One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 16 Beneath the Deep Sea

Tom, as expected of the shipwright who built the Jackson, easily found the problem with the ship. After hearing Roger's destination, Tom also made a point of reinforcing many parts of the ship.

Moko gazed through the window at Tom and Roger chatting happily, a look of confusion in her eyes. "Mr. Tom is such a skilled shipbuilder, yet he was sent here just because he was repairing Dad's boat. Doesn't Mr. Tom think that's unfair?"

"Hahaha, of course not."

Kokoro paused for a moment, then looked at Tom with reverence, gently patted Moko's head, and looked at Tom with eyes full of admiration.

"He's only interested in shipbuilding. This little difficulty is no problem for him, hahaha."

Moko blinked, looking at the delighted Kokoro, and a slight smile appeared on her lips.

"Mr. Tom is really amazing."

"Right? He's a great man."

The days spent repairing the ship were quite interesting. Moko often saw Shanks, Bucky, and Tom's two apprentices playing together. However, the two seemed to only have work on their minds and were not interested in playing around. They often refused Shanks' invitations, but in the end, Tom would still kick them out to go out and play with the others.

Time was short. Perhaps sensing Roger's urgency, or perhaps having learned something, Tom quickly repaired and reinforced the boat. After the boat was repaired, Roger set off again without stopping.

Before parting, Roger and Tom talked a lot in private. Moko saw their furrowed brows, the helplessness in their eyes, and the strong sense of contradiction, but in the end, it all disappeared in the blink of an eye, ending with their laughter.

Mo didn't know what the two of them said, but she guessed they had both made up their minds to continue down the path they had chosen.

After leaving Water Seven, the group resumed their journey. This journey was wonderful; Moko saw magnificent scenery she could never have imagined before and experienced exciting adventures. Of course, there were also some less-than-friendly places along the way.

Of course, most of the time they were very happy, and it seemed that the people on the ship were having more fun than Moko. Sometimes they were chased all over the island by giant mammoths, and sometimes they were fearlessly navigating through the turbulent waves. These were the least of their worries. Getting struck by lightning from time to time had become the norm. Seeing the group of people returning in a disheveled state and with awkward smiles on their faces, Moko could only helplessly take out the first-aid kit to bandage them up.

"elder sister!"

"What's wrong, Hiyori-chan?"

Seeing Hiyori wobbling over, Moko put down her pen, picked her up, and rubbed her affectionately against her. Hiyori was growing up so fast; she was only a year old, but she seemed to look different every day. Moko finally understood how people felt when they saw her as a child. Watching her little one grow up, she felt an indescribable joy.

"Mao, Mao!"

"Hiyori-chan, are you looking for Mika? Mika and Shanks went to play on the island. How about I take Hiyori-chan to eat something delicious first?"

"eat!"

Hiyori's eyes lit up at the mention of delicious food. Since there were children on the ship, Moko had prepared a lot of snacks that the babies could usually eat. Momonosuke and Hiyori loved them and always sat down at the table early when it was snack time.

Although Moko herself is still young, taking care of everyone has become a habit, and she is already a very mature little adult. Looking at Moko like this, Roger always sighs in frustration. He actually hopes that Moko will be more unreasonable. Her well-behaved appearance is heartbreaking.

Moko does have her moments of throwing tantrums, but it's mostly in front of Shanks, who can always quickly appease her. So, the others haven't seen Moko throw a tantrum much, making her a special version of Moko, just like Shanks.

After Hiyori finished her snacks, everyone returned, unsurprisingly covered in dirt, but their faces beamed with undisguised joy. It seemed they had found the Poneglyph.

"Moko-chan, look at this!"

Shanks bypassed the crowd and presented a pinkish-white egg to Moko like a treasure. Moko was a little puzzled. Looking at Shanks and Miu, who were covered in mud, she reached out and held Shanks and Mooball. The minor scratches on their bodies healed quickly.

"This is what Mika and I found below the cliff behind the Poneglyph. The egg is so beautiful, the little guy that hatches from it will be so cute."

