One Piece Gunslinger

Li Ang learned of Lady Shirley's location through Neptune, and also asked Neptune to request Lady Shirley to perform a divination for him. Otherwise, Lady Shirley would definitely ignore Li Ang.

However, Mrs. Shirley acted even faster than Li Ang. The waiter immediately smiled and said, "So it's you, Li Ang. Mrs. Shirley has already instructed that if you come, you should be taken in directly. Please come with me."

Li Ang shrugged and followed the merman to the door leading to the room at the back. "I won't go in, I have things to do." With that, the merman swam away.

The rooms at the back aren't much smaller than the café area in front, and even when the outside is crowded, the private space at the back hasn't been sacrificed. It seems Mrs. Shirley also values ​​her quality of life.

"You're Li Ang?"

Mrs. Shirley sat on a large sofa, a pipe in her hand. She wore only a hooded blouse, nothing else, and the blouse was tied at the waist, leaving a large expanse of skin below her navel exposed. This could only be attributed to the exceptionally boldness of the merfolk on Fishman Island.

Speaking of this, I'm reminded of King Neptune of Fishman Island. If you think about it carefully, Neptune was naked.

Li Ang quickly put that out of his mind and nodded, saying, "That's right, it seems you must be Mrs. Xia Li."

Mrs. Shirley took a puff of her pipe and said, "I don't know why Neptune wants me to do a divination for you, nor do I care who you are. Just tell me what you want to be divined, and once the divination is done, you can leave. It's that simple."

Sigh, this service attitude is so different from the merfolk you trained!

Mrs. Xia Li treated Li Ang as if he were completing a task, emphasizing the need to finish quickly so she could rest. Her entire demeanor, from her actions to her tone, exuded an aloof and indifferent attitude.

However, Li Ang understood that Madam Shirley owed him nothing, and there was no transaction involved in his divination session with her. Besides, the two were complete strangers with no prior connection. He was already being generous by having her do a reading out of respect for Neptune; he couldn't ask for too much.

Of course, none of that is the main point. The main point is that Li Ang is worried that the content of his divination will cause Lady Shirley to lose her crystal ball again. Lady Shirley already ruined one when she divined for Neptune before, and if another one goes wrong, she certainly won't be in a good mood.

Therefore, Li Ang wasn't as aloof as Madam Xia Li. He knew he needed her help, and that it would cause her losses. He had to be polite; otherwise, he'd be chased for miles around.

Li Ang slowly walked to the seat opposite Madam Xia Li and looked at the crystal ball on the table, saying, "Please, Madam Xia Li, divine my fate."

"Tch." Mrs. Charlotte's face showed an impatient expression.

In her memory, this wasn't the first time such a request had appeared; people always wanted to know what their future held, and when they would become wealthy. She hadn't expected that this request, specifically given by Neptune, would be the same.

However, Mrs. Shirley's divinations mostly yielded bad news, frequently foreshadowing misfortune. Therefore, these people often didn't feel happy after their readings; instead, many became depressed and regretted having them done.

"So what exactly do you want to know? Love? Wealth? Power? Or do you want to know when you will die? How you will die? But I will only help you this once," Mrs. Shirley replied.

"Oh? It can even tell you when you'll die? It can even predict death." Li Ang laughed. "Interesting. In that case, let me do the divination first."

As he spoke, Li Ang ignored Mrs. Xia Li's expression and leaned back on the sofa, closing his eyes to calculate.

Mrs. Shirley, though unfamiliar with such practices, didn't interfere, simply sitting on the other side, casually puffing on her cigarette. Indeed, compared to wealth and fame, knowing when and how one dies is far more appealing.

If you knew you wouldn't die until you were eighty, you could do all sorts of reckless and dangerous things until then. Similarly, if you knew you were going to die from an illness, you could do all sorts of extreme sports, like batwing flying or high-speed car racing, as long as you didn't intentionally try to kill yourself, you'd most likely survive.

