Chapter 77

Luo En took a heavy cloth pouch from his bosom and set it on the table.

Xia Qi took it, opened it and looked inside—it was full of gold coins, their total value definitely over two hundred thousand Beri.

Luo En picked up a tall glass goblet from the counter and poured himself a glass. The bubbles in this kind of liquor were indeed several times more numerous than what he had drunk before, and the aroma was far richer.

"Truly fine wine."

Luo En drained it in one gulp, the fragrance lingering on his lips and teeth.

Xia Qi, a cigarette tucked between her fingers and her chin propped on one hand, lay across the bar counter and smiled at him: "I wouldn't have thought such a young lad would know his way around wine. You and my old man would probably get along splendidly."

"Dark King Lei Li, then…"

Luo En said with a smile, glancing at Xia Qi as he poured the wine.

"Is he home today?"

Hearing his words.

Xia Qi gave a slight start, then looked at Luo En, her eyes narrowing just a little.

"It seems the young lad didn't come here just for a drink."

Luo En gazed at the sparkling wine bubbling in the tall glass goblet and said:

"Don't worry, I mean no harm. I'm merely passing through the Sabaody Archipelago, and I happened to know the legendary Dark King Lei Li is here, so I planned to meet him—that's all."

He lifted the goblet, looked at Xia Qi, and smiled:

"Consider the extra money spent on the wine as payment for that piece of information."

Xia Qi looked at him, straightened up, and exhaled a puff of smoke.

"Before I answer you, could you tell me your name first?"

"My name is Luo En."

Hearing the name, Xia Qi rifled through her mind at top speed, searching her memory.

Nothing.

Not a single impression.

Hardly surprising.

The only time Luo En's name had ever spread across the sea was three years ago, and even then only once.

Apart from that, he had never done anything else that would shake the seas.

A photograph was absolutely out of the question.

Even the most outstanding information broker could never connect, on the basis of a single name, that eleven-year-old special-recruit Marine cadet with the unfathomable young man now standing before her eyes.

Xia Qi chose to give up thinking about it.

She took a drag of her cigarette and said to Luo En:

"As for Lei Li, he went to the casino today. He might be back by evening, or he might not return for several days."

Luo En nodded upon hearing this and said to Xia Qi: "I see. Then I'll wait until evening."

"Do you have any more of this wine?"

…………

Luo En's luck was not bad.

Evening.

Lei Li, a bag slung over his back and a bottle in his hand, walked back to the bar drinking as he went.

"Xia Qi, look how much I won today."

Lei Li set the bag in his hand down on the counter and grinned proudly at Xia Qi.

Xia Qi glanced at it and said flatly: "You'll probably lose it all again in a couple of days anyway."

Lei Li—long wavy hair, a beard on his chin, hair and beard both silver, glasses on his face, a vertical scar across his right eye—burst into hearty laughter at her words.

"Haha, maybe."

Luo En looked at him and rose from his seat at the counter.

Lei Li now noticed Luo En as well.

"Hm? A customer?"

"He's here for you."

Xia Qi spoke up.

"Hm? Here for me?"

Lei Li was mildly surprised, then caught on. He burst out laughing at Luo En, who was walking toward him: "I get it—here to have me coat your ship?"

"No, Dark King Lei Li."

Luo En's figure flashed, crossing several meters in an instant, and appeared before Lei Li.

The sight made Xia Qi's pupils contract slightly, and Lei Li, his face full of drunken tipsiness, also narrowed his eyes.

Luo En, his hands tucked into the pockets of his army-green trench coat, raised a pair of sharp eyes and stared straight at the Dark King Lei Li before him, his expression calm as he said: "I've come to challenge you."

"Challenge me?"

Lei Li was stunned for a moment, then burst out laughing: "Now that's a line I haven't heard in a long time."

He looked at the black-haired youth before him, his eyes narrowing behind his glasses.

In an instant.

Luo En felt a tremendous, astonishing pressure and aura emanate from the old man before him, bearing down on his shoulders like a mountain.

It was not Conqueror's Haki.

It was simply pure—the spirit of a powerhouse…

Luo En narrowed his eyes, and a flash of red light glinted deep within his pitch-black pupils.

In an instant, his full head of black hair stirred without any wind, and an equally astonishing aura radiated from his body.

The two auras collided, and blasts of fierce wind surged outward in every direction like ocean waves!

A flicker of surprise passed through Lei Li's eyes.

This kid…

"Both of you, stop."

Xia Qi's irritated voice reached both their ears. "If you want to fight, take it outside. Don't wreck my shop!"

The two of them dispersed that aura almost simultaneously.

The tavern, which a moment ago had been like a stormy sea of raging winds, instantly became calm and still again.

"Follow me."

Lei Li stared at the Luo En before him, said those words, then walked out of the tavern first.

Luo En looked around. Some things had been blown over by the collision of their auras, and some liquor had fallen and shattered to pieces.

Luo En scratched his cheek with a finger.

Then he walked to the bar counter, set down a heavy cloth pouch on it, and said apologetically to Xia Qi:

"Sorry, let these count as my compensation."

Xia Qi's gaze toward him shifted slightly, as if a little surprised.

She had just been about to say something.

Luo En had already pushed open the door and walked out of the tavern.

69, Luo En versus Lei Li — a pure clash of destructive power! (6/8 begging for subscriptions!!)

Lei Li, draped in an old, worn white coat, stood on the open ground outside the tavern, staring at the Luo En before him, and said:

"Kid, state your name."

"Luo En."

Lei Li had no impression of that name either, but after the collision of their auras just now, he knew one thing.

The black-haired youth before him, who looked to be only about fourteen or fifteen, possessed an astonishing strength that didn't match his age!

"What you used just now was Soru from the Navy's Six Powers, right? What's your relationship with the Navy? Why do you want to challenge me?"

Lei Li's eyes beneath his glasses fixed on Luo En as he spoke.

"No real relationship. I was just a trainee in the Navy for a few years."

Luo En looked at him and smiled. "As for the reason I want to challenge you, Mr. Lei Li… you could say it was just something to do along the way, or you could say I wanted to test my current strength."

Lei Li laughed at his words.

"Testing your strength, huh… interesting."