Chapter 117Chapter 165: Luffy: Give Me Some FaceAll the Shandians looked at Luffy with eyes full of shock, awe, and deep wariness.Vivi immediately stepped forward, explaining the reason for the standoff to Luffy at a rapid pace, as well as her desire to avoid conflict.Vivi wanted to bring both sides to the negotiating table; as long as they could communicate, bloodshed and sacrifice could be avoided.Knowing Vivi's plan, Luffy set the golden bell on his shoulder down with a thud and looked at the two opposing sides, saying loudly, "How about you guys listen to Vivi and talk to each other?"He remembered the words Shanks often used when resolving disputes during his childhood, so he added a sentence in imitation, trying to increase his persuasiveness."Give me some face!"Give you face?On the spot, a hot-tempered Shandian warrior became displeased. He stepped forward, pointed his spear at Luffy, and questioned, "Who are you? Why should we give you face?!"Luffy didn't even lift a hand; he simply narrowed his eyes. An invisible aura carrying kingly majesty surged out like a tide. Although it lasted only a flash, the warrior who had spoken out felt his head buzz and his vision go dark, and he collapsed directly onto the ground.The scene fell into dead silence.This guy's Haoshoku is getting more and more terrifying.Nika muttered softly while watching this scene.Using violence to stop violence is always the simplest and most effective way; without the threat of a fist, the opponent will never listen to what your mouth has to say."Alright. I'll leave it to you, Vivi," Luffy said.Vivi took a deep breath, gave Luffy a grateful look, and then stepped forward. She began to use her wisdom and charisma to integrate information and facilitate communication between the two sides.She pointed out that Eneru, their common enemy, had disappeared, and the opportunity for peace was right before them.Robin also spoke up at the right time, stating that she could read the poneglyph. In a sense, the mission of the Shandians to guard the poneglyphfor generations had already been completed.While Vivi was working hard to promote communication over there, Luffy and the others were fretting over the golden bell and the various gold items gifted by the Lord of the Sky."It's too much, really too much."Nami looked at the mountain of gold, groaning in a mix of happiness and pain:"The going merry definitely can't hold this much! If we load it all on, the ship will surely sink.""What should we do? What should we do?"For the first time, Nami experienced the downside of abundance; this sweet burden made her want to cry but have no tears.Little Merry floated nearby, looking at Nami's distressed face and then at the huge pile of gold. A look of loss and self-blame appeared on her small face.She tugged at the corner of her clothes and whispered:"It's all my fault. If I could be a bit bigger, maybe I could fit it all.""Don't say that, Little Merry. Being small has its own advantages, and the Merry is the best ship!"Seeing this, Nami ignored the gold in front of her and hurriedly stepped forward, crouching down to pull Little Merry into her arms for comfort.The intention was good.Even Usopp's expression became strange.Is this the Nami he knows?As a result, Merry was bumped by Nami's well-developed chest. Feeling that heavy love and comparing it to her own tiny body, she suddenly wanted to cry even more, her eyes shimmering with tears.I really want to grow bigger!At this time, Gan Fall and the others finished the first round of negotiations.It was impossible to completely resolve this kind of blood feud that had lasted for hundreds of years through one or two negotiations.But at least it was a start; both sides were finally able to sit at the negotiating table and conduct an honest exchange.Wyper's first condition at the negotiating table was the need for a formal apology from the Sky People.On this point, Gan Fall, as the former God of Skypiea, did not hesitate. Representing the Sky People, he solemnly expressed his apologies to the Shandians.This sincerity made it possible for subsequent topics to progress.Vivi returned with a face full of smiles. Speaking for a long time had made her a bit thirsty. Seeing a cup of water in front of Luffy, she picked it up without thinking and gulped it down.Then she noticed everyone looking at her with strange expressions.Vivi's hand shook as she realized what she had done. Forcing herself to stay calm, she set the cup down and asked with slightly flushed cheeks, "What is everyone doing here?"At a time like this, the only thing to do was change the subject!Fortunately, everyone seemed used to such things.Luffy didn't care and pointed to the troublesome pile of gold, saying, "We're discussing how to take this pile of treasure away. There's just too much of it.""Are you going to take this gold?"At this moment, Wyper of the Shandian tribe walked over.Nami immediately looked at him warily, blocking the gold like a hen protecting her chicks: "This is our loot! And both the Lord of the Sky and Uncle Gan Fall agreed to give it to us."Wyper waved his hand and explained:"Don't misunderstand. The Sky People and we Shandians don't actually have much interest in gold.I remembered that in our tribe, there is an ancient method that can melt and refine gold, greatly compressing its volume without changing its weight. I wonder if this method would be of help to you?""Can the going merry carry that much weight?" Sanji asked.This pile of gold looked like it weighed tens of thousands of tons.It wasn't just what the Lord of the Sky had given. After Eneru was defeated, while Luffy and Robinwere looking at the poneglyph, Nami had relied on her excellent gold navigation to raid Eneru's home base directly.There was even more gold in Eneru's so-called Divine Palace."As long as the volume becomes smaller and it can fit on the ship, it's fine! As for the weight, no problem—the Merry's current load-bearing capacity is definitely top-tier!" Merry immediately raised her small hand and said cheerfully.Wyper nodded: "This will take some time; we need to build a temporary furnace."Hearing this, Luffy immediately made a decision:"Then we'll have a banquet on Skypiea first while we wait for our Shandian friends