These people have good ideas, but the problem is that Mrs. Shirley's divination is not a clear-cut one; the answers it gives are highly deceptive. For example, Mrs. Shirley saw you die looking old.

It's possible that you encountered a creature that could drain your life force during your adventure, and although you were young, you died of old age. Or perhaps you were crippled as soon as you went out to explore, then lay in bed for decades without moving, eventually dying of old age.

So if you go out and act recklessly relying on the prophecy's protection, then this prophecy will soon come true. People who consult the oracle about this issue often don't have a good ending. Not to mention, this prophecy isn't absolute; not being able to reverse it only means you're too incompetent and lack the ability.

After a long while, Li Ang opened his eyes and said in a deep voice, "In that case, let's do a divination. Will I die at Navy Headquarters in two years?"

Mrs. Shirley was taken aback and widened her eyes when she heard Li Ang's question.

"This question may be a bit late, but I have to ask it now: who exactly are you? What do you do?"

"Li Ang was a revolutionary."

Chapter 312 Civilization

Fate is an objective reality, and this objective reality actually refers to the individuality and particularity of life states. Everyone is born with a different fate.

The question of fate has always been a major concern in life. The future is always mysterious, and the path of life is full of unknowns; no one knows where the next stop will be. Yet, everyone wants to plan ahead for their next destination.

This is why humanity's exploration and planning for the future has never ceased. Regardless of the method—scientific or mystical—there will always be people trying, searching for their next destination.

And everyone who comes to Mrs. Shirley's place is no different.

Similarly, the final stop is also the most important stop in life. Many people have asked about the final stop. But Mrs. Shirley has never encountered a question as specific as Li Ang's.

Li Ang also considered Lady Shirley's capabilities. Asking her overly difficult questions might exceed her abilities, resulting in a wasted crystal ball explosion. That's why he narrowed down his focus to the Marineford War, which was of utmost importance to him.

After learning of Li Ang's identity, Madam Xia Li did not pursue the matter further; what happened next was not something she needed to know.

After taking a deep drag of her cigarette, Mrs. Xia Li placed her hands on either side of the crystal ball and began to perform divination for Li Ang.

Then, a crack appeared in Mrs. Shirley's crystal ball.

Even so, I could still vaguely see some images. The location in these images was Marineford, the headquarters of the Marines.

However, as time went on, these images were quickly replaced by more cracks until they disappeared completely, and the crystal ball shattered into many small pieces.

“It seems that even such a problem is beyond my capacity,” Mrs. Shirley said. “However, you did die at the very last moment when the crystal shattered.”

Lady Shirley's divination successfully predicted Whitebeard's death. Even so, the crystal ball didn't shatter, but it did when predicting whether Leon would also die in the Marineford War. Leon didn't consider himself stronger than Whitebeard, even two years later. This could only mean that this matter was more complex than Whitebeard's death, involving far more causes and effects.

Leon didn't show any negative emotions after learning from Lady Shari that he would die in the Marineford War. He simply smiled faintly and didn't take it to heart.

“It seems you’re quite open-minded,” Mrs. Shirley said. “Or do you think my divination isn’t accurate? Indeed, although my accuracy rate in predicting the future has been 100% in the past, it doesn’t mean that the future is unchangeable.”

Li Ang didn't explain anything, and even if he did, Mrs. Shirley might not understand. So he simply ended the topic and got up to take his leave.

However, Mrs. Shirley, contrary to her usual self, twirled her pipe and said before Li Ang left, "What? Do you have something else to attend to? You won't even have a cup of coffee with me? Do you hate me that much?"

Upon hearing this, Li Ang stopped in his tracks. Turning back with a puzzled look, he asked, "This seems different from what you said before?"

To everyone's surprise, Mrs. Shirley calmly replied, "Don't you know that women are fickle?"

Since Madam Shirley had put it this way, and Li Ang truly had nothing else to attend to, he humbly accepted. He returned to his previous position.

Mrs. Shirley then called over a waiter and asked her to bring the two of them two cups of coffee.

