In the bathroom, Makino closed the door tightly and leaned against the door panel. Her cheeks were so red that she was almost bleeding. She had never had such close contact with the opposite sex in her entire life. Her mind was in a state of confusion and she was helpless as she stood in the steaming mist.
She herself couldn't explain why she took this strange man whom she had just met for the first time directly back to her private home. Obviously, the small teahouse in the town and her own tavern were places where she could sit and talk.
She held her chest that was rising and falling violently, and after a long while she patted her hot cheek, trying to calm down her wandering thoughts.
A full hour later, the bathroom door was gently opened again. Makino, who was neatly dressed and with a slight trace of moisture in her hair, walked to the old wooden chair opposite Lucas and sat down. She gently smoothed the broken hair on her temples with her fingertips. She said hello in a low voice before telling the story of the attack she had suffered on the road.
After listening to her gentle story, Lucas had a look of surprise on his face, and he lowered his head with a bit of shame.
"So that's it. Although that guy is just a temporary field worker, he is still considered my employee. He had the audacity to do such a bad thing to you and caused you so much trouble. I'm really sorry."
When he said this, his attitude was so sincere that there was no half-hearted effort.
Upon closer inspection, if Eternal Financial Group hadn't been deployed in this area, the guy he couldn't even name would probably have died long ago, let alone have an intersection with Makino.
"This is not your problem at all, Mr. Eos. It's all the fault of that guy with evil intentions."
Makino heard this and waved his hands quickly, fearing that the other party would really take the responsibility on himself.
"Next, I decided to inspect the branch in this area for a period of time to check and clean up the moths in the team to avoid similar bad incidents from happening again. During this period, can I temporarily stay here?"
Lucas had a gentle smile on his face, looked at the clear-eyed girl in front of him, and made a request seemingly out of the blue.
Makino's face suddenly turned red, he was a little flustered and a little shy, and he lowered his head, twisting the hem of his skirt with his fingertips:
"You can stay as long as you want."
In the next few hours, the two of them sat under the warm yellow oil lamp and talked about their respective life ideals, ranging from interesting things in the town to distant experiences. The more they chatted, the more speculative they became, almost forgetting the passage of time.
It wasn't until the sky outside the window completely darkened and Foosha Town turned on sporadic lights that Lucas got up and left on the grounds of inspecting the surroundings of the branch.
After all, he is still a wanted criminal with a huge bounty on World Government. It is too easy for him to appear in a public place in broad daylight and cause unnecessary trouble.
On the way to Makino's house just now, he remained transparent and invisible, preventing any passers-by from noticing his whereabouts.
He is not afraid of being discovered by World Government, but he is well aware of the huge destructive power of his movements. If he happens to bump into Garp who is wandering back here, once the two start fighting, the aftermath of the fight may destroy the entire Foosha Town. What if Makino is accidentally affected, injured or even killed?
No one could tell when the old naval hero who often missed work would suddenly want to go back to his grandson's home.
An old friend once said, whatever you fear comes to you.
Just as Lucas stepped lightly onto the forest path of Mount Colubo, he suddenly felt a powerful aura comparable to that of the giant Sea King. The location of that aura was so close that he had no time to avoid it.
The next moment, in the dense mountain forest where the silver moonlight poured down, a tall and muscular old man slowly walked out, wearing a bright floral shirt and a light old scar on his left eye.
The two looked at each other, recognized each other almost at the same time, and exclaimed at the same time.
"Monkey·D·Garp!"
"Eos·Lucas!"
Garp looked at the silver-haired young man in front of him and was speechless for a moment.
The previous incident of Impel Down being cleared gave World Government a loud slap in the face. Gorosei was so furious that he immediately issued a second Buster Call against Eternal Federation.
This time he deliberately made an excuse to take leave and go back to Foosha Town to recuperate, in order to avoid this Buster Call mission.
But what he never expected was that his mission target would appear in front of him so generously and proactively.
To be honest, he didn't want to take action against the young man in front of him.
Garp has always had a good impression of Eternal Financial Group and the later-established Eternal Federation. Needless to say, the former has seen and kept in mind the earth-shaking changes it has brought to the people at the bottom of the Goya Kingdom over the years;
He also had a rough understanding of the system advocated by the latter, and most of the policies were for the benefit of ordinary people, with most benefits.
It is precisely because of this that he took the initiative to find ways to escape Buster Call. Compared with letting those stupid pigs Celestial Dragons ride on the people's heads and dominate the world, Eternal Federation's governance is undoubtedly much better.
To put it bluntly, even if the person standing in front of him at this moment was a heinous and vicious criminal, he would never want to fight in front of his own house.
My two grandsons are still in Foosha Town at the foot of the mountain. Once a war breaks out here and the aftermath of the battle sweeps away, the entire Foosha Town will definitely not be saved, and the two grandsons will definitely not be able to withstand it.
Just when Garp stood in a dilemma, raising his fist and not knowing whether to drop it or withdraw it, Lucas took the initiative to make a suggestion and easily solved this dilemma for him.
"Vice Admiral Garp, if you want to arrest me, then go to a place where no one is around. I don't want to hurt innocent people by taking action here."
Garp raised his eyes and took a deep look at the silver-haired young man in front of him, pondered for a few seconds, and nodded solemnly.
TO BE CONTINUED