"Growing over ten centimeters in a week, how on earth did you do it?"
"What kind of physical technique is that that makes such a fuss every day?"
"Do you think I still have a chance to learn it?"
In the restaurant, Shanu was whizzing through the food. The plates next to him formed two mountains. In the gap between the mountains, the wrinkled old man, like a curious child, pestered him with questions.
He had brushed off all the previous questions with vague excuses.
Only after hearing the last sentence did he finally lift his head from his plate, speechless.
"You're almost seventy, aren't you? Do you really want me to tell the truth?"
"..." Gatt sighed. "Forget it. I still want to live a few more years, not wear these old bones out."
"Let's get down to business," the old man smacked his lips. "The voyage has been smooth these past few days. We'll reach Asakura Island in two hours at most, before sunset today."
"..."
Shanu was slightly startled, then nodded, not surprised.
If it weren't for the trouble caused by the Lord of the Coast, which caused the Gatt to anchor for a whole day of maintenance the next day, it should have arrived at this time yesterday.
"Thank you for your care these days."
After swallowing the food in his mouth, he looked at Gatt and said sincerely, "If you hadn't provided a safe environment for me to practice hard, I wouldn't have been able to make any breakthroughs in these few days."
"What nonsense! Compared to your life-saving grace, these are nothing!"
Gatt laughed heartily, "But hearing you say that, I, an old man, feel quite happy, haha!"
"Oh, by the way, from now on, the Gatt will always reserve the most luxurious room on the ship for you and your family free of charge! We will also cover all the food and drinks! This is a decision supported by all the crew members, you have no right to refuse!"
"Only an idiot would refuse."
Shanu, who never spoils the fun, laughed too.
"It's a deal then. Next year, when you come to Cocoyashi, I'll bring my whole family over for a meal! Luckily, my two sisters don't eat much. If they were like me, I'd probably bankrupt you!"
"You're a little too modest. Just you and I have already nearly bankrupted me these past few days."
"Hehe..."
As they chatted, the boy suddenly remembered that he had been away from home for exactly a week. There were still two hours until landing, so he could use this time to have a good chat with his family in his room before disembarking.
"We're here. This is Asakura Island!"
"You can disembark here. It's late today. You can find a hotel in the outer city for the night. You can go back into the city tomorrow morning and find your favorite swordsmanship dojo."
"We're going to the dock warehouse on the north side to unload our cargo. After that, we'll have to continue our journey. I'm afraid we won't see each other again until next autumn."
At the dock on the south shore of Asakura Island, sailors crowded the railings, waving goodbye to Shanu reluctantly.
Old Gatt accompanied him on the final stretch of the pier.
Shanu listened carefully to his instructions, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed ragged beggars squatting at several intersections leading from the pier's perimeter into the city.
While they looked scattered at first glance, they still amounted to a significant number.
He couldn't help but say, "Strange! Asakura Island is a famous commercial town in the East China Sea. It should be quite wealthy. How come there are more beggars and homeless people here than in my hometown?"
"Naive," Old Gatt scoffed. "These are professional beggars from the city. They stay here year-round. The docks are bustling with traffic, and there are many wealthy people spending money in the city, so there are always unsuspecting outsiders who get taken advantage of."
"These people have become rich by doing this. The occasional poor guy is just someone who lost all their money in the casino and is now beaten out. They don't deserve any sympathy."
"Okay, that's it. Let's go!"
The pier finally came to an end. Old Gatt patted him on the shoulder and said nothing more. He puffed on his pipe and turned to the bow of the ship.
Shanu stood quietly, watching him board the ship.
It wasn't until the Gatt set sail and gradually became a small black dot in sight that the young man turned around, took the left fork, and headed towards the outer city.
It was dusk, the sun was setting in the west, and looking up, I could see the twilight shrouding the classical town in the distance.
The main canal runs north to south through the city, lined with cherry blossoms. The city's buildings are symmetrically arranged along the canal's banks, neatly planned and arranged in rows and rows.
It's also blossom season, and the river is covered with millions of pale pink petals, drifting downstream. The evening breeze fills even the dock with the delicate fragrance of flowers, like a veil.
"With its prosperous commerce, beautiful scenery, and spring-like weather all year round, it's no wonder it's a tourist destination in the East China Sea."
Walking in such an environment, Shanu's mood calmed down considerably.
As he was about to leave the dock, he noticed the closed port and ship management office nearby.
It was indeed too late today. He decided to check into the hotel first and return tomorrow morning, where he should be able to inquire about the ferry he needed.
Gatt still believed he had come to the island to train in swordsmanship, but his goal remained unchanged: to utilize the island's prosperous shipping port to find a ship to the Kingdom of Goa.
Logically speaking...after sacrificing Shanks's severed arm, he already had enough points, and the urgency of obtaining Luffy's straw hat naturally diminished.
But after having tasted crab once, who could resist the temptation of another huge bonus?
He had a month anyway.
It had only been a week, so he still had plenty to spare, enough to make a round trip from here to Goa Kingdom and back.
"Okay... please, I haven't eaten for two days and two nights. Just a little money will do..."
A weak groan suddenly came from the side, and a dirty hand held a metal box. Remembering Gatt's words, Shanu didn't bother to respond and simply walked past the person.
But before he had taken a few steps, the sound of coins clinking into the metal box could be heard from behind.
Shanu turned around and saw a thin young man in a tattered kendo uniform stop in front of the beggar, who was about fifty or sixty years old, and carefully shook out all the coins from his cloth wallet.
His eyesight was far superior to that of an average person, and he could see clearly in the twilight. They were all small 20- and 50-dollar coins, which together only amounted to two or three hundred berries.
The beggar was clearly dissatisfied, frowning and glaring at the thin boy, still holding the tin box in his hand.
"I, this is all I have..."
The thin boy's face was full of embarrassment, and suddenly remembered something. After a brief hesitation, he pulled a large piece of black bread from the sack on his back, tore off most of it, and gently placed it on the tin box.
"I haven't had dinner yet, so I have to save some for myself. Sorry," the thin boy said, not daring to look at the beggar. "Don't be fooled by its appearance or its fragrance, but believe me, it's very filling. It's enough to last a whole day."
Without waiting for the beggar to say anything, he packed up his sack and hurried up the steps towards the city gate.
Shanu looked at the beggar.
As expected, the beggar just lifted up the black bread and took a look at it. He didn't even have the interest to taste it, and threw it aside in disgust.
Then he poured out the coins in the iron box, counted them, and spat to the side: "What bad luck, poor bastard!"
Shanu frowned and turned his head to call the boy.
He stood there for a while, quietly looking at the beggar, and the beggar also looked at him with a puzzled expression.
"Can't you be more arrogant, for example, call me a stinky kid and say, "What are you looking at? If you look again, I will dig out your eyes or something like that?"
Shanu suddenly said in a low voice.
"Do you take me for an idiot?" the beggar rolled his eyes. "Your muscles are terrifying, and I know you're tough to mess with, so why would I threaten you?"
Shanu looked down, remembering that when he'd just left the dock, he'd sweated profusely because the island was too warm, and he'd already taken off his jacket and put it away.
Now he was wearing only a single layer, revealing his exaggerated figure.
"Oh," Shanu sighed, a real letdown. Under the beggar's incredulous gaze, he forcibly wrenched the two hundred berries from his hand and resumed his journey back into the city.
He could only blame his bad luck for not stumbling upon a larger scam. He'd just broken through and wasn't used to this body, so it was hard to control his strength.
Two hundred berries was only enough to buy Nami two cheap hairpins. Beating someone half to death for such a thing was still a bit inappropriate.