Pirate: It’s not a phantom beast, it’s a phantom god!

Chapter 369 Kozuki Otanoshita

"Seriously, things have gotten lively here as soon as Oden recovers."

"I put in the most effort, but now I'm being sidelined and have to clean the deck."

Marco, having finished cleaning the water stains on the deck, rubbed his back and interrupted Oden and the others' conversation with a disgruntled expression on his face... He was holding a newly bought newspaper in his right hand.

"Here you go, this is today's newspaper."

"Ah, thank you, Marco!"

Oden casually took the newspaper and spread it out in front of him. The others gathered around him to look at the contents of the newspaper.

This has become a daily habit for this group of people.

"Hmm~ Let me see... The Roger Pirates have appeared in the first half of the Grand Line, and their target is suspected to be the Twin Capes."

Oden slowly read the contents of the newspaper.

What is "Twin Capes"?

"It seems to be on the Red Line continent on the other side of the world, Lord Oden."

"Huh? The other side of the world?!"

"Wow, that's amazing, meow!"

……

"And... 'BIG MOM's tea party will be held next month, and I heard there will be a special castle cake.'"

"Castle cake? Is it a cake as big as a castle?"

"This one seems even more amazing, meow~"

"I really want to try some!"

"I'll take you guys and Momonosuke to try it sometime~ Haha!"

"Oh! Long live Lord Oden (meow~)!" *2
……

"Hmm? 'The Beasts Pirates have recently been making large-scale personnel relocations within their territory, and they are expected to be planning something big.'"

"The Beasts Pirates..."

Upon reading this, Oden paused for a moment, then looked at the blond pineapple-headed man beside him as if he had remembered something.

"Hey Marco, is this Beasts the pirate crew you mentioned that gave Hakuji and you guys a huge loss?"

Oden pointed to the Beasts Pirates flag in the shape of the number 8 on the newspaper and said.

"Yes, it's them."

"Jozu and Vista really got a hard time at their hands back then~"

Marco nodded firmly.

"Hey, why are you only mentioning us?"

"Marco, you were the one who got beaten up the most, weren't you?"

Vista protested unhappily at Marco, who had so skillfully concealed his own defeat.

Jozu, who was standing next to Whitebeard and had an honest-looking face, also looked over when he heard this.

"Oh? He actually managed to defeat the three of you... Baiji, just who is this captain of the Beasts Pirates?"

Oden looked at the white-bearded man who was drinking.

"Tsk! The captain of the Beasts is Kaido, and that brat who beat up Marco and the others back then is one of his subordinates."

The white-bearded man, nicknamed Hakukichi by Oden, leaned back in his large chair, drinking the lowest grade of sake brought from Fenrir, and replied somewhat irritably.

"Hmm? Just a cadre?"

Oden became somewhat interested as well.

Marco, Vista, and Joz... these three are the backbone of the ship; it takes real skill for anyone to beat them.

"By the way, Marco, were you guys even adults back then? Were they bullying you because you're older?"

"If that's the case, I'll definitely seek justice for you when I have the chance."

"Uh, this..."

At this point, all three of them lowered their heads somewhat embarrassedly, as if there was something they found difficult to say.

"Huh? What's wrong?"

Seeing that the group suddenly became hesitant, Oden raised an eyebrow and pressed for an answer.

"It's...this...that..."

"The one who defeated the three of them was a child even younger than them, and she was a girl!"

"Marco and Joz teamed up back then, but they were no match for them at all~ Hahahaha!"

Marco and his companions were too embarrassed to talk about it, but the rest of the crew didn't care. They eagerly recounted what had happened back then, embellishing the story quite a bit.
……

When they heard that Marco and his friends had been beaten up by a girl who was even younger than them, and had been beaten up without any chance to fight back, Oden and the others' eyes widened in disbelief.

Wano Country is a country with a strong sense of male chauvinism, as is the Whitebeard Pirates. Therefore, in Oden's mind, women were generally portrayed as weak and frail. Occasionally, some could wield a sword, but they were usually only used for self-defense.

For example, when he first met his current wife, Kozuki Toki, she looked like a weak woman who had been cornered by pirates.

Over the years, it seems that only Big Mom can be considered a truly powerful woman on the high seas.

