As the night grew deeper, the loud party finally came to an end. Crew members who couldn't hold their liquor were sprawled out all over the clearing, snoring loudly. Only Takero was still full of energy. In the flickering firelight, his bright black eyes showed no signs of being drunk; his powerful metabolism had already burned off all the alcohol.
"What a little… monster…" Shanks's face was flushed red, and his eyes were hazy. He looked at the perfectly fine Takero and mumbled, his voice a mix of admiration and disbelief. To think that he, "Red-Haired" Shanks, had lost a drinking contest to a kid. If word of that got out… it was best if it didn't get out.
Soon, the only sound left was the crackling of the bonfire. Besides Takero, only Shanks, leaning against a wine barrel and barely clinging to consciousness, was still awake. The orange flames danced, casting swaying shadows on their faces.
After a moment of silence, Shanks asked in a low, serious voice, "Takero… do you have a dream?"
Takero, who was holding an empty wine glass, paused. A dream? He put down the glass and stared into the fire, his gaze growing distant. "If I have to name one," he said slowly, "it's to become the strongest. So strong that no one can control me. To do whatever I want and be truly free." Power was the only path to ultimate freedom.
"Haha! That's not an easy dream to achieve!" Shanks didn't laugh at him. Instead, his eyes showed approval. Having seen Takero's monstrous potential, he honestly felt that this ambitious goal might not be impossible for him.
"Oh, and there's one more thing," Takero said, suddenly remembering something. His eyes lit up with a childlike excitement. "If I can, I want to… collect the Dragon Balls!" That was a childhood dream he had to see for himself. Even if he didn't have a wish yet, it would be cool to find them.
"Dragon Balls?" A large question mark appeared on Shanks's drunken face. "What's that? Some kind of rare jewel?"
Takero nodded, understanding that not everyone knew about them. "You can think of them as magical treasures," he explained simply. "Legend says if you gather all seven, you can make any wish come true. They say all the world's secrets and treasures are connected to them."
"Fulfill any wish?" Shanks struggled to make his alcohol-numbed brain work. He caught the keywords, and suddenly, his eyes lit up. He slapped his thigh. "Oh! I get it! You're talking about the 'One Piece,' right?! Hahaha!" He laughed excitedly, as if he'd found a kindred spirit. "What a coincidence! The goal of our Red Hair Pirates is to find that ultimate treasure, too! It turns out we have the same dream!"
"One Piece? Oh, so you're also looking for the Dragon Balls!" Takero's face broke into a surprised smile. "It really is a coincidence!" He sighed to himself. Was this fate? He had randomly met a group of powerful guys who had the same goal as him. It looked like his journey ahead wouldn't be lonely.
The bonfire crackled, reflecting the boy's pure joy and the great pirate's drunken, happy smile.
In the blink of an eye, nearly two months had passed since Takero joined the Red Force. The massive pirate ship cut steadily through the sapphire-blue sea. The breeze was gentle, and the sun shone down on the deck.
"Ahh… perfect weather for slacking off… I mean, for the captain to rest," Shanks mumbled to himself. He leaned back against the main mast, his straw hat pulled down over his face. He squinted at his crew, who were busy cleaning up from last night's party, a satisfied smile on his lips. Back when he was an apprentice, cleaning was his job. What was the point of being a captain if he still had to do it himself? That's right! The captain's authority was absolute!
He happily pulled his hat down further, ready to drift off to sleep.
"Get up, Shanks! You're too old to be sleeping all day!"
Just as he was about to doze off, a hand like an iron vice grabbed his collar and yanked him to his feet.
"Hey! Are you going to manage my sleep schedule now? I'm the captain!" Shanks struggled, his voice hoarse.
"Captain?" Takero scoffed, not loosening his grip at all. He started dragging Shanks toward the center of the deck. "Less talk! Captain or not, get up and train with me! We haven't 'farmed any experience' yet today!"
"Hey, let go! Kid, let me go!" Shanks kicked his legs, but it was no use. Damn it! he thought. How did this kid get even stronger?! We were evenly matched in arm wrestling yesterday!
Just then, Benn Beckman walked past, carrying a bucket of water. Shanks's eyes lit up as if he'd seen a lifeline. "Beckman! Quick! Save me! This kid is staging a mutiny!"
Beckman didn't even glance at him. He just walked straight past as if they were nothing more than barrels on the deck.
Shanks turned his hopeful gaze to Lucky Roux, who was mopping nearby. "Lucky! Lucky! Help! Takero is trying to take my job! Stop him!"
Lucky Roux stopped and gave Takero a warm smile. "Yo, Brother Takero! Training early today? You're really motivated!"
"Of course!" Takero smiled back, still dragging Shanks. "I feel weird if I don't train every day! By the way, Big Brother Lucky, have you eaten yet?"
"Haha, not yet! I'll go after I'm done here!" Lucky said, holding up his mop.
Shanks lay helplessly on the ground as his most trusted crewmates ignored him. "You… you traitors!" he finally screamed. "I! I am the captain of this ship!!!"
His cry was like a pause button. Every crew member on deck stopped what they were doing and stared at him.
"Wh-what are you looking at?" Shanks asked nervously. "Are you all rebelling?"
His words immediately unleashed the crew's long-held frustration.
"Rebel? Who was it that got drunk and kicked down the railing yesterday? Maybe our great captain would like to fix it himself?"
"See that mess in the corner? That was your masterpiece last night, old man! You clean it up!"
"You make the biggest mess at every party and you're always the first one to disappear when it's time to clean!"
"If you weren't the captain, I would've punched you a long time ago!"
Everyone had been suffering under Shanks's laziness for too long. Now that Takero was here to "supervise" the captain's training, it was like a blessing from the heavens. The crew's angry accusations rained down on Shanks.
He tried to save a little face. "Ahem… I was just… trying to give everyone more opportunities to train…"
That only made the crew angrier.
"Pah! You still have the nerve to say that?"
"You can keep that 'training' for yourself!"
"Go, Takero! Teach our idiot captain a lesson for us!"
"That's right! Train him until he can't move! Maybe then he'll stop causing so much trouble!"
The crew cheered for Takero.
"Don't worry, everyone!" Takero thumped his chest. "Leave it to me! Let's go, Shanks! Today's training package is doubled!"
"No!!!" Shanks's scream echoed across the sea.
Takero was extremely happy with his decision to join the ship. In the past two months, he had challenged the crew members or the captain every single day. Real combat was the best way for a Saiyan to grow. On his system panel, his power level had already soared past 90. This was more than ten times faster than moving rocks on the island. By now, he had defeated everyone on the ship except for Shanks.
Having tasted the sweetness of getting stronger so quickly, Takero had decided to increase the "dosage" and focus on the biggest experience pack of them all—Shanks. He wanted to defeat him as soon as possible and get the big reward from the system.
And so, Shanks's "blessing" had arrived. Day after day of intense sparring. Sometimes, Shanks would even dream of Takero's whistling fists and his endless shouts of "Again!" In the middle of the night, Shanks would sometimes stare at the ceiling and wonder: Why on earth did I invite this monster onto my ship?
But one of Takero's dreams was to become the strongest. As the one who had invited him, Shanks could only sigh. He's my crewmate now. I have to help him achieve his dream, even if I have to get beaten up every day…
A long, helpless sigh echoed across the deck of the Red Force, carried away by the sea breeze.