"!!!"
Uta couldn't comprehend Luffy's absurdity. She had already closed her eyes the moment he started pulling down his pants—so naturally, Luffy won the contest again.
"See? That's two wins for me now,"Luffy boasted proudly to the girl who was two years older than him.
"You're such a shameless, despicable pervert!"
"You're pirates, aren't you? I don't need to play fair against pirates!"
"Then let's compete in singing!"
Uta finally thought of her strength and looked at Luffy with eager eyes.
"Sure! Whoever sings until the other breaks down first wins," Luffy agreed without hesitation.
"La la laaa~…"
His off-key voice and completely ridiculous lyrics were a devastating blow to the music-loving Uta.
Covering her ears, she ran away crying into the distance."How can something this horrifying even count as music?!"
"That's another loss for you, Uta,"Luffy said smugly, strolling along behind her.
"How is that a loss? Your singing was terrible!"Uta couldn't understand at all.
"The rules said whoever breaks the other first wins. It wasn't a contest for good singing,"Luffy replied matter-of-factly.
"Ehhh—"
"Alright, alright. You look so pitiful. Let's play a simpler game,"Luffy said, picking up a stick and drawing two horizontal and two vertical lines in the dirt.
"Each player picks either O or X and takes turns marking the grid. Whoever gets three in a row wins…"
Luffy excitedly explained the rules of tic-tac-toe to Uta.
Since being reincarnated into this world, no one had played games with him. All he did every day was train his body—it was getting boring.
Uta leaned over curiously. The rules seemed simple enough, so she picked up a stick to try it out.
And so, the two of them squatted down and started scribbling on the ground.
As expected, Uta lost all night.
"This is so weird! Why do you keep winning?!"By the end, Uta was completely numb to it. She angrily tossed the stick away and glared at Luffy.
The rules were super simple—there was no reason she should be losing.
Well, there were a few ties, but those weren't the outcome she wanted.
"So, after losing this many times, you're finally gonna call me 'Big Brother,' right?" Luffy asked.
"No way!"
"So that's all the daughter of Shanks amounts to, huh~"Luffy taunted.
Tiny pearls of tears welled up in Uta's eyes.
"If you don't want to call me that, fine—but you'll have to promise me something,"Luffy said, throwing an arm over her shoulder and whispering sneakily.
"What is it?"
"I haven't decided yet. So, I'll tell you later."
"It's getting late—we should go back."Luffy patted Uta on the back and led her back home.
As soon as she stepped into the tavern, Uta immediately threw herself tearfully into the arms of the young redhead, rubbing her little head affectionately against him.
"Hahaha~ What did he do?" Shanks asked curiously.
"He's shameless—he challenged me to see who could pee farther…"
Loud, thunderous laughter erupted throughout the bar.
"Don't laugh, hey! Shanks, let's play a game. It's really fun…"
Luffy returned to his small hut, where his grandfather, Vice Admiral Garp, was already sound asleep, snoring away.
It was precisely because of this man that Luffy always felt surrounded by an unmatched sense of safety.
Whenever his life was truly in danger, Garp would instantly appear behind him like a flash.
Of course, if there was no real danger, no matter how badly Luffy got beaten, Garp wouldn't care at all.
Garp was a lazy man. Even in his own hometown, he wouldn't lift a finger to clean up the environment.
The fact that Windmill Village was still overrun with mountain bandits was a perfect example of this.
Garp only acted when he was in the mood—taking out a few pirates just to enjoy a nice meal.
Luffy ate some fruit and went to bed on time. Windmill Village was very poor, with almost no entertainment. Other than physical training, Luffy would work out with his animal friends. He had to burn off all his energy before the sun went down.
Only then could he sleep peacefully—and forget about smartphones, computers, video games, novels, and movies…
That's how Luffy had always lived. But now, with the arrival of the Red-Haired Pirates, Windmill Village was suddenly filled with new life and energy.
Garp didn't seem to want to meet with Shanks. Even though the whole village was stirred up by the pirates' arrival, the village's law enforcer simply stayed hidden away in his house, snoring.
"You met Shanks?" Garp's voice came.
"Yeah."
"He's a very interesting pirate."
Garp slowly opened his eyes, his expression complicated.
"No matter how interesting he is, he's still a pirate. Don't get too close to him. You're going to be a Marine."
"Hey, Grandpa, they say pirates are the freest people in the world. Is that true? I want to become a pirate!"
"Free? You mean being chased around like a dog by the Navy?"
Garp rolled out of bed, pulled a bag of donuts from a drawer, tore it open, and started chewing.
"Luffy must become a Marine."
"Aren't you going to hunt down Shanks, Grandpa?"
"I'm on vacation. And vacation means eating, drinking, and having fun," Garp replied righteously.
"You're so free, Grandpa... So if I become a Marine, can I be as free as you?"
"..."
"Grandpa, I've finally decided—I want to be a Marine!" Luffy announced.
Garp's eyes lit up with joy.
"No, Grandpa. I want to board Shanks's pirate ship—just to explore the world of pirates, to see if they're really free."
"What nonsense are you talking about? You think you can just hop onto a pirate ship whenever you want?"
Garp grabbed one of Luffy's legs and dangled him in the air.
"I forbid you from boarding a pirate ship."
"Why not? Shanks is a good person. Everyone in the village likes him."
"Isn't it because you know that too, Grandpa, that you don't want to meet with Shanks?" Luffy swung back and forth in the air, completely unafraid of what his grandpa might do to him.
Garp didn't respond to the comment about Shanks.
"He's a pirate." The adult tried to make a firm ruling.
Because he's a pirate—so it's forbidden.
"Then I want to board a pirate ship and see for myself just how bad they really are. That way, I'll become a Marine for sure."
Luffy crossed his arms and declared to Garp.
"Besides, you'll protect me, right, Grandpa? Even if I'm with pirates."
"I'm really curious about what Shanks's pirate life is like."
"Aren't you curious too, Grandpa?" Luffy asked.
"No matter what you say, I won't let you board a pirate ship. Don't even think about sneaking on," Garp said, flicking Luffy's forehead before placing him on the bed to rest.
A sharp pain shot through Luffy's head, instantly messing with his thoughts.
There it was again—Garp's signature move. No matter how he attacked, it would only cause intense mental pain without leaving any physical injury.
"The day after tomorrow, I'm going back to Navy HQ. If there's anything you want to eat, just ask Miss Makino."
"Okay~"
(End of Chapter)