Vice Captain of One Piece

Chapter 128 Unchanging decision, we are partners!
In the kitchen of the Golden Merry, the simple dining table is filled with exquisite and delicious meals, and the alluring aroma increases people's appetite even more.The usual dining table for 8 people has two more chairs added today, Encore, who usually sits next to Luffy, is now sandwiched between Raphael and Lian, and a certain captain who can only eat now is now eating and drinking like before. Sauron and the others were also eating in silence, but it was a pity that they couldn't taste the food. After all, sitting here was Lian, who was an enemy a few hours ago, and Raphael, who gave them a strong sense of oppression a few hours ago, and was now smiling. .And Anke said that she ate slowly and without pressure, after all, she would have to interrogate people later.Raphael quietly ate the food in front of him. His elegant and noble movements and outstanding handsome appearance made a certain orange-haired navigator on the opposite side stupefied dozens of times, while Lian also quietly closed her eyes and walked slowly. Eating slowly, yes, eating... plain rice.

He bit his chopsticks and looked at Lian on his left. Enke was very satisfied with his performance, so he decided to reward his "brother" who just brought back yesterday, so he stretched out his chopsticks and picked up a chicken leg and handed it to Lian's bowl Li, "Don't just eat the rice, eat some meat, Sanji's cooking is very good~"

However, Anke's words and actions caused the whole kitchen to fall into an eerie silence.A certain rubber eater kept extending his hand, because he originally planned to take the chicken leg, but was snatched away from him by his deputy captain and put it in the bowl of his old enemy (single cell) that he had fought with all night In my understanding, place = one night, old enemy = enemy who fought all night, ...), and I can't take it back, so I can only stare there.Raphael kept his graceful movements and froze there, exuding an inexplicable low air pressure all over his body, and Sauron and the others were all petrified there, because in their cognition, it was an honor to be able to eat the dishes in the encore It usually only happens to a rubber eater.Today, Lian, who was lucky enough to get this honor, showed a faint smile on her expressionless face, nodded obediently, and then began to eat the chicken leg.

Looking at the others strangely, Anke asked suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"No, it's nothing..." After shaking his head at the same time, Sauron and the others continued to eat in silence.

And Luffy, who saw his chicken leg being snatched away, directly turned into a bitter gourd, his face full of grievances, "Encore~~~~~"

"Huh?" Pushing down Raphael who was blocking his sight, Anke looked at the bitter Luffy suspiciously, "What's wrong?"

"My meat..." Continuing to play the role of bitter gourd, Luffy was depressed because his meat was robbed.

Encore, who understood in seconds, immediately picked up a piece of meat for Luffy. Sure enough, the next second, a certain captain immediately became sunny and continued to eat and drink. In the quiet kitchen, only Luffy, who seemed unaware, was left eating. drink up.An Ke blinked in satisfaction when her pupils turned purple, but she forgot that her paws were still pressing on a certain blue-haired head whose face was buried in the food.And a certain blue-haired creature that was still inexplicably depressed, still didn't make any movement.

"That... Encore..." Nami suddenly said hesitantly, pointing to Raphael whose face was buried in the food, "Mr. Raphael..."

"Oh~" After looking at the back of his head under his left hand, Anke patted him hard instead, and when he found that he hadn't moved, he grabbed his blue hair and pulled him up, the action was simple and rough.When he saw the handsome face covered with rice grains, An Ke couldn't help laughing. He used illusion to make a handkerchief and slapped it directly on his face, and then he was ready to eat, "Wipe it yourself~~"

'Serious discrimination...' Silently raised his head and glanced at Raphael whose face was covered with rice grains and was now tightly covered by a handkerchief, Sauron and the others continued to lower their heads as if they hadn't seen anything.Not long after, Nami raised her head and looked at Raphael, who seemed to be petrified by the blow, and said worriedly: "Mr. Raphael, why don't you wipe your face first?"

"..." Raphael didn't say anything, the handkerchief stuck to his face finally fell off and disappeared into a mist.With a few grains of rice left on his face, Rafael continued to exert his spirit of being a ruffian (as a certain chick said), and looked at Enke who was eating leisurely with aggrieved expression, "My dear... woo woo!!"

