NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 78: Chapter 78: It's Very Rude to Interrupt Someone When They're Stating Their Dream
Chapter 78: It's Very Rude to Interrupt Someone When They're Stating Their Dream
That's right, he wasn't the damned one, the System was!
Shane had been putting up with it for a long time!
The most frustrating thing about this stupid system was that you could only see the point value and the appraisal after the sacrifice was complete.
He hadn't been there when Kuina gave him the photo, so he thought it was just an ordinary old picture for an autograph, not worth much.
He never would have guessed it held such deep meaning for Tashigi.
He had a pretty good impression of the sword-obsessed girl from the manga. Like Smoker, she was one of the few in the Marines who truly adhered to her own path of justice.
And now, through a series of coincidences, before she had even gotten to know Smoker well, she had become his loyal fangirl.
For the first time in a long while, his conscience actually pricked him.
He had to make it up to her!
After thinking for a moment, he came up with a plan.
He quietly went downstairs to the first floor, took a bamboo sword out of his inventory, signed his name on it, and gave it to the café owner.
"Could you please hold on to this for me and give it to that Marine girl when she comes back? Tell her I've kept her photo as a memento. This is a training sword that has been with me for many years. It's a return gift, and I hope she'll treasure it."
"Of course, the young lady already told me about it. Please, don't worry!" the owner said, taking the sword with a smile.
Shane finally felt at ease. He returned to his seat by the window on the second floor and began to eat heartily.
That should be enough to make it up to Tashigi, right?
As for where the bamboo sword came from…
He had found it in the marketplace a few years ago. It was cheap, so he bought it as a souvenir and had kept it in his inventory, rarely taking it out.
Now, it had finally found its purpose—
[Sakata Gintoki's Lake Toya]
Type: Equipment
Price: 30 Points
Description: An ordinary, mass-produced wooden sword. Sakata Gintoki bought it for 1000 yen (including shipping) while watching a TV shopping channel.
Seller's Note: I hid in the Yorozuya's closet for three days and three nights, and I finally got my chance! Huh, why does it sound like there's someone in the closet next to me?
...
After lunch, it was already past one in the afternoon.
The view from the second floor was excellent, offering a panoramic view of the entire square, including the execution platform.
So, the group didn't rush to leave, quietly enjoying the rainy scenery by the window.
"Huh, that's weird," Nojiko frowned. "The rain is getting heavier, but the crowd in the square isn't getting smaller. In fact, it's getting bigger."
The others had noticed it too.
Looking out over the square, more and more people were gathering around the execution platform. Many of them were carrying weapons, with burly builds and fierce faces. They were clearly not ordinary citizens.
"Isn't it around this time of year, eighteen years ago, that Roger was executed?" Zeff guessed. "It's not surprising that more and more pirates are making a pilgrimage to Loguetown around this time, and they're all gathering here today."
"It's probably also because the island's defenses are thin. That Captain Smoker isn't back yet, right?" Kuina added with a shrug. "I heard that when he's around, the pirates who come to the island are all on edge, afraid he'll find them out. But now, most of the Marines have been sent to the docks to welcome some big shot, so the pirates on the island have nothing to fear and are gathering on their own."
Shane glanced over the crowd, but after not finding any familiar faces, he looked away.
His only purpose in coming to Loguetown was the execution platform itself.
As long as these small-fry behaved themselves, he couldn't be bothered with them.
Of course, if this bunch of pirates got any funny ideas and started looting and hurting the townspeople while Smoker was away, then he wouldn't show them any mercy.
"By the way, Captain…"
"Hmm?"
Shane turned to look at the person who had spoken.
It was Kuina.
She looked like she had been holding something in for a long time, and the sound of the rain had finally spurred her to ask. After much hesitation, she couldn't hold it in any longer.
"It's been so long, but you don't seem to have ever told us… what exactly is the dream you're chasing by setting sail?"
It was no wonder she was curious.
The wind that filled the sails of a young man chasing his dream was more precious than gold.
Shane was eighteen now, the age when one should be filled with infinite hopes and dreams.
And he had indeed spoken a lot about dreams. For example, he had said he would take her to challenge every swordsman in the world so she could become the undisputed World's Greatest Swordswoman.
He had also said he would make sure Mr. Zeff's lifelong dream came true, finding the All Blue, the sea of a chef's dreams that he had been searching for for decades.
And he had said that since that little rascal Nami had made the bold claim that she would draw a map of the entire world, then he, as her brother, would take her to achieve it…
This man had shouldered the dreams of almost all of his crew members.
But… he had never once mentioned what his own dream, as the captain, was!
Nami, Nojiko, Zeff… even Gin, all turned their gazes to Shane's face.
They had all been curious for a long time too.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, Shane shrugged and took a sip of his after-lunch tea.
"Dreams… I've always felt that they're something that comes in stages."
He looked at Nami and Nojiko and smiled. "When I was a kid and didn't know any better, all I thought about every day was how to get these two mischievous little rascals to call me 'Big Bro' willingly. That was my dream back then."
"Later on, my dream slowly became to protect my family, to get stronger, to become so strong that every pirate in the East Blue who came looking for trouble couldn't withstand a single punch from me!"
"So what about now?! Don't try to dodge the question, Captain!" Kuina stared intently into his eyes. "You're already strong enough now, aren't you? You've already achieved all your previous dreams! So what is the dream you want to chase now, in the future?"
My dream now…
Shane was silent for a long time.
He turned his head and looked out the window, through the curtain of rain, at the execution platform.
After eighteen years of being battered by the wind, rain, and sun, it still stood tall, facing the sea.
The crowd was still bustling, filling the square just as it had eighteen years ago. For a moment, it was as if he could see the figure of the man who had kneeled on that platform, his head bowed, laughing freely.
"He had wealth, fame, and power. The man who had everything in this world, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, said these words just before his execution, and they sent people from all over the world to the seas."
"You want my treasure?"
"If you want it… you can have it! I left everything I own in that place!"
…
Eighteen years ago, the Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, suffering from an incurable disease, turned himself in after a final drink with Whitebeard under the cherry blossoms.
Before his execution, he had shouted those words to the world.
And thus, the Great Pirate Era officially began.
And now, eighteen years later, apart from the sea becoming more chaotic and turbulent, with more and more pirates setting sail, it seemed nothing had changed.
The Celestial Dragons and the World Government still reigned supreme, looking down on the common people, who were still caught between the Heavenly Tribute and the plundering of pirates, their suffering unspoken.
What is everyone waiting for?
What did Roger see in Laugh Tale that made him throw his head back and laugh with such relief?!
Is everything, everything, really just waiting for that destined child from eight hundred years ago?
Waiting for him to turn his hair white in six years, to laugh like a madman no matter the situation, so he can finally overthrow this shitty old order?!
To hell with determinism and bloodlines!
I refuse to believe it!!!
"Since you all want to know so badly, I might as well just say it. My dream is…"
He looked around the table, a grin spreading across his face, and was just about to speak—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion tore through the rain, an earth-shattering roar that ripped through the air and assaulted their ears
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