One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 26 A Daring Gamble

Along the way, Yubi took Moko to visit many shops, and Moko bought the things her family was currently lacking at a very reasonable price. When the two returned to the fabric shop, the four children crowded around the cart, not slacking off at all. When they saw the two return, the four children excitedly waved to Moko and Yubi.

Yubi patted the younger child's head, then looked at Moko, "Sir, which port do you need to go to?"

The Kingdom of Goa is divided into internal ports and external ports. The internal ports are mostly used by warships and noble ships, while other ships can only dock at the external ports. As a result, the external ports are extremely disorganized, and there are many people who intercept goods along the way. Yubi usually chooses the less crowded routes.

"Let's not go to the port, let's just go to the foot of the mountain over there."

Moko looked at Mount Gorpo directly opposite. Yubi was slightly taken aback. Compared to the port, there was only one road leading to the foot of the mountain, which would be much more dangerous, and there was no guarantee that they could pass safely.

Seemingly sensing Yubi's doubts, Moko said calmly, "Don't worry, nothing will happen."

After saying that, Moko started walking forward. Yubi gritted his teeth, pulled the cart, and followed behind Moko. Since the boss said so, it meant that if something happened, they wouldn't have to take responsibility. The children in the orphanage had been hungry for a long time, and several of them were sick. They had to take Bailey back today no matter what.

Two carts followed Moko, one in front of the other. Yubi pulled the heaviest cart by herself, while the other four children pushed the lighter one. As soon as they left the city, they attracted a lot of attention, and people slowly approached.

Before they had even covered a third of the distance, a group of fierce-looking men blocked Moke and her companions' path. The leader was a man who looked fairly strong, with a pointed face and narrow eyes full of scrutiny and calculation.

"Oh, who do we have here? Isn't this Yubi?"

Yubi quickly pulled out a small knife from her pocket and held it horizontally in front of her. She reached out and tightly protected Moko. Moko lowered her eyes slightly. Her first thought was not to run away but to protect her. Her character was not bad.

"Tama, what are you doing here?"

"Hahaha, what do you think? Doing business on my turf requires paying some tolls, right?"

Tamar's smile was sarcastic and biting; the word "robbery" practically screamed in her eyes.

"Tama, don't go too far."

Yubi's eyes burned with rage, and the other four children also looked furious, suggesting they had a deep-seated grudge.

"How can you say I'm going too far? I'm just trying to discuss this with you properly, aren't I?"

"Negotiation? Ha, your 'negotiation' means beating Ian to death if he doesn't agree?!"

"Hahaha, don't blame me for this. If he had obediently handed over the goods to us, he would have been fine. What a pity."

Yubi gritted his teeth. Despite his immense anger, he was no match for the overwhelming numbers on the other side.

"Das, take the master and leave immediately."

"Ah."

Das nodded and was about to lead Moko away, but Moko shook her head, gesturing for them to look behind them. At this moment, they were completely surrounded and had no way to escape.

"Hey, don't rush me! Yubi, if I capture you, how many Berries would Marshall pay to ransom you? Oh, right, there are some big shots in the city buying slaves lately. What do you think about me selling Marshall there, or keeping her for the brothers to play with, hahahaha."

"Tama!"

Moko glanced at the sky and frowned. She didn't have time to listen to these pointless arguments. Ace would worry if she went back late, so she should resolve this as soon as possible.

Yubi felt someone tap his shoulder, and when he turned his head, he saw Moko walk past him and in front of him. Moko's voice was calm and emotionless.

"I don't have time to waste here. Either you move aside yourselves, or you become corpses and have someone drag you away."

The air fell silent for a moment, just a moment, before the group of people in Tama burst into laughter, their laughter filled with mockery, completely disregarding Moko's warning.

"Hahahaha, did you hear that? This guy must be scared out of his wits, returning a corpse..."

Tamar stepped forward with his hands outstretched, his face full of disdain and his voice mocking. The people around him also had sneer on their faces, not believing that Moko could defeat so many of them.

"Who do you think you are, daring to talk to me like that? Don't think you're so powerful just because you're covering your face."

