One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 5 The Choice Between Staying and Leaving

Rayleigh stood at the cabin entrance with Moko in his arms, kicking away a pirate with a knife who suddenly lunged at him. The deck was in chaos, with several pirate ships surrounding the Jackson. Pirates kept swinging from the surrounding ships, pulling on ropes, and the sound of clashing swords echoed in their ears.

Most of the pirates were surrounding Roger and Bullet, which didn't surprise Moko. Their bounties were quite high, and the fame and fortune gained from defeating them were far more important than Berries.

When the pirates saw Rayleigh holding the child, they were incredibly excited, thinking they had found an easy target. They swarmed forward one after another, but before they could even get close, they were all swatted away by Rayleigh's tail. Those who sneaked closer were kicked into the sea by Rayleigh before they could even raise their swords.

Before long, the attacking pirates realized that if they went to fight Roger, Roger would be the only one to beat them up. But if they went to attack someone carrying children, it wouldn't be just one person. Not to mention the ridiculously strong Sea King, the two children beside them and the several spears above their heads meant that they wouldn't be able to survive. After realizing this, the pirates stopped approaching Rayleigh.

Moko, on the other hand, was focused on watching the fight. To be honest, the fight was quite a sight. Roger could cut down a whole bunch of people with a single slash. His clothes were more wrinkled than when he was eating. He greeted Moko with a grin while simultaneously punching away several pirates who were trying to sneak up on him from behind, completely disregarding them.

Barrett used his fists to beat the pirates, landing several punches at once. The pirates hit head-on had their faces contorted, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. Moko could almost see the teeth flying through the air. Finally, a large group of people rushed over and surrounded Barrett, seemingly managing to control him. But Barrett spun around and threw a punch, throwing all the pirates off him. Then, he landed a punch on their faces, twisting their features in pain.

Moko looked around, her gaze returning to Shanks and Buggy. Shanks, as expected of Roger's student, possessed attack techniques very similar to Roger's. With his agile body, he could move through hordes of enemies unscathed, while also managing to take down one or two. Buggy provided support from the side, attacking from behind with a short sword. The two worked together seamlessly, with the other providing cover when one attacked, leaving no opening for them to break through.

Since Dango's claws, which Shanks had worn off, grew back, Roger put him into training as well. Now he fights quite well. One Dango might be easy to deal with, but there are more than one on the ship. As a Sea King, Dango already has extremely strong aggression. With Roger's later attack training, Dango is now not afraid of even a Sea King twice its size.

Moko watched the battle quietly, her eyes filled with a variety of complex emotions. Rayleigh didn't speak or disturb her, his gaze calm as he watched the fight on the ship. The sounds of fighting and screaming filled her ears. The dazzling crimson stains the waxed, gleaming deck. One second, lives were vibrant, the next, they vanished. It was cruel, yet realistic. The confusion in Moko's eyes began to solidify.

"Uncle Raleigh, I want to study medicine."

Rayleigh paused for a moment, then smiled slightly, understanding Moko's intention. Even after witnessing these scenes, seeing the fighting, and understanding the cruelty and ruthlessness of pirates, she still decided to stay without hesitation?

"it is good."

Roger and Rayleigh had considered Moko's future. Moko's personality was too gentle, and staying on the ship, especially on a pirate ship, might not be suitable. Roger even thought about where Moko should go, but perhaps out of reluctance, or perhaps for other reasons, Roger gave Moko the choice. Today's ambush was a deliberate leak of Roger's whereabouts, just to see Moko's choice. Clearly, Moko chose to stay.

Mo didn't know this was a choice. She just wanted to see what everyone looked like when they fought. Even if she saw the ferocious side of everyone who was usually gentle, she wasn't afraid. Although their expressions were fierce, the aura emanating from them was warm, like a freshly fallen chestnut, covered with sharp thorns on the outside but sweet inside. And how could she hate her family members who were truly sincere to her?

Even if Moko knew Roger's thoughts, she would still choose to stay without hesitation. The Shanks she saw when she opened her eyes was the one who protected her as she grew up. Her family was on the ship, so her home was on the ship. Family is family, no matter what family members are like, the essence will not change. Where there is family is home. Even if the places she has to go in the future are dangerous, she will never regret it.

The pirates who came upon hearing the commotion were no match for Roger and his crew. After seeing Rayleigh nod, they understood Moko's choice, and all of them smiled, dropping their pretense and attacking swiftly, quickly dispatching all the pirates.

(Pirates: So we're just props? You bunch of people acted like monkeys for ages (*?????))

The group threw all the pirates on the deck onto their original pirate ship, letting them drift with the current. As for the treasure on the ship, it had all been moved to the ship. The deck was now dirty and messy, with the confiscated treasure chests piled up all over the floor. Rayleigh wouldn't let Moko just step on the ground like that.

