Noon

Beasts Pirates Base, outside the cafeteria.

Sister Ra stood quietly before the main doors, the sunlight stretching her shadow long...

Before her stood Osiris and Obe, whom she had not seen for half a day. Both were bruised and swollen, clearly having failed to hold back in their recent sparring session.

The two little ones supported each other as they stood there, wearing awkward smiles as they looked at the expressionless Sister Ra.

"Um, Sister Ra... Obe and I accidentally fell down the stairs just now, haha... ha..." Seemingly aware of how flimsy her excuse was, Osiris's voice grew quieter and quieter. In the end, she simply lowered her head and dared not speak again.

"Idiot Osiris!" Obe was speechless at the sight of Osiris acting like this. "Big Sis, listen to my explanation. She and I actually went to—"

"There's no need to say more. I know what you two were doing this morning. Don't take it that far next time. Go in and eat first."

Unexpectedly, Sister Ra did not scold them and simply let them inside.

She no longer opposed the two fighting each other.

Compared to when they had known nothing about this world on the deserted island, now that she knew this was the world of "ONE PIECE," she understood that fighting here was unavoidable.

No fighting, no survival.jpg

Rather than having the two hone their skills on an uncontrollable battlefield, it was better for them to gain some experience now in a relatively safe environment.

Besides, sparring with each other would help them better master their own strength. Sister Ra could not stay by their sides at every moment. If they were defeated by some nameless nobody with strange powers because they could not control their own strength, that would be far too ridiculous.

The two little ones looked as though they had been granted amnesty and staggered into the cafeteria.

The noise inside abruptly died down, only to explode again once everyone confirmed that Sister Ra had not followed them in.

"Yo~ Red-haired girl, I didn't expect you two to walk in on your own. When we saw Lady Ra standing at the entrance just now, we thought we'd never see you again~"

"Haha~ Yeah, we were even betting on whether you'd make it through today in one piece~"

"Nice! Hahaha, I knew you two would be fine! Hey, bookie! I won my bet, pay up! Twenty thousand Berries!"

"Yeah, and my thousand Berries too! Pay up already! Just as expected of the ones Boss Kaido personally brought back—got some guts!"

"Yeah, you didn't embarrass yourselves!"

"Hmph~ They're nothing more than superficial wounds. Why would I, Osiris, need to care about the opinions of others?" Listening to everyone's praise, Osiris became rather smug.

Obe, beside her, remained very calm. She first collected ten lunches and placed them on the table. "I suggest you keep your voices down. Big Sis is right outside, and she can hear every word you say in here."

"Gah—"

The cafeteria instantly fell silent. Everyone sat properly, and the only sound left in the hall was that of people eating.

Sister Ra entered from outside. Naturally, she did not care about Osiris's words. She merely took a lunch and went into the kitchen.

Before closing the door, she said to everyone in the hall, "You don't need to mind me. I prefer quiet when I eat, but I won't force you to do the same. Just carry on as you like."

As the kitchen door closed, the air in the hall seemed to start flowing again.

Then quiet murmurs gradually arose, growing louder and louder until the previous noisy scene returned.

"Hey, bookie, pay up already! Don't tell me you're trying to welch on the bet! Why were you so quick to collect when I lost money yesterday?!"

"Pique, I'm telling you, that restaurant in town that sells mille-feuille recently came out with—"

"Calis! Tell us already, what exactly happened between you and Miss Lilith last night—"

"Old Cook, we're out of booze here!"

"Ah? You're asking what I did this morning? Heh heh~ Of course, I went outside and fought this little blue-haired runt for three hundred rounds!

"During that time, I suppressed her so thoroughly with supreme laws that she couldn't even lift her head. I'm telling you, that battle was so earth-shattering that even the great dao—"

Osiris stood up from her stool, planted one foot on the dining table, and began bragging to everyone~

"Stop embellishing it, idiot Osiris. I was clearly going easy on you. Otherwise, I'd be the one carrying you back right now."

"What embellishing? You were clearly beaten into the ground by me and had to crawl around for ages before you came out~"

"Heh~ You merely used a few lowly tricks. You only got lucky for a moment."

"You were practically about to cry back then!"

"Nonsense! I wasn't about to cry!"

"You were! You were!"

"I wasn't!"

"You were!"

For a while, the cafeteria was filled with a cheerful atmosphere~

Half an hour later, Sister Ra finished her lunch, washed her own plate, and opened the door to leave the kitchen.

Osiris and Obe were still eating while arguing with each other about something.

Sister Ra walked over, knocked on the table, and said, "Don't talk with food in your mouth. I'll be leaving first. Once you finish lunch, rest for an hour and a half, then wait for me at the training ground. We'll begin afternoon training."

"Ah? Oh, oh."

Oshi and Obe stopped arguing when they heard that and quietly wolfed down the food on their plates.

After leaving the cafeteria, Ra did not head home. Instead, she walked toward the town and soon arrived at a cigarette shop.

Pushing open the door, Ra handed the clerk slumped behind the counter a five-hundred-Berry coin. "Two packs of Marlboro cigarettes, please. Thank you."

The clerk, who had nearly fallen asleep, forced his eyes open. Upon vaguely making out a small figure, he immediately refused.

"No can do, little miss. We can't sell cigarettes to children here."

"Mm, is that so?"

Hearing the rather expected response, Ra put on a troubled expression.

