One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 4 White Seals

With Moko's continuous efforts, at the age of one, she was finally able to walk steadily and her speech was no longer intermittent.

Moko's favorite thing to do every day has changed from rolling around to taking walks on the deck. The Jackson now seems like a huge behemoth to Moko. Compared to Shanks carrying her around for a short while, walking on her own feels completely different.

The rhythmic, melodious sound of the waves filled my ears. Standing on my special little stool, I could see the sapphire-like, sparkling sea, with white waves rolling up pearls that shimmered with golden light—a truly breathtaking sight.

After Moko learned to walk, many small stairs and other items matching her height were added to the boat. As for the parts that were easy to bump into, they were all covered with thick animal fur. Moko stretched out her little hands and placed them on the stairs, then climbed up the small stairs with her short legs.

Moko's hair grows very quickly and has now reached her shoulders. Her pink, slightly curly hair is tied into two cute buns with fluffy rabbit ears on the hair ties. She is wearing a white fluffy long dress, and from a distance, she looks like a little rabbit lying on the edge of a boat. Every time someone passes by, they stop and are charmed by her cuteness for a while.

The clothes were made by Spencer. When they saw the finished product, no one expected that one of them would be so good at needlework. Compared to the surprised crowd, Moko was not surprised. Of all the dolls that everyone had made for her before, only Spencer's could be called a plush toy. Even the pom-pom that Shanks made was something he learned from Spencer for a long time before he could make it.

The materials used for Moko's clothes and other items are considered the best by everyone. The clothes are made from the softest down from the snow mountain rabbit, which is not only soft but also extremely warm, making them perfect for Moko's clothes.

That day, Moko saw a group of people on the boat catching rabbits on the snowy mountain. The originally peaceful snowy mountain suddenly became very noisy. The rabbits that were caught had all their fur shaved off, leaving them bald and looking very pitiful.

Before they arrived, everyone had already planned that the soft fur would be used to make clothes for Moko, and the remaining back fur would be made into a soft cushion for Moko to use as a backrest. Nothing would be wasted. In short, they didn't consider the rabbit's feelings at all.

"Moko-chan, I'm back!"

Shanks' voice came from afar. Moko snapped out of her thoughts and waved at the small boat in the distance. Suddenly, she noticed the fishing net behind Shanks. The net seemed to contain white, round things, and there were more than one. What kind of rare and exotic creatures had he caught this time?

The species in this world were too peculiar, completely unlike anything Moke knew. Take the Snow Mountain Fleece Rabbit, for example—what rabbit is all muscle and stands three meters tall? However, under the force of everyone on the ship, they trembled just like ordinary rabbits. Moke still feels a little embarrassed when she thinks of the accusing looks from those rabbits. Being so strong and having all their fur plucked was truly humiliating. Those rabbits probably never want to see them again in their lives.

(The people on the boat: Let's go again when the hair grows back?)

Rabbit: No, are you bandits? (*?????)

After Shanks pulled the contents of the fishing net onto the deck, Moko could finally see the creatures inside: large white seals, each nearly two meters tall, with very smooth, glossy fur that looked like they had been eating well.

Freed from the fishing net, the seals struggled to leap into the sea, but Shanks landed a few punches on them, immediately silencing them. They all glared at Shanks with resentment, but Shanks didn't care what they thought. This was a gift he'd brought back especially for Moko; how could it run away?

"We caught her on an island. The locals said she has a very gentle temperament. Let's keep Moko as a pet." Shanks gently stroked Moko's nose with a broad smile.

(Seal: Daddy, we're not docile at all! Did you give us a chance to fight back? (′?皿?｀))

Shanks: Shut up, I didn't ask for your opinions.

"Moko-chan, I helped catch some too!" Buggy patted his skinny arm, looking smug.

Moko peeked out from Shanks' side and looked at the seals lying limp, her eyes blinking. The seals seemed to sense something and raised their shiny heads to meet Moko's gaze.

White, fluffy, tiny, such an adorable little one! The biggest seal pushed its tail and came right up to Moko, stretching out its chubby paws to hug Moko tightly.

"Ooh!"

The other people on the boat were also attracted by the commotion. Seeing Moko being treated like a small animal, they burst into laughter. Moko had no idea that the order of being hugged was wrong.

Shanks clicked his tongue, punched the seal on the head, snatched Moko back from the seal, and glared fiercely at the seal.

"This is mine!"

"Woo-yo woo-yo!"

"Who cares about you? Moko-chan is mine."

"Ooh!"

Moko was held in Shanks' arms as she listened to Shanks and the seals arguing without any problems. When did Shanks learn seal language? How come she didn't know?

Seeing that they were about to start fighting again, Moko quickly reached out and grabbed Shanks' hand, then grabbed the seal's chubby paw with her other hand, putting one hand and one paw together.

"Shanks and Yui, you can't fight."

"..."

There was a moment of silence, then someone suddenly burst out laughing, and everyone else joined in.

"Hahahahaha."

"Puhahaha, right, right, we can't argue, Shanks, we can't argue in front of Moko."

"Hahaha, Shanks, you've brought back a bunch of rivals for my favor."

