Pirates on Rocks' Ship 996

"Okay, okay... I'll go right now! Don't be angry, Dad!" Marco naturally knew why Whitebeard was angry. He also felt that he was being unmanly, dragging his feet and not acting like his usual self at all.

Marco soon arrived at the place where Nojigo's family lived. Seeing that the lights were still on, he knew that Nojigo and the others had probably not rested yet.

But the closer they got to the door, the more hesitant Marco became, lingering there for a long time, unable to make up his mind.

"Brother...do you think this...can it work?" Reina appeared beside Whitebeard at some point, handed him a bottle of wine, and asked.

"Glug glug..." Whitebeard took a sip of his drink, then looked at Reina and asked, "Why do you seem more nervous than Marco? Is it because you saw something?"

Like Nami, Whitebeard also thought that Reina saw something in Marco or Nojiko.

“No!” Reina shook his head and said, “I’m just a little excited because it’s my first time doing something like this!”

"If there's anything, you might as well talk to them directly. I think they'll understand!" Whitebeard nodded in response.

"I really didn't see it!" Reina said helplessly. "If I had seen it, would I not have told them?"

Whitebeard smiled noncommittally, but just as he was about to say something, he noticed that Marco was making noise again.

It turned out that Marco had been lingering outside Nojiko's house, so Nojiko, having discovered something, opened the door and came out to see what was going on.

However, Marco discovered this in advance and hid before Nocci came out.

"That idiot..." Whitebeard and Reyna, who had been observing, couldn't help but say at the same time.

Sure enough, after coming out to take a look and finding nothing, Nojiko muttered a few words to herself and then prepared to close the door and go back inside.

At this moment, Reina, unable to bear it any longer, threw a stone toward where Marco was.

"Who?" The sound from the stone immediately caught Nokiko's attention. She wasn't worried about any danger, after all, this was Xuan Yue Island.

Having been discovered, Marco had no choice but to step forward.

Looking at Marco's pineapple head and his somewhat embarrassed expression, Nojiko couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you hiding there?" Noki asked with a laugh.

"Ahem... Um... Do you have time? I have something... I want to tell you!" After taking a deep breath, Marco finally mustered up his courage and said to Nojiko.

“Okay, wait a minute…” Noki glanced at Marco, nodded, and said, “I’ll go talk to Bellemere!”

A little while later, Nokiko came out wearing a coat.

"Let's go, where are we going?" Nojiko said with a smile.

“Let’s… go for a walk in the port!” Marco said after thinking for a moment.

So the two of them walked together toward the port.

Whitebeard, who was still standing there, grabbed Reina, who wanted to follow.

"Let the young people handle their own affairs! Why are you going to go and do that?" Whitebeard said with displeasure when he saw that Reina was about to secretly follow him.

“I’m young too!” Reina replied, pouting.

However, at this moment, the two also noticed that Ah Jian had come out of the house under the cover of night, and Reina was speechless.

"Hey~~ over here!" Seeing that A-Jian wanted to secretly follow the two, Reina quickly spoke up and waved to A-Jian.

"Hey? What are you guys doing here?" A-Jian said somewhat awkwardly as he saw Whitebeard and Reina sitting there drinking.

"Sigh~ I want to go and hear the gossip too! But my brother won't let me go, so I can only drink here!" Reina sighed and said, "You shouldn't go either. Let them handle their own affairs! Let's drink!"

Sure enough, when a sadness is shared with another person, it becomes half.

Seeing A-Jian's depressed look, Reina couldn't help but burst into laughter. His laughter quickly infected A-Jian and Whitebeard, and soon the three of them were laughing together.

On the other side, the two people who were taking a walk couldn't help but smile when they heard the laughter of the three.

"Sorry to have called you out so late!" Marco said, looking at Nojiko.

Noki shook her head and did not reply.

"Um..." Marco's words were on the tip of his tongue, but looking at Nojiko who was staring at him, he found that he couldn't say anything at all.

"It's alright, just say what you think!" Nojiko replied with a slight smile.

“Alright! Then I’ll be frank…” Marco took a deep breath and spoke his mind.

Little did he know that, besides Reina and A-Jian, there were others who had been eavesdropping tonight.

"Don't push, or Marco will spot you!" In a corner of the port, several figures hid, secretly watching Marco and Nojiko.

"Hey... Lacuyo, what are they talking about?" Captain Curiel of the 10th Division asked curiously, leaning on Lacuyo.

“How should I know? It’s too far away, I can’t hear it at all!” Lakyo shook his head and said.

"Speaking of which... isn't this a bad idea? What if we get caught? We'll be beaten to death!" Frank, who had been promoted to manager of Xuan Yue Island, was still a little afraid of eavesdropping on his captain's secrets.

"It's alright, as long as we don't get caught, it'll be fine, right?" Lakyo replied with a smile.

“But we’ve taken such a huge risk, and we can’t hear anything… It’s not worth it! We might as well leave sooner!” Frank said with a sigh, looking at Marco in the distance.

“You’re right… Is there any way to get a little closer?” Laqué asked immediately upon hearing this.

Meanwhile, Curiel looked at Frank, seemingly very expectant.

"Hmm... I heard that Captain Marco usually wears glasses when he's not fighting. Is it because he has poor eyesight?" Frank asked after thinking for a moment.

“How could that be? He’s a user of the Bird-Bird Fruit, Phoenix Form, how could his eyesight be bad?” Laquy shook his head, thought for a moment, and then said, “As for why he wears glasses… maybe he really does have bad eyesight in everyday life!”

