I guarded Impel Down for a hundred years in the pirate world.

“How can I not blame him?” Wan Gang laughed heartily. “Please forgive my selfishness. The current Deng Huo Xing no longer needs to be sealed off. I want to be recorded in the history of Deng Huo Xing as the last king to hold an ascension funeral, rather than as one of the 17.”

The group of elderly men and women, having experienced much in life, were no longer easily swayed by praise or criticism. Upon hearing this, they exchanged glances, and one of them said, "It seems that Lord Fishing Lantern King has other plans for us?"

Wan Gang nodded: "As the final act of the ascension funeral, I alone am enough. Now that the war has restarted, it would be a waste to use everyone's lights to block out the sky."

The old people guessed what he meant.

“Recently, some promising young people have come to the island,” Wan Gang said, as expected.

Xin thought of the three boys who brought her there.

"That's true."

"Haha, is that so?"

"That's fine too."

"Then... we'll have to choose."

……

Outside, in the neighborhood.

Luffy, Ace, and Zoro haven't been in a good mood lately.

This was the first time the three of them had ever experienced watching a kind elder walk towards death, powerless to do anything about it.

A mix of emotions surged within them, and they felt they had to do something.

"How about... we treat Granny Xin to some boiled meat!" Luffy punched his fist, having come up with an idea: "We ate Granny Xin's boiled meat when we first met!"

Zoro chuckled: "That's a great idea."

Luffy said, "Right?"

Ace said helplessly, "Luffy, you're just being greedy, aren't you? Cook meat? Who's going to cook it? Where's the money?"

Luffy blinked and slumped down.

In the instant he looked down, he caught a glimpse of a long, slender leg out of the corner of his eye. It was long, straight, and graceful. He blinked and looked up again.

"Huh? N...Naka-neechan?"

"What?!" Ace exclaimed in shock.

He turned in the direction Luffy was looking and, sure enough, saw the familiar barbarian girl. Her expression, like Luffy's, gradually turned to terror.

"Run!"

With a whoosh, the three turned and dashed away, disappearing in an instant.

The tall barbarian girl gazed into the distance, then took out a Den Den Mushi (a type of electric scooter) to contact her companions.

"Find your target."

Then he started running after them.

Crossing two blocks, Luffy, with his eyes and ears open, pointed to an alley: "Ace, this way! Let's find the ship this way!"

"Huh? Looking for a boat?"

Should we leave this island?

What should Granny Xin do?

He paused for a moment, and Ace reacted quickly, stopping abruptly and grabbing Luffy, saying, "We're used to it, really. We don't need to run. They can't catch us on this island. This is where the Lantern King is about to have his ascension funeral. How could the Navy possibly make a move here?"

"...Oh, right." Luffy breathed a sigh of relief, scratched his head, turned around, and emmm.

Where is Zoro?

Ace sighed, "Where else could he be? He's lost again. Let's go find him."

……

Turn, turn, accelerate.

Zoro was running around having a blast.

It took me a while to realize—wait a minute, why did I follow those two brothers?

That Naika, she's in the Navy, right?

He stopped in his tracks, his eyes twitching.

I went back to find Naika, and yes, I shook her off.

Let's look for the two brothers again. Okay, they're lost.

"Spending so much time with that idiot has turned me into an idiot." Zoro sighed, finding his way was difficult, and randomly chose a less crowded direction.

"Yes, it should be here."

Zoro's eyes searched through the crowd, looking for either the Marines or the two brothers.

Suddenly, his gaze froze, fixing on a young girl not far away.

Short black hair, pure white sword attire, delicate face, sharp temperament—this girl…looks like Kuina.

No, that's impossible, it's a spark from a lamp.

Zoro glanced at it twice, then looked away.

But speaking of which, that sword also looks like the Wado Ichimonji, what a coincidence!

Wait! There's a murderous aura!

Suddenly, a beautiful hand covered his face. Zoro reflexively used his elbow to block and push, bringing him face to face with the girl in front of him, their elbows touching.

"You're something else, Zoro! You got lost all the way here, and you're pretending not to recognize me!"

Kuina's breath hit his face, and Zoro's eyes widened: "Ku-Kuina?!"

"How did you get here?!"

"Of course I'm here to find some idiot!"

Chapter 343 Gradual Assimilation

Night falls.

