Chapter 260 Come, open your mouth~

“Red bean dumplings, hot red bean dumplings~”

“Three-color dumplings with milk, a string of dumplings and a string of hearts!”

“Fresh sashimi, freshly cut sashimi——”

“Oden Oden, the most authentic Oden Oden, the best Oden in Kuri~ delicious and inexpensive, warms the stomach!”

Walking on the busy street, Mona held Barrett’s hand, and Barrett carried a huge wild boar in his other hand. Its sunken skull and intact body showed what it had experienced before.

On the street, passers-by looked at the man and woman with curiosity. Their clothes were too out of place. However, due to Barrett’s tall and mighty figure and trophies, no one dared to step forward and ask.

Some swordsmen patrolling the streets sent people to monitor the two, while sending people to the daimyo’s mansion in Kuri to inform the retainers of Oden who stayed behind.

Ever since Oden left without permission, the entire Kuri has been managed by his retainers, and now the apparent bosses are Nekomaru and Inuarashi.

Why are they so vigilant? The reason is that the land of Wano Country is very special. Since there are no sea kings, this land breeds some very powerful beasts, and almost every one of them requires a samurai who masters Ryuo to defeat.

Like Kozuki Oden, the reason why he became the daimyo of Kuri and was even destined to be the future shogun was not because of his intelligence, but because he defeated the overlord beast named “Mountain God” when he was only in his teens or twenties!

The beast that Barrett is carrying now is one of the descendants of the “Mountain God”. Although it is small in size, it has the strength of a Ryuo warrior!
A strong man who can defeat such a beast is not someone that these minions can afford to provoke.

“Boss, give me a plate of three-color dumplings. By the way, do you know of any stores around here that sell these beasts?”

Taking Barrett to a busy dessert shop, Mona first took out a small piece of gold Bailey from Barrett’s backpack and bought dessert from the shop owner while asking for information.

The shop owner first opened his mouth in surprise and looked up at the prey on Barrett’s shoulder, then swallowed his saliva, took Bailey and said while giving the change:

“Yes, yes! You can go to Damingfu and try. Jiuli is not like Huadu. Ordinary butcher shops and leather shops are simply not capable of accepting your prey.

Here, this is your change. Please wait a moment, Sancai Tuanzi.”

After that, the shop owner handed the change back to Mona and started making tri-color dumplings.

On the other side, Mona looked at the new food curiously. No one can resist sweets, and she is no exception.

“Boss, please give me a portion of tri-color dumplings as well.”

Suddenly, a woman in a kimono came to the front of the store holding the hand of an embarrassed man and stood beside Barrett and Mona.

The woman was beautiful, with an unmarried hairstyle. The man holding her hand had dyed blond hair and had the temperament of a gangster. He had a katana on his waist, looking like a wandering swordsman.

“Hello, my name is Ahe, you are not from here, right?”

Mona observed her from the side, but she didn’t expect Ah He to take the initiative to approach her and get to know her. He said things that others dared not say out loud. Although she was not married, she already exuded the aura of a mature lady.

To put it simply, he is very approachable and gives people a special feeling.

Mona nodded and said:

“Well, we came from the outer sea to visit Wano Country. Nice to meet you, Tsuru. You can call me Mona. By the way, your name is really similar to my father’s friend. Her name is also Tsuru.”

“Really? That’s a great coincidence. Excuse me, Mona, can you tell me what kind of person that lady is? I’m very curious.”

As Ah He said this, he let go of his male companion’s hand and walked to Mona, holding each other’s arms with both hands, and their bodies were intimate.

Mona did not refuse. He was very enthusiastic, but she did not find him offensive. After thinking about He’s external image, she said:

“She is a very powerful woman! She is also very wise and a great leader~”

“Is it the same as the daimyo? Oh, you may not know that the supreme leader of each region of our Wano Country is the daimyo, and the person who leads Wano Country is called the shogun. The current shogun of Wano Country is called Kozuki Sukiyaki.”

“If that’s the case, it should be similar! But the name Kozuki Sukiyaki sounds really interesting. Is there really someone who would name himself after food?”

