The two people eating noodles both paused in their actions simultaneously, then immediately turned their gazes in that direction.
The person who appeared was indeed Uta, and she was now scanning her surroundings, trying to find the familiar figures she knew.
But after scanning around and finding nothing, a trace of urgency couldn't help but appear on her face.
Was what she saw before just a hallucination, something she had imagined?
Before she could think further, a voice came over, interrupting her train of thought.
"If you're looking for Shanks and the others, you won't find them here; they're locked up in the ship's brig!"
As soon as these words were spoken, Uta's eyes immediately lit up. Following the source of the sound, she saw Kyle, who was drinking soup, and quickly asked:
"Where is the ship's brig? I want to see them!!"
Kyle didn't answer immediately. Instead, he unhurriedly finished the soup in his bowl, wiped his mouth, and then turned his gaze toward Uta.
"Why should I tell you?"
"The Red-Haired Pirates are quite famous in the world right now, one of the powerful pirate crews. What relationship do you have with them? And why do you want to see them?"
Kyle's words made the excited Uta suddenly realize where she was. This was a Navy warship, and the people in front of her were Marines. Marines and pirates were natural, absolute enemies!
Back when she was on the Red-Haired Pirates' ship, they had been chased by the Navy countless times.
For a moment, she was at a loss for words.
Right, what reason could she give now to make these Marines agree to let her see Shanks and the others?
Uta's brow furrowed involuntarily. After a long moment, as if she had thought of something, her eyes lit up again, and she immediately looked at Kyle and shouted loudly:
"Because I'm also a member of the Red-Haired Pirates!!"
As soon as she said this, the entire ship fell silent in an instant. These words, clear and unmistakable, fell into the ears of the many Marines on board.
Even Kyle was stunned for a moment.
Seriously?! I'm here trying to hide your identity, and you just go and blurt it out yourself??
However, what happened next was also something Kyle hadn't anticipated.
The many Marines were silent at first, then immediately burst into loud laughter.
"Hahaha..."
"Little girl, do you know what the Red-Haired Pirates are? They're a notoriously vicious and evil pirate crew, famous throughout the world!"
"Not just the captain, Red-Haired Shanks, but every single one of them is a well-known, skilled fighter, each with their own bounty!"
As he spoke, this Marine even took out a stack of wanted posters from his pocket, flipping through them one by one. The posters on top were indeed the wanted posters for Red-Haired Shanks and his crew.
After flipping through all the posters, the Marine spread them out right in front of Uta, smiling as he looked at her and said:
"Come on, little girl, see if you can pick out which one is you!"
Although Uta was actually a year older than Kyle, she just looked too small, with a baby face, so to these Marines, she was completely a little sister.
Uta: ....
I ate the Sing-Sing Fruit, not the Mimic Fruit! You blockhead!!
A smile tugged at the corner of Kyle's mouth. He guessed Uta must be feeling pretty helpless right now. These days, you tell the truth and no one believes you!
"I really am part of the Red-Haired Pirates, I'm not lying! Hurry up and arrest me and lock me up with Shanks!!"
Uta was starting to get anxious.
"Alright!!"
Kyle's energetic voice rang out. Looking at the many Marines, he said:
"Since she says she's part of the Red-Haired Pirates, then she's a pirate. But she doesn't even have a wanted poster, obviously a total rookie. Not worth wasting our brig space on. Throw her into the sea and feed her to the fish!"
When Uta first heard "alright," her face lit up with excitement, but after she finished listening to everything Kyle said, she was left stunned.
???
Seeing Uta like this, Kyle couldn't help but laugh out loud again. Deciding to stop teasing her, he looked at her and said:
"I can agree to let you meet Red-Haired Shanks and the others, but in return, I have a condition!"
Hearing this, Uta's eyes immediately sparkled, and she quickly asked:
"What condition?!"
"Join the Navy!"
Kyle said calmly.
"As long as you join the Navy, then going to see them becomes normal conduct. Until I send them to Impel Down, you can see them as much and for as long as you want!"
"Huh?!"
Uta was stunned, seemingly not expecting Kyle to propose such a condition. She fell silent for a moment, not speaking for a long time.
During this time, Kyle didn't urge her. He had all the time in the world!
After another while, Uta lifted her head, her gaze meeting Kyle's, and shook her head, saying:
"I can't agree to that condition!"
!!
Kyle's eyebrow rose slightly, then he frowned a little and asked calmly:
"Why not?"
"Like I said, I'm part of the Red-Haired Pirates. No matter what happens, I am, so there's no way I could become a Marine!"
"If that's the condition, then I'd rather not go see Shanks and them!"
After she finished speaking, Kyle didn't say anything, just gazed thoughtfully at Uta. The laughter from the Marines on the ship had also disappeared, and the entire vessel fell into silence.
Kyle looked at Uta for a good long while. He saw the firmness in her eyes, the conviction...
After another long moment, Kyle turned his head to look at a Marine and said:
"Bins, take her down to see the Red-Haired Pirates. Then you come back up; give them some space alone."
"Yes, Rear Admiral Kyle!"
Bins immediately acknowledged the order and came before Uta.
"Little girl, follow me."
After saying this, he turned and was the first to head towards the cabin.
Upon hearing these words, Uta's eyes lit up again, filled with excitement. She had thought she'd lost her chance, but things had taken an unexpected turn.
She looked at Kyle with utmost sincerity and thanked him:
"Thank you!!"
"Mm."
Kyle nodded.
"You only get one chance to meet them. After you're done, you go back to wherever you came from."
"Also, if you become a world-famous singing star someday, give me a front-row VIP ticket."
"Okay!! Not just one, I'll give you ten, a hundred!!"
Uta nodded emphatically, then immediately followed behind Bins. She couldn't wait anymore.
Watching Uta's retreating figure, Kyle remained silent for a long time.
Until Zephyr's puzzled voice broke the silence.
"You just gave up like that? That doesn't seem like your style!"
Zephyr could tell that Kyle genuinely wanted to recruit Uta into the Navy. Based on his understanding of Kyle, he usually never stopped until he achieved his goal. This scene was honestly a bit confusing to him.
Kyle chuckled softly.
"She wasn't going to come."
"Her conviction is very strong, almost impossible to change. Talking more would just be a waste of breath; there's no point."
When Kyle saw the look in Uta's eyes earlier, he knew his recruitment mission this time was going to fail.
That look was incredibly determined, just like Luffy in the original story after he was 'brainwashed' by Shanks. His obsession with becoming the Pirate King was incredibly strong. Whenever he introduced himself to anyone, he would say:
"My name is Monkey D. Luffy, and I'm the man who's going to be the Pirate King!!"
Uta now was like the original Luffy. Having been raised by Shanks and his crew since she was little, her convictions were already firmly shaped and extremely difficult to change.
So there was no need to forcefully make Uta join the Navy. He wasn't the type of person to do anything, regardless of the means, just for a mission reward.
In everything he did, he followed his heart!
Besides, failing this first recruitment mission felt kind of novel, didn't it?
...
***
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━
📖 Like the story? Read 120 chapters ahead!
🔗 patreon.com/atomelectron
━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━