"Three years? What are we supposed to do, wait here for three years?"
This was Bai Chuan's first time running into something like that. "Have you two ever encountered this before?" he asked Buggy and Shanks.
"No. In the past, the longest we stayed on an island was three or four months," Shanks said.
"Wait, Shanks, do you remember? Earlier on our route, there was an island where recording the magnetism took a whole year," Buggy suddenly said as if he remembered something. "But that time, I think we only stayed two months before leaving."
"Now that you mention it, I remember that too. That did happen," Shanks nodded.
"Then how did you leave without fully recording the magnetism last time?" Bai Chuan asked.
"I think the captain bought an Eternal Pose to the next island," Buggy replied.
"Eternal Pose?"
Shanks explained, "It's a pointer that permanently locks onto a single island. No matter where you are, it always points in that island's direction."
"So something like that exists?" Bai Chuan's eyes lit up. "Then does this island have an Eternal Pose for the next island?"
"Yes," Kather·Lynn spoke up, extremely certain.
"How do you know?" Bai Chuan asked.
"Because our royal palace has a pointer that records the next island," Kather·Lynn said.
"Really?"
"Of course. Do you think I'd lie to you for no reason?"
"Who knows. Maybe you've got bad intentions," Bai Chuan muttered.
"You!" Kather·Lynn pointed at him, then turned her head away with a huff. "Good intentions really do get punished."
"Then we should tell the captain about this, right?" Shanks asked.
"We definitely should," Bai Chuan agreed. "Whether the captain already knows or not, we still tell him. And we tell him we've got a lead on an Eternal Pose to the next island."
"Then where do we find the captain?" Buggy asked.
"That's something you two should answer," Bai Chuan said, looking at Shanks and Buggy. "You've been around longer. Don't tell me you don't know where the captain likes to go after landing."
The two of them gave an awkward laugh.
"Once we land, we usually split up," Shanks said. "And we've basically never moved with the captain, so we don't really know what he's into."
"If the vice-captain were here, that'd be great," Buggy muttered.
"Vice-Captain Rayleigh?" Bai Chuan lowered his head and analyzed quietly. "That guy is horny, loves drinking, and loves gambling. It's broad daylight, so he probably isn't out chasing prostitutes. And we just finished drinking, so he's most likely at a casino."
"Right!" Shanks' eyes brightened at the same time as Bai Chuan's. "There's a high chance the vice-captain is at a casino."
"Find the vice-captain, then use his Observation Haki to locate the captain. That should be easy," Bai Chuan said.
Buggy pointed at the still-pouting Kather·Lynn. "If we're going to find the vice-captain, what about her?"
Hearing that, Kather·Lynn's eyes slid over, clearly watching to see how Bai Chuan would deal with her.
"Just leave her here," Bai Chuan said. "Bringing her along is a burden. Anyway, we already know where the Eternal Pose is."
"Hey! Is that how you treat people?" Kather·Lynn instantly exploded. "You're ungrateful, you break your word, you're despicable and shameless!"
"Hey, hey, I was joking. Do you really have to go that far?" Bai Chuan said quickly. He also felt his words had gone a bit overboard, so he hurriedly tried to smooth it over.
"Hmph. Who knows if you were joking for real or pretending? I don't care. I'm sticking with you," Kather·Lynn said stubbornly.
"Fine, fine. I get it. I was wrong, okay?" Bai Chuan surrendered.
"That's more like it." Kather·Lynn patted Bai Chuan on the back in satisfaction, like she was praising him.
"Then the four of us will move together," Bai Chuan said. "Casinos are illegal places. There shouldn't be many. If we're careful, we shouldn't get discovered."
"Guess we have no choice," Buggy sighed.
The four of them each wrapped a scarf around themselves, covering more than half their faces.
It looked a bit strange, but it also made it hard for anyone to tell what they really looked like.
"By the way, do you two know how to find a casino?" Bai Chuan asked after they wandered around aimlessly for a while.
"Nope. I'm not interested in that stuff," Shanks said.
"I don't know either," Buggy said. "I keep my money for myself. I'm not about to donate it to someone else."
That made sense. With Buggy's personality, once he had money, he had to keep it. He did not even buy much, but having money made him feel secure. As for Shanks, he was simply not interested in gambling. The only things he cared about were drinking and fighting.
Bai Chuan turned to Kather·Lynn. "What about you?"
"You think I, a princess of a kingdom, would go to a casino?" she replied coldly.
"Yeah. I knew asking you was pointless," Bai Chuan said.
Kather·Lynn nearly choked. Why was everything that came out of his mouth so unpleasant? A man like this would be single for life.
She silently cursed Bai Chuan in her heart.
If Bai Chuan knew what she was thinking, he would have thrown her away without hesitation. Who cursed people with something that vicious?
After all, being single until twenty in his last life had always been a sore spot.
"Then what about you?" Shanks asked. "You don't know either, do you?"
"Who said I don't?" Bai Chuan replied.
"You know?" The three of them shouted at the same time. "You've even been to a casino?"
"What, I don't look like the type?" Bai Chuan asked.
"You don't," all three said at once, shaking their heads.
"But do you really need to have been to a casino to know where one is?" Bai Chuan said.
"Then how do we do it?" Buggy asked.
"Just follow me."
Bai Chuan led them through narrow, remote alleys, weaving back and forth like he knew the place inside out.
"Can we really find a casino here?" Kather·Lynn asked.
"Be good and shut up. Just follow me," Bai Chuan said.
"But we've walked this path at least twice already, haven't we? Don't tell me you got lost," she pressed.
The moment she finished speaking, a group of people blocked them from both the front and the back. The leader was holding a weapon, a dagger.
"They're here," Bai Chuan said calmly, as if he had been waiting for it. All that wandering around had not been for nothing.
"Shanks, Buggy, I'll leave them to you," Bai Chuan said. "Don't knock them unconscious. I need to ask questions."
"Haha, Bai Chuan, your idea is great. Find a local to lead the way," Shanks laughed.
"If you don't want a beating, hand over your money right now so the brothers can spend it," the leader barked.
"I'll give you the money," Bai Chuan said. "But do you have the life to spend it?"
"KID, what did you say?" The leader's eyes went cold. "So you won't cry until you see the coffin, huh? Brothers, get them! Once we get the money, we split it evenly!"
"Alright!"
Kather·Lynn leaned toward Bai Chuan and whispered nervously, "Is it really okay to leave it to those two? They look like they're not even adults yet."
"Relax," Bai Chuan said. "If they can't even handle trash like this, then they don't deserve to be on our ship."
This time, it was finally Bai Chuan's turn to say those words to someone else.
/-\
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