"Clean up the deck... and yourselves too."

Looking at the filthy group, Rayleigh shook his head and spoke calmly. After speaking, Rayleigh took Moko back to the room to continue working on the documents. The group didn't make a fuss and went to get cleaning tools with smiles on their faces. They were really afraid that their fierce appearance would scare Moko when they were acting, and they had been having all sorts of wild thoughts. Fortunately, their little Moko decided to stay. She was indeed a child they had watched grow up and was born to live on a ship.

As night fell, Shanks was drying Moko's wet hair, his eyes somewhat unfocused. When the captain approached him and told him that Moko had to decide whether to stay or leave, he panicked. He didn't know why he was flustered. He selfishly didn't want Moko to leave and wanted to keep her by his side forever. But he also knew that if Moko couldn't adapt to pirate life, then life on the ship would be torture, and Moko wouldn't be happy. Fortunately, his little Moko decided to stay, and they wouldn't be separated. That was good.

"Shanks."

"Hmm, what's wrong, Moko-chan?"

Shanks snapped out of his daze and smiled. Moko gently took Shanks' hand, her fingers tracing a very shallow scratch on his wrist. It looked like an accidental scrape from the morning's battle. A faint white glow emanated from Moko's hand, and the scratch gradually healed, leaving no scar in the end.

"Moko-chan, it's just a small wound, no need to waste your healing power."

Shanks' voice was low and husky, carrying a unique gentleness, and a glint of light flashed in his calm eyes.

Moko's healing power was discovered when she first learned to walk. The ship was already rocking while sailing, so walking on it would definitely be unstable, let alone Moko, who was just a baby who had just learned to walk.

When he fell and scraped himself, it scared a bunch of people following behind him. But just as everyone was rushing to find medicine, the wound healed on its own without leaving a trace. It was amazing and incredible, but that's how it happened. Self-healing just happened so miraculously.

After exchanging glances, everyone looked at Roger and Rayleigh. After some small experiments, Roger and Rayleigh confirmed that Moko's healing power not only worked on herself but also on others. Afterwards, Roger discussed the matter with everyone for a long time, and in the end, Roger only asked Moko not to reveal her healing power to anyone.

The days that followed were the same as usual, except that all the sharp parts on the ship were covered with thick animal hides, and the floor was worn down to the last edge. Tuanzi followed closely behind, and Moko had no chance of getting hurt.

Moko cupped Shanks' face in her hands, looked directly into his dark eyes, and spoke with a firm tone.

"It's not a waste, Shanks, it's important."

"Very important," the simple three words flowed through Shanks' body like a warm current. Shanks' eyes softened, and he lowered his head to rub Moko's nose. His eyebrows relaxed, and his black eyes seemed to be filled with thousands of stars, their brilliant light deeply engraved in his eyes. His words were also tinged with a smile.

"Moko-chan is also very important."

Large, delicate jasmine blossoms sway in the breeze by the window, stirring up bubbles in the bottle. The glistening white petals are lifted and gently touch the wind chimes above, releasing a crisp, melodious fragrance that fills the room with warmth.

After Moko decided to study medicine, Rayleigh found a lot of medical books for her. There was no highly skilled ship doctor on the ship at the moment, so systematic learning was definitely not possible. At most, she could learn some things like bandaging and suturing. Moko could only learn the rest by herself from the medical books. Fortunately, there were many books on herbs. It would take a long time to memorize them all and learn how to use them. There was no rush to find a teacher.

Time passed slowly, and when Moko was two years old, she began to learn some basic sword-wielding skills. She didn't have to be proficient, but she had to be able to protect herself. Norzton made a small wooden sword for Moko specifically for this purpose.

Not wanting to be a burden, Moko studied very diligently, practicing until her arms ached every day. At that moment, the cool, healing power would surge up quickly, and the soreness would subside rapidly, ensuring she wouldn't be unable to lift her sword the next day.

Watching Moko train diligently, Shanks felt both heartache and worry. He could protect Moko, even if she knew nothing, but that wasn't what Moko wanted, so he couldn't stop her. His little Moko was the most resilient and would surely bloom into the most beautiful flower on this sea.

"Buggy and Moko are working so hard, we can't slack off either."

Bucky, who had just sat down to rest and hadn't even caught his breath, was dragged up by Shanks to start sparring again. Bucky's eyes were filled with horror. These two were too abnormal! One had been training all day and still had so much energy, while the other was still full of energy to read those boring medical books after training. Even if they had energy, they shouldn't be using him alone! It was simply outrageous! e=e=e=┏（°ロ°；）┛！

"No!!"

Bucky's refusal was clearly ineffective, and he was once again dragged into painful training by Shanks. The sound of waves came one after another, the sky was clear and bright, and seabirds leisurely landed on the side of the ship to preen their feathers, taking flight before the next wave arrived.