"Mm, where is this place?"
Nobody knew how long it had been, but the knocked-out Kather·Lynn finally woke up in a daze. The light outside the window looked like early morning sunlight, pale and bright.
"Why does my neck hurt so much?"
She sat up from the floor, rubbed the spot where Bai Chuan had struck her, and after a long moment, last night finally came back to her.
"Damn it. That guy actually knocked me out."
Kather·Lynn sprang to her feet, glaring viciously at Bai Chuan, who was still sleeping soundly on the bed.
"This guy does something bad and sleeps this peacefully afterward?"
She was about to reach out and wake him up, but just as her hand got close, a transparent protective barrier appeared around Bai Chuan.
"What is this thing?"
Kather·Lynn stretched out her hand to test it.
"What are you trying to do?" Just as she tapped it twice and felt like there was nothing special, a voice suddenly reached her ears.
"Hehe, I just wanted to study how this thing forms." Kather·Lynn spoke with embarrassment, like she had been caught doing something wrong.
"If you didn't have hostile intent, it wouldn't appear."
Then Bai Chuan sat up, and the shield vanished immediately.
"I have hostile intent toward you? Right, why did you make me sleep on the floor last night?" Only then did Kather·Lynn remember she was here to settle accounts. Hostile intent was normal, wasn't it?
"Last night? It's already been a whole day?" Bai Chuan looked annoyed. "I didn't experience any nightlife at all last night. Isn't that a total loss?"
He was frustrated. How could he have slept that deeply? Was it because this damn bed was too comfortable?
"Hmph. Serves you right you didn't get any nightlife. You made this princess sleep on the cold floor."
"But you slept pretty comfortably, didn't you?" Bai Chuan lifted his head and glanced at her face. There were obvious marks on it, and even traces of drool.
Kather·Lynn's face instantly turned red. She hurriedly turned her back and fixed her appearance.
It was also because she had not slept this soundly in days. She had been on edge the whole time. Last night, she did not know why, but even though she got knocked out, she did not feel any panic while she was out.
Bai Chuan got off the bed, shoved the slightly-blocking Kather·Lynn aside, and walked toward the bathroom. He had been holding it in for over ten hours, and it was getting uncomfortable. He would also rinse off again while he was at it.
Honestly, the technology in the pirate world really was impressive. Toilets, showers, anything Bai Chuan could think of was basically there.
Hearing the rushing sound of water from the bathroom, Kather·Lynn's face turned even redder. "Should I go take a look?" The bold thought itself shocked her.
"What am I thinking? You're a lady. Even if that man is kind of handsome, you can't do that. You can't drool over someone else's body."
Kather·Lynn patted her cheeks, shook her head, and tried to shake that dirty thought right out of her brain.
Boys really did shower fast. Maybe it was because he had soaked last night too. After just a few minutes, Bai Chuan came out.
"I'm going to bathe too. Don't peek," Kather·Lynn said as they brushed past each other.
"You think I'm you?" Bai Chuan shot back, expression unchanged as he sat back down on the bed.
"How does he know what I was thinking?"
Kather·Lynn was panicking inside, but on the surface she pretended to be perfectly calm, steady as an old dog. Only after she entered the bathroom did she return to normal.
Her heart was thumping faster and faster.
But Bai Chuan still sensed something off. "Don't tell me I hit the mark. Did she really peek at me bathing?"
Bai Chuan's expression stiffened. If that got out, his reputation would be ruined.
"No. I have to peek back. I can't let myself take a loss." Bai Chuan marched to the door with determination, then suddenly stopped. His momentum deflated.
"No. Even if she's immoral, I can't be unrighteous." Bai Chuan sat back down, then put on his own clothes.
Still, that move just now really scared Kather·Lynn. The glass was not transparent, but you could see a shadow. When she saw Bai Chuan's silhouette at the door, she was about to scream. Luckily, Bai Chuan backed off in the end.
"Hmph. Coward." For some reason, she felt the tiniest bit disappointed.
She stared at her perfect figure in the mirror for a moment. "If only this could be a little bigger, it'd be perfect."
After a long while, Kather·Lynn finally came out. The moment Bai Chuan saw her, he froze again.
Her body was wrapped in a towel, but her face was not.
Her cheeks were flushed from shyness. Her hair was still damp from the bath, with a few drops falling. Even Bai Chuan's usually calm heart started beating faster.
"What are you doing, staring at me like that?" Kather·Lynn asked softly, her voice shy.
"Oh, sorry." Bai Chuan quickly stepped outside and spoke through the doorway.
"Hurry up and get dressed. If nothing unexpected happens, we should be able to leave soon."
"Mm, thank you." Kather·Lynn's voice was still very quiet. If Bai Chuan's hearing were not good, he might not even have caught it.
"No need."
Bai Chuan opened the door, slipped out in a flash, and left.
He shut the door quickly, leaned against it, and gulped down air.
"Damn, this woman has no shame. She actually tried to seduce me. If my willpower weren't strong, I might've fallen for it."
"As expected, women are venomous. She wants to use this kind of method to keep me by her side and stop me from going to sea."
No matter what, Bai Chuan could not blame that heart-fluttering feeling on himself.
He was a responsible man. He could not hurt any girl's heart.
Since he was already the Silver King, that meant he had obtained an immortal body. No matter how many years passed, decades, even a hundred years, his appearance might not change, but she could not do that.
Thinking of that, Bai Chuan's gaze dimmed. "Don't tell me I'm going to be single again for my whole life?"
"No, I absolutely won't allow that." Bai Chuan thought firmly.
"There are so many Devil Fruits in this world, all kinds of strange ones. Maybe there's one that can grant immortality."
After calming down a bit, Bai Chuan walked to Shanks and Buggy's room, ready to wake those two kids up. Because expecting them to wake up on their own was impossible.
Knock, knock, knock.
A steady rhythm sounded as Bai Chuan's hand rapped against the door, but even after a long time, there was no movement inside.
"You're forcing me to use violence, huh?"
Bai Chuan shook his head helplessly, raised his leg, and kicked.
Boom!
The entire door flew straight out.
/-\
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