“Miss, please don’t make fun of the general!”

Mona just thought it was funny, but Kinmonko, who was a retainer of Oden, couldn’t stand it and gave a direct warning.

He is Oden’s retainer, and Kozuki Sukiyaki is Oden’s father. He can’t just stand by and watch his master’s father being ridiculed.

“Xiao Jin! This is what I usually teach you. Don’t blame those who don’t know. Be more stable and mature! Don’t always act on impulse. You are now one of the Nine Red Scabbards. Didn’t you say you wanted to be the leader of the Nine? That is a position that requires a lot of responsibility!”

Ah He released his hands that were calling Mona, walked up to Jinmenwei with a helpless look on his face and scolded him.

The highly powerful Jinmen guards could only listen, with their heads lowered, accepting the reprimand like a child who had made a mistake.

“I’m sorry Crane Girl, I…”

“Forget it, don’t do it again, Xiao Jin. Also, you need to be braver and don’t do this every time. You are a man now!”

As Ah He spoke, he held the Jinmenwei’s cheeks with both hands to help him lift his head. This action made the latter blush and he was at a loss as to what to do.

Here, Mona looked at Ahe and Jinmenwei, then looked at Barrett, then covered her mouth and chuckled.

“My two guests, your tri-color dumplings are ready!”

The shop owner didn’t want to disturb the respected Jiu Xia and his lover at this time, but there was no way. Once the food gets cold, it loses most of its original taste, especially the desserts after being heated.

The sweet taste can only fully bloom in the taste buds at the right temperature. This is his lifelong pursuit as a chef, to give every customer the best food experience!

So, he had to interrupt.

“Sorry, Mona, I made you laugh. How about we talk while walking? Do you want to go to my teahouse for a cup of tea? It’s almost noon now.”

“It’s okay~ But it may not work, Ahe. We still need to go to the Daming Mansion to deal with this big guy.”

Ahe walked over and took the paper bag of tri-color dumplings that Mona helped her hold. Her invitation was politely declined only because Mona pointed to the huge thing that Barrett was carrying on his shoulders.

In response, Ah He just shook his head slightly, then looked at the Jinmen guard with a smile on his face.

The latter also understood and said directly:
“The Crane Girl’s Teahouse is very close to the Daimyo Prefecture. By the way, the person in charge of the affairs of the Daimyo Prefecture is my colleague. If it is convenient, I would like to ask this warrior to go with me later.”

“That’s no problem!”

Mona was very happy, and then seemed to remember something, and asked the Jinmen guard:

“By the way, is the Daimyo of your Kuri a guy named Kozuki Oden?”

“Ok?”

Jinmenwei was alert, then nodded and admitted: “Yes, Jiuli was originally a chaotic area. It was the arrival of Lord Oden that made it prosperous today. I am honored to be one of Lord Oden’s retainers, the Nine Red Scabbards – Jinmenwei!”

After saying this, he raised his head and chest proudly, as if this position was very noble in his heart and worthy of him showing off to everyone.

However, he was also a little confused as to why Mona would bring up such a thing.

Mona on the opposite side nodded and said:
“That’s quite a coincidence. I didn’t expect that Barrett and I would end up at that guy’s territory as our first stop.”

“Mona, do you know Lord Oden? He suddenly left with a group of people from the outer sea a long time ago, and almost caused chaos in the whole of Kuri again. He was so irresponsible!”

Ah He held Mona’s arm with one arm, and the two of them looked like close best friends. No one could have guessed that they had only known each other for a dozen minutes.

Mona nodded and said:

“He is now the second-in-command of a pirate group. For example, he is similar to the Daimyo of Wano Country. He is always a good guy. It was through him that Barrett and I learned the exact location of Wano Country.”

“He is a strong warrior and a good guy, but he does things without thinking and is very naive.”

“You too~”

Barrett was evaluating this friend whom he had just met by chance, but unexpectedly Mona let go of her hand and gently jumped up and hit him on the forehead.

Beside him, the Jinmen guard wanted to refute out loud, but after thinking carefully, Lord Oden seemed to be such a person.

