Chapter 458 Arthur's Decision

Late at night, on the beach in Puqi Town.

Arthur lit a bonfire, lay shirtless on the beach facing the sea, and drank the liquor in his hand.

"I almost had everything!!!" He finished the wine in the bottle and suddenly shouted towards the sea.

Cooper squatted by the campfire, swaying slightly from side to side and humming a soothing tune.

There were all kinds of delicious food piled up around the campfire, and because we didn’t have enough money, we bought them all at a discount.

An entire ship at the dock was suddenly frozen, causing the people in the town to panic. They called the police through Den Den Mushi, which attracted the navy stationed nearby to investigate the matter.

None of the dozens of people on the ship survived and all froze to death. The center of the ship seemed to have been hit by some kind of shock wave and bent sharply.

"Whoo~"

On Arthur's ship, Leia, who had finished cleaning, breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the sweat from her head.

Next to the ship, many navy men blocked the ship that was frozen by Arthur and were conducting an investigation.

"Hey! Little girl!" Under the ship, a navy saw Leia standing on a boat near the case ship and immediately asked her for information.

"Are you a crew member of this ship? Do you know what happened to the ship next to you?"

Leia calmly held the broom, looked down at the yelling marines, and responded, "I was out shopping in town during the day, so I don't know."

The naval officer rubbed his chin in thought. "That's really strange. Is this a natural disaster caused by the Grand Line's climate?"

"This is the Grand Line, so it's not surprising to encounter anything here! But this ship is just an ordinary cargo ship."

"Yes, but this is the first time I've seen something like this."

"There were 51 people on board, all men. I can't imagine what their families must be doing."

Listening to the mixed feelings of the sailors, Leia felt deeply touched and moved.

But it's nothing new.

"Maybe this is a pirate?" Leia thought. "Perhaps this is Arthur... doesn't he care about the lives of anyone except those around him?"

She grew up slowly and matured slowly.

I also understood a reality.

If one day Arthur also encounters things and pressure that he cannot bear, then their small group will collapse in an instant.

He is the only one who holds up the banner of Wings of Victory.

The next morning, Rayleigh found two crew members in Puch Town who were heading to the Seven Water City to gather, and they boarded Arthur's ship to the next island together.

Cross the sea and arrive at "St. Poplar Town" and then reach the last island, "St. Falde Town".

Town of St. Falde.

afternoon.

Outside a bridal shop, Arthur, who was drunk, stood in front of the shop window in a daze, staring at the wedding dresses of all sizes inside and drinking heavily.

Even though he was dizzy, the determination in his eyes was still blazing.

He barely spoke these days.

In the distance, Leia, who had come to look for him before sailing, searched the whole town for him.

She was standing on the street not far from the bridal shop, looking at Arthur's extremely lonely back and the way he held the wine outside the window.

"Everything I should have had..." Arthur turned and walked towards the dock, muttering to himself, "How it was destroyed? Don't you understand?"

Seeing this, Leia hurriedly trotted up to catch up with Arthur.

Coming to Arthur's side, Arthur glanced at her expressionlessly.

"There's a big commotion on deck, Arthur. Rayleigh has been throwing a party with his friends these days, and they've almost used up all the supplies we bought with hundreds of thousands of Baileys."

Leia reports to Arthur on the situation on the ship.

"Really?" Arthur grinned. "Well...we must make them compensate us."

"But they are such a powerful group...what if they turn against us..." Leia was a little worried, after all, they are all pirates.

Arthur wasn't worried at all and replied, "Don't worry, they're a little playful, but when it comes to treating their friends well, there's absolutely nothing to complain about."

Arthur can vouch for this from his own experience; the Roger Pirates are a group of people who are always worth making close friends with.

After hearing this, Leia said nothing more.

When they returned to the ship, they saw a large group of members of Roger's pirate group on the deck, raising their glasses and drinking.

"Oh! Arthur! Captain!"

"Our temporary little captain, hahahaha!"

"Hurry up and invite him to the party! I've never seen him drunk and talking nonsense in the past few days! Hahaha~!"

"I heard that after you send us to the Seven Waters City, you're leaving for the New World?! That won't do! Captain Roger will definitely drag you to a party that will last a week!"

Pittam, Bana, Galang, etc... a group of burly men with red faces greeted Arthur who returned to the boat.

Some of them even stood up and walked to Arthur's side, put their arms around Arthur's shoulders and pulled him into the banquet.

Sitting at the banquet table on the deck, a guy dressed in Viking-like clothes handed him a large glass of wine.

Arthur narrowed his eyes and looked at him, naturally knowing who this person was.

Miller Paine, the Inquisitor of the Roger Pirates, is a guy with a thick beard all over his chin, and his eyes are the only visible part of his face.

The man with his arm around his shoulders had blue hair and a mustache, and his name was Elio.

"Don't spoil the fun this time, little captain." Elio winked at Arthur.

A drunken man smiled and winked at him, and Arthur got goose bumps all over his body.

"You..." Arthur looked down at the contents of the cup, "Can you drink more than me?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole banquet instantly became full of fighting spirit, and the swords were pointed directly at Arthur.

No one was convinced and they all poured him wine.

"Don't forget your limits!" Reilly scolded them with his wine glass raised. Every time his friends held a party, he always kept a clear head.

"Shut up, mate! How dare he challenge our drinking capacity!"

"Let's put the Roger Pirates' name on the line! We must get him drunk. I'll go first!"

Under the sunset.

Fat Tiger pulled the anchor from underwater at the dock onto the deck, then walked to the rudder and began steering like a human.

Leia and Cooper worked together to raise all seven sails.

She stood on the canvas mast, looking down, "What kind of stomach do you have? A bottomless pit, right?!"

The vessel leaves St Falde town pier.

"By the way! Do you really have Conqueror Haki? Arthur?!"

"Yeah, newspapers don't usually report this kind of thing. Since you only kill pirates, the navy wants to recruit you, right?!"

"There's no bounty either. Does that mean you've never committed any crime besides killing pirates?"

Night falls quickly.

Some competed with Arthur in drinking capacity, while others competed with Arthur in tolerance.

In the end, everyone held a wooden barrel full of wine and poured it directly into their throats.

As expected, Arthur knocked them all down one by one and they lay unconscious on the deck like babies.

Early morning——

thump.

On the deck where the party was held.

Arthur's face flushed red as he shakily put down the wine barrel and looked at the dirty and messy environment around him and the sleeping crew members of Roger's pirate group.

"You can't do this..." Arthur, who was almost losing consciousness, stood up, left the deck and walked into the house.

He was dazed and walked into Leia's room as usual. He saw Leia, who was awakened by the smell of alcohol and staring at him in surprise.

"Arthur...Arthur...?" Leia saw Arthur staring at her with his eyes distracted, and her face quickly turned red, and she couldn't help but think of all sorts of things in her mind.

"Let me kiss your little mouth." Arthur sat cross-legged beside her bed, stretched his neck and kissed Leia on the lips.

"Ah?" Leia froze on the spot, quickly covering her cheeks with both hands, and silently watched Arthur approaching through the gaps between her fingertips until he stopped at the back of her hand, only a palm's distance from her lips.

Just when they were about to kiss, Arthur stopped immediately when he saw her appearance.

"I've made up my mind." Arthur said, sitting cross-legged with his head down, "I'm going to eat the devil fruit! No one can stop me."

"Devil Fruit?!" Leia's little heart beat violently beneath her chest, and her anticipation, which had left her unable to move, was shattered.

"Hmm..." Arthur leaned on the edge of her bed and replied dazedly, "Mythical Beast Species..."