Just as Tama's hand was about to reach Moko, a flash of cold light appeared, and Tama's outstretched hand fell straight to the ground. The speed was so fast that even her brain didn't have time to react to the pain. It wasn't until blood gushed out that Tama came to her senses. Intense pain swept through her entire body, and Tama rolled on the ground, clutching her hand in agony.

"Ouch! That hurts! You bastards, what are you all standing there for? Go get him!"

Tama's face was contorted with pain, but she still didn't realize the seriousness of the situation and continued to shout at the burly men, oblivious to the danger. The men finally reacted and rushed forward, dragging their weapons. They couldn't see Moko's movements clearly and had no idea what kind of being they were facing.

Moko moved her right hand slightly, twirling the dagger in her hand in a beautiful sword flourish. They were just ordinary thieves, posing no threat whatsoever. After assessing everyone's strength, Moko leaped into the crowd with a light step. The crowd only saw a black shadow flash past them before their strength vanished.

When everyone finally spotted Moko, she was already at the back of the group. She pushed off the ground with her toes, flipped over, and kicked away the person who was about to ambush her from behind. The man was easily sent flying more than ten meters away, splitting apart the piles of junk around him. He didn't stop until he crashed into a huge wrecked ship. Dust billowed up, obscuring the situation inside the ship, and the man's fate was unknown.

Sensing that the number was about right, Moko returned to Yubi's side. In the midst of everyone's confusion, one person after another fell to the ground. All of them had been slashed in the throat, and the gushing blood stained the ground red. The survivors stood trembling among the corpses, wanting to escape but feeling powerless, their legs as if nailed to the ground, unable to move their feet.

At this moment, everyone present finally realized that Moko's words were not a joke, and they really would die. When everyone looked at Moko again, their eyes were filled with terror.

Yubi and the others stood there stunned, speechless with shock at Moko's strength. They couldn't help but swallow unconsciously. Moko, ignoring what everyone was thinking, turned her head to look at Yubi.

Have you ever killed anyone?

Yubi was slightly taken aback by the sudden question, but having spent a long time struggling at the bottom, he quickly recovered and replied, "No, but I can learn."

Moko glanced indifferently at Yubi, who was trembling with nervousness. As the air seemed to freeze, Moko looked at Tama to the side and said, "Go, kill that person. You two have a grudge, don't you?"

After hearing Moko's words, Yubi looked at Tama, his mind racing. This was an opportunity. If he could successfully gain this adult's approval, the children in the orphanage would no longer be bullied, and everyone could live and grow up well. He had to fight for this opportunity for everyone.

Thinking this, Yubi couldn't suppress the anger in his eyes. Holding the knife, he walked step by step toward Tama. As if he felt the knife wasn't good enough, he picked up a large knife from the side, whose owner he didn't know.

"No, no, Yubi, don't kill me! I'll give you all my Berries, I'll never bother the orphanage again! I... I beg you, please don't kill me!"

Tama wept bitterly, kicking her legs as she retreated. Yubi had no intention of letting Tama go; the hatred in her eyes was almost palpable.

“Tama, when you killed Ian and cut off the orphanage’s livelihood, did you ever think that you would end up like this?”

Yubi raised his knife and slashed at Tama. His sword-wielding movements showed that he had never killed anyone before. The slashes were not fatal, but he was very strong, and each slash cut off a piece of flesh.

Realizing that Yubi really wanted to kill him, Tama finally panicked and yelled at the survivors.

"Are you all dead? What are you standing there for? Come and save me!"

None of the survivors paid any attention to Tamar. They were all struggling to survive, so who had time to care about him? Besides, if it weren't for him, would they have dared to offend this god of death?

Seeing that no one was coming to his rescue, Tama glared fiercely at Yubi, "Yubi, you're nothing but an unwanted orphan. A lowly person like you should live your whole life in the mire of the lowest rung of society... You can't kill me, you can't..."

Seeing that Yubi was ignoring her, Tama's smile gradually became distorted.

"Hahaha, if I die, you won't live either! If we're going to die, we'll die together!"

