With the Navy gone, the pirates were all in high spirits. At that point, it was time for each ship's doctors to get to work, weaving through the wounded pirates to bandage their injuries. As for the crew members who had died in battle, the healthy members buried them on the spot. At the very least, it was a proper farewell.
By the time all of that had been taken care of, it was already close to evening.
The two pirate crews lit bonfires together, singing, dancing, drinking, and eating.
Even someone as shy as Baichuan was infected by the atmosphere. He joined the rest of the crew in singing and dancing as well. He even sang one of the songs from his previous life. Of course, they could not understand the lyrics, but music was something that flowed across every world. Anyone could still tell whether it sounded good or bad.
"Baichuan, I may never have heard that song before, but I'm pretty sure the tune in your head wasn't the one coming out of your mouth. You've gone completely off-key."
Shanks had finally had enough and could not resist mocking him when he saw Baichuan still wanting to continue.
At Shanks's words, Baichuan's face turned red. Who knew whether it was from embarrassment or the firelight? But soon enough, his expression returned to normal.
"Fine, then I won't sing. You do it instead."
Baichuan had enough self-awareness. Being tone-deaf was a kind of talent too, one you were simply born with. As long as your soul did not change, that talent would not change either.
If there was something you were worse at than other people, then you should just admit it. There was no point making excuses.
At least this let the crew know Baichuan was not perfect. His talent in cultivation might be far better than theirs, but when it came to singing, not even one Baichuan could beat them.
Ten Baichuans together would only make the song more chaotic.
Since singing was no longer an option, Baichuan sat back down and continued drinking while watching other people perform and listening to the members of the two pirate crews boast at one another.
"I never thought someone like you would have no talent for singing at all."
At that moment, Marco walked over to Baichuan and raised a drink to him.
"And why exactly would I have to be talented at singing?" Baichuan shot back. Even though the two of them still did not see eye to eye, Marco had taken the initiative to come over, so Baichuan decided to be magnanimous and talk to him a bit.
After all, Baichuan intended to one day stand in the same rank as Whitebeard. Naturally, he could not afford to be too petty.
Baichuan's question actually made Marco freeze.
Why had he assumed Baichuan would be good at singing?
What exactly had led him to such a thought?
"Weren't you some kind of noble before? Shouldn't nobles learn this sort of thing from childhood?"
"Then have you ever seen the Celestial Dragons learn it?" Baichuan asked. Celestial Dragons is the standard English term for the World Nobles in One Piece.
"Never seen it. I wouldn't know. Wait... you're not a Celestial Dragon, are you?" Marco's mouth fell open in shock.
"What? I don't look like one?" Baichuan suddenly felt like teasing him.
"No. You're completely different from every Celestial Dragon I've ever seen."
Marco and the others had run into Celestial Dragons a few times before. Every single one of them had been arrogant beyond belief, always walking around with those bubble helmets, treating everyone other than themselves, or any living thing at all, as slaves.
If they happened to run into Celestial Dragons, then as long as the other side wanted peace, fine.
But if the other side wanted to push them around, then sorry, the only ending would be letting them sink into the sea.
"You're not seriously a Celestial Dragon, are you?" Marco asked again, his tone still full of doubt.
"Of course not. I was just messing with you."
"That's what I thought. Even if your captain could accept a Celestial Dragon, most of your crewmates definitely couldn't. No pirate crew would want a Celestial Dragon among its members."
"I'm done talking to you, brat. There isn't a single reliable word coming out of your mouth."
"Haha, but stop calling me brat all the time. Just because you look older doesn't mean you get to take advantage of me. I know you're only one or two years older than me at most. Hell, we might even be the same age."
"I look older? How old are you?"
"I'm twenty."
Hearing that, Marco was stunned for a moment. After doing the math in his head, he realized Baichuan really was around the same age as him.
"Twenty? I thought you were only sixteen or seventeen."
"Heh. I just look young. Unlike you, you look like a pineapple."
"A pineapple? Me? I think you're just asking for a beating."
"Then come on. Who's afraid of who?"
The moment those words fell, the two of them rolled up their sleeves, ready to throw down.
"Hey, hey, look over there! Baichuan's about to start fighting that Marco guy again!" one of the Roger Pirates shouted.
"Hey, look! Captain Marco's about to fight that guy again!" someone from the Whitebeard Pirates called out.
They still did not know Baichuan's name, but his impression on them ran far too deep.
"Your Whitebeard Pirates really are shameless," a Roger Pirates crewman suddenly said.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You actually sent one of your division commanders against our apprentice pirate. Shameless."
"An apprentice pirate? Him?" The Whitebeard Pirates were stunned.
"That's right." The Roger Pirates crewman raised his head proudly.
"Then you're trash. I don't even think you're stronger than your own apprentice pirate."
"What did you just say?"
"I said you're trash."
"Say that again if you've got guts."
"Trash." The Whitebeard pirate raised a brow. It was the first time he had ever met someone asking for such a cheap insult so eagerly.
"Damn it, I'm going to kill you!"
With that, the two crewmen lunged at each other.
And just like that, led by Baichuan and Marco's dispute, another clash between the Roger Pirates and the Whitebeard Pirates began.
The two pirate crews had just finished holding a big party together, so naturally they could not start drawing blades against each other. Instead, they went straight to punches and kicks, starting a full-on brawl with bare hands.
Pirates from both sides grabbed each other and rolled around on the ground.
Some of them really got blood fired up. They bit into one another so hard their mouths were full of blood.
At that exact moment, from the island next to them, a series of enormous booming sounds suddenly rang out.
Then two unbelievably powerful bursts of Conqueror's Haki exploded outward at once.
Those ordinary crew members whose wills were weak or whose strength was lacking dropped unconscious on the spot.
Even those who remained standing all stopped fighting immediately.
"Look at the sky. The sky has split open."
Jozu looked up as he spoke. The sky pressing down above them made him feel suffocated.
At the place where the heavens had cracked apart, lightning was constantly descending.
Ever since Whitebeard and Roger began clashing, the weather had never once cleared. Dark clouds had hung over everything the entire time.
"Have those two finally started getting serious?" Rayleigh muttered to himself, taking a drink as he stared up at the split sky.
"Pops is finally getting serious. Tonight's not going to be easy," Marco said, stopping as well and looking upward.
"Our captain is using his full strength too." Baichuan clenched his fists tightly, looking forward with all his heart to the day when he too could fight at that level.
/-\
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