After all the Sea Kings around them had been knocked unconscious, White Ghost brought everyone back to the ship. After setting down Miskina Ashie and his daughter, he charged toward the lanternfish's "light hole."
When White Ghost came back out, he was holding a basketball-sized chunk of Pure Gold.
The people who had just returned stared at the gold in his hands as he stood there, grinning like an idiot.
Everyone thought their captain's brain had glitched—
It was just a lump of gold. His bracelet probably contained who-knew-how-much already.
Only Kuro's eyelid twitched.
That suspicion in his heart was becoming more and more real.
"Set sail. Hurry and leave. If we don't go now, we won't be able to later."
As soon as White Ghost saw everyone had regrouped, he immediately ordered Franky.
"O~!" Franky rushed into the control room to get them moving. Who knew how many Sea Kings would swarm here soon?
White Ghost put the Pure Gold away.
"Let me introduce everyone. This is Miskina Ashie, a scientist. And this little girl is Miskina Olga! From now on, they're our companions."
"Welcome, welcome!" Everyone played along and gave White Ghost face.
"Please take care of us from now on!" Ashie, the chubby scientist, scratched his head awkwardly.
"Oh, right!" White Ghost suddenly smacked his forehead. "That little squirrel—give this lady a shot. She's infected with South Blue Emperor Fever."
"Okay!" The little squirrel mink smiled sweetly, ran to the infirmary, and came back out with her medical kit.
"That's great… Captain didn't lie to us." Ashie looked thrilled as he squeezed his daughter's hand hard. "Olga, your illness can be cured."
"Tch!" Olga, the proud little brat, turned her head away and refused to look at her father, thinking only:
A shot…? He said… a shot?
Soon, the little squirrel returned with her kit.
"Come on, kiddo. One shot and you'll be fine."
"Who are you calling 'kiddo'?!" Olga glared at the talking squirrel. "I'm two hundred years old!"
"Hahaha!" Everyone burst into laughter at the sight of this "two-hundred-year-old" pint-sized troublemaker.
Only Kuro and Señor Pink fell silent for a moment, clearly remembering what White Ghost had just brought back.
"Stop it, Olga! Don't be rude to the doctor!" Ashie hurriedly scolded her. "No more nonsense!"
"Alright," the little squirrel said warmly, not angry at all.
"Come on then, you two-hundred-year-old kiddo. Time for your shot."
The moment Olga saw the needle tip on the syringe, her already-red eyes went even redder.
"Ahhh! No! I don't want it! I don't want shots!"
(For some reason… I'm terrified of needles too.)
She instantly sprinted away, screaming that she didn't want an injection.
"And she says she's two hundred!" Urk and the others laughed without holding back.
Even the women covered their mouths, giggling.
"Shave!"
In an instant, Dor Squirrelton flashed in front of Olga.
"Be good now~"
"Yamerooo~!!" Olga's scream echoed across the ship.
No one reacted strongly to the squirrel using Shave. After staying beside White Ghost this long, if you couldn't even manage a move or two, you'd embarrass the captain.
Only Naqin's eyelid twitched. She'd been aboard for days, working hard to understand the Medical-Medical Fruit, and she already knew the crew was strong…
But she didn't expect even that cute little mink squirrel to be strong too.
Not long after, Olga walked back over holding her arm, sulking hard.
Olga took the Pure Gold ring off her hand and tossed it at White Ghost.
"Here. Take it. I don't need it anymore!"
White Ghost caught it and smiled.
"Think carefully. If you really give it to me, it becomes mine. You won't get it back later."
"Don't need it!" Olga snapped. "I've lived for two hundred years and I'm still a kid. I'm sick of it! I want to grow up!"
Ashie nodded.
"Captain, my daughter and I don't need it anymore. We want to live like normal people. I've lived over two hundred years myself—honestly, I've had enough."
"…Alright." White Ghost toyed with the ring in his hand.
Franky, who had just come over, nudged Enel beside him.
"Hey… the boss didn't refute the 'two hundred years old' part just now."
Enel nodded. The others also reacted—one by one they stared at Olga, then at the ring in White Ghost's hand.
White Ghost raised the ring, smiling as he confirmed it.
"Yep. It's exactly what you're thinking."
"PURE GOLD."
"HUH?!!!"
"Boss! You're not joking, right?!" Jango's cigar fell onto the deck.
He remembered that huge chunk the boss had just taken out—no, not gold—Pure Gold!
"I'm not joking." White Ghost grinned.
"You're all people I trust, so I'll say it plainly: this ring, and the big chunk I took from the lanternfish—both are Pure Gold."
"Captain… even if you trust us, I don't trust myself." Señor took a drag of his cigarette.
"I'm afraid I'll talk in my sleep and leak it."
"This thing leaks out… we'll be hunted by the entire sea!"
"Heh, relax." White Ghost chuckled.
"I even know where Pluton's real body is. Compared to that, a little Pure Gold—haha—this is nothing."
"CAPTAIN!" Franky covered his ears.
"Stop saying things like that! Stop! I don't want the entire ocean hunting us!"
White Ghost waved him off.
"Alright. Who wants one?" he asked.
Kuro thought carefully.
"Give it to me when I reach my peak. I still want to keep growing."
Franky and the Skypiea trio stared in shock.
He actually dared to ask?
This was immortality—who wouldn't want it? What if the boss was only being polite?
But the long-timers like Brook and Gordon weren't surprised at all.
Because White Ghost was exactly that kind of person—once he acknowledged you, he treated you like this.
Brook thought about it.
"I'll pass for now. My 'Underworld' ability still hasn't awakened."
"I'll pass too." Gordon shook his head.
"I'll live normally—birth, aging, sickness, death. I'm already luckier than most people."
The others didn't fully understand what he meant, but White Ghost did:
If Gordon's fruit awakened, it might lead to a kind of "endless life."
Pedro also refused.
"Not yet. I'm not at my peak."
The Zou trio shook their heads too. They were already completely convinced by White Ghost—following this man might take the Mink Tribe to heights they'd never imagined.
Dor Squirrelton hesitated at first, then looked down at herself and decided to wait two years.
Because once you wore that, your body stopped growing.
Wasn't that "two-hundred-year-old" kid the perfect example?
As for Inuarashi and Nekomamushi… forget it. In White Ghost's words:
"Guys who like being other people's servants."
To be honest, White Ghost's "brainwashing" was working very well.
The Skypiea trio also refused, using the excuse that they weren't at their limits yet. Besides, only Urk was older among them.
Uta and "Bai Hezi" didn't need to be mentioned—neither of them had finished growing.
Stella accepted one.
Elena accepted one.
Ain accepted one too.
When it came to training, they could always take it off—
And women were always stubborn about staying young and beautiful.
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