"Hina is unnecessary."

Hina felt out of place.

When Dill had dragged the female captain into the cabin, Robin hadn't batted an eye, but Hina had thought he must really be desperate.

Now the two of them had spoken the same word in unison, yet she had never even heard of it.

"Hina is unnecessary."

"No, you just joined us a little late."

Dill picked up a napkin, wiped his mouth, and explained:

"A Poneglyph is an indestructible stone tablet with all sorts of information recorded on it in Ancient Script."

"As for why we're so excited..."

"May I tell her?"

He cast Robin a questioning look.

This was Robin's private business, after all. He wouldn't casually reveal it without her permission.

"No, you may not."

Robin shook her head, refusing Dill's request, then linked arms with Hina.

"If anyone's going to tell her, it should be me."

Hina's expression went from dejected to delighted.

The two young girls sat shoulder to shoulder, their heads lowered as they quietly talked about the past.

Dill tactfully left the room with his plate.

He hadn't eaten his fill yet.

"S-sir, would you like to order anything else?"

A waiter a short distance away immediately jogged over and said with an ingratiating smile:

"The kitchen is working hard. The ten set meals you ordered will be here shortly."

This man was a big spender.

Smack!

The two-meter-tall, white-haired man laid a hand on his shoulder, his broad smile especially friendly.

"My friend, do you trust me?"

The waiter didn't quite understand what he meant and could only play along:

"Yes, of course. Our service motto is to trust our customers completely!"

"Good. Come on, take me to the kitchen. I'm going to fight them to the death!"

Before long, roar after roar rang out from the restaurant's kitchen.

A hungry diner had chased them all the way into the kitchen?!

To the chefs, this was undoubtedly an enormous humiliation.

The rookie on prep duty swung his knife so fast it left afterimages, the chopping board thudding beneath it.

The baker wished he could breathe fire instead of waiting for the sluggish oven.

The cook at the wok flexed his mighty arms, wielding his spatula with all the imposing force of a treasured saber.

The chef in charge of plating was temporarily fired, because there was no need for plating at all. The food could go straight into a mouth as soon as it left the pan.

Dill turned nothing away, standing at the kitchen entrance and eating like mad, like an insurmountable mountain god looking down upon the chefs offering him tribute without pause.

"Burp~"

He let out a satisfied belch, pressed his palms together, and said with utmost sincerity:

"I'm full. Thank you for the meal!"

His ruptured eardrums had healed, and his depleted stamina had recovered.

He was very satisfied with this meal.

At those words, the panting chefs looked as though they had won a battle, smug expressions spreading across their faces.

"Hahaha, we won!!"

"Now you've seen a chef's stamina, kid!"

"Nobody goes hungry under my spatula!"

Dill's lips curled upward. He bowed, then stepped around the plates piled beside him and left without looking back.

The bow wasn't thanks. It was an apology for eating without paying.

He only had a little money on him, nowhere near enough to cover the meal.

"I'll have Bege come settle the bill later."

"And that female captain-I'll have Bege take her away too. Come to think of it, wasn't Bege into that sort of build?"

With these inconsequential thoughts running through his head, Dill hurried back to the private room, ready to take the two girls and make a run for it.

The moment he pushed the door open, he heard Hina's furious voice.

"He actually shelled a refugee ship! Is that Marine a mad dog?!"

"Hina hates him!"

She had just heard about the tragedy of Ohara and immediately developed a dislike for the Marine Vice Admiral who had shelled the refugee ship.

That disgust extended to the entire Marine force.

"And here I thought all Marines were just. I never imagined they'd do something like that!!"

"All right, time to make a run for it. We still need to find a hotel."

Dill stepped forward, picked up the Den Den Mushi, tucked it into his clothes, and pulled the two girls toward the exit at a run.

As for whether the Marines were good or bad?

He didn't want to offer much of an opinion, but he didn't think their future looked bright.

"Hina, why don't you consider trying boxing for a couple of years? Who knows, it might really work wonders."

"Hina refuses."

Moonlight shrouded the street as the three jogged away.

After reaching another street and paying twenty thousand Beli, the three secured a luxury suite with a private bathroom and two bedrooms.

Their long experience on the run had given Dill and Robin the habit of sleeping as close together as possible, making it easy to flee at a moment's notice.

When they could afford it, they got a luxury suite. With middling funds, they got two rooms close together. When they couldn't, they squeezed into one bed.

Now the three sat cross-legged in the living room, discussing their plan.

They were definitely going.

History was Robin's dream, after all.

But how to get there was still a problem.

"The approximate location is here!"

Her little face flushed, Robin drew a circle on the nautical chart with a pen.

The book they had bought earlier was only a children's storybook and hadn't clearly specified the location.

Its author had reportedly already set out to sea to gather more material.

On top of that, the unnamed island wasn't marked on the nautical chart either.

Robin could only use the due-east direction and the three-day journey to mark out a rough area.

There were no other islands around the circled area. The island they were currently on was the closest one.

"Tomorrow, we'll take a ship to this island first, then transfer there and head to this island..."

Route A passed to the left of the circular area, route B to the right, route C above it...

They would keep transferring like this, crisscrossing the area until they found the unnamed island.

"No need to make it so complicated."

Dill waved a hand, rejecting Robin's suggestion.

Though safe, that approach would be slow and very time-consuming.

"Tomorrow, we'll seize a slightly larger cargo ship, head straight for that stretch of sea, and conduct a blanket search."

Cargo ships were different from passenger ships. There wouldn't be so many people to hypnotize.

This time was also different from last time. Back then, they had needed to leave as quickly as possible, so he had chosen a small cargo ship that was easy to seize.

This time, as long as he slipped aboard and spent a few extra days, he could use hypnosis to take complete control of the ship.

If everyone aboard was a married woman, a single day might be enough.

"But how will we land? Didn't the book say the primitive people on the island refuse to let outsiders in?"

"Hina is confused."

"Well, we'll deal with that when we get there. We'll think of something."

Dill stood and stretched, then walked toward his room with light steps.

He had been missing a soft bed for quite some time.

"Good night. You two should get some rest early too."

Click~

The door closed.

Hina couldn't help yawning, feeling a little sleepy.

Although she hadn't exerted herself much and had spent most of the time hanging off Dill like an accessory.

Mental fatigue was still unavoidable.

Encountering a monstrous sea cow, escaping in a rowboat, being bound in chains, being hunted by crazed townspeople, and seizing a cargo ship with a black gun in hand.

She had gone through a string of new experiences within forty-eight hours.

Now that things had finally settled down, all she wanted was a good night's sleep.

"Robin, stop looking. Come on, let's take a bath."