บท 261: A Forgotten Prisoner's Remorse

Eventually, Whitebeard was introduced to Nico Robin.

"GURARARARA!!!" Whitebeard laughed as he picked Nico Robin up with one hand, "You will call me Gramps from here on out!!"

I could see Nico Robin's initial response was that of apprehension. It was rare to have the most dangerous human being on the planet pick you up as if you were a grandchild. However, as time passed, she eventually began to soften up and later was cheering with the rest of the pirates as she moved about on Whitebeard's shoulders.

It was heartwarming to see that she had fully integrated with the main crew now. I even noticed Teach in the distance enjoying some liquor while he cheered Nico Robin on.

At that point, he had grown into quite a young man, but it didn't stop me from being weary of him. Marshall D. Teach was someone who was always akin to a king cobra, always waiting for the ideal opportunity to strike.

The hidden impulse to lop his head off was always on high, and I needed to down a lot of liquor in order to drive that compulsion down.

"Hm? That's quite the celebration you guys are having about her! You should kidnap another kid so you can throw more parties like this!!" Shanks remarked as he tried leaning on my shoulders.

I had been sitting on a barrel while enjoying a cigarette, so my height was roughly half my initial size.

"We don't need to have a child to throw a party like this; all we need is plenty of liquor and food, and we'll have an even larger party than this," I remarked before downing some more liquor.

My stomach was practically an ocean of liquor. However, thanks to my quick metabolism, it would burn away almost as quickly as I drank it. As a result, I ended up having a light blush on my cheeks, but it was far from impeding my rational thought process.

"Hey...." Shanks poked my shoulder, "I didn't know that you let people party hard on your ship. The thing's practically about to break apart because of all the ruckus."

Curious, I turned to find that the ship named Hades was tilting to and fro dangerously, with the occasional shake that would tilt the ship even further.

"People shouldn't be on that ship. Do you know how much of a pain it is to clean up?" I growled as I lazily was about to get up.

However, as I did, my Observation Haki flared as the ship shook again. It was as if something had been locked in there for a long time and was trying to get out.

"Ah"

Then it clicked.

Wasn't Crocodile locked up within the ship's cabins?

"We caught a pirate the other day while we leaving Roger's execution. I think he's still in there," I remarked as I began heading to the ship.

"Hm? I gotta see this for myself!" Shanks chuckled as he followed me to Hades.

I hopped on the ship and opened the door that normally led into the cabins. I didn't waste any time heading right toward the mini-prisons that were within the cabins.

"Damn! You got a nice ass Cabin set up over here! How much did you pay for all of this?!" Shanks asked curiously.

"A lot of Heavenly Gold, but I guess that this is worth it when looking at the end results," I replied. After a few more seconds of walking, we finally reached the mini-prisons, and I wasted no time opening the door.

There, I eventually found the source of all the commotion coming out of the ship. An angry crocodile had been slamming his head against the cell bars to the point blood had been coming out of his forehead. He looked quite upset.

"Who's this guy?" Shanks asked curiously, "Wait. Don't tell me....isn't this that upstart called Crocodile?! How the hell did you end up all the way here?!"

Shanks laughed a bit drunkenly as he pointed his mug at Crocodile.

"Shut up," Crocodile growled as he rested his back right on the cell's walls.

"So? Why're you banging on the cell walls? You know you're shaking the entire ship?" I asked aloofly.

"I haven't eaten in days....and all I hear is loud cheers of celebration...What the hell would you expect me to do?!" Crocodile growled annoyingly.

"To be fair....I completely forgot that you had been locked in here," I remarked a bit plainly.

This proved to piss Crocodile off even more.

"Let me the hell out!! I would rather die in a fight than have to suffer another day of this bullshit!!" Crocodile yelled.

Shanks exploded even more in laughter as he struggled to remain upright. It was pretty obvious that he was flat-out drunk.

"Hmm....." I was pondering what I should do with him.

Killing him wouldn't directly change anything across the plot. Moreover, it was highly unlikely that his Devil Fruit would appear nearby as soon as he died.

"Honestly, I don't know what I should do with you. So I'll just take you to Whitebeard instead; maybe he'll have something fun for you to do," I remarked as I looked around for a key to unlock those seastone cuffs.

He grumbled something incomprehensible as he massaged his sore wrists as soon as I unlocked the seastone cuffs. My Observation Haki immediately flared as I sensed that he was about to do something.

"Whatever you're thinking about doing, don't. I'll kill you as soon as you make a bad move," I remarked before turning to the slumped Shanks.

"As for you, why come with me if you weren't going to stay sober within the ship?" I asked.

Shanks muttered something incomprehensible before leaning on my hip for support. I sighed before picking him up and slinging him on my shoulder as I showed Crocodile out of Hades.

"Say....If I kill Whitebeard, will you join my crew?" Crocodile asked smugly as he continued stretching his limbs.

"Nope, the idea of that possibility is pretty absurd in itself," I remarked as we finally got out of the cabin and took the plank down back on the island.

Before reaching Whitebeard, I stopped by Red-Haired's camp and dumped Shanks off the nearest tent that was available. I didn't want to smell the man's breath any more than I already had, and then I began guiding Crocodile toward where Whitebeard was currently relaxing with Nico Robin and Stussy.

Whitebeard seemed to have been engaging in a conversation with Nico Robin about something.

"So you can read ancient languages?" Whitebeard asked curiously.

"Yeah! I was the first kid on the island to ever do so!" Nico Robin remarked proudly.

"If only some of these brats had a sliver of your brains, child. Maybe they wouldn't be pulling some of the stupid antics they normally do," Whitebeard remarked mockingly.

"Oi! I didn't know that it was the lady's bathroom! The men and women had the same kind of appearance!" Rakuyo remarked defensively.

"I didn't say that it was you, now did I?" Whitebeard replied with an eyebrow raised.

The rest of the crew immediately began laughing out loud. Nico Robin also joined in the laughter; she had been sitting on Whitebeard's lap. Even Stussy snickered a bit as she covered her mouth.

Whitebeard immediately took note of my abrupt appearance and turned his head around to get a good look at me.

"Who's the brat you have with you, brat?"