Chapter 289

From now on, whenever I'm free I'll give every member of the Straw Hat crew a Love Iron Fist one by one,

crafting a unified look where everyone takes the fall!

Tch, I can already picture it!

And upon hearing these words from Li Xiao,

Luffy, who had been furiously about to blow his top, instantly deflated,

and could only resentfully kick a stone at his feet flying,

cursing angrily:

"Aaaah! That stinky old man!"

Li Xiao didn't bother with Luffy any longer,

but instead turned his head to look at Luo Bin beside him.

Because Luo Bin is a Flower-Flower Fruit ability user,

her fighting style leans toward long-range attacks,

and added to that, her current strength is also considered relatively powerful among the Straw Hat Pirates,

therefore,

in the battle against the Blackbeard Pirates just now,

she was actually the one who got injured the least!

At this moment,

the look of shock in Luo Bin's eyes had yet to fade!

Back in Alabasta,

she had personally witnessed that battle between Li Xiao and Crocodile deep in the desert!

In that battle,

the strength Li Xiao displayed kept refreshing her understanding!

If Li Xiao hadn't held back,

Crocodile would have died right there in the depths of the desert!

However,

it had only been a short while since they parted,

and Luo Bin could clearly sense

that the man before her had grown even stronger!

And not just a little stronger,

but a leap in level of strength growth!

This rate of strength improvement

was simply unheard of,

nothing short of terrifying!

Seeing Li Xiao looking at her,

Luo Bin came back to her senses,

and proactively greeted Li Xiao,

saying softly:

"We meet again!"

"Yeah, it's been a while!"

"But, what a pity, Luffy's ship already has a cook, so this time there's no need for you to cook!"

"Sigh, having two cooks on one ship is really extravagant waste!"

Hearing the first thing Li Xiao said after their reunion,

Luo Bin couldn't help but twitch at the corner of her eye!

Back when traveling from Luo Ge Town to Alabasta,

Luo Bin had been in charge of all the meals along the way!

But,

that was just a temporary fill-in, alright!

They really took her for a kitchen maid!

She was a proper, bona fide archaeologist!

The kind who had earned a scholar's certificate as a child!

Stop looking down on people!

Luo Bin rolled her eyes at Li Xiao,

and didn't pick up that thread,

but instead asked another question!

"Back in Alabasta, did you already anticipate that Luffy and the others would come?"

"And you also anticipated that Crocodile would be defeated by Luffy?"

Regarding those additional words Li Xiao had said before leaving,

Luo Bin hadn't paid them any mind at first!

Until the Straw Hat crew appeared,

she began to notice Nami among them!

Later, when Luffy defeated Crocodile,

she couldn't help but mull over Li Xiao's earlier words again,

feeling they were brimming with hidden meaning,

as if he had long foreseen how things would unfold!

"Mm, more or less…"

At this,

Li Xiao merely smiled,

giving a deliberately vague answer!

After all,

he couldn't exactly say he'd read the script, could he?

However,

Robin's words reminded him of something,

so he immediately turned to look at Nami beside him,

and asked:

"Oh right, Nami, did you get that eight hundred million Berries?"

Hearing this,

Nami couldn't help but be taken aback,

asking with a face full of confusion:

"Eight hundred million Berries? What eight hundred million Berries?"

Faced with Li Xiao's sudden question,

for a moment she couldn't quite react!

Seeing this,

Robin at the side spoke up to remind her:

"It's the eight hundred million Berries that Crocodile mentioned to you back in Alubarna, the capital of Alabasta!"

At these words,

Nami suddenly realized,

and immediately remembered,

saying to Li Xiao:

"Oh~~ that one! I already left all that eight hundred million Berries with Vivi!"

"Wasn't that the assets of Crocodile's casino? It belonged to that country in the first place!"