In One Piece, as Hashirama Senju

[84] The Blackcliff Slasher (3)

Chapter 83: The Blackcliff Slasher (3)

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"Hey, so about that book. You don't happen to have the next par-"

"Can you not talk to me? I feel weary."

"Oh."

Robin was apparently quite salty after waking up and seeing him kissing Vivi first thing in the morning. It was less of a case of jealousy, and more a case of realization, as she had come to re-realize what sort of whore-like man Hashirama was.

So she decided to lower interaction with him for the sake of her mental health and physical safety.

"How rude..."

Hashirama shook his head and muttered under his breath. Robin quickly walked to increase the distance between him and her, and before he knew it he was a few meters behind everyone.

Not even Karoo was with him. That duck was acting weird around him since this morning, and only let Vivi ride her back. Karoo carried Vivi and was at the front of the group, walking by the side of Nami, Mikita, and Robin.

The one closest to Hashirama was the allied pirate, Captain Beidou. She was a few steps behind the others, and a few steps ahead of him; when she noticed he was walking alone, she slowed down and let him catch up to her.

"Oh hey, Mid Mom."

"The first thing you do is call me names even though I just decided to walk with you?"

"My bad."

Hashirama didn't look troubled by the whole situation. He casually strolled the forest as if nothing was wrong, with his hands behind his head and eyes sharp.

Beidou sighed and shook her head, coming to accept that he couldn't be helped.

"How old are you?"

He suddenly asked, his eyes that were previously moving now focused on her face. That made her frown a little.

Beidou wasn't the typical girl who hated being asked her age, that always seemed stupid to her, but it still felt weird when a weirdo like him was asking her about it. So she decided to not mention the exact number of 25.

"I'm in my mid-twenties."

"Ah, mid-twenties? That makes sense."

"..."

Beidou held back the urge to smack him and tried to change the subject.

"Anyhow, I have a question. Yesterday, you created a clone. Can't you do that more than once? I am sure numbers will help with the search if you send them in different directions."

"Hm? Life is not a race, sweetie. Take it slow, enjoy the scenery. Make the most out of every moment along the way. Why rush it?"

Beidou paused, nearly captivated by his words, before she shook herself out of it. While he kind of had a point, this was a desperate situation.

"Because something important was lost. If those bandits died to some monster, then who knows if we'd ever find that thing on our own."

"Oh."

Hashirama stopped walking, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Why not mention important things from the beginning? How careless."

Beidou blinked after hearing that. So he was going to listen?

"Ah, I..."

"Never mind that. Describe something for me to recognize the bandits by. This place has quite a lot of humans, actually, whom all got stuck over the years. So tell me something that'd help me recognize the bandits."