile, patting his chest.
"Okay!" Xia Chen nodded with a smile.
In fact, Xia Chen could use Water Avoidance Technique on their ships to achieve the same effect as coating, and even be much stronger in terms of pressure resistance than coating, so there was no need to worry about whether it would break.
The problem is that many things are all about the experience. While he can do that, it would take away a lot of the novel experiences from the original work, which is unnecessary!
"Oh, right, Uncle Rayleigh, there's something else I need to tell you. Whitebeard just... left!"
"Gone? What? Gone?"
Rayleigh didn't react at first, but after a while, a possibility occurred to him, and he looked at Xia Chen.
Looking at Xia Chen's slightly serious face, Rayleigh understood what Xia Chen meant and couldn't help but sigh.
"Sigh, I was mentally prepared for this a long time ago. I actually went to see him once half a year ago. It was already quite an achievement that he was still alive given his injuries!"
"I thought this old bastard was long dead, but I didn't expect him to hold on for so long, haha..."
Rayleigh said with a smile, but there was a clear bitterness in his laughter.
Xia Chen could understand Rayleigh's reaction, after all, he and Whitebeard had a good relationship when they were young, back when Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates were active in the New World.
Even if the New World is vast, there will always be opportunities to encounter it, and these opportunities will not be limited to just one or two times.
Although they always greet each other amicably, just like Luffy did, it is precisely because of this that the battles have not turned them into mortal enemies, but have instead brought them closer together.
After each game, there's a routine get-together! It's normal for them to have a relationship!
"He could have lived another half a day, but he insisted on coming to me to fight him, saying things like, ' Whitebeard only dies standing up, not lying down!'"
"He used Marco's abilities to trade his last half-day for ten minutes of peak performance to fight me!"
"Hahaha... Whitebeard is still the same as ever, always retaining his arrogance!" Rayleigh laughed again.
After that, Xia Chen chatted with Rayleigh for a while before saying goodbye and returning to Amazon Lily.
The six-month agreement has been reached, and it's time for them to set sail again, but before that, he has some things to take care of.
After arriving at Amazon Lily, Xia Chen went straight to the royal palace. As soon as he entered, he smelled a fragrance.
Hmm... as expected, it tastes like fish soup!
Of course, this accident was unlikely to happen, because the fish soup was simmering right in front of him.
In front of him, on the open ground, was a huge pot, and inside the pot was a huge fish, the very one that Xia Chen had caught earlier.
Kumachi fire was burning beneath the pot, bringing the fish soup to a boil!
Beside the pot was Hancock, sleeping on Salome; there was no one else present.
Xia Chen walked quietly to Hancock's side, looked at her beautiful profile, and smiled.
Even though he had been living with Hancock for half a year, and most of the time they were inseparable, Xia Chen would still be slightly stunned when he saw Hancock's face.
It's simply because it's just too beautiful!
After staring at Hancock for a while, Xia Chen turned his gaze to the fish soup beside him.
It seems Hancock still didn't listen to him and insisted on making her own soup!
A gentle breath was blown towards the bottom of the pot, Kumachi the raging fire was instantly extinguished, with tiny ice crystals faintly visible flying everywhere.
Then Xia Chen gently picked up Hancock. Compared to drinking fish soup, he felt he should do something more meaningful now!
Perhaps sensing something amiss, Hancock's eyelashes fluttered, and then she slowly opened her eyes.
Upon seeing Xia Chen, Hancock was initially a little confused, but then immediately became happy.
" Xia Chen, you're back!! Come on, have some fish soup, I've been cooking it for ages~"
Xia Chen smiled and replied, "I'll definitely have the fish soup, but not now! What I want to eat right now is..."
Xia Chen didn't say what he was going to say, but you could tell what he was planning from Hancock's slightly flushed cheeks and Xia Chen's Inazuma- fast dart into the palace!
--
One day later~
At the top of the palace on Amazon Lily.
" Xia Chen, are you leaving?"
Hancock nestled in Xia Chen's arms and asked softly, her emotions calm, making it impossible to discern her true feelings.
"Yes! Half a year has passed, and we must set sail again! To conquer the last part of this vast ocean!" Xia Chen said softly, gazing at the distant sea.
After Xia Chen finished speaking, Hancock remained silent for a long time before finally asking, "Then... when will you be back?"
"Um?"
Hearing this, Xia Chen turned to look at Hancock with a puzzled expression. When he saw her melancholy face, he couldn't help but chuckle and said:
"I can come back whenever I want! You know I have my Flying Nimbus, and you also have Den Den Mushi to contact me. You can call me anytime you miss me, and I'll rush back! Then I can go back to my hometown!"
" With the Flying Nimbus on my feet, I can roam freely across this vast ocean. Besides, you know my strength. For others, going out to sea might be extremely risky, but for me, it's just a simple trip!"
"And after we've traveled around the world, I'll come back to be with you, okay?"
Hancock stared intently at Xia Chen, then suddenly broke into a smile after a long while.
Okay~