One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 37 The Key

As Shanks said, Moko's wine is very delicious, with a smooth and mellow taste, rich fruity aroma, and a long finish that leaves you wanting more.

Shanks had barely sat down when he finished most of the pot of wine. A pleasant and refreshing feeling enveloped him, and as if he were thinking of something, a hint of nostalgia appeared in his eyes.

"Speaking of which, the Jasmine Wine that has recently become popular in the East China Sea seems to be this kind of wine, but compared to that, Miss Moko's wine is still better."

Yasopp looked as if he had finally remembered, glancing at the sloshing liquid in the flask in his hand, and then turned to look at Beckman.

"You agree, right, Beckman?"

"Ah."

Beckman nodded slightly, continuing to drink. He hadn't expected this slender girl to have such excellent brewing skills. It was indeed quite different from the wine he usually drank. If this wine were sold, it would definitely make a fortune. No longer participating in the others' idle chatter, Beckman's mind was already considering the possibility of making money by brewing wine. After all, pirates also have expenses, not to mention that his captain was a person who loved to throw parties.

(Beckman: It's hard to support a family (′?皿?｀) )

What are you saying?

A voice, as soft as ever, came from inside the house. Moko led Uta, who had changed into clean clothes, out of the house. Upon seeing Uta, someone couldn't help but whistle.

Moko styled Uta's hair into a princess hairstyle again, with a light blue ribbon tied into a large bow. Paired with a blue dress, Uta looked exactly like a little princess.

"Oh, Uta is so cute, no wonder she's our fashionable songstress."

Shanks wore a nonchalant smile, his eyes involuntarily falling on the two holding hands. He knew no one would dislike Moko-chan; his little Moko deserved everyone's love.

"My sister did my makeup, isn't it beautiful?"

Uta spun around as if showing off, her face beaming with undisguised joy. Moko walked to Shanks' side, and Shanks naturally took her hand and helped her sit down on the chair next to him.

"Haha, Uta actually likes Moko-chan that much?"

"I've always liked my sister. Humph, I'm going to find Luffy."

Uta pouted, her face slightly flushed. She would never admit to Shanks' teasing words. It wasn't that she disliked Moko; she was just afraid that Shanks would stop liking her in the future. But that was clearly not the case. Now there was another person who loved her, and a super gentle and beautiful older sister, just like the angel in her dreams.

Compared to the girls who love to dress up, the three little ones had already changed their clothes and played at the banquet for half a day. At this moment, they were sitting by the campfire eating roasted meat. Uta, who was trying to avoid Shanks' gaze, saw them at a glance and walked over directly. It looked like she had been caught out and was running away in a panic.

"We've become very good friends."

Seeing the four little ones making a ruckus, Moko's expression softened. Shanks smiled and picked up a piece of roasted meat, feeding it to Moko's mouth. Childhood habits are hard to break, especially when your nerves, which have been tense for a long time, suddenly relax. Before Moko could react, she had already opened her mouth and eaten the roasted meat that was fed to her. The whole process was quite natural. Moko didn't even notice anything wrong when she ate the second piece of roasted meat.

Others just thought it was their unique way of getting along and didn't think there was anything wrong with it. Mainly, the way they fed each other was too natural, it didn't seem like something that could be learned in a day or two.

"By the way, what were you guys talking about just now? I think I heard Jasmine."

"That means Jasmine's wine is very similar to yours, but Jasmine's wine is still better."

Shanks offered a succinct summary, and even fed Moko some vegetables. Moko blinked, swallowed the food in her mouth, and then uttered something surprising.

"It's mine."

"?"

Seeing that everyone seemed not to understand, Moko spoke again, her tone calm.

"Jasmine is my shop, and I provided the brewing method, so the taste of the wine is very similar."

"!!!"

Jasmine, jasmine! Now everyone finally realized, could this name refer to Miss Jasmine and their own captain?

"Shanks, you own a brewery, don't you?"

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

Shanks naturally understood the meaning of Jasmine's name, and he couldn't suppress the smile on his face. His little Jasmine had been trying to tell him where she was. He was such an idiot for only realizing it so late. Thinking of this, Shanks felt extremely annoyed. If he could have returned from the New World sooner, if he could have realized it sooner, Jasmine wouldn't have waited for him for so long.

"Then I'll write down the brewing method, so Shanks and the others can brew their own wine. Wine is very expensive, but brewing your own wine will not only reduce expenses, but you can also sell it to other people."

Moko smiled and squeezed Shanks's hand. When Shanks came to his senses, he saw the tenderness in Moko's eyes. This was Moko's unique way of comforting people. Her clear and bright eyes said it all. As long as you looked into those eyes, whether you were sad or angry, your emotions would be soothed.

Shanks looked at Moko with a helpless yet indulgent expression, and tightened his grip on Moko's hand.

Beckman paid no attention to their little interaction, his mind was full of what Moko had just said. After weighing the pros and cons, Beckman looked up at Moko.

"Miss Moko, if you give us the brewing method, won't that affect the jasmine flavor?"

"Mr. Beckman, what do you think is the difference between the wine you're drinking now and the wine at Jasmine Shop?"

Moko didn't rush to answer Beckman's question, but instead started asking other questions. Beckman was slightly taken aback, then thought for a moment and stroked his chin.

"It tastes richer and more aromatic than the wine in the store. It shouldn't taste like this if it's made using the same brewing method."

