Pirates: Invincible from the start

Creak!

A piercing scream sounded in the quiet alley.

Kota and Kuina stood outside the only tavern in the town, gently pushed open the particularly old wooden door, and walked in.

There was no customer in the dim tavern, and it seemed very quiet. All you could see was a wisp of green smoke rising from behind the dark bar, and a few sparks behind the green smoke.

When you get closer, you will see that it was an old man with a big beard, lying on a recliner behind the bar, puffing out smoke!

The old man didn't move at all when he heard the door open.

He had run a tavern on Prosius Island for his entire life, and he had decided not to run it after this year.

After all, he was old, and his son would not inherit his tavern.

The old man squinted his eyes and smoked comfortably, just like the landlord's master lying on the bed smoking opium.

It was not until Kota sat on the high stool outside the bar that he opened his eyes slightly and glanced at it gently.

Boom!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Boom!!

……

Kota's fingers tapped rhythmically on the bar.

He lowered his head and looked at the old man in the bar through the smoke.

The old man looked like he had a lot of stories to tell. He couldn't hide the aura of time that emanated from his body.

""Uncle, it's broad daylight and there are no customers in the store, why don't you go outside to bask in the sun? Be careful not to sit in the dark for too long, or you'll get moldy!"

The old man stood up slowly with a pipe in his mouth, and looked at Kota and the other man through the mottled light and shadow coming in from the window.

When he saw Kota's appearance clearly, he was suddenly stunned.

Then, as if he hadn't noticed anything, he blew out smoke rings and said,"I'm almost old, it doesn't matter whether I bask in the sun or not. But you young people are amazing."

"Hmm! So you know us, uncle!"

Guina noticed the message in the uncle's words, and a puzzled look appeared on her face. She looked at the old man and asked

"do not know"

"You really don't know them?"

Kuina stared at the old man closely. The old man's words just now clearly meant that he knew them.

The old man did not answer Kuina.

He first exhaled a large puff of smoke, took the pipe with his left hand, knocked it on the bar counter, and knocked out the ash in the pipe.

Then he continued to hold the pipe in his mouth, took out the tobacco, stuffed it into the pipe, and relit the cigarette.

Only then did he raise his head, looked at Kuina and slowly spoke,"The navy who came this morning seemed to have talked about you."

"navy?"

""Look! This is what they left behind!"

The old man took out two wanted posters from nowhere and put them on the bar.

Kuina quickly took them and read them.

"Sorata, we are both wanted!"

""Oh!"

Kota replied indifferently.

Obviously he was not interested in the bounty order. Instead, he was more interested in the old man in front of him.

He stared at the old man, and asked with a deliberately gloomy face:"Uncle, since you know us, aren't you afraid?"

"Do you know him?"

The old man smoked a cigarette, squinted his eyes, and looked at Kong Tai in confusion.

"Do I know you guys?"

Kota stared at him for a while, then a smile appeared on his face."Yes, you don't know us, how could you know us!"

"What a clever old man."

It was obvious that this old man was a master at playing dumb.

He clearly knew Kota and the other guy, but he pretended not to know them because he didn't want to cause trouble for himself.

"Oh yeah, uncle"

"I wonder how far it is from here to 'Rogue Town'."

Kota looked at the old man and asked.

Their main route was to go to Rogue Town, and then go to the"Grand Route" through the artificial canal on the Upside-Down Mountain.

If they hadn't gone to Kokosia Village, they should have been on the"Grand Route" by now.

"Rogue Town?"

"There is only about one day's journey left!"

"A day's flight?"

Kota's eyes showed excitement.

"So they will be able to go to the Grand Line soon."

The East China Sea is a bit too boring for them, there is no challenge at all.

Looking at Kota's expression, the old man asked slowly

"So you're heading to the Grand Line?"

"Um!"

"It's not that easy to get there."

A trace of reminiscence flashed in the old man's eyes.

"Oh... It seems that you have been to the Grand Line, uncle?"

Kota knew from the beginning that the old man had a story, and now the story came.

A curious look appeared on his face, and he asked quickly:"Can you tell us about your experience on the Grand Line?"

The old man took off his pipe, shook off the ashes, then took a deep breath and slowly said

"Old man, I have never been to the Grand Line!"

"When I was young, I wanted to go to the Grand Line, but when I was at the Upside Down Mountain, I didn't get on the artificial canal there, and the boat was destroyed and everyone died."

