"Judging by appearances, you are not his match."
Hawkins looked at Gin with his usual lifeless expression and calmly made his assessment.
Lafitte stood his cane upright in front of him and politely looked at Van Augur. "Van Augur, may I ask... You came here knowing the name of the Chris Pirates—did you come looking for us on purpose?"
Van Augur, unfazed by the threat in Lafitte's tone, remained indifferent and replied,"No. I came out searching for the 'Mysterious Ship'... You could say fate led me here."
At that moment, Chris, unusually not training, stood with his arms crossed, silently watching the ocean horizon, seemingly deep in thought.
The women noticed that Chris had no intention of leaving, so they stayed as well.
When they heard Van Augur's words, everyone became intrigued and began asking questions.
"Mysterious Ship?"
Karina, always interested in novel things, blinked her beautiful eyes and curiously asked with a smile,"Van Augur, what exactly do you mean by this mysterious ship? It sounds pretty impressive."
Perona floated through the air with a silvery laugh,"That sounds fun! I love hearing about strange things—hareharehare!"
Nojiko looked at Nami and asked, frowning slightly,"Have we seen anything like that in the East Blue?"
Nami thought for a moment, then shook her head,"Never heard of it. There's no such 'mysterious ship' that I know of. Sounds way too amazing."
Sweetheart Queen's pale face lit up with expectation. She seemed genuinely curious.
But Van Augur stood silently, ignoring all the women's questions.
To him, women were troublesome, and he disliked dealing with them.Even if they were his crewmates in the future, his stance wouldn't change.
Seeing his cold attitude, the women gritted their teeth in frustration and glared at him.
They had never met someone this annoying!They wanted to scold him right then and there.
Yet Van Augur didn't care at all. He calmly rested his rifle on his shoulder, looking as indifferent as ever.
"Not bad. I gotta say, you're my kind of guy,"Burgess slapped Van Augur hard on the shoulder, laughing,"You're a real man, bro. When we have that vice-captain battle in the future, I'll let you off. Wahahahaha!"
Doc Q nodded, still smiling mysteriously,"Exactly. Don't bother with women. Just pretend they're not even there. Hehehe~"
Gin frowned and said coldly,"You do have one good point. But I won't forgive your earlier provocation toward our captain. That must be punished—no room for negotiation."
Law looked at Hawkins and said flatly,"Seems like none of us here are particularly interested in women."
Hawkins nodded with a low voice,"We're all ruthless. No woman can hold us back."
Lafitte gently rested his cane, smiling softly,"I don't like women either, but I wouldn't go so far as to be so cold."
At that moment, Baccarat looked at Chris, brushed back her crimson hair, and smiled gracefully,"Chris, I've got a feeling… our luck is about to change again."
Reiju blinked, her beautiful eyes full of charm."Looks like that ship Van Augur mentioned is something special."
Sweetheart Queen agreed,"If Baccarat's feeling it, then that ship really must exist."
Perona pouted in midair,"Hmph! Whatever, I'm not asking again. Say it or don't!"
"Yeah! Same here. Who cares," Karina snorted, her flawless face full of disdain.
Nami looked at Baccarat, her eyes brightening,"So that's your Lucky-Luck Fruit power? That's really amazing!"
Nojiko nodded,"This is the first time I've felt someone's ability like this. It's quite mysterious."
Before Chris could even speak, the rest of the crew couldn't hold back anymore.Even though they didn't care for women, they always trusted what Baccarat said.
Why?Because every time she spoke of something, it came true.
"Van Augur, hurry and tell us about that mysterious ship!"Burgess stared at him eagerly."Baccarat has the Luck-Luck Fruit! Every time she senses something, it brings us good fortune!"
"So don't stall—just tell us already."
Even Doc Q, rarely serious, now looked solemn."This can't be ignored. We have to trust her fruit ability."
Lafitte smiled with his usual gentlemanly manner,"Since Baccarat said so, it means luck is on our side. Van Augur, you must tell us now. No getting out of it."
Van Augur gave Baccarat a rare surprised look.
"A Luck-Luck Fruit user on this ship... fascinating.""But maybe this is fate—perhaps I was meant to join the Chris Pirates."
He habitually tapped his gun on his shoulder and began calmly,"In my village, there is an old tale…"
"Hundreds of years ago, an old fisherman went out to sea and accidentally encountered a massive ship."
"The ship's shape was strange—it looked like a giant black fish, incredibly eerie."
"But the strangest thing? The ship had no sails, yet moved unbelievably fast."
Van Augur's tone remained composed,"According to the fisherman, in all his years at sea, he'd never seen a vessel so swift."
"When he returned, he told the villagers, and the story lived on... but time made people forget."
"About a hundred years ago, my ancestor—on a merchant voyage—encountered the ship again."
"But this time... it was even more mysterious."
"That massive black ship had no crew, no signs of life, yet it sped through the waves."
"My ancestor tried to chase it, but was quickly left behind—and never found it again."
"Ten years ago, while standing by the coast, I spotted it once more."
"I looked through my scope and saw it clearly—still no one on board, yet unbelievably fast, and then... it vanished."
He tapped his gun once more on his shoulder and finished calmly,"That's why I came out searching for it again… and that's when I ran into you all."
"This is fate."
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T/N:
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