Ch 52 - Dragon Boat Race

*Burp*

"Eww Cade! Cover your mouth when you do that!" Carina's voice is heard as I burp loudly after eating my second dumpling.

"Sorry Sorry, you guys should have tried the dumplings though, they were great!" I reply back without a shred of being sorry as I rub my belly contentedly.

"Oh, Cade-kun, women aren't like you men! We have to keep our figures in check!" Comes Porsche-chans reply as she eats a small Zongzi that seems to be a specialty of the island.

It's basically bamboo leaves stuffed with sticky rice and different fillings from meat to shrimp to even nuts and fruits, it can be sweet or savory, a super good snack.

Seeing this I skeptically look at the small proportion of food and jokingly reply, "Well I'm glad I'm not a girl! Hahaha, who could live with only eating that small amount of food in a world full of delicious delicacies!" I laugh in reply.

No seriously, who would want to NOT eat food in this world? Luffy had it right when eating was one of his favorite activities to do; every single thing I've tasted in this world is many times better than anything I've tasted in my old world. I don't know if it's the environment or what but just everything is so delicious!

"Hah well it's not impossible! I hear there are devil fruits of every kind out there! So, you better watch your back!" Comes Carina's teasing voice.

Hearing this I shiver, and a look of horror appears on my face, she's right, there is pretty much every type of devil fruit in this world, and I know exactly who owns the one she's referring to! 'Okama King' Ivankov! No thank you!

"Heee! Looky there! The Dragon Race is just up ahead!" I quickly point up ahead once I see what appears to be a wide river with many rowing boats with dragon figureheads on it.

"Don't try to distract us! You're not gonna comment on what I said?" Carina's cheeky voice comes back.

"Hmm? What did you say?" I reply back with a tilt of my head and questioning tone.

"Ugh, whatever, let's just see what the big deal about this Dragon Race is," Replies Carina with a pout, making Porche-chan giggle, and me blankly stare at her.

As we get closer to the shore of the water, we can see what appears to be hundreds of slow-moving row boats moving along the river, seemingly racing to cross said river.

Every single one of these boats is uniquely designed to create an image of a different dragon, filling the waters with color and beautiful image overall.

However, this beauty is quickly interrupted when I suddenly begin to hear loud reverberating sounds approaching from the distance. Sounding as if loud explosion were going off in the water…

And as the noise gets louder, I suddenly spot what seem to be two very close boats that are moving at tremendous speeds across the water, getting nearer and nearer to us.

And as they approached us and quickly passed by us, splashing water onto our area I was able to catch what the heck is actually happening.

Two boats, two teams, one team dressed in suit and tie seemingly piling at the back of the boat and throwing small handheld explosives into the water in order to move the boat forward at great speeds, making the boat more like a speed boat than a rowboat!

And the second team is even stranger, every single person on the boat is scruffy and wearing differently colored striped pants, making them appear similar to a rainbow.

However, this is not the strangest thing about them, the strangest thing is that every single one of these people are bending over the side and putting their hands in the water, moving the boat by what seem to be mini shockwaves coming from their hands.

"Whaa!" I say as I see this! I recognize those pants and I definitely know what those shockwaves are! The Hasshoken! But I didn't fucking think that my first encounter with such a powerful martial art would be in such a silly manner!

"Are you kidding me!" Carina's voice comes from my left in clear shock as well.

"Oh! Such a creative use of shockwaves!" Comes Porche-chans more laid back and amused voice comment.

As we stare at the back of both groups, we are suddenly startled by strange laughter.

"Jii jii jii, it's always great when you first timers get to see how we do things here!"

We all look towards the voice, and it appears to be a short old man with a traditional bamboo hat and wearing clothes that seemed to have been worn for decades. He also has a long white mustache that reaches to his feet, making him look quite sagely.

"You mean those two crazy groups using explosives and shockwaves in order to do what normal oars could do, old man?" I ask the old guy a bit funnily.

"jii jii jii, that's right! It happens every year! Now let me tell you the reason! Jii jii jii, it's because of that old fossil Chinjao!"

"Hmm? What does the Don have to do with this?" chimes in Carina.

"Jii jii jii, well it's because of his strength! You youngsters may not know this, but Chinjao was so strong that at one point he was thought to be able to conquer the West Blue with ease! However, the criminal underground didn't like this, so they challenged him to a game of strength in order to put an end to that possibility ever happening! But they knew they couldn't win directly against Chinjao! This was the man who went head-to-head against Garp the Hero of the Marines in his prime!

So, they came up with this! The Dragon Boat Festival! Two teams, one from Chinjao's side and one from the gangster's side! The winner gets to limit the other actions for a whole year until it's repeated again!" The old guy continues with a long explanation about the origins of this game.

"Wouldn't Chinjao just refuse to play the game? He had the upper hand, he could have crushed his enemies easily," comes Porche-chans intrigued voice.

"Jii jii jii! That's the funny thing! Chinjao is such a fool that he thought he couldn't even lose indirectly! His underlings were more than enough to win against a bunch of gangsters!" comes the old man's reply after a bit of laughing.

"Hmm… So who won?" I ask the old man.

"Jii Jii Jii! The gangsters win every single time! Jii Jii Jii! The old man Chinjao never won even once!" Comes the old man's rambunctious reply.

"Heh, that is kinda funny." I say after hearing the reason why Chinjao is limited to only a single island in this weak sea when he was so strong before. I guess he could have simply broken his promise, but I highly doubt he would do that, he seems to be the type to keep his promises when he makes them.

"Hmm… that makes sense… But what happens when the gangsters lose?" Carinas questions further.

"Jii Jii Jii, a status quo has already been established! If Chinjao wants to expand he'll have to go through many islands and countries that would oppose him! There would be chaos and war!" Comes the old man once again.

Thinking this gives me a bad feeling… wasn't the reason Chinjao and his two sons appeared in Dressrosa because Doflamingo was providing Kano countries enemies with weapons?

Suddenly I'm brought out of my thoughts with a loud surprised shout from the surrounding crowd followed by a deep silence.

As I look for the cause of this I look towards the river and see the boat of the gangsters seemingly slowed down to a halt in the middle of the river, allowing Kano countries team to get far ahead… basically handing them the win!

'Oh Fuck!'