"Pfft~"

Shanks' eyes were clear, while Moko smiled helplessly. Every time Shanks landed on an island, he would bring back a gift. Sometimes it was a beautiful gem, sometimes a large bouquet of flowers, or sometimes a cute cub he brought back from some unknown animal den, which would cause the cub's parents to chase after him onto the ship. The most pitiful one was probably Bucky, who was always being tricked by Shanks.

“I’ve waited so long. This egg probably doesn’t have any parents. Let’s raise it.”

Moko placed her hand on the pinkish-white egg to examine it. She could feel a strong heartbeat; it was a very healthy little guy and probably hadn't been abandoned. But seeing Shanks's trusting expression, Moko nodded and smiled gently. Since she had picked it up, she would raise it. She wondered what kind of little guy would hatch.

As the pointer continued to move forward, the Jackson arrived at the Sabaody Archipelago, the second checkpoint on the Grand Line. During the coating process, Shanks took Moko to the amusement park for a great time.

Compared to the islands they passed, the amusement park in the Sabaody Archipelago was huge, with all kinds of amusement facilities. Even the shops filled the entire small archipelago. Once the desire to shop was aroused, it was impossible to suppress. Shanks and Bucky had become bag carriers, obediently following behind Moko and carrying her bags.

Moko and her two friends were strolling along the shopping street when a jewelry store with an extremely understated yet luxurious decor caught Moko's attention. Moko pulled the other two inside, and Bucky immediately slumped into a chair. No one had told him that shopping with girls was so terrifying.

Shanks, on the other hand, acted as if nothing had happened, watching Moko pick out jewelry at the counter with doting eyes, and then stood up and browsed the jewelry section next to him.

"Could you please take this?"

Moko pointed to a pair of ruby ​​cufflinks in the glass case. She had been attracted by the pair of cufflinks displayed in the window when she was outside. The oval-shaped rubies were polished extremely smoothly and were inlaid with gold edges. If you looked closely, you could see the fine patterns engraved on the gold edges. However, the overall design was simple and exquisite, unlike other cufflinks that had too many small diamonds and were too eye-catching.

“Yes, Miss, you have excellent taste. This is the last piece made by a famous craftsman, designed with rubies from the deepest part of Mount Rubelle. It is absolutely one of a kind in the world.”

The shop assistant kept chattering away. Mo Ke picked up the cufflinks and liked them more and more as she looked at them. They were a pure red, like the crimson sunset, flamboyant yet composed.

"Shanks."

Moko waved behind her, and Shanks said something to the shop assistant in front of him. Then he immediately walked up to Moko. Before Shanks could ask anything, Moko took Shanks' hand and fastened his cufflinks.

Shanks watched as Moko focused on fastening his cufflinks, his smile impossible to hide. The ruby ​​cufflinks really suited Shanks. Moko nodded in satisfaction. Shanks didn't usually wear jewelry, so cufflinks were just right compared to necklaces and bracelets.

"As expected, it suits Shanks very well. Shanks, do you like it?"

"Yes, I like everything Moko-chan gives me."

Shanks chuckled and ruffled Moko's hair. Moko smiled and picked out a few more accessories from the counter. She held up a sapphire bow tie to Buggy, and while Moko's attention was diverted, Shanks quietly moved back to the counter, took the gift box from the clerk, and paid the clerk with Berries.

After choosing their gifts, Moko generously paid for the gifts with Bailey. Bucky was jumping and skipping all the way back to the ship, overjoyed.

When Moko and her two companions returned to the ship, most of the others had already returned. Moko gave the gifts she had bought to everyone. In fact, not much of what she bought on the shopping trip belonged to Moko. Compared to buying things for herself, Moko preferred seeing the happy expressions on other people's faces when they received gifts. The satisfaction of having her gifts appreciated was something that no amount of money could buy for herself.

After waiting a while, everyone returned. Roger stood at the bow of the ship, looking at everyone with a carefree smile on his face.

"Well then, let's set sail!"

"Oh!"

As the ship sank, the bubble wrap on board began to inflate, enveloping the entire Jackson. It was Moko's first time diving to such a deep sea, and she couldn't help but feel excited. At first, the surrounding scenery consisted of tree roots, but after diving to a certain depth, she could only see the scenery a few meters away from the ship. Strange schools of fish would occasionally swim by near the ship.