"Because the sealing time is different."

"Sealing time?"

"Yes, because Jasmine needs to accumulate capital quickly, the wines it sells are only aged for a few months, so the flavor changes much less. The wines you drink now are almost all aged for more than five years, so the flavor is naturally more mellow."

Upon hearing Moko's explanation, Beckman seemed to understand something, a glint of light flashing in his eyes as he looked directly at Moko.

"If I understand correctly, Miss Moko, are you planning to cooperate with us?"

Moko nodded. "Well, your original base should be in the New World, right? So, are you interested in Moko Wine Shop?"

How could he not be interested? Beckman was absolutely intrigued. He glanced at Shanks, who was focused on feeding Moko, and smiled helplessly. No wonder his captain didn't treat Pele as Pele; it turned out that Miss Moko was incredibly good at making Pele, huh?

"Ms. Moko, please make sure we discuss the cooperation in detail tomorrow."

"it is good."

Shanks didn't interrupt their conversation at all. Beckman was in charge of the ship's affairs anyway, as long as there was wine to drink at the end.

Moko is too thin. All Shanks is thinking about now is how to fatten her up. When has his little Moko, whom he has carefully raised since she was a child, ever been so thin? It's obvious that Moko hasn't been eating properly all these years. When Moko talks about the past, she always glosses over the bad things she has experienced. Shanks can't imagine, and doesn't dare to imagine, the pain she has endured. He will never let his little Moko relive those bad memories. Time can't heal everything, but he will dedicate his life to healing that scar.

It's unclear what Uta and the three little ones talked about, but Uta stood on the wooden platform and cleared her throat, seemingly preparing to start singing. The people around her also made way for her, which greatly piqued Moko's interest.

Moko was hearing Uta sing for the first time. Her angelic voice filled the air, captivating everyone. In Moko's vision, Uta's body emitted specks of colorful light. Unlike her overt aura of dominance, this was a leakage of power due to not fully controlling it. Everyone's power color is different, and generally, it's not a big problem. Almost everyone experiences this, and it will stop happening once you use it more.

After a few songs, Uta on the wooden platform had fallen asleep at some point. Looking around, only a few people were awake, such as Beckman and his group near Shanks, while Moko was completely unaffected.

Upon noticing this, Moko blinked. The ability to drag people into dreams—a Devil Fruit?

"Shanks, did Uta-chan eat a Devil Fruit?"

"Yes, when we found Uta, there was a gnawed Devil Fruit next to her, which looked like the Song-Song Fruit."

"Song-Song Fruit?"

Moko frowned. Regarding the ability to control minds, if she remembered correctly, the Song-Song Fruit was described as a key in one of the Poneglyphs.

"What's wrong, Moko-chan?"

"Shanks, do you remember? The Song-Song Fruit is the key to unlocking something somewhere."

After Moko mentioned it, Shanks also remembered the Poneglyph he had seen on an island before. He hadn't thought about it all these years because he was looking for Moko and doing other things.

"Keys? What keys, boss?"

Lachiru took a bite of the meat in his hand, paired with Moko's special dipping sauce, and the taste was simply amazing. Lachiru was already planning to ask Moko for some recipes. Every dish Moko made was a delicacy he had never tasted before, and the seasoning was also very unique. In order to satisfy the cravings of the crew on the ship in the future, he would have to learn more.

"Hiss, a key that can release all sorts of weird things."

"what?"

Everyone looked bewildered. Beckman lowered his eyes and took a sip of his drink. The fact that their captain was still in the mood to joke meant that things hadn't gotten to the point of no return. As for preventative measures, he probably already had them in mind.

The people who had fallen asleep because of Uta's singing were suddenly awakened. The people on Shanks' ship were already used to it, but the three little ones and Dadan's family were still a little confused and didn't understand what was going on. They looked around in bewilderment.

Of course, this situation did not affect everyone's mood for the banquet, and the atmosphere of the banquet quickly became lively again. When Shanks fed her again, Moko shook her head. Moko ate very little to begin with, and if Shanks hadn't been feeding her all day, she wouldn't have been able to eat so much at all.

Seeing this, a hint of gloom flashed across Shanks' eyes, but when Moko looked over, he resumed his carefree smile.

"You guys have fun, I'm taking Moko-chan and Uta back to rest."

Shanks finished the rest of the wine in the jug in one gulp, got up and picked up Uta, who was sleeping on the wooden platform, while Moko walked over to the three little ones and rubbed their heads.

"Ace, don't stay out too late. I'll take Uta back to rest first."

"Yes, don't worry, sister."

Ace nodded, and then saw Moko leading Shanks, who was carrying Uta, back into the house. Although he was quite upset that the man who suddenly appeared had taken away his sister, it was the first time he had ever seen his sister so happy. Despite not wanting to admit it, the fact was that his sister seemed to be deeply in love with this strange red-haired man.

"It's so annoying! I went out for a while and came back with a completely unreliable brother-in-law. Who understands this?!" Ace said dejectedly, picking up the fruit wine next to him and gulping it down. Sabo patted Ace's shoulder helplessly, deeply agreeing. He understood; coming home to find a brother-in-law was truly unpleasant.

The two little ones sighed deeply, while Luffy happily stuffed meat into his mouth. He was so small that he didn't even know where the meat he ate went. He was so carefree that he didn't realize he had gained a brother-in-law, a brother-in-law who had come specifically to steal his sister away.