"Try it, it's a local specialty."

Unexpectedly, Li Ang managed to get into a private room that most people wouldn't be able to get into, instead of having to squeeze in. Not only was he spared the crowds, but he was also with Mrs. Xia Li. Wow, this kind of treatment would probably make all the other customers outside green with envy.

However, Li Ang was not happy. Madam Xia Li had stopped him, and it certainly wasn't just to chat about everyday things. There must be something she wanted to say.

But why couldn't she be happy? Because this matter wasn't a good thing. From the moment Li Ang prepared to leave until now, Mrs. Xia Li hadn't changed her posture. She was still sitting on the sofa, her shark tail slightly raised, like a human crossing their legs.

This meant that the shattered crystal ball on the table remained unchanged; Madam Shirley hadn't bothered to clean it up. The shattered crystal ball seemed to be reminding Li Ang of something. "Is she trying to make me pay for a new crystal ball?" Li Ang wondered.

However, neither Mrs. Shirley nor Li Ang spoke first. At Mrs. Shirley's prompting, they began to savor the cup of coffee, as if two old friends were enjoying a rare afternoon of leisure together.

However, this coffee was like a cow chewing on a peony – he knew it was good, but couldn't quite explain why. He wanted to offer some commentary to break the ice, but didn't know where to begin.

The two fell into silence, as if by prior arrangement, neither of them speaking.

Just as the two were about to finish their coffee, Li Ang finally couldn't resist. He didn't have Mrs. Xia Li's calm and aloof demeanor. She could sit on the sofa all day without moving, while Li Ang was used to being busy and found it hard to get used to this feeling of doing nothing.

Li Ang spoke first: "You asked me to stay, is it for the crystal ball?"

"Yes."

To his utter surprise, Li Ang had never expected that he was the one who usually did such shameless things. But today, Mrs. Xia Li's actions rendered Li Ang's prepared explanations useless.

Mrs. Shirley continued, "Just recently, I received news that a fishman pirate crew in the East Blue had been wiped out. Coincidentally, I also learned through divination that my brother, whom I haven't seen for many years, had also died out there."

Upon hearing Madam Shirley's words, Li Ang's heart skipped a beat. Was she going to settle old scores and new grudges at once? Although they weren't close, Ah Long was, after all, Madam Shirley's half-brother. Moreover, Li Ang knew that while Madam Shirley was usually composed and dignified, she could become terrifying when angry—after all, she was a shark. Li Ang didn't want to face such a terrifying Madam Shirley.

He immediately fell silent, waiting for Mrs. Shirley to continue: "And the fortune teller also told me that he died at the hands of the revolutionary army."

Very well, hearing this, Leon was at a loss. As expected of Madam Shirley, she'd do anything about it. The Navy had already attributed the credit for killing Arlong to Smoker, and even Smoker, who was closest to the truth, and the villagers of Cocoyasi Village didn't know Leon was a member of the Revolutionary Army. Yet, this secret wasn't a secret to Madam Shirley.

No wonder Mrs. Shirley is always so composed and aloof. Even if she can't predict some world-changing events, it doesn't stop her from controlling everything else. That's a bit of an exaggeration, after all, divination information is vague.

Even so, it's still terrifying. It's like winning the lottery every time you buy a ticket. For ordinary people, winning is a pleasant surprise, but after winning too many times, it's no longer a surprise; it becomes commonplace. And when you can reach that point, you'll naturally become calm and composed.

Li Ang resigned himself to his fate and said, "Since that's how it is, what do you want? Make a request." Li Ang gave up resisting and typed "GG." He was now just waiting to sign an unequal treaty.

Seeing that Li Ang had tacitly agreed, Mrs. Xia Li did not make a direct request, but instead asked, "Do you think I can beat you?"

"Of course not."

"If you can't, why are you willing to agree to my request when you could just turn around and leave?"

Li Ang put down his coffee cup and replied, "Indeed, in this world, strength is everything. With strength, you can do whatever you want. If we follow this principle, then you really have no right to make demands of me."

