The old man slowly came out, smiling as though he had been waiting for this moment all along.
"Come over to my place. You're all welcome."
"I'll put together a feast so everyone can eat their fill."
The group exchanged looks. Someone swallowed, and they quickly agreed.
They followed the old man onto the boat, all of them hurrying to get there first.
Naruto kept muttering to himself. The meal sounded good, but he hoped eating wouldn't land them in trouble again.
As luck would have it, the Navy was patrolling nearby and spotted the boat at once.
They locked onto their target ridiculously fast, yet their expressions remained perfectly composed.
Naruto couldn't help snarking that these people really were enthusiastic about their jobs.
From the looks of it, they were waiting for someone to make the first move.
Naruto felt that on this voyage, trouble always arrived before the food.
On the Navy's side, someone raised a telescope and kept it trained on the boat.
Elsewhere.
A fat man hugged a chicken drumstick and gnawed away, grease smeared across half his face.
He crunched noisily, crumbs covering the corners of his mouth.
After finishing one, he reached for the next, still cursing under his breath.
The fat man chewed the meat, grease dripping down his chin.
"Four-eyes, didn't you say that girl had entered the Calm Belt and couldn't possibly survive?"
"Now she's back on Warship Island."
"Hurry up and capture her, you useless fool."
Glasses Man's face was filled with disbelief, and his hatred was almost spilling over.
His fingers tightened, his knuckles turning white, as though he meant to claw straight through the table.
The credit that had been within his grasp had slipped away, and he couldn't stomach it.
"Her escape has handed us an opportunity