A Nostalgic Feeling

The meeting in the Fleet Admiral's Office had just ended, and Ye Chen still needed to make a trip to the New World.

As soon as he stepped out of the conference room, he heard Bai Doudou's extremely arrogant words. "My boss is Admiral, come and chop me if you dare!" This immediately made Ye Chen's face darken.

"Ahem, your pet is even more arrogant than the sheep of the Fleet Admiral Sengoku."

Wearing sunglasses, Borsalino had a sly look on his face, which looked rather strange.

"You're always causing trouble, and now you even have no respect for your superiors. You'd better do something about it." Immediately afterward, Sakazuki, wearing a coat, clearly also heard Bai Doudou's voice. He then gave Ye Chen a warning with a stoic expression.

Ye Chen completely ignored Sakazuki, not even bothering to speak. How to manage things was his own business, and it was none of anyone else's place to interfere.

"That rabbit's carrots were quite delicious." Seeing Sakazuki's grim face, Kuzan, put his hands on his head, and left the conference room.

With a cold snort, Sakazuki turned and left, while Borsalino shrugged, turned into a photon, and disappeared from the spot.

The comments made at the door were naturally heard inside.

"Kuzan's right, that rabbit's carrots taste really good." Garp laughed heartily, crossing his legs.

"It's just a few things, Zephyr, your mood seems to have improved a lot lately!" Sitting in the head seat, Sengoku, who was already Fleet Admiral, didn't pay attention to Bai Doudou's antics. Instead, he looked at Zephyr and asked.

"Having stepped down from my position Admiral, I feel a great sense of relief. After some time, I'll take my family on a trip."

Below, Zephyr, in high spirits, laughed heartily.

"You..." Crane shook his head and smiled, clearly knowing Zephyr's personality.

"You don't need to worry about me. Now we have Ye Chen and the other three. Although they still need some training, they are ready to take up their posts. It's better for me to stay at the academy and train the next generation for the navy."

"You just want to slack off." Garp glared at him fiercely.

"Haha, I'm not chatting with you guys anymore. Dinner's probably ready at home already." Zephyr stood up, patted his butt, and showed no dissatisfaction at being relieved of his Admiral. After all, he, Zephyr, still had the powers that Admiral should have, and no one could ignore Zephyr's presence.

"That's good." Sengoku, who was at the head of the table, breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'll join them for a meal! I haven't eaten yet." Garp's eyes lit up, and he quickly followed behind Zephyr.

"Whatever, you've been freeloading off me more than once or twice anyway." Zephyr rolled his eyes.

"Hehe," Garp without blushing at all.

"Those two old guys." After a moment of envy as he watched his two friends leave one after the other, Sengoku buried himself in his official duties. Tsuru shook her head; she too had her share of things to do.

On the other side, Ye Chen arrived at the scene of the incident and saw Bai Doudou swaggering around, brandishing her tiger skin and waving her big flag, making Chaton and the others so angry that their faces turned pale and they were all trembling.

"Admiral Ye Chen"

Ye Chen's appearance caused a commotion. Several passing generals saluted him, and Ye Chen nodded in response to each of them.

"Cough!" Upon seeing Ye Chen appear, Bai Doudou acted as if nothing had happened and stopped her provocation.

Passing by Chaton and the others without even glancing at them, Ye Chen said calmly, "Let's go!"

With its ears perked up rather listlessly, Bai Doudou had no choice but to turn around and follow Ye Chen. Before leaving, however, it gave Chaton and the others the middle finger and stuck out its rear end, its fluffy short tail twitching.

The eyes of Chaton and the others turned red with rage.

Damn it, this rabbit has to be killed, otherwise I won't be able to get my thoughts out of this—this was the thought in Chaton's mind.

As soon as Ye Chen returned to the villa, he smelled the fragrance and felt a special feeling in his heart.

"Nana must have made something delicious."

Pushing Ye Chen aside, Bai Doudou rushed through the gate.

As soon as Ye Chen entered the gate, he heard Bai Doudou complaining from the kitchen, "Nana, why aren't there any carrots?"

"Aren't you tired of carrots yet? I've prepared carrot juice for you!" A crisp voice rang out. In the kitchen, Hina, wearing an apron, glared at Bai Doudou, who was about to sneak a bite.

"Take these out; dinner will be served soon."

"Okay!" Reluctantly, Bai Doudou still obeyed the order.

"Brother Ye Chen, just wait a little longer, it'll be ready soon." Perhaps it was a telepathic connection, as soon as Ye Chen entered the hall, Hina poked her head out from the kitchen with a sweet smile.

"Hmm." Watching Hina turn around and continue her work, Ye Chen felt increasingly uneasy.

Before long, the two people and the rabbit sat down at the dinner table. It was a simple meal of four dishes and a soup. It might not look very appealing, but it smelled delicious.

While eating, Ye Chen looked at Hina with some surprise and asked, "Where are Shu and the others? Why are they all gone?"

"Oh, they've all left," Hina replied while serving Ye Chen some food.

"So busy?"

"Of course, we're all Rear Admiral now, we need to choose our own subordinates and we have missions to complete!" Hina pouted, looking somewhat unhappy, when the topic came up.

"I see!" Ye Chen didn't ask any further questions, since everyone had their own lives now.

"I have a mission now, and it's rare for me to come back and spend time with Brother Ye Chen," Hina said reluctantly, putting down her chopsticks.

"You're Rear Admiral now, it's normal for you to have missions."

But they don't want to leave!

"Why?" With her mouth full of grease, Bai Doudou looked up and interjected.

"I want to be with Brother Ye Chen." Hina said shyly, her cheeks slightly flushed.

"I also have a mission tomorrow; I need to go to the New World." Looking at Hina, who was gazing at him expectantly, Ye Chen sighed inwardly.

"Ah," Hina said, feeling very disappointed, her face immediately falling.

"Boss, we can let Nana come along!" Bai Doudou said matter-of-factly. "I don't want to be exposed to the elements."

To be honest, Ye Chen was somewhat tempted. If Hina were by his side, his life would definitely be much easier.

"Brother Ye Chen," Hina said pitifully, blinking her big eyes and looking at Ye Chen with a wronged expression.

As if guided by some unseen force, Ye Chen nodded and said, "As long as you're willing to come along, I'll tell Fleet Admiral Sengoku."

"Yes, of course I'm willing!" Hina exclaimed, beaming with joy. She hugged Bai Doudou's head and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek, which drew a chorus of complaints from Bai Doudou.

Looking at the cheerful Hina, Ye Chen smiled as well. Unconsciously, he had gotten used to Hina. That kind of habit wasn't from friendship, but from some other emotion.

For example, the current atmosphere made Ye Chen feel like he was living with his family of three, just like his parents back then. Every time he came home from school, his mother would prepare a meal and wait for his father to come home from work, and then the three of them would sit around the table to eat.

Back then, Ye Chen couldn't appreciate that simple happiness at all. Only now does he realize how precious a family, a complete family, truly is.

"Brother Ye Chen, eat more."

Hina kept putting food on Ye Chen's plate, watching Ye Chen with a sweet smile on her face.

"You should eat too! Being too thin doesn't look good." He put a piece of food on Hina's plate as well.

"Yes." Hina swore she had never realized that her cooking could taste so delicious.

Bai Doudou, standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore. He sensed that something was wrong, very wrong. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but for some reason, he felt superfluous at that moment.

P, what's going on? Why do I have this feeling?

With her eyes wide open, Bai Doudou scanned back and forth between the two of them.

And so, the meal proceeded somewhat strangely, yet the feelings between them grew stronger without them even realizing it.