But I must say, everything before the 'but' is nonsense.

Mrs. Shirley knew that Li Ang would make a turn of events, but she did not expect the turn to be so dramatic, and she was caught off guard.

Before Lady Shirley could process what was happening, Li Ang continued, "Since ancient times, before there were humans or fish-men, when this world was ruled by ancient creatures, the principle of survival of the fittest already existed. Powerful creatures could do whatever they wanted."

Ancient creatures who followed these rules ruled the world for a very long time, even longer than humans. Unfortunately, they were eventually replaced by the weaker humans and other intelligent races.

So, was it because humans and other intelligent races were more powerful that they were eliminated? No, we are not stronger than them. When our ancestors first appeared, the Night Elves were no match for them. The main reason is that we gradually built civilization and, at the same time, gradually abandoned barbarism.

Individual strength is always limited, even for someone as powerful as Thanos, or rather, the Pirate King. He still needs to organize a group of subordinates or partners to roam the seas. Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses; it is precisely because of civilization that the strong and the weak can cooperate, making the entire race stronger. As time passes, this power continues to spread, and it only grows larger.

Even now, with the world's civilization vast enough, barbaric acts still exist, and these acts are considered perfectly normal by the world.

Therefore, I stand on the side of civilization and will not commit such barbaric acts. Revolutionary Army, Revolutionary Army. What are they revolutionizing, merely the Celestial Dragons?

Our revolutionary army represents freedom, overthrowing slavery. Our revolutionary army represents civilization, overthrowing barbarism. Just as our ancestors used civilization to overcome barbaric ancient creatures, I firmly believe that the revolutionary army will one day defeat the barbaric world.

Chapter 313 The Course of History

After this question was answered, the matter did not end there. Lady Shirley seemed to have forgotten that Li Ang had caused her crystal ball to shatter, and instead became concerned about the civilization Li Ang had just mentioned.

Mrs. Shirley continued to ask more questions, and Li Ang showed no impatience, explaining to Mrs. Shirley these seemingly obvious and easy-to-understand principles to her little by little.

Time flew by as the two talked, and they didn't stop until night fell.

Mrs. Shirley had a very high standard. After all, it's only natural that a normal person would unconsciously raise their own standards after possessing the kind of precognitive ability that Mrs. Shirley had.

This resulted in Mrs. Shirley never finding anyone she could have a normal conversation with, and she spent her days idly, because that was all she could do. As the saying goes, you can't talk about ice with a summer insect; there's really nothing to say to ordinary mortals, and they're simply not on the same wavelength.

It's like a primary school student constantly asking an adult the question "one plus one equals two," which would definitely annoy the adult.

Only someone as novel as Li Ang could catch Mrs. Shirley's eye, and Li Ang's arrival opened a door to a new world for Mrs. Shirley.

As someone who has received a modern education, has seen the world, and understands it better than most natives, and can predict its development, Li Ang's position is even higher than that of Madam Shirley.

Naturally, Mrs. Shirley wouldn't experience the same boredom and aversion she felt when talking to other ordinary people. Instead, it was Li Ang who wanted to tell Mrs. Shirley things that were obvious to him.

Being half a step ahead is genius; being a full step ahead is madness. Li Ang, within the revolutionary army, only ever displayed half a step of his true strength. Only Long and a very few others could comprehend his far more advanced ideas.

So for Li Ang, this can be considered as finding a rare audience to share some of his more advanced ideas; otherwise, it would be very difficult to keep them bottled up.

"Therefore, in conclusion, even if this revolution fails, many years later, will more revolutionary armies emerge to overthrow the World Government? And even if the revolution succeeds and our revolutionary army establishes a new regime, it doesn't mean that our ideas are the most advanced. With the development of the times, more applicable ideas may emerge and replace us."

Li Ang said this. He spent half a day there, and the two of them stayed until evening, before Li Ang finally explained one thing to Madam Xia Li: the course of history, the great wheel of time.