Shanks hadn't expected this if no one had mentioned it. But now that it's been mentioned, Shanks suddenly realized that Moko loves fluffy little animals the most. Could he have fallen out of favor? Suddenly, he found the seal increasingly unpleasant to look at and decided to get rid of it sometime.

Sensing Shanks's gloomy mood, Moko reached out and pinched Shanks's cheek, revealing an extremely cute smile.

"I really like the gift, thank you Shanks."

"Moko-chan, what about me? What about me?" Buggy pouted; he had helped catch it too.

Moko reached out and pinched Bucky's cheek again. "Thank you too, Bucky."

"Hmph, next time we go out, I'll bring Moko-chan some other fun things."

Buggy's lips curled into a wide grin. Meanwhile, Shanks, taking advantage of Moko's inattention, tossed the seal into the sea. He'd brought too many; he should have just brought one. (Shanks: Get rid of all the rivals for my attention (?′д′)?*：??)

The seals, thrown into the sea, repeatedly jumped back onto the deck. It's easy to invite them in, but hard to get rid of them; they just wouldn't leave, their smug expressions seeming to say, "What can you do to me?"

Shanks' forehead was covered in bumps, and the others laughed so hard their shoulders shook. When Moko turned around, Shanks instantly returned to his smiling face, except that the seals behind him had big bumps on their heads.

"Moko-chan, let's go back to your room. I brought you some other gifts too."

Before Moko could ask a question, Shanks led her towards the room, with Buggy following closely behind, dragging a large suitcase. As soon as the three left, bursts of laughter erupted on the deck.

In the days that followed, Shanks tried to throw the seals into the sea many times, but since seeing Moko, the seals stopped running away and would jump back into the sea after being thrown in. They were impossible to drive away. With this indomitable will, the seals officially settled on the ship.

The seals were quite noisy on their first night there, swarming into Shanks' room and inseparable from Moko. Moko didn't know what agreement the seals and Shanks reached later, but when she returned to her room, Shanks was already able to coexist peacefully with the seals.

Life went on as usual. Moko had great talent, and Roger and Rayleigh discovered her innate top-tier Observation Haki early on. Compared to the other two types of Haki that could be acquired later through training or special circumstances, Moko's Haki was extremely rare and unique. In order not to bury this talent, Moko also began to train.

Unlike Shanks and the others' training, Moko's training was specially designed by Roger and Rayleigh. Moko is too young now, so there is no need to arrange fighting skills for the time being. It is enough to ensure physical training every day. Simply put, it means taking more walks every day. In the rest of the time, Moko will follow Rayleigh to handle the ship's financial and intelligence affairs.

Moko is very smart. She can quickly grasp what Rayleigh teaches her. Seeing how fast Moko learns, Rayleigh gradually lets Moko handle some simple official duties. Since Moko can't write yet, she only needs to draw a small flower where there is a problem and then describe it verbally.

Although Moko only handled some simple matters, it greatly reduced Rayleigh's burden. You have to understand that the number of documents to be processed, including the matters on the ship and the affiliated islands, as well as the daily intelligence matters, is not small. With Moko helping to handle some minor matters, Rayleigh had more time to deal with other important things. Compared to the captain who drank all day and did nothing, Moko was simply his lucky star.

"boom!"

Suddenly, the sound of cannon fire came from outside the ship. Although she had heard it many times before, Moko was still not used to it and was startled. Rayleigh gently patted Moko's head to comfort her, looked coldly out the window, a dark glint in his eyes, and when his gaze returned to Moko, it had become gentle.

"Don't be afraid, Xiao Mo, everyone will handle it."

"Ah."

Moko nodded. As a pirate, it was inevitable that she would be attacked by other pirates or marines every day. It might be a friendly spar, but more often it was a life-or-death struggle.

Roger never hid these dark aspects of human nature at sea from Moko. Perhaps it was cruel to expose such a young child to these things, but Moko understood Roger's good intentions.

She will grow up eventually, and in the future she will inevitably encounter all sorts of embarrassing darkness and the malice emanating from others. She is not a princess who is detached from the world in an ivory tower, nor a delicate flower in a greenhouse. One day she will leave Roger and everyone's protection to become an adult who can stand on her own. Until then, she can just grow up slowly under the protection of these broad wings.

"Uncle Rayleigh, can I go out and have a look around?"

Looking at Moko's determined eyes, Rayleigh patted Moko's head with some relief, then got up and picked her up. Where there is fighting, there is death. Roger did not hide the fighting scenes on the ship, nor did he ever force Moko to accept these bloody things. After all, for a child, these scenes are not very friendly.

Moko was naturally afraid, but she was more afraid of whether the people on the ship were hurt. In Moko's eyes, everyone on the ship was the best family. However, this did not mean that Moko thought all pirates were good people. People are divided into good and evil. Depending on one's position, one will naturally see good and evil differently.

Life is precious, but Mo is not a saint, nor does she have the ability to protect everyone. If she gets caught up in an unavoidable struggle, whether you call her selfish or heartless, Mo will definitely prioritize protecting her own family.