His words sounded somewhat contradictory, but they were actually easy to understand. Once Marco entered battle mode and was empowered by his Devil Fruit ability, his eyesight would be exceptionally good.

When you're not in a fighting state and don't have the aid of your Devil Fruit powers, your eyesight might really be poor.

Because Marco is a Zoan-type Mythical Zoan user, which is very rare, they didn't know that.

“Then we have no choice but to take a gamble! I’ll go and turn off some of the port lights. Then you guys don’t move for now. Wait until they start talking again before slowly advancing. It’s best to find something to use as camouflage!” Frank said through gritted teeth.

“But if you suddenly turn off the lights, won’t that arouse Marco’s suspicion?” Curiel asked, frowning.

"Leave this to me!" Frank said with a confident smile.

“Okay, go ahead and do it! Don’t worry, we’ll let you know as soon as possible afterward!” Lakyo nodded in agreement without even thinking.

So after a while, Frank, who was patrolling around with a flashlight, pretended to accidentally patrol over to Marco's side.

"Who's there?" Frank, holding a flashlight, asked in a low voice.

“It’s me!” Marco said, frowning slightly.

“Oh, it’s Captain Marco… Why are you still here so late? Ah, sorry! I didn’t know you two were talking here! But to save electricity, some of the lights in the port are turned off at night, so I come to patrol before the lights are turned off!” Frank approached and pretended to have just seen Nojiko, explaining to Marco.

"I see. Thank you for your hard work. You can continue with your work. Don't worry about us. We'll leave soon!" Marco nodded and said.

"Alright, then Captain Marco, I'll take my leave now!" Frank nodded slightly and then left.

"This person seems to be the person in charge on the island, right? Why does he do such things personally?" Nojiko asked with some curiosity.

"Well, he was originally the captain of a pirate crew on the Grand Line. Later, Reina took him back to Crescent Moon Island, but his strength was simply not enough to survive in the New World..." Marco explained Frank's situation with a smile, saying, "However, he is still very capable! After he took over the management of Crescent Moon Island, things have improved a lot compared to before!"

Chapter 427 Decision

"So... is this what's troubling you?" Nojiko asked Marco.

“That’s right!” Marco nodded and said, “If the price of keeping you here is to trap you on Crescent Moon Island forever, that’s too cruel!”

“You know what? Ever since Bellemere found me, I’ve lived in Cocoyasi Village and never been to sea! This trip with Mr. Reina is my first and only time going to sea!” Nojiko said, fiddling with her hair.

Seeing Marco's astonishment, Noki laughed and asked, "What? You don't believe me?"

“No, it’s not that I don’t believe you… it’s just… haven’t you ever thought about wanting to be free to go wherever you want?” Marco asked, somewhat incredulously.

“Do you think I’m like you? I’m just an ordinary person. I don’t have the ability to sail the seas, not even in the East China Sea…!” Nojiko shook his head and said.

In Marco's view, keeping someone on a small island was the greatest torment, and it was also the biggest obstacle that prevented him from confessing his feelings to Nojiko, but it was solved without him even realizing it.

On the other side, after the port lights were turned off, Lakyo and Curiel also began their operation.

While Marco and Nojiko were chatting, the two slowly approached them.

At first, because of the lighting and because Marco and Nojiko were getting along so well, Marco didn't actually notice them.

But as they got closer, Marco spotted them immediately.

"I knew it... you guys... get out here right now!" Marco shouted towards their hiding place after discovering Lacjo and Curiel's whereabouts.

After exchanging a glance, Lacyo and Curiel saw a shared sentiment in each other's eyes: ...

"run!"

Lacjo and Curiel got up at the same time, split into two directions, and ran away simultaneously, leaving Marco utterly speechless.

"Hehehe..." Nojiko covered her mouth and chuckled as she saw this.

“Since you’ve already made up your mind… let’s go! I’ll take you to see Dad!” Marco took a deep breath and said.

"Mm!" Nojiko nodded a little shyly.

She knew that Ah Jian was actually there, and it was even very likely that Bellemere was at home waiting for her news.

Soon, the two arrived at the place where Whitebeard and Reyner had been drinking, and sure enough, they found Ken there, drinking with Reyner and Whitebeard.

"Oh? It seems... you two have already made a decision?" Reina asked teasingly when he saw Marco and Nojiko coming over together.

At this point, he no longer needed to hide his thoughts.

"Phew~ Yes!" Marco nodded, exhaled, and said to Reina, "Thank you so much for letting me meet Nojiko. I will do my best to take care of her for the rest of my life!"

“Don’t say that to me. You know both A-Jian and Bellemere. Your next task is to convince them to hand over Nochigo to you!” Reina said to Marco, pointing to A-Jian beside him.

Before Marco could say anything, A-Jian waved his hand and said, "I basically agree with your plans! I've watched Nojiko grow up since she was little, and to exaggerate a bit, I really consider her my daughter! So I only have one request... don't let her lose her smile, can you do that?"

“Of course!” Marco replied firmly.

“Very good! If one day you fail to keep your promise, then even if I am no match for you, I will definitely kill you with the determination to die!” Ah Jian said seriously.

"Ah Jian!" Nojiko was so moved by Ah Jian's words that she almost cried.

"Don't worry, that day will never come!" Marco replied seriously.

He had no doubt about what A-Jian said, and he believed that even his father and Reina would not help him if that day ever came.

"Come on! Go see Bellemere! She already knew this would happen! After Nami left, Nojiko will leave her too!" Ken suddenly waved his hand, shooing the two away.

Marco and Nojiko exchanged a glance and then walked together toward their dwelling.