"I'm sorry, but I'm buying them for my teacher, not for myself to smoke. Could you possibly make an exception?"

Su, such a cute little girl! And her voice is so nice! No! Don't make that face! I'm drowning in guilt here, hey!

The clerk had now clearly seen Ra's face, and his principles immediately began to waver.

"So they're for your teacher? What a capable little girl. All right, I'll sell them to you~"

After a not particularly intense internal struggle, the clerk sold the cigarettes to Ra.

"Here's your change. Hold on to it and don't lose it."

"Thank you for making an exception, sir." Ra accepted the change, thanked him, and left.

Sir~ Siiir~ Sirrr~

Ra's soft, gentle thanks lingered in his ears, sending the newly married clerk into a pleasant fantasy...

"Ah~ If my future daughter could be that cute too, that'd be wonderful. No, even one-fifth... one-tenth as cute would be enough~"

"Hey! What are you spacing out for, kid? Get over here and give me a hand!"

The owner of the cigarette shop entered through the back door just then, pushing a large box full of cigarettes and lighters meant to restock the shelves.

"Oh, oh! Coming, coming."

Ra carried the cigarettes and change to Old Cook's residence, a quiet little house with a yard located between the town and the cafeteria.

The house was kept very clean, and many different kinds of vegetables were planted in the open spaces on either side of the yard.

Behind the courtyard was a small flower bed. Every flower in it had been neatly trimmed, making it clear that the owner cared deeply for them.

Cook had already returned from the cafeteria and was sitting in a rocking chair in the sunlight with a newspaper in hand.

"Old Cook, I bought the cigarettes. Here's the remaining change." Ra handed both the bag and the coins to Cook.

"Ah? Mm... all right. Keep the change. There isn't much left, but Boss Kaido and the others probably forgot to give you girls any money, didn't they? Hahaha, with their personalities, it'd be strange if they noticed something like that." Cook took the cigarettes with a smile.

Ra, who had eaten a free meal in town just yesterday, could only say—he had guessed perfectly.

Without refusing, Ra put the change away.

She had never been someone who liked to go back and forth over such things. A trifling amount of money was not worth wasting her time on.

Cook sat up, lit a cigarette, and took a deep drag before waving the newspaper in his hand.

"This is today's paper. I'll read it through for you first, then teach you what these words mean. Mm, don't stand there. Bring over a stool and sit down. Oh, and fetch my glasses while you're at it. They're on the bedside cabinet."

After spending the morning together, the two had grown more familiar with each other, and their exchanges no longer felt restrained.

"Okay."

Ra padded into the house on tiny steps, then returned shortly after with the same tiny steps. Under the sunlight, the old man and the young girl sat side by side, creating a rather warm scene.

"Mm, let me see...

It says Vice Admiral Garp of the Marines fought the Roger Pirates again. It doesn't mention the outcome, so they probably let them get away.

'Unusual activity on the pirate island of Hachinosu; Rocks's remnants are suspected of joining forces!' Looks like those guys who have been lurking around nearby lately came from Hachinosu Island.

And then there's... uh, mm?! 'Kaido of the Beasts caused a major disturbance at the Marine G5 Branch several days ago before escaping. The Marines are currently organizing another capture operation...' Boss Kaido went to mooch another meal off the Marines?"

It had to be said that although Old Cook never left home or took part in expeditions and battles, as one of the few educated and literate members of the Beasts, he could piece together most of the situation across the seas just from the newspapers.

Ra quietly listened as Old Cook read the newspaper, continuously comparing and translating the words and sentences in her mind.

Generally speaking, given enough text, it was possible to fully translate an unfamiliar language. Ra could undoubtedly do that with ease now.

Even if there was not quite enough text, she could still translate it given some time.

So with Old Cook interpreting beside her, along with the English words in the newspaper that she was already familiar with, Ra had grasped most of it almost instantly.

If not for the disconnect between this world's language and writing, which made its grammar and pronunciation different from those of her original world, Ra could have completely mastered this world's language and script with just a few newspapers.

Old Cook quickly finished reading the newspaper and began teaching her the vocabulary and grammar, while Ra continued listening patiently...

Soon, three quarters of an hour had passed. As the time she had arranged with Oshi and the others drew near, Ra stood up to leave.

"Thank you for today's lesson, Old Cook."

"You didn't ask a single question just now. Did you understand everything?" Seeing that Ra had remained silent throughout, Old Cook could not help feeling curious.

"Yes. I've already mastered everything you taught today." Ra nodded with certainty, her tone calm.

"What an incredible genius~ Looks like you won't need these old bones of mine in a few days~" Old Cook teased. After what had happened that morning, he no longer suspected that Ra was merely humoring him.

"Learning the language may not take very long, but when it comes to cooking, I still need more time." Ra smiled as she reassured him.

"Hahaha, this old man still has some secret tricks up his sleeve. Even if you want to learn them, it'll take quite a while~ Hahahahaha!" Whenever cooking was mentioned, Old Cook always brimmed with enthusiasm and confidence.

"Then I'll take my leave first."

"Mhm, go on. Be careful on your way back. This old man needs to take an afternoon nap too."

Taking off his glasses, Old Cook covered his face with the newspaper and gently rocked in his chair.

Hearing snores soon rise from beneath the newspaper, Ra quietly returned the stool and glasses to the house before slipping away.