Amidst the sea of ​​lights, a gigantic sea creature, resembling a whale yet not quite, is rapidly approaching Uramio Island. On its back, which floats on the surface of the sea, sit four people.

It was Figo, Nami, Linlin, and Shirahoshi who were on their way to attend the funeral of the King of the Fishing Lantern.

"Are we finally almost there?" Nami looked at the darkening sea in the distance, stood up and stretched, revealing her shapely figure.

One day of tension, two days of novelty, three days of excitement—by the seventh day of their sea voyage, having eaten and slept on the backs of sea monsters, Nami was starting to miss land and her soft bed.

"Yes, Nami, it says we're almost there."

Bai Xing's voice sounded timid again; as they approached the island and saw the crowds, her social anxiety kicked in again.

Nami patted her tail generously.

"Shirahoshi, relax. What's there to worry about when you're with Lord Figo? Besides, your abilities are amazing."

"Hmm~"

The sea beast beneath her was controlled by Shirahoshi. During the seven days of travel, Shirahoshi had already verified her ability to control giant sea monsters and could use it here as well.

But unlike Qinghai, where the largest and most intelligent sea monsters have always recognized her as their queen, Figo discovered in the Fire Star that those highly intelligent sea creatures were deliberately avoiding Bai Xing's presence!

During the seven days, not a single sea beast of level three or above appeared within ten thousand miles of the sea where Bai Xing was located. The giant beast beneath his feet was only equivalent to a king who could light a single lamp.

This doesn't mean Shirahoshi's abilities are ineffective; on the contrary, it proves that her abilities will be very useful.

So effective that even the most powerful sea beasts, at levels three, four, and five, worried that if they got close to Bai Xing, they would unconsciously obey her commands!

However, this also brought some minor troubles.

Sitting on the sea monster's head, Lingling and Figo communicated via brainwaves.

Grandpa, the sea monster we ate last night didn't taste as good as the one the day before. Tonight...

"Those going to the island, those going to the island."

The grandfather and grandson smiled at each other.

Shirahoshi seemed to sense something, casting a strange look at him, her cute face full of innocence.

In the far distance, the outline of an island gradually came into Figo and Lingling's view. The two of them changed the subject at the same time: "We've arrived!"

……

"Thank you for the hospitality, young lady. Your cooking is better than mine." At the same time, in the accommodations arranged by the Fishing Lantern King, Xin said to Guina.

"Thank you for the compliment, Grandma," Kuina replied politely. She glanced at Luffy, Ace, and Zoro, noticing that all three of them looked completely exhausted from eating. Her eyes twitched slightly, and she turned back to look at Shin.

Didn't you ask me to cook to repay Grandma Xin? Why are you eating like this yourselves?

"Actually... when I was little, I really, really hated cooking." She could only try to keep the conversation going with Xin to avoid an awkward silence.

Xin smiled and asked her, "Why?"

“My father was… well, a very old-fashioned man,” Kuina recalled. “He thought girls should learn cooking and sewing skills, marry men, and have children. He believed that girls were naturally weaker than boys, and that physical development would affect their balance and increase their weaknesses, so he did not support my practice of kendo, even though I could already defeat many adults when I was 10 years old.”

"I see..."

"Yeah, so I was very resistant to doing things his way back then. When it came to cooking, I just managed to get by and cook it properly."

Kuina recalled, "Later... it was after meeting Lord Figo that I changed my mind."

"The King of the Stars?" Xin asked with interest.

“Hmm~” Kuina hummed softly: “He said that if you don’t want to live a life that’s arranged for you, then you shouldn’t care about what other people think. If you want to practice swordsmanship, then practice swordsmanship; if you want to cook, then cook. When I resisted practicing cooking in order to go against my father’s opinion, my will was already not free.”

Xin nodded in agreement: "As expected of the Queen of the Stars, for a swordsman, willpower is the most important thing. Don't let my current appearance fool you, when I was young, I was quite a good female swordsman."

“I can tell that there seems to be a sword hidden inside your cane,” Guina said.

Zoro couldn't help but raise his head slightly.

He didn't realize it.

Unlike his childhood defeats, before Zoro entered the Flame Star, he and Kuina had already had their share of victories and losses. He excelled in strength, while Kuina excelled in technique. It was thought that this period would widen the gap between them, but now it seems...

Xin gently stroked his cane and sighed, "I no longer have the strength to draw my sword."