"Oh, so you're the ones Granny Kokoro recommended to have your ship repaired. Alright, I understand."
As Xiaohu approached Kaku, he heard those words. So these were customers here for repairs. Seeing Kaku start doing leg stretches, Xiaohu asked, "Kaku, are you going to check out the customers' ship? I'll go with you."
"Are you also a shipwright with Galley-La? You're so young?" the orange-haired girl asked in surprise.
Xiaohu looked at the girl. "Aren't you pretty young yourself? I don't suppose any of you are very old, yet you already own your own ship. Besides, looking at those heavy cases you're carrying, there must be a lot of money in there. To be walking down the street flashing cash like that without even worrying about getting robbed—you must have some nerve."
"Hehe, not at all, not at all." The three people opposite him all subconsciously reached up to scratch the right sides of their heads with shy expressions. Just then, Wooden Bird, which had flown out to look for materials, flew back and landed on Xiaohu's shoulder.
"Ah! Nami, it's that Wooden Bird that stole our stone earlier!" the straw-hat-wearing man shouted, pointing at the Wooden Bird.
"Hm? What?" Xiaohu looked at the Wooden Bird and sure enough, saw a white stone clamped in its beak. Looking closer, a flash of inspiration hit him. Could this actually be a Spirit Stone?
"Hey, is this Wooden Bird yours? How can it just go around stealing our things?" the orange-haired girl Nami said angrily.
"I'm sorry, this Wooden Bird is indeed mine. It's not very smart; it only knows how to collect things for me. This stone is very important to me. If you're willing to part with it, I'm willing to trade something for it." Xiaohu took down the Spirit Stone, feeling that the spiritual energy content inside was quite high. He hadn't expected to encounter a Spirit Stone here of all places.
"We were actually at the exchange house preparing to trade all our treasure for Berries when this Wooden Bird suddenly flew right in and snatched this stone—this gem—without even saying a glance or a word. We ended up getting... fifty million fewer Berries!" Nami's eyes rolled as she quoted the price of the Spirit Stone.
"Fifty million?" Kaku, the Straw Hat Boy, and the man with the long nose like Kaku exclaimed in shock.
"That's not a bad price at all," Xiaohu nodded.
Kaku couldn't help chiming in: "Xiaohu, you might want to think about this again."
Kaku glanced across at the other side, where the Straw Hat Boy and the long-nosed man were currently having their mouths covered by Nami. "Luffy, Usopp, don't you guys say a word!"
Xiaohu didn't think too much of it, pulling five paper talismans from his robes. "These are high-grade Five-Element Talismans, worth ten million each. I'll trade these with you."
Nami's smile froze. "Just these five pieces of paper are worth fifty million? Are you kidding me?"
Without explaining, Xiaohu flicked a Wind Talisman outward. In an instant, a violent hurricane whipped up, lifting a ship docked at the harbor straight into the air.
The Straw Hat Pirates stared blankly as the ship rose into the sky, spinning around dozens of times in mid-air before crashing down in a shower of splintered wooden planks.
"Ah, that ship belonged to those thirty-six-million-Berry pirates from earlier. They couldn't afford the repair fees anyway, so there's no need to return it to them, right?" Xiaohu looked at Kaku.
Kaku said with a strange expression, "Indeed, there's no need."
"Thirty-six-million-Berry pirates?!" the long-nosed man Usopp stammered, trembling.
"That's right. It only took me three talismans to deal with their pirate crew. Well? Do we have a deal?"
"Deal!" Nami snapped back to her senses and hastily snatched the talismans Xiaohu was holding out. "Do I just throw these things out?"
"You don't have True Qi, so just use a fire to ignite them. Then keep your target in mind, and they'll appear right where they need to be."
"Great! Can all of these summon a hurricane like that?"
"Not quite. These five can respectively summon Mount Tai Pressing Down, Wind and Snow Freezing Heaven, Purgatory Sea of Flames, Heavenly Lightning Empty Breach, and the Rolling Windstorm you just saw."
"R-really that powerful?" If these talismans weren't worth ten million each, Nami would have really wanted to test one out right then and there.
"By the way, could you tell me if you have any more stones like this?"
Straw Hat Boy Luffy opened his mouth to speak, but Nami immediately covered his mouth. "We found this after going through untold hardships on Skypiea, and this is the only one left."
Xiaohu nodded. "True. I've been in Water 7 for so long, and yours is the only place I've found a Spirit Stone. It seems Spirit Stones are a scarce resource no matter where you go."
Nami nodded frantically. "That's right, this is extremely precious, so charging you fifty million isn't expensive at all. Let me ask you this though: if—and I'm just saying if—we happen to get lucky and find another one of the Spirit Stones you mentioned someday, would you still buy it for fifty million?"
Xiaohu replied, "Of course. I'll take as many Spirit Stones as you have. And you don't have to worry about me not being able to afford the reward; besides talismans, I also have spiritual medicines and weapons. If all else goes wrong, I'll just go capture a few pirates with bounties and trade them for cash to give you."
Hearing this, Nami couldn't help but push Luffy behind her. "Ha, no need, just being able to trade for the talismans from earlier is fine. By the way, didn't you say you wanted to inspect our ship? It's currently docked at that bay full of rocks. You're planning to take a bull-fish over there, right?"