Tuanzi was at a lively and active age, leading a large group of tuanzi around the boat, occasionally catching some small fish to amuse Hiyori, who clapped excitedly. Moko stood aside, watching this scene with a smile on her face.

"It's about to be born."

"Our king is about to be born."

The sudden sound startled Moko slightly, and she couldn't help but look towards the source of the sound. It was pitch black a little further away, and she couldn't see anything clearly, but Moko was certain that the sound came from the sea, not from the ship. After listening again, however, there was no sound at all.

"Moko-chan, we've arrived at Fishman Island."

Shanks' voice brought Moko back to her senses. Before her was an enormous bubble containing an entire island. Although it was deep sea, sunlight shone through it. In the distance, she could see lush forests and colorful corals. Through the hazy water curtain, towering ancient stone pillars were vaguely visible, just like the legendary Atlantis. Moko was utterly awestruck at first glance.

At this moment, many mermaids swam out of the bubble. Seeing the mermaids swimming out of the bubble, Moko's eyes lit up, and she temporarily put aside the strange noises from before. At first, the mermaids were wary of the people on the Jackson, but with Roger's appearance, the tense atmosphere quickly dissipated, and they followed the giant mermaid who was leading the group into the bubble.

"I won't do anything bad. Neptune, you're actually trembling over language."

"The prophecy says that the gates to Fishman Island will be destroyed by someone soon, and you've arrived now, so it's highly likely..."

"boom!"

Before Neptune could finish speaking, a loud commotion came from the gate, and a mermaid soldier rushed over.

"Lord Neptune, we are under attack! The sea kings have chewed up the door!"

"Huh?! Such an obedient sea king? Impossible... What's the situation now?"

"The outer bubble has burst."

"Block it quickly and take emergency measures, but it still turned into a major incident!" Even if Neptune didn't believe it, he had to take action as soon as possible.

"See? We didn't do it!" Roger retorted angrily. They actually suspected them; their brotherhood had truly faded.

Neptune coughed awkwardly twice to change the subject. After hearing Roger's purpose, Neptune did not hesitate and led everyone to the Sea Forest. The forest growing in the sea had a unique charm.

Large swaths of colorful corals were interspersed among the fish, schools of fish swam by from time to time, and the long calls of whales could be heard. Mika led Moko around, sniffing here and there, and soon they arrived at the place where the historical texts were stored.

"How is it, Oden?" Roger walked over and looked at Oden.

"Oh, I thought having two pieces would be a big win, but one of them isn't important. It's an apology written by a guy named Joy Boy."

Oden stroked his chin in confusion, holding the two Poneglyphs in front of him, utterly bewildered. These Poneglyphs were unlike any he had seen before; they were truly strange.

"You can actually read this text."

Neptune was somewhat surprised, after all, these two stones had been there for at least a hundred years, and no one had been able to decipher them before, so he hadn't paid much attention to them.

"In contrast to this, aren't there any weapons here that can control Sea Kings?" Roger asked again.

"What weapon?" Neptune looked at Roger in confusion. How come he didn't know that Fishman Island had a weapon that could control Sea Kings?

"The stone on the Sky Island says that the weapon is here, the ancient weapon Poseidon, which bears the name of a god."

Roger recounted the contents of the Skypiea Poneglyph to Neptune, who frowned as if he had remembered something.

"Actually, the prophecy that Shirley just mentioned sent chills down my spine."

"Hmm?" Roger looked at Neptune with a puzzled expression.

"In this country, every few hundred years a mermaid is born who can communicate with sea kings. Perhaps, that mermaid is..."

"So, your daughter will one day become a weapon that destroys the world?" Upon hearing this, Roger understood and succinctly stated the rest of his question.

"That's just a prophecy, and even ancient weapons depend on how their power is used."

Neptune spoke with his hands on his hips. Roger and Rayleigh seemed to realize something, a barely perceptible dark light flashing in their eyes. They exchanged a glance and understood what the other was thinking.

Moko stood in the colorful coral reef on the other side. Several huge whales swam by outside the bubbles, their rustling sounds echoing in Moko's ears. Even after she left with the others, Moko was still in a daze.