Ace's New Stepping Stone

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>3"God, what am I seeing?"

"Isn't this practically a confession?"

"If it were me, I'd have clung to him and refused to leave!"

"Tch... If you were that strong, would you still need to wear a sailor uniform?"

The scene instantly erupted.

Momousagi's rare display of initiative was far beyond the comprehension of the Marines present.

The only fortunate thing was that Chaton was not here. Otherwise, he would probably have been furious enough to collapse on the spot.

"Thank you. See you in three months. I hope you won't waste that fruit," Qin Yu said with a warm smile.

Under countless gazes, he reached out once more and gently ruffled Momousagi's hair.

This time, however, Momousagi did not dodge. She looked at Qin Yu's hand, gave a slight shrug, and—

Before everyone's eyes, happily accepted Qin Yu's head pat.

As Qin Yu departed, the oppressive atmosphere hanging over the harbor dispersed with the wind.

"Alright, clean this up and escort Jack the Drought of the Beasts Pirates back to Marine Headquarters. What comes next will be the real challenge for us," Zephyr said as he withdrew his gaze and gave a grave order to the three remaining warships in the harbor.

Earlier, he had bragged that losing two ships to Qin Yu was no big deal.

But when it came down to it, two advanced warships were still immensely important to the Marines, who had suffered repeated losses.

At the thought of having to report back to Sengoku and explain everything, his temples began to throb.

"Momousagi, you seem to be in a good mood. But I hope you won't get carried away and do anything improper," Tsuru said, glancing at Momousagi. "That boy is not as simple as he seems."

"Most importantly, Headquarters has suffered severe losses.