Unceremoniously, he picked up a large handful of vegetables and stuffed them roughly into Raphael's mouth, blocking what he was about to say, Anke continued to calmly eat the remaining few mouthfuls of rice in the bowl with his eyes closed. Slowly put down the chopsticks, not caring at all how Rafael's upside-down face was ruined by himself.

After painstakingly swallowing the food in his mouth, a certain blue hair was a little stunned to see Anke impatiently holding a white handkerchief in front of his eyes, and then thought of a very happy possibility, and immediately smiled and held it up. The face leaned over.

Knowing that a certain guy will definitely not be obedient, Anke closed his eyes and directly wiped a certain handsome face as a dining table. The excessive force caused his skin to be red, but a certain chick didn't feel bad at all. , but Nami watched in fear from the opposite side, and silently prayed that An Ke would not use too much force and cause her disfigurement.

"Okay," after throwing away the rag, ah no, handkerchief in his hand, Anke opened his eyes and looked at the dining table, and found that in a short episode, Luffy had already swept away all the food on the entire table. Now I am resting happily patting my stomach.Everyone who had almost finished eating also tried their best to put down the bowls and chopsticks gently, but unfortunately they still made a lot of noise in the quiet kitchen.A slightly awkward atmosphere faintly surrounded everyone who didn't know what to say, Lian continued to stare at the table expressionlessly, as if she wanted to stare out a hole in it before giving up.Stretching out his fingers to poke his blushing face, Raphael still smiled softly, not caring about the uncomfortable atmosphere at all.

"Then, let's go for a walk first, and settle some personal matters by the way..." Anke took the lead and walked out of the kitchen slowly, without taking the two demon knives on the knife holder.Afterwards, Raphael and Lian nodded to the others and followed after. A foodie who also wanted to follow was held back by Sauron, who could only watch the three go out with puffy faces.

The kitchen fell silent again, Sanji began to clean up the dishes, Zoro went to the wall where he usually sleeps and sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, Nami looked at the slightly closed kitchen door and hesitated to speak, Usopp Chopper and Chopper silently looked down at their own hands or hooves, while Robin stared at a certain corner and began to be dazed, with slightly frowning eyebrows, making it hard to guess what she was thinking.

It didn't take long for Sanji to tidy up the kitchen. Except for Zoro who was sleeping by the wall, everyone else sat around the dining table, silent.The Straw Hat Pirates, who used to be able to party wherever they went, actually felt like they didn't know what to say to their partners. After all, from yesterday to now, the development of things was completely beyond their expectations. , the extent of the situation is also a bit different.

After being silent for a long time, Luffy suddenly let out a breath, put on the straw hat hanging behind him, and looked at the others calmly, "I know you have many questions, but Encore has been with me since five years ago. Living with Ace, that's true. I've always known Encore's identity, and that's true."

"Then, why didn't you say it in the first place?" Sanji frowned and asked lightly: "If you said it earlier, now everyone doesn't have to be so... contradictory."

"What's the use of saying it earlier? You also know in your heart that Encore, who died five years ago, is absolutely impossible to appear in front of the world again," Luffy, who had become extremely calm at the moment, analyzed rationally with his hands crossed and his chin propped: "and , even now you can’t fully accept Encore’s past, right?”

The kitchen fell into silence again, Zoro opened one eye and asked calmly: "Didn't you reach a conclusion on this matter yesterday? Didn't you also express your attitude yesterday? If this is the case, why do you still ask this? Luffy He is the person who has known Anke for the longest time. Since he wants to hide Encore's identity, it is understandable for him not to tell us. Moreover, you also saw the general's attitude yesterday. Once you know Anke's true identity , he doesn't care about the current Encore's appearance as a child, so he directly kills the killer. After so many adventures, we have become stronger, but no one has survived for a second under that general. If we Will know the identity of Encore, regardless of what we think, if we accidentally reveal Encore's secret, what chance do you think we have to survive to this day?"

Sauron's words made the kitchen quiet again, and Luffy suddenly returned from the captain's calmness to his usual carelessness, and asked with question marks: "I made a conclusion yesterday? When? Why don't I know?" ??"

"You were still cold at that time," Zoro said, not surprised by Luffy's instant transformation.

