Chapter 111: The Monki Family—A Bunch of Eccentrics [Seeking Support]

Ace actually came over and sat down at Tang Shen’s table.

He looked at Tang Shen curiously and asked outright, “Are you a swordsman?”

Simple and direct, without the slightest hesitation.

Tang Shen was stunned for a moment, then nodded. “That’s right.”

“Then I’m going to sea in a few days. Will you become my partner? I’m going to be the Pirate King, and I’ll make you my vice-captain. You’ll definitely become the world’s greatest swordsman someday.”

Ace immediately beamed. “Hahahaha! After all, the vice-captain of the Pirate King has to be the world’s greatest swordsman. What do you say? I heard that’s every swordsman’s dream. I can help you achieve it.”

Tang Shen: “...”

That was ridiculously direct. Sure enough, he was exactly like Monkey D. Luffy—doing whatever he pleased, utterly lacking in reason, yet remarkably sensible when it came to important matters. Thick-skinned, fearless, and completely unafraid of anything.

He had not even gone to sea yet, and already he was calling himself the future Pirate King. On top of that, he had the nerve to boast that he could make someone the world’s greatest swordsman.

If Kuina and Zoro had been there, they would definitely have drawn their swords and hacked at him for talking nonsense.

Even Tang Shen, despite his composure, felt like drawing his sword and cutting him down. The man was simply begging to be slashed.

No wonder Zoro so often felt the urge to draw his sword and cut Luffy whenever the two of them met later on.

Those two brothers were exactly alike!

“Heh.” Tang Shen said calmly, “Then let me congratulate you in advance on becoming the Pirate King.”

Ace’s face immediately lit up. Naturally, he was delighted whenever someone said he could become the Pirate King. It had been his dream since childhood, and being acknowledged felt wonderful.

“Hahahaha! Then it’s settled. You’ll be the future world’s greatest swordsman—my vice-captain!” Ace said happily.

Tang Shen: “...”

When had he ever agreed to that?

The corner of Tang Shen’s mouth twitched. The scene reminded him of how Luffy had recruited Zoro. It was far too familiar.

As expected of brothers—even their methods of recruiting people were identical.

“I never said I was joining,” Tang Shen said irritably. “And my dream isn’t to become the world’s greatest swordsman.”

“Huh?” Ace looked puzzled. “Then what is your dream? Aren’t all swordsmen supposed to dream of that? Are you not a swordsman?”

Looking at Ace’s bewildered expression, Tang Shen grinned. His mischievous side had surfaced.

“My dream is for someone to become the Pirate King one day, so that I can defeat him and trample him beneath my feet.”

As he said this, he stared straight at Ace, a teasing glint in his eyes. His meaning was obvious.

Ace: “...”

That had definitely been deliberate.

He had just said that he intended to become the Pirate King, and now the man sitting before him was claiming that his dream was to trample the Pirate King beneath his feet.

How could that not be intentional?

But Ace was Ace. Unlike an ordinary person, who would have exploded and immediately challenged him to a duel, he merely asked curiously, “Has that been your dream since childhood?”

“No,” Tang Shen replied. “I decided on that dream ten seconds ago.”

Ace: “...”

Absolutely deliberate. Without a doubt, it was intentional.

Makino came over carrying fried rice and a glass of beer. She gave the two of them a strange look, then could not help reminding Ace as she left, “Ace, he’s only joking. Don’t cause any trouble.”

“Don’t worry, Makino. I’m not brainless like Luffy.” Ace grinned.

“Ace, you’re the one who’s brainless, you—@#￥#@@@!”

At the bar, Luffy was extremely sensitive whenever he heard his own name. He turned around with a piece of meat in his mouth and began shouting while chewing. Apart from the first sentence, nothing else he said was intelligible.

At that moment, Makino looked at Luffy warmly and asked, “Luffy, do you have enough meat? I’ll bring you another plate.”

“Okay, thank you, Makino!” Luffy’s eyes immediately lit up. He began stuffing meat into his mouth and completely forgot about Tang Shen and Ace.

Nothing mattered more than eating, especially meat.

Tang Shen and Ace were both covered in black lines. That style was simply too Luffy.

Ace did not give up. Instead, he said with complete seriousness, “If that really is your dream, then you’re destined to become my crewmate.”

Tang Shen: “????”

This time, Tang Shen was the one left dumbfounded.

That was not how things worked!

How had he become Ace’s destined partner? What kind of logic was that? Was this young man’s brain broken?

Seeing Tang Shen’s bewilderment, Ace proudly explained, “Look, I’m destined to become the Pirate King. You want to defeat the Pirate King and trample him beneath your feet. If you weren’t my partner, I definitely wouldn’t let you step on me. But if you are my partner, then once I become the Pirate King, I’ll let you trample me. That way, you’ll achieve your dream too. So tell me—aren’t you my destined partner?”

Tang Shen: “...”

That was divine-level logic. His reasoning had shattered into pieces.

Tang Shen was completely stunned.

How did this man’s mind even work? If Tang Shen’s own reasoning skills had been any weaker, he would have been dragged into that twisted argument.

You can never defeat an idiot in an argument. He will drag your intelligence down to his level, then beat you with his wealth of experience.

And right now, Ace was that idiot.

Tang Shen felt that his intelligence had been insulted. If he continued arguing with him, his intellect would only be dragged down to the same level.

So he stopped arguing with the fool in front of him and said directly, “Give it up. I’m not becoming your partner.”

“Why?”

Ace’s excitement vanished at once, replaced by utter confusion. Then, with a shameless expression, he said, “It doesn’t matter. I’ve already decided that you’re my partner. You’re my vice-captain.”

Tang Shen: “I swear...”

At that moment, he suddenly felt the urge to draw his sword.

Sure enough, nothing could be reasoned out with someone who was exactly like Luffy.

Tang Shen felt as though he had prematurely experienced the exasperation Zoro would later suffer whenever he dealt with Luffy.

So Tang Shen chose to ignore the fool.

Unexpectedly, the man actually quieted down.

Tang Shen turned his head, and his face immediately filled with black lines.

At some point, Ace had buried his face in the plate and fallen asleep.

He had genuinely fallen asleep.

If Tang Shen had not known that Monkey D. Garp possessed this peculiar trait and had passed it down to the two brothers, he would have thought Ace had died while eating.

Then, just as Tang Shen was thinking this—

Whoosh!

Ace suddenly lifted his head, scooped up a large spoonful of food, and stuffed it into his mouth. After taking a drink of beer, he glanced at Tang Shen and said with a grin, “I fell asleep just now. I didn’t scare you, did I, Vice-Captain?”

Tang Shen: “...”

Before Tang Shen could answer, Ace’s face slammed back into the fried rice with a smack.

Snore! Snore!

This time, he was even snoring.

Tang Shen: “...”

An indescribable sense of helplessness rose within him.

As expected, the Monkey family was full of complete oddballs.

Tang Shen had forgotten that his own in-game name also belonged to the Monkey family.