Tama drew a hidden knife from her waist and stabbed at Yubi. Before it could reach Yubi, it was abruptly stopped in mid-air. An extremely oppressive aura assaulted Tama, like the Grim Reaper's scythe against her neck. Just as Yubi's large knife pierced her heart, Tama saw Moko standing in the distance. Her eyes were like ice, filled with the tremors of death. A single glance from her sent chills down one's spine and made one's bones ache with a cold pain.

"demon……"

The indistinct murmurs ceased the moment life ended. The blood-stained knife fell to the ground, and Yubi knelt down, covering her face and weeping bitterly. Finally, the children in the orphanage no longer had to live in fear every day. It was so good, so very good.

The four children quickly gathered around Yubi. Moko looked away from the emotionally distraught Yubi and coldly glanced at the survivors. When Moko turned back again, everyone trembled and their bodies shook involuntarily.

“Remember what I said? Now clear the way. If my things get stained with blood, you can all lie down with them.”

"Yes!"

The survivors scrambled to the bodies, dragging and pulling them away from the road to a pile of junk. After clearing the bodies, they didn't forget to use shovels to turn over and flatten the blood-soaked ground. Faced with a life-or-death crisis, they worked exceptionally fast, and in no time a brand new road was cleared and even smoothed out.

Having composed herself, Yubi returned to Moko's side and bowed deeply to her. The four children did the same. Moko glanced at the five children but said nothing, then began to walk down the mountain.

"Let's go."

When Moko's voice came, Yubi and the others quickly pulled the cart and followed Moko. Only after the group disappeared did the survivors collapse and sit on the ground.

"Damn, today is such a bad day. Tama died so quickly, he got off easy."

"Hmph, stop talking, let's go quickly, who knows if that killing god will come back."

"I should stay away from those brats at the orphanage from now on. I don't know where they found such a capable person."

The group helped each other to their feet, their legs trembling uncontrollably, so weak they could barely walk. Those who had initially come to watch the spectacle and try to get a share of the spoils had long since vanished without a trace when things turned sour.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, Mihua, who had run out early, suddenly darted out of the jungle, startling the children.

"Just put the things on the rice cake back."

As Moko spoke calmly, Yubi and the others also came to their senses. The unknown creature in front of them was an adult's pet. Seeing that Mika was not aggressive, Yubi and the others became much bolder and quickly moved all the things onto Mika's back.

After watching the things being moved, Moko took out a bag of Berries and gave it to Yubi, who quickly waved his hand.

"Sir, this is too much, you don't need so much."

"Being so thin and weak isn't suitable for handling the things that need to be done later. First, feed yourself and the children at the orphanage."

Yubi blinked in disbelief. "Sir, what do you mean?"

"Haven't you already noticed? I'll come see you again in a few days."

As soon as she finished speaking, Moko jumped onto Mihua's back. Once Moko was settled, Mihua swayed into the forest, and the dense trees quickly concealed her figure.

Yubi pursed his lips, a determined glint in his eyes. When Moko asked him to kill, he was gambling. If he won, he and the orphanage could escape the quagmire. Tama was dead, but there would be thousands of Tamas threatening the orphanage's safety. He had to find a powerful backer. As for the consequences of not winning alone, the worst outcome would still be struggling in the quagmire. It was good that he had won the gamble.

"Brother Yubi, that person gave us so many Berries, does that mean Sister Cioni will have medicine to take?"

The little child looked up at Yubi innocently, and Yubi gently patted the child's head. "Yes, Kioni and the others will get better soon, and everyone can eat their fill."

"Really! That's great!"

The children jumped up and down excitedly. Dass, who was more thoughtful than the other children, walked over to Yubi and slowly began to speak.

"Brother Yubi, are we going to become that person's subordinates?"

“Yes, Das, this is an opportunity, our only chance to escape this wretched place… Winter is coming, and this time no child will leave.”

Yubi gazed at the sunlit sky, a glimmer of hope burning in her eyes. Das licked his dry lips and also looked up at the sky. This winter seemed less cold than expected.

"I'll stay with Yubi-nii, and I'll protect everyone."

"Okay, let's go home."

"Yes, let's go home!"