Kaku said, "If we did that, you'd end up waiting impatiently. It's the rocky bay, right? Don't worry, I can be there in ten minutes." With that, Kaku and Xiaohu exchanged a glance, a mutual understanding passing between them as they simultaneously sprinted toward the outer yard, leaping onto the rooftops in just a few bounds. As the Straw Hat Pirates watched in awe, Xiaohu and Kaku moved like the wind, reaching a distant high wall almost at the exact same moment before leaping up into the air.
"Wait, there's a cliff behind..."
Yet both Xiaohu and Kaku vanished into the distance like flying birds.
Watching the two disappear, Luffy finally spoke up. "Nami, why didn't you let him know that we still have lots of those stones? The people at the exchange house all said they were worthless, why didn't we just sell them directly to that shipwright? That would've been worth a few billion Berries!"
Nami gave him a sideways glance. "Are you an idiot? If I hadn't said there was only one stone, what would you have done if he had offered fifty million and then regretted it? Things are more precious the rarer they are. Besides, who knows, maybe that stone really does have a different kind of value. Once we figure it out later, the price might go up even more. Whatever, you wouldn't understand even if I explained it to you."
Luffy picked his nose. "Then give me one of those talismans from earlier to play with."
"In your dreams! Something worth ten million Berries for you to play with? I need to stash this safely away, it might come in handy for something big."
***
Watching Kaku spread his arms and glide swiftly forward on the wind, Xiaohu refused to be outdone, employing the Wind-Control Technique he had comprehended from *Wind Source* to transform himself into the wind itself.
Upon learning that Kaku bore the moniker "Mountain Wind" and was said to run faster than the wind, Xiaohu's curiosity had been piqued, leading him to spar with Kaku several times. Relying on his own agility and skilled manipulation of wind currents, Kaku had defeated Xiaohu on multiple occasions. Though he lost, Xiaohu's mastery over the Wind-Control Technique grew increasingly proficient.
Right now, he and Kaku were running neck and neck. Kaku used both hands and feet in mid-air, pushing off with his feet upon landing to accelerate into a sprint. Xiaohu flew on the wind, stretching his body out to follow closely behind. Soon, a pirate ship came into view ahead of them, bearing a skull with a straw hat on its flag.
"Looks like that's the place." Xiaohu and Kaku exchanged a glance, each making a final burst of acceleration! Finally, it was Kaku who reached the shore first.
"Haha, Xiaohu, you lost again, though your speed was a lot faster this time."
Xiaohu wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "Still not proficient enough. Ten minutes of flying and I'm drenched in sweat, not like you who's still so relaxed."
"It's different. When we first started racing, you lagged behind me by several minutes, but now you're almost catching up."
"Haha, I've had some breakthroughs practicing with you. By the way, you'll have to back me up on selling those talismans."
"Alright, I'll talk to Paulie when the time comes. Looks like he really needs to quit gambling this time."
"He never should've gotten into it in the first place. Seeing Paulie chased for debts every day exhausts me just watching him. At least Mr. Iceburg can rest a bit easier now."
The two of them shared a laugh. Kaku then looked toward the ship on the shore. "That must be the one. Let's go check it out."
Kaku jumped onto the deck first. "Excuse us!"
At the moment, there was only a green-haired man on board, seemingly fast asleep. Xiaohu went aboard and inspected the ship closely; sure enough, it was severely damaged, with almost every visible surface covered in patch marks. Kaku stroked the mast. "The mainmast will need to be replaced. Xiaohu, take a look at the damage inside the cabin, and I'll inspect the hull."
Just as he spoke, an enraged voice rang out. "Hey, wait a minute, who the hell are you?"
Xiaohu looked back and saw that the green-haired man had woken up.
Kaku said, "Oh, sorry to wake you. You must be Roronoa Zoro. We're shipwrights from the Galley-La Company, here at your companions' request to inspect the damage to your ship."
"Uh, so that's how it is. My apologies." Zoro sheathed the two swords he had been holding and asked, "How long will the Going Merry take to fix?"
Xiaohu said, "This ship is called the Merry? Judging by its current state, we might have to replace the entire deck. The expenses for this won't be small."
Zoro stroked the figurehead of the Merry. "It's fine, as long as it can be fixed. Nami has money."
A short while later, Xiaohu finished inspecting the cabin, and Kaku finished observing the hull, returning to the deck. "Please forgive my bluntness, but even we are powerless to help."
Zoro was startled. "What's wrong?"
Kaku said, "I'm very sorry, but the keel of your ship is severely damaged and cannot be repaired. The keel is the core of a ship; everything else is built upon it. Replacing the keel is essentially building an entirely new ship."
"Then build an identical ship."
Xiaohu said, "The appearance can be identical, but in the end, it won't be the original ship. You've spent day and night living with this ship, so your attachment to it must be even deeper."
Kaku nodded. "Therefore, given the current situation, there is no longer any need to repair this ship."
Zoro fell silent. Kaku sighed and said, "I'm sorry we couldn't be of help. I will return and explain the situation to your companions."
Xiaohu sighed as well. It was clear this ship had been through wind and waves, and its condition was indeed terrible. Bidding farewell to Zoro, Xiaohu and Kaku prepared to return to the Galley-La Company.
Just as they stepped ashore, the faint sound of a child's voice reached Xiaohu's ears: "I really wanted to keep sailing with them..."