Chapter 21: Plot Armor

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Before heading to Windmill Village, Byakuya arranged for Koby to go to Squall Island to find Captain Vaughan so that Captain Vaughan could teach him well. 

This also fulfilled Koby's dream of becoming a Marine. After all, Byakuya had too many secrets on him, which made it inconvenient for Koby to follow. 

After dealing with these miscellaneous matters, Byakuya took Demon One and Demon Two to Windmill Village.

In Windmill Village, the three quickly found the tavern Luffy often go, owned by Makino. 

"Gentlemen, what kind of drink would you like?" As soon as they entered, Makino approached them and asked warmly. 

When Byakuya saw Makino, he felt a welcoming sense of affinity.

With a neat work outfit, deep green hair, fair complexion, and expressive large eyes, Makino greatly bridged the distance between people. 

Moreover, Makino was kind-hearted and gentle, making her the perfect wife candidate. 

Seeing that Byakuya remained silent for a long time, Makino looked up at him and found Byakuya staring at her openly. 

Her face turned red involuntarily, and feeling her cheeks heat up, she lowered her head and softly asked again.

Hearing Makino's question, Byakuya smiled and said, "Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts just now. I'll have the signature drink from your bar." 

Makino, seeing Byakuya's smile, blushed even more, with her ears turning slightly red. She softly acknowledged and hurriedly went to get the drinks.

Seeing Makino's cute and flustered appearance, Byakuya chuckled lightly, "Being handsome indeed makes you popular everywhere." 

If it were an ugly man staring at Makino just now, although Makino wouldn't get angry due to her personality, she wouldn't blush like this either.

Makino placed the drinks on the table in front of Byakuya and then returned to the counter to wipe the glasses. 

Every time Makino inadvertently looked up and saw Byakuya smiling at her, she felt her heart fluttering. 

Several times, she almost dropped the glass she was wiping.

The mysterious aura emanating from Byakuya made people unknowingly immersed in it. 

Just as Makino was lost in her thoughts, a magnetic voice suddenly sounded beside her, 

"Boss lady, your drinks are really good. Can I have another one?" 

Startled by the sudden voice while lost in thought, Makino subconsciously loosened her grip, and the glass slipped from her hand, almost falling to the ground. 

Makino exclaimed, "The glass!", trying to reach out to catch it. But at this moment, her mind was already in chaos, and her actions became clumsy.

Instead of catching the glass, she slipped and fell backward. 

Without hesitation, Byakuya took a step forward, his right hand encircling Makino's slender waist while his left hand caught the falling glass. 

Just then, an unusually bold voice came from the door, "Makino, serve us the usual drinks!"

A group of oddly dressed individuals entered in single file from the door, appearing very familiar with the tavern. 

However, upon seeing Byakuya embracing Makino, the scene suddenly quieted down. 

After Makino got back on her feet, Byakuya withdrew his hand and surveyed the group of people before him.

With red hair and only his right arm remaining, wielding a long sword at his waist, such a distinctive figure would be recognized by anyone who had seen One Piece. 

One of the Four Emperors, Red-Haired Shanks, accompanied by some officers of the Red-Haired Pirates like Ben Beckman, Yasopp, Lucky Roux, and others.

Damn, flirting with Makino in front of Red-Haired Shanks; this level of audacity is probably unique even in the pirate world. 

As Byakuya observed Shanks, Shanks was also sizing up Byakuya, finding this young man somewhat inscrutable.

When Shanks noticed the change in Byakuya's expression, he pondered, 

"Does this kid recognize me? He shouldn't be from this village, right?" 

Makino's face turned scarlet, whispering her thanks to Byakuya before serving drinks to Shanks and his crew. 

Byakuya returned to his seat to continue drinking, feeling somewhat disappointed; it seemed like this plan had failed again.

Of course, he was surprised seeing Red Haired-Shanks here, he was supposed on New World maintaining his territories. 

Now the problem is that it was one thing to flirt with Makino in front of Shanks, but if he were to kill the still-inexperienced Luffy in front of him, that would probably be a lot of troublesome. 

Lucky Roux raised his glass and drank it down before sneering, 

"Hahaha, the captain got rejected in love, watching Makino being flirted with by someone else, what a loser."

Shanks defended himself, 

"Who said I got rejected in love? I asked Makino, and everything that happened just now was an accident." 

"Accident? Captain, can't you stop deluding yourself? Makino blushed like crazy just now, and you act like you didn't see it." 

"Get lost, get lost, I said it's an accident!"

"Hahaha, he's getting riled up, he's getting riled up," Lucky Roux and the others laughed mockingly at Shanks, hitting him right where it hurt. 

This teasing banter between crewmates and captain was a unique 'company culture' of the Red-Haired Pirates. 

Just then, a surprised voice rang out from the tavern door, "Shanks!"

A figure dashed into the tavern, reaching Shanks's side, and exclaimed, 

"Shanks, now that you're back, are you going to tell me some pirate stories?" 

Shanks looked at the person beside him and smiled, "Luffy, you've grown quite a bit taller during this time." 

"Of course!" 

Ben Beckman chuckled and asked, "Luffy, you're almost an adult now, aren't you?"

Luffy casually remarked, 

"Yeah, I still have another year and a half. On the day I come of age, I'll set sail. I'm going to be the man who becomes the Pirate King." 

Luffy's words were filled with confidence as if becoming the Pirate King was something he was destined to achieve.

Having known each other for many years, Luffy, Shanks, and the others were very familiar with each other, chatting lively. 

"So, this is Luffy?" Seeing Luffy right in front of him, Byakuya felt an itch in his heart like a cat's scratch. 

In Byakuya's eyes, Luffy was no longer just a "person" but an inexhaustible source of world power.

As the Chosen One of the Pirate World, the central figure of the Pirate King, almost all the plots revolve around him. 

If he were to be killed, Byakuya reckoned he could gain at least a hundred thousand units of world power, maybe even directly raise the fusion rate to over fifty percent.

Unfortunately, with Shanks here, such thoughts were simply impossible to realize. 

Truly, Luffy was worthy of being the Protagonist. 

Just a few days ago, when Byakuya came to Windmill Village, he had to return empty-handed because of Garp's presence. 

Just when Garp left and Byakuya arrived in the village, Shanks appeared, thwarting Byakuya's plans once again.

Byakuya couldn't help but let out a sigh; it seemed like the 'God' or the Plot Armor was protecting him after all.

<End Chapter>

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