to refine all this gold!"A banquet was always the best way for the Straw Hat Pirates to celebrate and wait.Mainly, Luffy was also hungry.And so, the clearing became lively once again.Chopper, as a doctor, was quite busy. There were many injured people; although Luffy had defeated Eneru, many had participated in the Ordeal of God. Chopper went around treating those injured in the previous trials and conflicts, receiving unanimous praise from both Shandian warriors and Sky Islandresidents.Usopp was also very excited.Because the Shandians had suffered from being disadvantaged in Sky Dials, they had been collecting various unique Sky Island Dials over the years. As a sniper, Usopp immediately knew how important such strategic reserve materials were and went to conduct various exchanges.At the banquet, the bonfire burned fiercely, reflecting on every smiling face.Chapter 166: Best Friend's DoorZoro and Nika, the two drunkards, were holding wooden mugs larger than their heads and drinking heavily. Their bold drinking posture attracted many unyielding Shandians and Sky People to challenge them. As a result, after several rounds, everyone else was staggering, leaving only these two monsters still pouring cup after cup. Nika had become a veritable drunkard.Was it really the right choice to let her out in the first place?Luffy was starting to have his doubts.Sanji, meanwhile, was like a social butterfly, weaving among the cute young ladies of Sky Islandwho wore cute outfits and had small wings on their backs. He elegantly invited them to dance, his eyes turned into hearts, his service spirit at full marks.Merry sat on Luffy's shoulder, dangling her little feet.Nami sat on Luffy's left and Vivi on his right. They seemed particularly interested in feeding Luffy. Their small stomachs couldn't hold much to begin with, so after they were full, they constantly handed pieces of grilled beast meat and Sky Islandspecialty fruits to his mouth, watching Luffy's cheeks puff out as they were stuffed full."Idot Luffy, that's not cooked yet.""Vivi, help him blow on it with some wind.""Watch me." Vivi used her ability.Whoosh.Luffy felt comfortable.Robin sat quietly not far away, holding a cup of fruit wine. The flickering light of the bonfire danced across her exquisite profile.She looked at the lively scene before her, a satisfied smile playing on the corners of her mouth.As the banquet reached the middle of the night, many people who couldn't handle their liquor or were exhausted went to find places to rest.Nami didn't fall asleep.Perhaps it was the stimulation of the gold, or maybe there were other reasons.When she wanted to sleep, she keenly noticed the surrounding air becoming humid. Clouds began to gather in the sky, and it seemed it would rain soon.The cave where they were temporarily resting was filled with ladies. Nami glanced out into the pitch-black night; as expected, Luffy wasn't there.According to her understanding of Luffy, this cultivation fanatic might be in some place undergoing his hellish training at this time.So Nami got up, wanting to go remind Luffy."Um, I'll go with you too."A slightly shy voice sounded nearby, startling Nami, who was just about to sneak out.Coming to her senses, she realized it was Vivi.Vivi looked at Nami and apologized softly: "Sorry, did I scare you?""No need to apologize for something like that."Nami waved her hand, but in her heart, she thought she must have been distracted because she was worried about that Rubber idiot.How annoying.And so, the two of them walked out of the cave together in a tacit understanding, stepping into the cool night breeze.They chatted as they walked. Neither explicitly said what they were going to do, but it seemed they both knew the destination was to find the missing Captain.Was this a strange kind of tacit understanding?After a moment of silence, Nami smiled and praised, "Vivi, you're amazing. You really managed to get the Shandians and the Sky People to sit down and talk properly."Vivi showed a gentle smile and said modestly, "It's all thanks to Luffy."If Luffy hadn't defeated Eneru, shown overwhelming power, and broken the deadlock, her words might not have carried much weight.It seemed that as they spoke, the conversation naturally circled back to Luffy.Nami nodded in agreement: "Yeah, ever since the East Blue, I've always been helped by Luffy."Why was she suddenly praising him?He's clearly a perverted Captain.Vivi subconsciously condensed a small, gentle whirlwind in her hand and also softly echoed, "Luffy is always like that. He looks reckless, but he always manages to do the most critical things."Her tone carried a dependence she hadn't even noticed herself.As they talked, they looked at each other and smiled. A feeling of sharing a secret about someone permeated the air.Then Nami said, "Still, no need to worry too much about that guy Luffy. He's probably exercising somewhere right now. He's got as much energy as a monster.""I... I wasn't worried about Luffy," Vivi denied quickly with a red face, like a kitten that had its tail stepped on.Nami rolled her eyes and then remarked with emotion, "Come to think of it, when I first met Luffyin the East Blue, he wasn't like this. Although he was a bit silly, he wasn't this diligent. I just don't know why, but it's like one day he suddenly started becoming incredibly hardworking.""True, Luffy doesn't look like the type of person who would work so hard and have such thorough plans and schedules." Vivi's face was a bit red as she tucked a stray lock of hair. In her impression, Luffy should be more casual and mischievous."Yeah.""Vivi," Nami suddenly called her name, her voice sounding particularly clear in the silent night."What is it?"Vivi looked at Nami. The orange-haired girl's eyes reflected the residual glow of the distant bonfire, but in the next moment, her composure was disrupted by Nami's following words."Do you think that guy's free-spirited personality is better, or is this current, somewhat overly diligent personality better?"Nami asked casually, as if just discussing the weather, but her gaze quietly swept over Vivi's face with a trace of subtle inquiry.It seemed she wasn't just asking about personality.Everyone would have a question like that, right?
