radicalducati 5. Bad luck
5. Bad luck
"Bad luck?"
Upon hearing the pirates' shouts, Norton paused slightly and looked at Sanosuke.
The incident happened suddenly, but Sanosuke remained remarkably calm, as if such unexpected events had occurred frequently in his past life.
Noticing Norton's gaze, Sanosuke slowly spoke: "As you can see, Captain, this is my innate bad luck."
"In the past 20 years, I have had eight different masters, but they all died in the end. Redbeard was the eighth, and you are the ninth."
Nami, steadyed by Norton's support, peeked out, her cheeks still flushed: "You mean the ship ran aground because of you?"
"That's right." Sanosuke nodded.
"That's interesting." Norton grinned. "So why does Redbeard still keep you around?"
Before Sanosuke could speak, a pirate next to Norton answered his question: "Ever since Sanosuke joined the pirate crew, everything has gone wrong for us. Everyone says that this bad luck is brought on by Sanosuke."
"But because Captain Redbeard couldn't bear to part with Sanosuke's fighting prowess, Sanosuke has remained on the ship. Sanosuke is even stronger than Captain Redbeard."
"If Sasuke is stronger than Redbeard, why does he still serve as Redbeard's subordinate?" Nami asked.
"I don't know about that." The pirate scratched his head.
Norton looked at Sanosuke upon hearing this: "Tell me your story."
Sasuke was surprised that Norton was still in the mood to listen to stories even in this situation.
Running aground means the ship will be stranded at sea, facing certain death without rescue. The only option is to escape in a small boat, but how many people can a small boat carry?
With so many people on board, the supplies won't last long.
"We should have brought our ship too!" one of the pirates complained.
But it was no use saying anything more. The Redbeard Pirates' ship had long been abandoned at sea. Norton disliked the ship because it was smelly and dirty, and didn't want it.
"What do we do now?" The nobles and ladies were a little flustered.
"Wait a minute, I've already sent the boatmen to check the situation," the Duke said.
This ship is a luxury cruise ship, equipped with professional maintenance personnel. The wealthy always put their safety first; they haven't had enough of enjoying life yet.
In an instant, everyone's attention was focused on Sanosuke, and no one was not curious about the past experiences of this unlucky guy.
There's nothing else to do now but wait for the boatmen to finish their inspection. Listening to a story wouldn't be bad either.
Sanosuke spoke softly, "The country I was born in is a 'non-member state,' and as far back as I can remember, good fortune has never been on my side."
"My father died in the war when I was very young, and my mother was kidnapped by human traffickers after that because she had no one to protect her."
"The villagers say that misfortune has plagued the village since I was born. Everyone wants to drive me out of the village."
"Later, I was taken in by an old ninja in the village. That old ninja was my father's teacher, and also my teacher."
"My teacher told me that in order to change my fate, I need to find a master with strong enough luck to suppress my bad luck."
"So I went out to sea, traveled to many islands, and searched for many servants, but the bad luck continued."
Everyone looked puzzled. Non-member states, which are not under the protection of the World Government, are not required to pay "Heavenly Gold" to the World Government, nor do they receive protection from the Navy.
Norton, being a time traveler, knew more. Those non-member states not only received no protection, but were also seen as hunting grounds by the Celestial Dragons.
Because of the lack of jurisdiction, these areas almost always become lawless zones where pirates and human traffickers run rampant.
"Didn't you ever suspect that the old ninja was lying to you? Maybe he was just using it as an excuse to trick you into leaving the village and taking the bad luck with you," the Duke said.
Sanosuke's gaze turned cold, revealing murderous intent: "Impossible! My teacher said that many years ago there was someone with the same fate as me, who was known as a jinx, but later joined the ranks of a wise king, and his bad luck was suppressed."
The Duke frowned: "You mean the legendary 'King Edward'?"
"You know?" Sanosuke looked at the Duke.
"Of course, this is a famous fable," the Duke sneered. "Do you know the ending of 'King Edward'? He was overthrown by the Queen and her lover, and ended up in a miserable prison."
"Legend has it that he was punished in prison by having a red-hot iron bar inserted into his anus, burning his internal organs to death!"
"Everyone says it's all because of that jinx's bad luck! That jinx's bad luck has transferred to King Edward!"
Nami turned pale upon hearing this; her death was truly horrific.
Upon hearing this, Sanosuke was incredulous, feeling as if his entire world had collapsed.
"It seems you weren't very good at choosing a master in the past, but thankfully you've met me." Norton smiled. "It seems I'm the one destined to suppress your bad luck."
"Aren't you afraid of getting my bad luck?" Sanosuke looked at Norton, his eyes filled with anticipation.
"I like challenges. If I can suppress your bad luck, doesn't that prove that I'm destined to become a wise king?" Norton said with a smile.
His dream was to become a great king, and that was something he was interested in.
Sanosuke was speechless.
Nami raised an eyebrow. Was this man's brain circuitry really that strange?
Norton even felt a desire to conquer things that normal people would avoid at all costs.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, and everyone swayed, unable to stand steadily.
The boat, stuck on the reef, seemed to be lifted up by something!
"Sea Kings! It's a Sea King!" someone exclaimed.
The vessel was supported by a giant flat shark, entirely red, so that all the people peering down from the bulwark could see was a patch of red skin.
This sea monster was so enormous that a huge travel ship only occupied one-tenth of its back, and when it surfaced, the surrounding sea was covered by its red skin.
"It must be at least 500 meters long! How could such a huge sea monster appear in the East China Sea?"
Marine life is a collective term for all higher animals that live in the sea except for mammals. They are distributed in all seas around the world, but most live in the calm zone and the deep sea.
Because of its unusual appearance and enormous size, surpassing that of ordinary sea creatures, it is like the king of the ocean, hence its name. It is the creature that seafarers fear most when they encounter it in the ocean.
Sea Kings living in the four seas and the Grand Line are relatively small, and they rarely encounter Sea Kings that are over 100 meters long.
Not to mention sea monsters that are 500 meters long.
"Bad luck! It must be because of Sanosuke's bad luck!"
At that moment, everyone felt that way.
"Your Grace, there's a huge hole in the hull, it's beyond repair, and it's leaking badly!" The shipwright finally arrived, wiping his sweat, and belatedly emerged from the cabin. "What happened? Why is it rocking so much?"
The Duke pointed to the enormous sea monster at the bottom of the ship, and the shipwright slowly opened his mouth wide.
That reef was conspicuously growing on the head of a sea monster.