No one paid any attention to the "arrogant" pirates in the corner.
After Hawkeye walked in, the Red-Haired Pirates also took their seats, occupying half of the bar. Ryuen shared a table with Hogg, while Rayleigh sat at the bar.
At this moment, Rayleigh was staring at Shanks, Shanks was looking at Hawkeye, Hawkeye was watching Ryuen, and Ryuen... was focused on Shakky, who was quietly smoking.
"Um..."
Just as the arrogant pirate was about to ask if they could pay and leave, all the big shots turned their gaze toward him.
"Ahahaha..."
"Please, carry on, don't mind us!" The pirate quickly huddled back with his crew, shrinking even further into the corner as if that would help them disappear.
Seeing the pirates behaving themselves, the big shots returned to their previous staring contest.
Meanwhile, Hogg and the other members of the Red-Haired Pirates were drinking like nothing was happening.
Rayleigh couldn't hold it in any longer. He suddenly shouted, "Hey! Ryuen, you brat! How can you be so rude? Staring at a lady like that!"
"Huh?"
"Uncle Rayleigh, you've got it all wrong. I was just curious about what brand of cigarettes Shakky smokes," Ryuen quickly said with an innocent expression.
"You—!"
Rayleigh felt like a breath was stuck in his chest, and he couldn't let it out.
"Hehehe..."
"Ryuen, you're quite the funny one," Shakky chuckled.
After that little exchange, Shanks and the others stopped staring at each other and all turned their attention to Ryuen.
But Ryuen ignored them and kept looking at Shakky.
It wasn't because she was particularly beautiful—he was just really curious about how old she actually was.
As the first captain of the Kuja Pirates, Shakky had been sailing for a long time. She was from the same era as Rayleigh, Whitebeard, and Roger.
That meant she was definitely not young.
Women from her generation, especially Vice Admiral Tsuru and Stussy, had long since become old ladies.
Yet somehow, Shakky looked as youthful as ever.
Ryuen felt like her anti-aging skills were even more impressive than Dr. Kureha's!
--- *Crack, crack, crack~~~*
Just then, Rayleigh clenched his fists, and the cracking of his knuckles echoed, showing how annoyed he was.
*Crack! Crack! Crack! Crack!~~~~~~*
Suddenly, even louder cracking sounds came from the direction of the "arrogant" pirates.
Everyone turned to look.
"Ahhh...!"
"We didn't mean to!"
"Please forgive us!"
...
The "arrogant" pirates panicked and immediately tried to defend themselves.
*Crack, crack, crack...*
*Smack!*
"Ah..."
Out of sheer fear, the pirates squeezed into the corner too hard and ended up crashing through the bar, leaving a huge hole!
As a result, these so-called "arrogant" pirates all tumbled out through the hole in the wall.
*Boom!*
Shakky's face darkened, and without realizing it, she crushed the glass in her hand.
"Uh, Shakky... The bounty on this 'arrogant' pirate captain is pretty good. It should be enough to cover the bar repairs," Rayleigh quickly reassured her.
Hearing this, Shakky's expression gradually relaxed. She unclenched her fist, letting bits of shattered glass fall onto the bar counter.
"Wrap up your conversation quickly. If you guys stay here too long, how am I supposed to run my business?" With that, Shakky turned and walked toward the door.
"Hey!"
"Shakky, you can't blame me for this. I'm just a paying customer here..." Ryuen protested in frustration.
But Shakky ignored him. To her, that "arrogant" pirate captain outside was far more important than the troublemakers inside the bar.
"Seriously, guys, I know I'm good-looking, but do you really have to stare at me this much?"
Ryuen was getting fed up. Everyone kept looking at him like he was some rare specimen, and not one of them had the decency to be subtle about it.
"Old man..."
Shanks' mouth twitched.
"I'm only nineteen. The youngest of you is over forty. Calling you 'old men' is perfectly reasonable, isn't it?" Ryuen asked, looking genuinely puzzled.
As soon as he said that, the atmosphere in the bar shifted.
Some of the men, who still liked to think of themselves as young, clenched their teeth in frustration. But they couldn't argue—Ryuen really was way younger than them.
Hog continued drinking as if nothing had happened, but in his mind, he thought, *Ryuen's mouth is just as sharp as ever.*
"I came here not just to meet Captain Ryuen but also to ask about the female swordsman on your ship," Mihawk said, uninterested in the conversation.
He was only interested in swordsmanship. This whole "who's handsome" debate was pointless to him. Besides, he was confident no one could outshine him in that regard—even if he was technically an "old man."
As soon as Mihawk spoke, the men in the bar stopped gritting their teeth. Everyone knew that the Dream Exploration Crew had a female swordsman.
However, she rarely fought.
Now, though, it was clear that her skills must be exceptional.
After all, if the world's strongest swordsman had come all the way to Sabaody Archipelago just to find her, that alone was proof of her strength.
They were all naturally curious about someone so talented, especially someone so young.
Since Mihawk had directly asked about Kuina, Ryuen didn't joke around anymore. Mihawk wasn't the kind of man to joke, either.
"Kuina is indeed on Sabaody Archipelago right now," Ryuen said calmly. "But I won't lie to you, Mihawk—I made a deal with her. Before the year 1520 of the Sea Calendar, she can't fight you."
Everyone in the bar, including Hog, was visibly confused.
"Why? Are you afraid she'll lose to me?" Mihawk frowned.
"Before she fights you, she needs to obtain something first. That's part of our agreement," Ryuen said, his expression unreadable.
"I see."
Mihawk didn't ask any further. He finished his drink and immediately left the bar.
Kuina's talent in swordsmanship was no less than Mihawk's. In fact, her obsession with swordsmanship burned even hotter than his. Ryuen believed that, in the future, Kuina would reach a level of swordsmanship beyond anyone's imagination.
If she fought Mihawk now, she might be able to hold her own for the first thirty minutes, but eventually, she'd lose due to exhaustion.
Ryuen was eager to see how far Kuina could go after consuming the artificial Azure Dragon Fruit.
Talking about the artificial Azure Dragon fruit, Garp should have gotten his hands on it by now, right?
Since they've already reached Sabaody Archipelago, the plan he discussed with Sengoku should be underway. Punk Hazard is just the first step!
Thinking of this, Ryuen suddenly started laughing like a villain, "Jieh jieh jieh jieh…"
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