No Work, No Food

Hina did not finish her sentence, but her meaning was already obvious.

"Pfft—cough, cough, cough!"

Beside her, Rosinante immediately spat out the meat in his mouth.

Even Rayne, who had maintained an air of calm indifference the whole time, could no longer keep his expression in place.

"W-What are you talking about?!" Rayne's eternally steady voice cracked for the first time. "Who said I wanted to trade barbecue for your... whatever?! What kind of nonsense is going through your head?!"

At the very moment he lost his composure, a murderous aura rose behind him, as if it wanted to slice him into a thousand pieces.

Without even turning around, Rayne knew it was Smoker's gaze.

Damn it, I overdid the act. Rayne's heart skipped a beat. He had no doubt that if he so much as nodded and said "yes," Smoker would rush over and splash him with blood.

He did not dare keep pretending. He quickly coughed twice, forcibly steering the conversation back on track as he put on a serious expression.

"What I mean is, this meal isn't free."

He glanced at Hina, then swept his gaze over his two teammates. In a low voice, he said, "Do you think this survival exercise on a deserted island is really just a vacation? Don't be so naive. Going by Chief Instructor Zephyr's style, those instructors will definitely drive all the pirates in the nearby waters onto this island like livestock, using them as sparring partners for us."

"My condition is simple." Rayne's gaze finally returned to Hina. "You need to capture pirates—alive. Then bring them to me in exchange for food."

"Capture pirates?" The confusion in Hina's eyes deepened. She stepped forward, her sharp gaze locking onto Rayne like a searchlight. "Although Hina cannot see through you, you should be stronger than all of us. Why not do it yourself?"

Rayne did not rush to answer. Instead, he calmly asked, "Stronger? Hina, do you remember what my Doriki Value was during the entrance test?"

Hina's brows furrowed almost imperceptibly. "101."

"Smoker's was 602." Rayne spread his hands, a helpless expression appearing on his face. "So, are you saying that someone with a Doriki Value of 101 is stronger than Smoker?"

That question left Hina speechless at once.

She could not refute that ironclad fact.

But she trusted her instincts even more—the man before her was definitely not as simple as he appeared.

"But you..." She carefully chose her words and pointed at the backpack beside him. "...those unbelievable methods of yours..."

"Those?" A troubled smile appeared on Rayne's face, and he sighed.

"Those are merely a few unpresentable little tricks I learned to survive. They aren't meant for combat. In a head-on fight, I'm only a barely qualified recruit."

He looked at the suspicion still filling Hina's eyes, then changed his tone.

"Besides, this is training for all of us. If I do everything by myself, then what are you here for? To be spectators?"

That reason was flawless.

Hina fell silent for a moment before finally asking her last question. "Then why exactly do you want to capture pirates?"

Rayne slowly lowered his head. His voice sank with it, filled with a weariness that did not match his age.

"I'm an orphan who lost his family because of pirates."

"Capturing pirates is, of course... so I can personally kill every last one of them."

It was not a lie. After all, the original owner of this body had indeed become an orphan because of pirates.

The next morning, inside the cave behind the waterfall.

A small pot sat over the fire, bubbling as it cooked a fragrant meat porridge. Rayne had made it with leftover porcupine meat from last night and some rice.

Rosinante was awakened by the scent. Rubbing his eyes, he crawled out of his warm sleeping bag. As he inhaled the aroma in the air, a blissful, foolish grin appeared on his face.

Smoker sat cross-legged on his moisture-proof mat with a dark expression, his gaze complicated.

He had slept soundly last night, yet felt deeply stifled—soundly because the sleeping bag was soft, the cave was dry, and no wild beasts disturbed him; stifled because all of those blessings had come from the monster who had made him question his life with one punch.

Rayne was leisurely eating breakfast when he noticed Smoker and Rosinante's eager gazes.

Too busy eating to answer, Rayne merely nodded toward the pot with his chin.

Rosinante immediately ran over in delight and served himself a bowl. Smoker hesitated for a moment, but in the end, under the protest of his stomach, reluctantly picked up a bowl as well.

After breakfast, Rayne began assigning tasks to the two of them. "Hunt, gather, or capture pirates. You need to get to work too. No work, no food."

Smoker looked at the relaxed Rayne and frowned. "We have to work too?"

"What else?" Rayne finally spared a glance away from his book and looked at him. "Did you think breakfast was free?"

Smoker was instantly left speechless. It was true—having accepted someone else's food, he could not argue a single word.

After a pause, Rayne added another sentence.

"Only I get to enjoy the vacation here."

"You...!" Smoker ultimately converted his dissatisfaction into appetite and buried his head in his food.

Of course I have to make them work. Rayne analyzed the situation calmly in his mind.

If I kill all the pirates myself, the commotion will be too great. How would I explain the strength of someone with a Doriki Value of 101? Once my strength is exposed, I'll definitely be entrusted with important duties in the future, working overtime and going on missions every day. That would completely go against my plan for a safe retirement.

Rayne knew his own position very well. Before his physique, Haki, and all his skills had been raised to [Peak], he had no intention of becoming any kind of hero.

Besides, eighty percent of the pirates on this island are probably Safe Monsters carefully selected and deliberately released by the instructors. Even if there are a few R-rank ones, there isn't much to gain from them. Exposing myself for that little bit of experience would be a massive loss.

He looked at the two of them eating with relish, the corner of his lips curling upward.

Using delicious food to hire this group of free laborers is the option that maximizes profit.

With that thought, Rayne slowly pulled a... hardcover book larger than the pocket itself from the thin pocket of his uniform.

When Smoker saw that, he nearly spat out his porridge.

He looked at the unbelievable book, then at Rayne's utterly ordinary pocket, and felt like his brain was no longer enough.