"To actually lose to a woman younger than myself... and in a situation where I outnumbered her!"

"It's truly an indelible disgrace that can never be washed away in a lifetime, Marco."

Oden, chin in hand, offered this assessment. "Gulp..."

"Alright, alright~ stop teasing little Marco."

Just as Marco was about to cover his face in embarrassment, Madam Shi spoke up to comfort him, and then she also became curious.

"Little Marco—who is that child?"

"Yes……"

"It's the [Princess of the Underworld]~ [Princess of the Underworld] Osiris."

"That's a beautiful rose that makes you fall in love at first sight!"

Seeing that Marco was still hesitating, Vista, who wasn't so concerned about saving face, spoke up first.

"【Ming Ji】? Who is that?"

"Is it famous?"

"Huh—?!"
Upon hearing Oden's question, almost everyone expressed great doubt and surprise.

"Oden, Oden, you don't even know about [Meihime]?"

"Really? She's the most beautiful pirate on the high seas of this era, after the previous Kuja Empress!"

"She's even considered the most beautiful woman of all time!!!"

As he spoke, Vista pulled a beautifully printed wanted poster from Marco's pocket and handed it to Oden.

This move immediately drew protests from Marco.

"Hey, Vista! Why are you taking mine?! What about yours?"

"Mine's in my room, it's inconvenient to get it. Besides, mine is the rarest collector's edition, how can I just show it to anyone?"

"Collector's Edition?! Isn't that an ultra-rare edition with only a thousand sets released? How did you get your hands on one?!"

"Show me quickly!"

"Sure, but it's 10,000 Berries per transaction, no bargaining."

"what?!"

……

"The most beautiful woman? Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"

Ignoring Marco and his companion who had begun to haggle, Oden accepted the bounty poster, still somewhat skeptical.

Having been away for so many years, he had roughly figured out what the people overseas meant by "the strongest" and "the most beautiful"...

Just listen to these exaggerated claims and don't take them too seriously.
"Let me see... Ouch~"

Oden's heart skipped a beat when his gaze fell upon the wanted poster...

Even though he had frequented the red-light district since he was six years old and had seen countless courtesans, he couldn't help but gasp when he saw the face on the wanted poster.

Can humans really be this beautiful?
"Cough, cough~"

Fortunately, Oden now has a family, and with his wife and children by his side, he immediately came to his senses.

Oden looked at Marco and the others, and asked with some suspicion:
"...Marco, tell me honestly, did you let him win on purpose because he was good-looking?"

"Nothing!"

"That girl was just a seven or eight-year-old kid back then, not as good as she is on the wanted poster now... cough! no, I mean I really didn't hold back, she was just very strong."

"Mmm, mmm!" *2
Bista, Joz, and the others around them nodded in agreement.

"Hmm? She didn't hold back... Is this girl really that strong?"

"of course!"

"Not only that, [Ming Ji] also has a blonde older sister who is even more beautiful, but I can't remember exactly what she looks like..."

"Ah~ I think there's also a younger sister, with blue hair and a cool look, who's incredibly strong too."

"It's a pity that those two rarely show their faces, and we've heard almost nothing about them since, with no photos leaking out."

Many people on the ship looked disappointed.

"Oh? Then I definitely have to have this opportunity... Hey? Shi, what are you doing?"

Just as Oden was about to take a closer look at the face on the wanted poster, a slender, pale hand snatched the poster from his hand.
"This, confiscated."

Kozuki Toki took Osei's bounty poster from her husband's hands, then winked at him and gave him a smile.

He then rolled up the bounty notice and put it in his pocket.

"Eee-yah~"

Momonosuke saw his mother's actions and his restless little hands pulled out the wanted poster again.

Looking at the stunningly beautiful young woman with red hair, golden eyes, and a bare face, flashing a "V" sign at the camera, he couldn't help but grin foolishly.
……

"Ah~"

"As expected~ There's absolutely no news about Wano Country in the newspapers."

After reading the entire contents of the newspaper, Oden sighed with some disappointment.

"After all, there's no way to send messages out of the country~ Zou is the same way, meow~"

"Sigh~ I wonder how Dad is doing now~"

"And then there's Uncle Kang and Kin'emon... well, with them around, Kuri should be managed quite well, right?"

(End of this chapter)