"Really?? Hahaha~~" After rubbing his head and giggling for a long time, Luffy looked strangely at the other people except Sauron who were still thinking.Slowly fastened the straw hat to cover the eyes, and said calmly again: "I know you still have no way to fully accept Encore's true identity, but! Encore is just Encore now!! You can know from previous adventures, Anke is our partner, our important partner, and that's all right!"

"That's what I said..." Nami said in a low voice. After remembering An's terrifying illusion and tricking fighting methods last night, she couldn't help trembling slightly. The determination she finally made yesterday began to waver again. I've seen it all, Encore's fighting method...it's too scary, but she seems to enjoy it..."

"Indeed." Thinking of Enke, who was covered in blood yesterday but smiled like a child, Usopp couldn't help trembling, "She at that time... really deserved her nickname..."

"But!!" Chopper suddenly supported the dining table, stood up and shouted loudly: "You also heard what Encore said yesterday!!"

Chopper's sudden yell stunned everyone. Thinking back to what Encore said yesterday, Luffy lowered his straw hat slightly to completely cover his eyes, and pursed his lips tightly.After thinking hard for a while, Sauron closed his eyes and no one said anything.

Robin, who was still looking at a certain corner and had been keeping quiet all this time, suddenly spoke, and his faint voice repeated the words that everyone cared about word by word, "'Did someone tell you that I am a bit far from the word 'person'? People have to come into contact with death early, and experience hell earlier than anyone else... You are right, I am indeed a demon, a demon with no emotions... It feels good to be buried in blood every day... ...'"

"Listen, isn't it weird?" Chopper, who is a reindeer, looked at his hoof, stretched it out and shook it vigorously, and then continued loudly: "Anke is obviously a human being, why does she insist on calling herself a demon? ??Why?"

"The reason may be very simple..." Sanji took out a cigarette from the cigarette case, and silently held it between his fingers, "Little cutie...has a bloody past that ordinary people can't imagine. In that damn laboratory, she She may have been educated that 'killing people is normal', so she...may have never been able to understand what is meant by a 'human being'..."

Taking off the straw hat and putting it in front of his eyes, Lu Fei silently remembered the situation when the two met for the first time. He never knew what Encore thought of him and Ace at that time, but what he understood was her at that time. If he felt their hostility, he would definitely kill them without hesitation, and then turn around and leave without hesitation. Even though she was seriously injured at that time, Luffy still firmly believed that she could kill everyone easily.Five years seem to pass in a blink of an eye. Even though Encore is smiling all the time now, Luffy knows that there are not many sincere smiles among them, but they are better than the cold smile back then.

The kitchen fell into silence again, so quiet that the faint sound of breathing could be heard.Sanji lowered his head with different expressions, and finally slowly looked at Luffy who was still looking at the straw hat silently.Zoro, who was sitting by the wall, continued to sleep with his eyes closed, anyway, he could already guess Luffy's decision.

After twirling the straw hat on his fingers for a few times, Lu Fei put it back on his head smartly, then stood up abruptly and showed the same bright smile to everyone, raised his hands and shouted: "We are partners!!! "

The loud voice seemed to spread throughout the whole world. Many birds were startled on the island in the distance. The lingering sound lasted for a long time, as if it wanted to reach everyone's hearts.Everyone in the kitchen was taken aback by Luffy's yelling, but then they showed a firm smile, and the wavering determination took root in their hearts, and they remained motionless.

'Yes, we are partners, and we will never abandon you because of such a trivial matter!Did you hear that? ?Encore! ! ! '

The gentle wind helped to bring the words to the ears of the girl who was walking on the island, and a few strands of long hair were blown up before her eyes, and the strands of black hair covered the girl's stunned pale face.Looking back suddenly, there were only a few fallen leaves falling slowly on the way when I came, birds were singing and butterflies were flying, the trees were lush, there was no one, and the wind stopped.The girl showed a clear smile, tucked her wind-blown hair back to her ears, and then turned back to continue her steps
'Heard that, my...partners...'

The teenagers standing on both sides of her smiled at each other, one was gentle, the other was indifferent, but they were all concerned about the girl who didn't look back, and then continued to follow her slowly.

'It seems that you have a very good partner~ dear/sister~~~'

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(End of this chapter)