Clark's Glasses

After the mobilization meeting ended, Zephyr announced that everyone had half a day to prepare. Early tomorrow morning, they would officially board the ships and set sail.

Once the dismissal was announced, the entire recruit camp erupted.

Rayne undoubtedly became the focus of everyone's discussions.

The guy who had received special training from Commodore Gion for half a year had become the public enemy of all the male recruits, and now he had voluntarily chosen Vice Admiral Sakazuki, the highest-risk option.

"Has that guy gone crazy? Why not choose Vice Admiral John Giant?"

"Heh, I bet half a year of special training under Commodore Gion has made him forget his own name!"

"Exactly. He thinks he's invincible. Just wait, he'll regret it."

Rayne turned a deaf ear to all of it.

When he returned to the dormitory, Smoker was sitting on his bed with a dark expression, wiping down his weapon. The moment Rayne pushed open the door, another voice came from the corner of the room.

"You're finally back, Rayne."

Hina stood with her arms folded, leaning against the wall. She had clearly been waiting for quite some time.

Smoker rose from the bed as well, looking at him with a complicated expression. "You're really doing this? Sakazuki... Why did you have to pick that guy's ship?"

Rayne calmly began packing his luggage—though there was not much to pack. Everything was in his [Storage Ring].

"Hina is very worried about you." Hina spoke coldly, but the concern in her eyes was impossible to hide. "Vice Admiral Strawberry will also see real combat, but at least he won't use recruits as cannon fodder. It's not too late to change your mind."

Smoker irritably scratched his hair. "Even though I wanted to choose Vice Admiral Sakazuki too, you're different."

He stared hard at Rayne. "I know you're strong, strong enough to be a monster. But you don't need to go trying to prove yourself, do you?!"

Smoker knew very well that Rayne's way of doing things had nothing in common with Sakazuki's justice. There had to be a reason Rayne had chosen Sakazuki's ship, one Smoker did not know.

Rayne looked at the two of them in mild surprise. Over the past half year, they had always been ordered around by him, yet their relationship seemed to have grown better and better.

"Don't worry." Rayne patted Smoker on the shoulder and smiled faintly. "You know how strong I am. I'll be safe wherever I go."

"Bastard! Who the hell is worried about you?!" Smoker snapped as if someone had stepped on his tail. "I'm just afraid you'll die and no one will cook for us anymore!"

"Hina agrees." Hina echoed expressionlessly.

Rayne laughed. "All right. Midnight Diner tonight. I'll make dinner for you first, let you have a hot meal, then I'll go see Commodore Gion."

"At least you've got a conscience."

That night, in Gion's dormitory.

Perhaps because he felt guilty that he would not be able to fulfill his private-chef duties for some time to come.

Tonight's meal was especially lavish. Rayne held nothing back and displayed the full extent of his [Top-tier] Cooking.

When several dishes were placed on the table, their layered, soul-snaring aroma made even the ever-composed Gion's appetite stir.

"It seems you're in a very good mood tonight." Gion poured each of them a glass of expensive red wine.

"Commodore, I'm not an adult yet. I can't drink." Rayne reminded her.

Gion shot him an amused look. "Cut the crap. The first time you snuck food in the kitchen, weren't you drinking with Smoker? Don't play innocent in front of me."

Rayne: (・_・;)

He could only raise his glass and lightly clink it against Gion's.

The two quietly enjoyed the lavish dinner. Gion's movements remained elegant, but the speed at which she ate revealed just how satisfied she was with the meal.

"Tell me." Once they had nearly finished eating, Gion set down her wineglass. Her phoenix eyes seemed especially bright beneath the lamplight. "Why did you insist on choosing Sakazuki?"

Rayne put on his "standard answer." "Reporting to the commodore, the Navy's duty is to eliminate evil! I want to go to the front lines..."

Bang.

Gion kicked Rayne in the shin, cutting him off.

"Don't feed me the bullshit Instructor Zephyr likes to hear." She looked at Rayne seriously. "Tell me the truth."

Rayne fell silent for a moment.

What a pain... he sighed inwardly, knowing he would not be able to fool her unless he revealed something heavy today.

Since that was the case...