"If I hadn't been lucky enough to be rescued by the lighthouse keeper at Upside Down Mountain, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to come back."

The old man's hand trembled as he smoked.

It seems that the experience still scares him.

"Is it so scary?"

Upon hearing this, a trace of surprise flashed across Kota's face.

"Hmm! It's scary."

The old man took a puff of his cigarette and continued,"There are countless ships heading for the Grand Line every year, but only half of them can finally reach the Grand Line!"

"The currents of Upside Down Mountain are not something that ordinary ships can cross, and the entrance to the artificial canal is very narrow. Without a good navigator, it is impossible to enter."

""Oh!"

Kota shrugged indifferently, and immediately lost interest in the old man's experience.

He was only interested in the Grand Line.

As for Upside Down Mountain.

For them, it was just like going to an amusement park to ride a roller coaster.

Seeing Kota's indifferent attitude towards his experience and Upside Down Mountain, the old man lost the desire to continue talking.

Upside Down Mountain is the road to hell for ordinary people.

For the big pirate in front of him with a bounty of 70 million, it might just be a small waterway!

He picked up the wine glass, wiped it, poured a glass of juice for Kuina, and poured a glass of wine for Kota.

The old man has been running a tavern for so many years, and he can tell who can drink and who can't at a glance

""Thank you, sir."

Kuina took the juice and thanked him.

He really didn't like alcohol.

But Kota was different.

He picked up the wine glass, took a small sip, nodded first, then shook his head.

The old man saw Kota's actions and asked curiously:"Boy, what's wrong?"

"The wine is good, but not strong enough"

"strong?"

"Um!"

"I don't like drinking wine with a low alcohol content, it tastes bland."

"Oh! Is that so?"

The old man asked, holding his pipe in his left hand and staring at Kota with narrowed eyes.

"Oh! By the way, you guys came to my shabby pub, you didn’t come here to chat with an old man like me, did you?"

"Of course not!"

Korata took out his wine gourd, put it on the bar, pushed it in front of the old man and said with a smile

"We are just here to have a drink. Could you please fill me up with the best and strongest liquor you have?"

"Fill it up?"

The old man took the wine gourd and weighed it in his hand.

"The best wine is not cheap to fill!"

"Don't worry, I have plenty of money."

Sora waved his hand at him.

"That's right, how could you be short of money?"

The old man shook his head, first he suddenly realized something, then he returned to his confused look.

I am just an old man who will be buried in the ground, I don't know anything.

He took the gourd and put it on the bar, and fumbled to take out a small jar from the cabinet under the wine cabinet at the back.

It can be seen that this wine jar has not been touched for a long time, and the cork on it and the upper part of the wine bottle are covered with a thin layer of dust.

The old man picked up the tablecloth to wipe the dust and introduced:"This wine! Only this small jar can be brewed every year."

"So you brewed it yourself!"

Sorata asked when he saw that there was no label on the jar.

"I used to brew"

"before?"

"Yes, it was in the past. Now I am old and can only look after the bar. As for the winemaking work, it has long been handed over to my son."

After the old man finished wiping, he gently pulled out the cork, and a strong aroma of wine came to his nose.

Smelling the aroma of wine, Kota stopped talking, his eyes were fixed on the wine jar in the old man's hand.

"No wonder only such a small jar can be brewed in a year. Just by smelling the aroma, you know it must be good wine."

The old man put down his pipe, took out a funnel from the back, and inserted it into the mouth of the wine gourd.

Then he raised the wine jar high.

A stream of green, transparent amber-like wine poured down from the wine jar and slowly flowed into the wine gourd.

Kota looked at the wine that seemed to be shining with green light and swallowed his saliva involuntarily.

He had never seen such beautiful wine.

After pouring out the wine in the wine jar, the old man turned around and put the empty wine jar on the wine cabinet at the back.

Then he turned around, took the stopper of the wine gourd, plugged it, and pushed the gourd in front of Kota.

""Guest, your wine."

Then the old man picked up his pipe again, leaned on the bar and smoked.

Kota took the wine gourd in front of him and shook it.

Hmm! It was exactly full.

He hung the wine gourd back on his waist, looked at the old man and smiled:"Uncle, since the wine is ready, why don't you tell me the price!"

The old man pondered for a while before speaking:"My wine price is……"

"Get out of here as soon as possible!"

"Um?"