In addition, with Ahe around, and Barrett and Mona being obviously friends of Lord Oden, it would be difficult for him to resort to vulgar rhetoric or force some twisted logic to protect Lord Oden’s image.

However, after learning that Kozuki Oden was living well overseas, the worry in his heart fell. It was a good opportunity to share this with other colleagues, so that they would feel more at ease while staying in Kuri.

“Come on, open your mouth~”

The Jinmen guard was still nervous. Beside him, Mona pulled out the arm that was held by Ahe, then flew up on tiptoe, holding a string of tri-color dumplings and handing it to Barrett’s mouth.

The latter opened his mouth slightly, and Mona put the two dumplings in the front and pulled them gently, then put the last dumpling into her mouth and ate it.

Seeing this, Ah He was not surprised by Mona’s magical ability. He turned around and came to Jinmenwei, imitating her and handed a string of tri-color dumplings to his mouth.

The Jinmen guard came to his senses upon seeing this, touched the back of his head with one hand, then opened his mouth wide and bit all three dumplings, swallowing them all with a gentle pull.

“It tastes really good, Crane Girl. We can come to this store often in the future!”

“Humph!”

Ah He puffed up his lips, then turned his head away and ignored the Jinmen guard, and silently took the remaining tri-color dumplings and started eating them.

………………

“Hello, my name is Smoker!”

“I’m Lucas, man, that coat of yours is so cool!”

“It’s really cool. New here, don’t think you’re great just because you’re old. Strength is everything here. Want to fight? If you lose, you have to recognize me as your big sister!”

In the East China Sea, in the [Oude] training camp, the three giants are leading a group of younger brothers to examine the new members.

This is the new guy that Mokasi brought with him when he trained them today, a boy of about sixteen years old. Judging from his performance, he can only be described as average.

He can’t even beat Lucas in physical training, he’s really too weak.

Now is the break time, and they can take this opportunity to get to know the new student better and tell him some rules of the training camp.

“Hello, my name is Karas, forget the fight.”

Karas shook his head. He had gray skin and was wearing a pair of black shorts and a black feather coat that was almost a one-piece.

Although it seems that he has some mobility problems, it has no impact on his training.

“I don’t like the look in your eyes. Do you think we are children? I think you need a little care from your fists!”

Annina keenly noticed that the way Karas looked at them was exactly the same as the way an adult looks at a child. This made her a little unhappy, and she bluntly said that she planned to solve the matter with her fists.

Karas didn’t care about it, but gently shook his head and refused again.

But this time Annina didn’t continue to communicate with him verbally, but instead punched him directly in the chest.

“Puff~”

The fist pierced through his chest, stirring up a cloud of black mist. In response, Karas continued to smile and did not move.

Annina withdrew her hand, raised her eyebrows at Karas, and said:

“Natural science? No wonder you are so calm. Not bad. I recognize your ability. How about joining me after I graduate?”

“No, I’m here just to study. It’s nice to meet you. If…”

“bump—!”

The pitch-black fist stopped in front of him, and Karas’ figure flew backwards and hit the clouds. His consciousness was blurred for two or three seconds before he came to his senses.

He struggled to stand up, looking at the little girl who was slowly walking towards him in disbelief, not understanding why he was knocked away by her punch.

You know, with his miraculous abilities, even those damn noble canines can only hit him using special methods, otherwise he is invincible!

“Learning is one thing, paying respects to the leader is another. In the training camp, strength is the rule. I don’t like the look in your eyes. Please change it.”

It was a rare opportunity for a good potential stock to come along, and Annina was determined to try to recruit him.

Of course, beating up Karas was just an excuse, she wouldn’t care about the way he looked at a child.

“My sister is bullying me again. She used to be quite quiet, but she doesn’t want to pretend anymore since she started training.”

“You’ll get used to it. That’s how violent girls are. All they need to do is swing their invincible fists, but those of us who can’t beat them have to think a lot.”

Smoker looked indifferent. No matter what Annina did, it wouldn’t be too extreme. He was also beaten every now and then.

He knew exactly what Annina was thinking at the moment.

(End of this chapter)