When Wind opened the door, he heard a chorus of sweet, honeyed voices drifting out from inside. "Hello, welcome!"
Hearing those six gentle words, Wind felt his heart soar. Taking a proper look, he saw that every server inside was a mermaid.
"Whoa, finally—I get to see real mermaids."
Wind thought excitedly, his eyes literally turning into pink, heart-shaped orbs. This trip had definitely been worth it.
"Hello there, may I take your order?" A beautiful mermaid drifted over beside Wind and said softly.
"I'll take twenty cups of coffee."
Even though there weren't twenty people on their ship, he didn't have the time to count exactly how many crewmates he had right now. None of that mattered compared to the lovely lady in front of him.
Worst case, they'd just split the extra coffee evenly—problem solved, bottoms up.
Not long after Wind took his seat, Shirakawa and the others arrived one after another, settling down beside him.
But at that moment, Wind's gaze was locked entirely on the mermaids. He didn't even register Shirakawa and the crew's arrival.
"You think I could take his head right now, easy as that?"
Jora said, eyeing the completely distracted Wind.
Five years ago, Wind had participated in that battle, so the Navy had put a bounty on him too. But since he rarely made appearances—and despite being a Logia-type Devil Fruit user—he hadn't shown much destructive power.
So his bounty was low, only forty million Berries. That was on the low end for a Logia-type pirate.
"If you tried to cash in his head for the bounty, I doubt you'd make it back either."
Yuristin smirked coldly. A pirate with a 320-million-Berry bounty trying to collect a reward? The Navy would have to be insane to let him walk out alive.
Before long, all the coffee arrived.
"Isn't this a bit much coffee?"
There were only fifteen of them total, but twenty cups had been served.
"That's right—this gentleman here ordered twenty cups."
The mermaid said, pointing at Wind.
"Looks like Wind's been completely bewitched."
After that, the group ordered a few desserts as well. After all, you couldn't just drink coffee at a coffee shop.
But Shirakawa noticed that as they sipped their coffee, several of his male crewmates kept sneaking glances at the mermaids.
Even Abro, who was married with a kid, was no exception. These mermaids—aside from lacking legs—had faces and upper bodies that were absolutely top-tier.
"Captain, do you think we could catch a mermaid to keep on the ship someday?"
At that moment, Wind suddenly blurted out. Instantly, every crewmate's eyes snapped toward him.
"Hey, why are you all staring at me like that?"
Wind felt a chill run down his spine under their collective gaze.
"I can't believe you're that kind of person!" Adara pointed at Wind, seething with fury.
"What's the big deal? Don't forget who we are—we're pirates."
Hearing that, the entire crew fell silent. Wind was right. They were pirates. Burning, killing, plundering—all of it was supposed to be in their nature.
"Besides, I was just saying it."
By then, Wind seemed to sense the shift in atmosphere and added in a quieter voice.
"You're right. We are pirates."
"Captain, you—?" Adara was stunned to hear Shirakawa agreeing with Wind. She moved to stand up and object, but Saral, sitting beside her, grabbed her arm and held her back.
"But the reason we set out to sea was for freedom—not to indulge our own desires. Do you understand?"
Shirakawa said with heartfelt gravity. Wind was powerful, but if his philosophy clashed with the crew's, Shirakawa wouldn't hesitate to throw him off the ship.
"I understand, Captain."
Wind replied. Whether that was lip service or actually taken to heart, no one could tell.
"Of course, if a mermaid willingly chooses to go with you, I won't object either."
"You mean it, Captain?"
Wind's eyes flashed with a wolfish gleam. He shot to his feet and shoved his face right up to Shirakawa's, overflowing with excitement.
"Of course."
"No take-backs."
"Absolutely not."
"That's amazing!"
Wind practically shrieked. He believed, with absolute confidence, that his charm would attract a whole flock of mermaids eager to follow him.
One had to admit—Wind's face really was something else.
But Wind's outburst startled the other patrons in the café, including the mermaids themselves.
There was a trace of fear in their eyes as they looked at him, because the gleam in Wind's eyes just now was exactly the same look they sometimes saw in the eyes of fishmongers.
"Alright, stop being so jumpy. Sit back and enjoy the view—they say admiring beautiful women can extend your lifespan, you know."
Shirakawa wasn't worried for himself; mainly, he had to look out for his crew. Otherwise, if he ended up alone one day, how lonely would that be?
"Got it, Captain."
After saying that, Wind sank into deep thought, apparently scheming about how to seduce a lovely mermaid.
"Captain, so how do fishmen and mermaids actually… you know… mate?"
Mol asked a rather profound question.
"When a mermaid reaches thirty, their tail fin splits into two legs. At that point, their lower body structure should be the same as a human's, right?"
The first half, Shirakawa was a hundred percent certain about. But the second half—he wasn't so sure.
"Really?"
"Of course. Haven't you ever seen Kokoro from Water 7? She's a mermaid, you know!"
"What?! She's a mermaid?"
In an instant, every crew member conjured up an image of Kokoro and held it up against the mermaids before them. Truly, there was no harm without comparison.
"William, you didn't know either?"
William had lived in Water 7 for five years—he should have known.
"I knew. That's why I'm not interested in these mermaids."
He couldn't be certain whether these beauties would turn into someone like Granny Kokoro once they hit thirty. So just to be safe, he suppressed his inner desires.
But Shirakawa's words had no effect on Wind. He was still scanning the mermaids around him, searching for his target.
Just then, a tiny mermaid holding a crystal ball entered Shirakawa's line of sight, instantly capturing his attention.
If he wasn't mistaken, that little mermaid was the one with the power of prophecy.
"What's wrong, Captain? Why are you spacing out?"
Taeyeon followed Shirakawa's gaze and spotted the small mermaid.
"Captain, don't tell me you're into that kind of tiny mermaid?" Taeyeon said with a look of disgust. It suddenly dawned on her why Shirakawa had kept her on the ship.
"What are you even thinking?"
Shirakawa gave her a light smack on the head.
"I just sensed a strange energy radiating from her."
Shirakawa explained. Of course, the "strange energy" part was a lie.
"Really? I don't feel anything."
"Neither do I."
Yuristin shook his head too.
That statement was practically throwing Shirakawa under the bus—if even the strongest Observation Haki user couldn't sense anything, what could you possibly feel?
/-\
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