He raised his head. The slightly frivolous expression on his face vanished in an instant, replaced by a restrained calm that was just right—the same excuse he had used to brush off Hina back on Gigantia Island.

He turned to look at the moon outside the window. The red wine in his glass reflected the cold moonlight.

"Commodore Gion," he said softly, "my hometown... is on a very small island in the East Blue."

Gion froze. This was the first time Rayne had voluntarily mentioned his past.

"When I was very young," Rayne said calmly, as though telling someone else's story, "a group of pirates landed there. They took everything and burned every house..."

He paused, and his voice sank. "I was hidden in a cellar at the time. For an entire day and night, I heard cries of alarm and screams. When I came out, I was the only survivor."

Rayne turned back to meet Gion's gaze. Her reflection appeared in his dark eyes, which revealed just the right amount of hatred.

"My purpose in joining the Navy was simple from the beginning. It wasn't for any lofty justice."

"I just wanted... to make all pirates pay the price."

He raised his glass and drained it in one gulp.

"Vice Admiral Sakazuki's route will definitely be the one that encounters the most pirates."

Gion was completely stunned.

The teasing, lazy expression on her face instantly froze, replaced by indescribable shock and... heartache.

She looked at the handsome young man before her and suddenly realized that, at some point, he had grown nearly as tall as she was.

She had grown accustomed to his carefree, laughing demeanor, and to how he used good food and little jokes to banter with her.

Only at this moment did Gion suddenly realize that this boy, not yet seventeen, carried such a heavy past on his shoulders.

Subconsciously, she reached into her pocket for a woman's cigarette, intending to light it to calm her tangled emotions.

The slender cigarette was already between her fingers, but just as she was about to light it, she abruptly stopped.

She remembered the boy sitting across from her. It seemed... he did not like the way she looked when she smoked.

Gion's brow furrowed imperceptibly. Then, with two fingers, she gently snapped the unlit cigarette in half.

She casually tossed the broken cigarette aside, as though nothing had happened.

"Rayne..." Her voice softened despite herself. "The justice Sakazuki believes in is magma that burns away everything. I'm worried that..."

"I'm worried your hatred will burn you to ashes first."

"Thank you for the reminder, Commodore." Rayne's expression returned to calm. "I'll keep that in mind."

Whew. If the system could record acting skills, I'd probably have [Top-tier] acting too. Seeing that Gion was no longer pressing him, Rayne secretly breathed a sigh of relief.

"..." Gion gave him a long, deep look.

"Forget it." She rose to her feet, took an exquisite wooden box from the weapon rack behind her, and tossed it over.

"What's this?" Rayne caught it.

"You've neglected that sword of yours far too much." Gion folded her arms. "That's a set of whetstones and maintenance oil I used before. Consider it... payment for all the trouble you've gone through cooking for me these past six months."

Rayne opened it, and his heart stirred.

This set of tools was worth a great deal.

"It's late. Go back and get some rest too." Gion waved her hand. "Three months from now, if you can still come back alive... remember to make up all the meals you'll owe me for this time."

"All right."

Rayne returned to Dormitory 307. Smoker was already asleep, snoring like war drums.

Rayne frowned, casually pinched up a small paper ball, coated it with a thin layer of Armament Haki, and flicked it with his finger.

Smack.

The paper ball struck Smoker squarely on the forehead. The snoring came to an abrupt stop, replaced by faint teeth-grinding.

Today was the monthly refresh day for [Dimensional Curiosities].

Although it had been quite a while since anything Rayne liked had appeared, he had still developed the habit of checking on time every month.

This time, however, the moment he opened it, his gaze was drawn in.

[Clark Kent's Glasses]

[Description]: A pair of utterly ordinary-looking glasses that contains the power of cognitive dislocation. As long as you wear them, no one will be able to recognize your identity. Friendly reminder: do not use them near a phone booth, and do not expect them to stop bullets.

[Price]: 10,000 Sin Points

Rayne's eyes immediately lit up. "Good stuff!"

This thing was practically tailor-made for him! Ten thousand points was not expensive!

"Purchase."

As the points were deducted, a pair of ordinary black-rimmed glasses appeared in Rayne's hand. He smiled in satisfaction and put them away.