"Eh~ That's such a firm rejection."
Shanks slumped dejectedly, unwilling to give up:
"Are you really not going to reconsider? Our..."
"No reconsideration, I refuse!"
Dier's expression remained impassive, his refusal absolute.
He disliked the feeling of living under someone else's roof and taking orders from others.
Moreover, he felt that he might clash with Shanks on certain ideologies.
Take for instance his use of Hypnosis to brainwash and control others.
No matter how you looked at it, this behavior robbed people of their freedom to some extent.
If Shanks disapproved of such actions and strictly forbade them, the two would inevitably clash, likely resulting in them parting ways.
Rather than face an ugly situation later, it was better to refuse outright now.
"Hahaha~ The boss got rejected by a kid."
"How embarrassing~"
"This captain's so lame!"
Lucky Roo and the others by the ship's railing burst into laughter, showing no mercy to their captain.
"Shut up, you bastards!"
Shanks, flushed with anger and embarrassment, prepared to assert his authority as captain,
"Let's settle this with a duel!"
...
"Another round, another round!"
Shanks' face was flushed red as he raised his cup in one hand and slammed the table loudly with the other,
"A toast to this feast!!"
"Cheers!!"
The crew cheered in unison, downing their drinks in one gulp as the deck buzzed with joyous energy.
"A toast to meeting Dier!!"
"Cheers!!"
"To the sea!"
"Cheers!!"
"For..."
"Cheers!!"
Dier sat to the side, quietly observing as Shanks found every possible excuse to propose toasts.
This was the "duel" Shanks had in mind.
Not planning to stay on this ship for long, he hadn't brought Robin and the other two girls along;
Besides, Robin and the others weren't accustomed to partying with a bunch of strangers.
"Not used to this kind of atmosphere?"
A bottle of milk landed steadily on the table before him. Dier followed its trajectory to see
a man with a low black ponytail, a strand of hair hanging by his left temple, a cigarette between his lips, and a Flintlock Gun at his waist.
The man with the highest IQ in the Red Hair Pirates, and also the most reliable one;
Ben Beckman.
He pulled up a chair beside Dier, casting a resigned look at the crew on deck,
"These guys go wild when they throw a party, even forgetting to entertain a slow-walking guest like you."
Though he said this, there was a faint curve to his lips, clearly pleased with the ship's atmosphere.
Dier understood the underlying message—"slow-walking" referred to the cargo ship not moving at full speed, and "forgetting to entertain" implied Shanks and the others had neglected to interrogate him about his purpose.
After all, he'd come aboard offering free food, with his only request being to join their party.
Anyone with eyes could see he had ulterior motives.
Dier didn't beat around the bush, cutting straight to the point:
"I'd like to ask for some information, about submarines."
This wasn't his main objective, just a convenient pretext.
His real goal was to showcase his abilities and gather some "belief"—nothing more.
As for using Hypnosis to control someone from the Red Hair Pirates? That was out of the question.
He'd never tried Hypnosis on a Haki user before and couldn't be sure if Conqueror's Haki or Observation Haki might grant resistance to it.
If they did have resistance, things could get messy.
So this trip was purely to collect some "belief," though he couldn't openly admit that to outsiders, hence the submarine inquiry.
"Submarine? What do you need that for?"
"To steal it and use it as a ship, obviously, old man."
Dier downed the glass of milk in front of him and sighed helplessly:
"It's been three years as a pirate, and I still don't even have a proper pirate ship."
Beckman glanced sideways at the cargo ship nearby.
A cargo ship was still a ship—equip it with weapons, hoist a pirate flag, and it could pass as a pirate vessel.
"It's not the same. That kind of ship isn't safe enough."
He spoke earnestly, his tone completely serious.
"I'm just a hypnotist. I don't have the kind of strength you guys do. A ship like that can't even escape properly—if we run into a Marine vessel, we'd definitely get caught. So I want a submarine. At the very least, if we encounter an enemy we can't fight, we can dive and get away."
Beckman nodded in understanding. He'd seen Dier's newspaper feature—a young man and two girls. Safety was indeed a priority.
He didn't recall any submarines, but he did remember a wild scientist they'd encountered not long ago.
"Waaahhhh!!!"
Just as he was about to give Dier the scientist's location, a baby's wail suddenly echoed across the deck.
Thud—
Shanks froze, his wine glass slipping from his hand and shattering on the ground, spilling alcohol everywhere.
"Oh no!!!"
He clutched his cheeks in panic, his expression frantic.
"The noise woke Uta up! What do we do, guys?!"
Lucky Roux, gnawing on a meat bone, tried to comfort his panicking captain:
"Don't panic! If we all work together, we can get her back to sleep in no time!"
"Right, right! How about giving her some booze?"
"Captain, you idiot, she's a baby!"
"Oh, right. Then how about some meat?"
"Maybe Monster could put on a monkey show?"
"Screech screech!"
"Someone grab a stick for Monster to play with!"
The once-rowdy banquet instantly descended into chaos. The crew shouted suggestions left and right, the baby's cries and occasional monkey screeches serving as an uncoordinated soundtrack.
Dier narrowed his eyes slightly, a red-and-white-haired girl flashing through his mind.
Uta—Shanks' adopted daughter.
A Sing-Sing Fruit Ability User, capable of pulling the consciousness of those enchanted by her songs into a mental world, while also exerting some control over their physical bodies.
The drawback was that if the Ability User fell asleep, the mental world would vanish.
But if she died while awake, the trapped consciousnesses would never return.
With her mesmerizing voice and the Sleepless Mushroom, Uta would nearly bring about a world-ending catastrophe in the future.
Dier had assumed Uta was still lying in some treasure chest somewhere—he hadn't expected her to have already been picked up.
Since he'd run into her, he naturally had to meet her.
He stood up on the table, arms raised high, his entire body glowing.
"Look at me!!"
"I can get a baby to sleep!!"
The deck fell silent instantly. The glowing figure standing there seemed like a savior in their eyes.
Uta had only been picked up that morning.
They'd defeated a group of pirates and taken their treasure—Uta had been lying inside one of the chests.
Perhaps recalling his own past on Roger's ship, Shanks had decided to take her in.
But they were a bunch of roughnecks—none of them had any idea how to handle a baby.
After a morning of fussing, Uta had finally worn herself out and fallen asleep.
Relieved, the crew had decided to throw a party.
After all, everyone knew—after winning a battle, you had to celebrate with a feast.
Unfortunately, the ship was running low on supplies, which gave them the idea to chase after the cargo ship to buy food.
When the banquet started, everyone instinctively began shouting and making noise, completely forgetting there was a child on board. As a result, they ended up waking Uta.
Shanks instantly appeared beside Dier and pulled him toward the captain's cabin.
Inside, there was a bassinet where a child with red hair on the left side and white hair on the right lay wailing loudly.
Clap!
Shanks pressed his palms together, giving Dier a pleading look.
Dier waved his hand, signaling there was no need for words.
He was an expert in Hypnosis. Although Uta's eyes were tightly shut, preventing him from using the Hypnosis technique granted by his golden finger, he still had some hypnotic methods of his own.
However, he soon realized Hypnosis wasn't necessary.
"Shanks, go change her diaper."