The days when I wanted to be a human being

"Who is it!" Shanks asked Zhou Ling anxiously.

But when he asked the question, he realized that there was something wrong with what he said, and he quickly turned his head away.

"What who?" Zhou Ling frowned and looked at Shanks strangely.

She didn't see Shanks' expression.

"Are you thinking the wrong thing?" Zhou Ling raised his hand to support his forehead helplessly.

"I think you deserve a beating. If I had the strength, I would definitely check to see if you have made any progress over the years." She suddenly didn't want to talk to Shanks anymore.

She had always treated Shanks as a child, but now that Shanks had grown up, she had actually overlooked some important things.

At this time, Luffy and the other two had already run in front of Zhou Ling.

"Godmother, look at me, I'm very strong now," Luffy said excitedly, showing his obvious biceps to Zhou Ling.

He showed his white teeth, "Will you fight with us today?"

"Bang!" Ace, who came behind Luffy, heard Luffy's words and punched Luffy on the head first.

"Hey, Ace, why did you hit me?" Luffy covered his head with his hands and looked at Ace in confusion.

"Luffy! Didn't you see what your godmother looks like? Why are you bothering her again?"

"Yes, yes, Luffy, let's go fight the pirates and grab their treasure." Sabo said excitedly while looking at the pirate ship at the port.

After hearing the discussion of the three children, Shanks let out a long breath and then laughed.

"Hahaha!"

It was at this time that Luffy and the other two noticed the stranger wearing a straw hat.

"Uncle, have you just arrived at Windmill Village? I haven't seen you before."

Luffy looked at Shanks, very confused.

Ace and Sabo looked at each other and began to think.

"What uncle! I'm only 27 years old!" Shanks was shocked when he heard Luffy's words. He was actually called uncle.

"What? He has a beard, and my grandfather has a beard too. Otherwise..." Luffy was very confused as to why Shanks didn't let him call him uncle. He held his chin and thought for a while, "Call me uncle?"

"what?"

"Boom!"

Shanks rolled up his sleeves angrily and punched Luffy on the head, "Brat! Don't go too far."

"what!"

Luffy cried out in pain and quickly called for help from Ace and Sabo behind him, "Ace! Sabo! Are you two just going to watch this old man beat me? Come and help!"

After touching the painful spot on his head, he launched a fearless attack on Shanks.

Ace and Sabo followed without any hesitation.

Shanks dodged Luffy's attack and took a long step back, then looked at the three children who bravely rushed towards him with a smile on his face.

"Great, I'll teach these three guys a lesson, is that okay?"

Shanks asked Zhou Ling who was standing not far away.

"It's okay if you don't kill me. I'm going back."

After Zhou Ling finished speaking, he yawned and walked back without looking back.

Shanks looked at Zhou Ling, who was walking like an old man, and wanted to say something, but the attack of Ace and the other two had already arrived.

He could only focus on what was in front of him.

...

"Damn it, uncle, how come you also know my grandfather's moves?"

Luffy, lying on the ground with a head full of lumps, asked Shanks.

Ace and Sabo were also lying nearby, covered in dust, with their ears pricked up.

"Which move do you mean?"

Shanks touched his swollen cheek. He had used a lot of moves just now.

At first he thought that they were just three kids and he could keep them in line without much effort.

What he didn't expect was that they caught him off guard. The three of them had extremely superior physical fitness.

The wound on my face was caused by my carelessness at the beginning and they hit me.

Later he used a little force, but he didn't expect the three guys to cooperate with each other so well. He had to use more strength before he could successfully deal with them.

Even though Zhou Ling just said that it would be fine as long as he didn't kill him, he wouldn't really beat him to death.

So I had to hold back a little, and this took some time.

Shanks was confused about the moves that Luffy said his grandfather also knew.

The moves he used to fight Luffy and the others just now were just the navy's finger painting and shaving.

Shanks understood and nodded, "Your grandfather is a marine?"

"Yes."

Luffy got up from the ground and nodded.

"I see..." Shanks looked at Luffy, he thought for a moment and continued to ask, "How long have you known Mya...your godmother?"

"Godmother, she has been in Windmill Village since I can remember."

Luffy held his head with his hands, as if he was thinking very hard.

Ace and Sabo pulled Luffy away, seemingly not wanting Shanks to ask any more questions.

"Shanks, you can ask Makino, she's sure... Ugh!"

Luffy was blocked by Ace before he could finish his words.

Shanks watched the three children's actions and laughed happily, but when he thought of Zhou Ling's condition, the smile disappeared.

Shanks entered into his memories.

A few years ago, when Zhou Ling just became one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea, the newspapers reported that she was in Alabasta.

For this reason, he even went to Alabasta some time before coming here.

When he first arrived, he was shocked by the vast tracts of woods on the island. He had previously read in the newspaper that the Seven Warlords of the Sea were transforming the environment of Alabasta, but he had not expected that it would have such an effect.

He also asked local residents for information.

Alabasta was originally covered with yellow sand, but after just a few years of rainfall, many green trees grew in the desert.

They learned some secret information about the rainfall from people who wished to remain anonymous.

It's a woman who uses the power of a devil fruit to make it rain.

The residents worshipped it as a god and even performed sacrifices secretly. Later, they even did it on a large scale. At first, they were afraid that the king would not agree, but later on, the king did not stop them, and the sacrifices never stopped.

But in the past two years, the Rain God seems to have brought very little rain, and the rain clouds over Alabasta have gradually become thinner.

Shanks's attempt to gather information was discovered by a man named Baroque Studio.

Through physical persuasion, he found the person behind it, Crocodile, who was also one of the Shichibukai.

But the guy seemed to be very unwelcome to him. When he heard that he was looking for Zhou Ling, he even attacked him directly.

But the silver lining is that he is better.

Finally he learned from Crocodile that the forest in Alabasta was indeed the result of Zhou Ling's many years of work, but it had not appeared for a few years.

After he could no longer get any information, he wanted to ask the Alabasta royal family, but the navy on the island discovered him because of the noise of his fight with Crocodile.

After returning to the ship, Shanks discovered that there was a difference between what Crocodile said and what the local residents of Alabasta said.

He didn't understand what the problem was.

...

As Shanks entered the tavern, he heard his companions laughing.

"Hahaha, Captain, I never thought that you would get beaten black and blue by a little brat."

"Captain, you are such a loser!"