Momousagi?

"All right, all right, put them away."

At Lin Qi's words, Tom stuffed everything back one piece at a time.

Lin Qi stroked the fur atop Tom's head. Tom squinted in enjoyment and took the initiative to rub against Lin Qi's palm.

For the time being, Tom was quite satisfied with his new owner. His old owner had never petted him like this.

"Is there anything you want to do now?"

This time, Tom moved like lightning. He somehow found a stick and crookedly wrote on the ground: Go home.

Before, it had been fine, but now that he had Tom, Lin Qi felt he could no longer live with his roommates lest he expose something.

Lin Qi took Tom and rented the second floor of a standalone house in the Marine Family Quarters for sixty thousand Berries a month.

It had five bedrooms, two living rooms, two bathrooms, two kitchens, and one dining room.

Marine dormitories were free, while family residences ranged from free to paid. Since he had decided to rent, he might as well get something decent and save himself from moving again later.

"You stay home and behave. I'll go buy some cat food and a cat bed." Lin Qi stroked Tom's fur.

Tom suddenly hugged Lin Qi's thigh, puffed out his chest, and struck a bicep-flexing pose.

"What's wrong? You want to protect me?"

Tom nodded so quickly that his head became an afterimage.

"Then come with me." Lin Qi grabbed Tom by the scruff and set him on his shoulder.

Outside the family housing was a Commercial Street run by the families, so shopping was easy.

After buying all the necessities, Lin Qi carried several large and small bags home, while Tom helped carry one as well.

As he walked down the street, he suddenly heard two vaguely familiar voices, as if he had heard them somewhere before.

Following the voices, he saw a tall beauty and a sleazy-looking middle-aged man outside a Cat Cafe.

Just from the woman's curvaceous back, one could imagine that her face would not be lacking either.

"Those are officer uniforms. When have I heard their voices before?"

Paired with the man's half-visible, sleazy face—second only to Kizaru's—it was not hard to guess that he was the famous Rear Admiral Chaton.

The woman beside him needed no introduction: Rear Admiral Momousagi.

"Gion, do you like cats? If you do, I'll buy every one of them and give them to you."

"No need."

Momousagi walked away from the cat shop with a hint of helplessness. Sensing someone watching her, her eyes met Lin Qi's like lightning.

Lin Qi hurriedly looked away. Being caught peeking was rather awkward, but more than that, he was dazzled.

What a beautiful woman.

He had nearly become entranced by that almost-bursting sight and failed to look away.

So white... no, so big... no, so soft!

Why were there so many elegant Mature Women in the Marines?

There was Hina first. Although she was only eighteen now, her excellent development meant that she constantly exuded a mature aura.

And while Hina was still transitioning from youthful innocence to maturity, Momousagi was like a perfectly ripened peach, as though juice would spill out with a single squeeze.

Come to think of it, among the Marines, Pirates, and Revolutionary Army—the three major factions—

the Marines had many Mature Women, while the Pirates had many little girls.

The Revolutionary Army was different. They had many okama.

A new Life Choice has begun.

Choice One: Obtain Momousagi's favor. Reward: 1,000,000 Berries.

Choice Two: Make Momousagi button up and stop showing off her rabbits. Reward: Momousagi's swordsmanship attainments at age twenty.

Choice Three: Go for Momousagi! Reward: Conqueror's Haki!

"Gulp..."

"System, if you want me dead, just say so. Do you think this little body of mine can take a kick from Momousagi?!"

She was a Rear Admiral! I didn't even have a rank before graduating early from the Elite Camp, and you want me to "offend my superior"?

Lin Qi was certain that if he dared treat Momousagi the way he had treated Hina back then, it would already be fortunate if he was not beaten to death.

He was starting to suspect that this system was a pervert.

Otherwise, why would it tell him to go for every beautiful woman who appeared? The rewards were generous and tempting, but still...

He was even afraid that one day, the system would issue a mission telling him to go for one of the Four Emperors, Big Mom.

Unfortunately, the system was dead and gave no response to Lin Qi's complaints.

After thinking it over repeatedly, Lin Qi still decided to give up on the mission.

Leaving aside whether he could even get close enough with her skills, he did not want to die young. The Kimpira at her waist was no decoration.

In any case, the mission would not disappear. He could deal with it later.

"Were you peeking at me just now?"

Momousagi had appeared in front of Lin Qi at some point, startling him.

So fast!

"My apologies." Lin Qi clasped his hands in salute. "Rear Admiral, you are simply too beautiful. Everyone loves beauty, and I could not help myself."

"'Everyone loves beauty,' huh? I didn't expect you to be such a smooth-talking brat." Momousagi bent down and looked at Lin Qi with a faint smile.

Lin Qi disliked being looked down upon like this, but Momousagi was a full 2.4 meters tall.

He, on the other hand, was only 1.99 meters—just like Red-Haired, still struggling beneath the two-meter passing line.

Standing face-to-face, Lin Qi only reached Momousagi's chest. He could even smell the... fragrance from there.

From his angle, the sight was truly spectacular.

In this world, where the average height was 2.3 meters, the Admirals were generally three meters tall, and people over three meters were everywhere, Luffy's height would absolutely count as a level-three disability.

Lin Qi did not know how to respond to Momousagi's words when she took the initiative and said, "Lend me your cat to play with, and we'll call this matter settled. How about it?"

Tom froze. He had been happily watching the show, so how had he gotten dragged into it?

Lin Qi smiled helplessly. "Rear Admiral, if you want to pet a cat, just say so."

"Then I'll take that as your agreement~"

Momousagi picked Tom up from Lin Qi's shoulder. She took a deep breath, her face full of satisfaction.

She was truly huffing a cat.

For a seasoned cat lover like her, seeing a cat like Tom—one she had never seen before and with such fine looks—it felt like cats were clawing at her heart if she did not pet him.

From the corner of his eye, Lin Qi noticed Tom giving him a mischievous look.

What was this cat planning?

"Ha~ What an obedient little cat. Sell him to me. I'll offer five hundred thousand Berries."

After getting her fill of cat-huffing, Momousagi held Tom in her hands and stroked his sleek fur again and again.

"My apologies, Rear Admiral. Tom is my family. I can't sell him."

"All right." Momousagi did not seem too regretful. "You're staying at Marine Headquarters anyway. Whenever I want to pet Tom, I'll come find you. Is that okay?"

Chaton, who had caught up with them, heard this and his eyes turned green with envy. This was not a cat—it was a treasure!

"Of course, Rear Admiral."

Momousagi gave Lin Qi an approving look. "Stop calling me Rear Admiral all the time. You're Teacher Zephyr's disciple too, right? From now on, you can call me Senior Sister or Sister Gion."

"Got it, Sister Gion. My name is Lin Qi." Lin Qi smiled.

At the side, Chaton's eyes were not the only thing turning green this time. Even the top of his head seemed to faintly turn green as well.