Next to the Red Force, after using tow lines to secure her Leviathan, Sakura carried the charred Shanks onto the ship and climbed aboard.
"Captain!"
The ship's doctor, Hongo, rushed over with a medical kit, and the others also gathered around worriedly.
"No need, I'll handle his treatment!" Sakura waved her hand at Hongo, formed hand seals, and slapped the summoning formula onto the deck.
Amidst a burst of smoke, a figure about as tall as a person straightened up.
"Ah, Sakura-chan! You brought me out onto the sea again!!"
Due to years of sailing, pirate ships are always filled with salt. For a slug like Katsuyu, standing on it was no different from enduring torture by fire.
"Ouch, ouch, ouch!"
Writhing as if performing a strange dance, Katsuyu crawled up to Sakura's waist and wrapped itself tightly around her.
"Stop fooling around! Cooperate with me for treatment!" Sakura carried it towards Shanks. Her rough technique made Hongo, watching from the side, twitch.
This ship doctor, who had a cleanliness obsession, simply blocked Sakura's path and scolded angrily, "Stop! You plan to put bugs on a severely injured person?! Are you trying to kill him?"
"Shanks is an old friend of mine too, I wouldn't harm him. Anyway, just calm down for a bit!" Sakura flicked a wave of cold air with one hand, freezing Hongo's feet solid to the deck.
Then, under Hongo's incredulous gaze, she worked with Katsuyu to use Mystical Palm Technique, completely healing all of Shanks's injuries.
"This is impossible..." The ship doctor's worldview was shattered. He slumped dejectedly to the side.
"Better not question things about Devil Fruit Users." The chef, Lucky Roux squatted beside him and added salt to the wound.
On the deck, Shanks, now fully healed, gradually regained consciousness. He opened his bleary eyes and saw the girl seriously bandaging him with bandages.
The moon hung high in the night sky, its soft light spilling down. The cool sea breeze teased the girl's hair, revealing her flawless face.
"Sigh, lost again." Shanks engraved this beautiful scene in his heart and let out a light sigh.
"Idiot, if you can't win, won't you just yell 'I surrender'?" Sakura tightly wrapped the last part of his body with bandages and tied a firm knot.
"Gently! I'm injured! And what man would back down in front of the woman he admires!" Shanks grimaced in pain, but the mouth that had withstood 2000-degree heat remained stubborn.
"You really never learn!" Sakura raised her fist and shook it at Shanks.
However, this action didn't scare him. Instead, it made Shanks jump up, full of vitality.
"Everyone, let's have a banquet!"
His shout made the crew members on the entire pirate ship unanimously stop their work. Then, the atmosphere on the entire ship boiled over.
"Woo!"
The pirates' laughter and cheers drifted to every corner of this sea area. A grand banquet thus commenced on the deck of the Red Force.
The fighters diligently carried food onto the deck. As the chef, Lucky Roux became the center of attention with his skill in grilling Sea King meat steaks.
Bottled and barrel-aged wine was casually stacked around the mast, available for anyone who wanted to drink their fill.
As the only outsider not belonging to the ship today, Sakura naturally received their special attention.
"You're sixteen now! Don't think you can get away with drinking juice this time! Otherwise, go sit at the same table as my daughter!"
Shanks's left and right arms were full of bottles. He raised one foot and stepped on a large barrel, looking like he was ready to have it out with Sakura.
"Your... daughter?" Even though she knew about Uta's existence, Sakura still felt dazed for a moment.
It inexplicably gave her a phantom pain feeling, like a childhood friend suddenly showing up one day with a kid, bragging that you, as the elder, should give the child a present.
"Yeah! She's the treasure our Red-Haired Pirates are proud of!" Shanks flicked the cap off a bottle, shoved the glass bottle into Sakura's hand, opened one for himself, then clinked his bottle against Sakura's before starting to chug!
"That's really... congratulations."
Sakura glanced at little Uta, who was playing and laughing with the pirate crew members, listening to the girl's clear singing voice drifting over the sea.
"She's a good child."
For a moment, Sakura was filled with emotion, 'Unknowingly, I had reached an age where I could call someone else a child.'
"Auntie Sakura."
Meeting the young woman's gaze, little Uta ran up and greeted her politely.
"Cough! Auntie..." Sakura's eyes bulged. She ruffled the girl's hair in mock annoyance, "Call me nee-chan!"
"Hahaha!"
Shanks picked up his daughter and spun around, laughing like a kind old father.
After sending Uta off, his gaze returned to Sakura. Noticing the young woman still hadn't touched her drink, his expression changed, "Drink up! I've already finished a whole bottle! Trying to weasel out of it, are you?"
"Hmph, mere Shanks, would I need to cheat to deal with you?" Sakura raised her head proudly and downed the entire bottle of alcohol in one go.
"Bold words, Sakura!" Shanks's eyes turned serious, "Want to have a contest?"
Instantly, the noise on the entire ship vanished. The crew members crowded around.
Lucky Roux, who is part of the atmosphere team, squeezed out of the crowd just in time to announce the rules: "Then the contest begins! The winner is crowned, the loser retires! This continues until the last person remains!"
"Fine, planning to gang up on me with the whole pirate crew?" Sakura showed no fear at their provocation. She raised her glass, accepting all challengers.
'Today, I'll show you what it means to be a giant!'
One bottle, two bottles... ten bottles, twenty bottles!!!
Soon, discarded bottles piled up across the banquet area. One by one, members of the Red-Haired Pirates simply collapsed amidst the piles of bottles, sound asleep.
The two main fighters had already fallen. The combatants were exhausted. Lucky Roux was even snoring while hugging ingredients.
"M-monster..."
The Red-Haired Pirates' crew members were utterly defeated by a single person. By the end of the battle, not a single soul remained conscious.
"Is that all? You guys can't handle it anymore?"
The young woman held a meat bone in her hand, her foot planted on a wine barrel.
Her face was slightly flushed. The comfortable sea breeze made her emerald-green eyes narrow, her arrogant gaze sweeping over the defeated crowd as always.
"Tch."
Shanks, lying on the ground unable to get up, had already passed out from drinking and woken up a second time.
At this point, forget about getting up to fight again, he didn't even have the strength left to provoke Sakura.
'I tried my best, but in the end, I couldn't win.'
'I lost.'
'Completely and utterly lost.'
But the days ahead were long. Shanks didn't mind a temporary loss. As long as he kept sailing the seas, there would surely be a day when he could defeat her!
"Can't do it, I really can't do it anymore!"
"Mhm~" The young woman, with her pupils slitted like a cat's, instantly crouched beside him.
Her mouth was stretched wide in a pleased grin, her smile incredibly bright.
"Well, well, well! Guess what? Someone admitted defeat! Wait a sec, I'll go find the Visual Den Den Mushi. Say it again in a moment!"
Shanks caught the scent of someone being shameless. His heartbeat involuntarily quickened, blood rushing to his head. In a fit of anger, his consciousness began to fade again.
In his dazed state, he seemed to hear someone shamelessly shouting.
"Uta-chan, look, your dad lost to me. Be my witness. Next time, tell him to bother me less."
Amidst his despair, Shanks sank into deeper darkness. One final thought lingered in his mind:
'You bastard! Leave my family out of this!'