Following the earlier embarrassing incident with the toy-scattered living room, Misae prepared to venture out for grocery shopping. While the premium seafood from the One Piece world would certainly be the centerpiece of their meal, she still needed to purchase additional ingredients to create a well-rounded dinner.
Little Himawari had just fallen asleep in Misae's arms and hadn't stirred yet, so Misae entrusted her infant daughter's care to Gustave and his friends during her absence.
Gustave readily agreed to the arrangement. After all, he had Chu Zihang available, and Himawari had shown a clear preference for him during their previous visit.
After Misae departed, the Moral Lord announced his intention to explore the area as well. Upon arriving in this dimension, he had detected something peculiar about the temporal mechanics—the very flow of time seemed to revolve entirely around the child Shin-chan as its central axis. This anomaly required investigation to understand its underlying principles.
"Master, remember to return for dinner!" Gustave called out as the Moral Lord prepared to leave.
"Do not concern yourself," the ancient sage replied. He took one measured step forward, then another, and his entire form vanished from Gustave's sight. This was the legendary technique of 'Shukuchi Seison' (shrinking earth into inches)—covering vast distances with minimal movement.
Back in the living room, Luffy and Ace had joined Shin-chan in watching Action Mask on television, all three completely absorbed in the superhero's adventures. They laughed uproariously while attempting to imitate Action Mask signature combat moves and monster-fighting techniques.
Although Ace and Luffy were several years older than Shin-chan—particularly Ace, who typically maintained a mature demeanor—meeting Shin-chan had finally allowed Ace to express the playful innocence appropriate for his actual age.
As for Luffy, the compatibility was immediate and obvious. He and Shin-chan were truly kindred spirits—two irrepressible forces of childish enthusiasm who understood each other perfectly.
"Chan'er, I'm planning to take a walk outside. Would you like to come along?" Gustave asked, noticing Yang Chan's restlessness.
After arriving at Shin-chan's house, Yang Chan had initially watched television with the boys, but she was now sitting alone and looking rather bored. She couldn't quite comprehend what the three boys found so entertaining about their show.
Although Yang Chan had interaction with Shin-chan's group several times, this marked her first experience in this modern world. Observing her listlessness, Gustave thought it would be beneficial to show her the local sights.
"Chan'er wants to go!" Yang Chan exclaimed, immediately springing to her feet with renewed enthusiasm.
"Po, would you like to join us?" Gustave inquired. Since this was also Po's first venture into the modern world, Gustave naturally couldn't forget to include him in the expedition.
"Mm-hmm!" Po nodded eagerly, indicating his strong interest in exploring.
As for Tom, the moment he'd arrived at Shin-chan's house, he'd located the most comfortable spot available and promptly fell asleep. Having previously lived in a modern world, he'd grown somewhat weary of urban scenery and preferred his nap.
"Zihang, when you visited here last time, you were able to exchange US dollars from your world at the local banks, correct?" Gustave asked before departing.
"Yes, currency exchange is possible, and the false identity documents that Norma created for you should function here as well," Chu Zihang confirmed with a nod.
If anyone wondered how Chu Zihang had acquired this knowledge, the answer lay in his previous visit here with Admiral Kizaru.
During that expedition, Chu Zihang and Kizaru had been enthusiastically dragged on a shopping excursion by Shin-chan and his friends. When they'd reached the food court and the children wanted to eat, they'd discovered insufficient funds—and Kizaru only carried Berries from the One Piece world. Chu Zihang had reluctantly produced US dollars from his pocket with little hope of success. Surprisingly, the food court had accepted them, though Chu Zihang's hundred-dollar bill was too large for the vendors to make change, prompting them to suggest visiting a nearby bank for smaller denominations.
Initially reluctant, Chu Zihang had been swayed by the children's hopeful expressions and Kizaru's promise to extract him immediately if any complications arose. So he'd courageously ventured to the bank for currency exchange.
Unexpectedly, the bank had readily recognized his US dollars and efficiently processed the transaction.
Realizing that currency from his world functioned here, Chu Zihang had grown curious about whether identification documents might also work universally. Out of pure curiosity, he'd asked Kizaru to test his ID credentials in this world's China. Remarkably, those had functioned as well. While the underlying mechanism remained mysterious, Chu Zihang had been thoroughly pleased with the results.
"Understood," Gustave replied, then departed with Yang Chan and Po.
Walking through Kasukabe's streets, Yang Chan and Po gazed around with wide-eyed curiosity, having never witnessed such urban environments before.
Pedestrians along the street returned their curious stares, though their attention focused primarily on Yang Chan. Her distinctive ancient Chinese-style dress and delicately beautiful features naturally drew attention.
Yang Chan remained oblivious to the interest she was generating, continuing to observe everything around her with fascination.
The experience at Shin-chan's house hadn't been too overwhelming—while the architecture was modern in style, the single-family home wasn't particularly imposing in scale.
After Gustave's group had walked for some time, they encountered a towering structure rising before them.
"Wow! That building is incredibly tall!" Yang Chan exclaimed in amazement, having never seen such architectural heights.
Po nodded vigorously in agreement, clearly sharing Yang Chan's astonishment at the impressive structure.
"That appears to be a luxury apartment complex," Gustave observed after carefully studying the building's architectural style.
"Amazing!" Yang Chan responded. Though she didn't fully understand what constituted a "luxury apartment," the word "luxury" sounded impressively sophisticated to her ears.
"If we have time, I could take you both to Manhattan in New York or along Shanghai's Huangpu River to see such skyscrapers. Those locations feature even more high-rise buildings with a more pronounced modern atmosphere," Gustave suggested with an encouraging smile.
Actually, Gustave had initially considered recommending Tokyo, but the high-rise density here didn't seem as concentrated as in Shanghai or New York, leading him to suggest those alternative destinations instead.
"Brother Gustave! Chan'er!"
Suddenly, Kazama's voice called out from behind their group.
"Kazama! What brings you here?" Gustave asked with a smile, watching as Kazama waved enthusiastically while jogging toward them.
"This is my home! Brother Gustave and Chan'er, are you here to visit me?" Kazama explained after catching his breath, pointing toward the luxury apartment complex they'd been admiring.
"So this is your home, Kazama!" Gustave realized with surprise. The only high-end apartment building in the vicinity of Shin-chan's house did indeed belong to Kazama's family.
"Hey, who is this older brother?" Kazama asked, noticing the unfamiliar young man standing beside Gustave.
"I'm Po!" Po announced, pointing to his chubby, fair-skinned face with a friendly smile.
"Brother Po!" Kazama exclaimed in recognition, clearly surprised by Po's transformed appearance.
"Po's original form wouldn't be suitable for visiting your world, Kazama, so we altered his appearance," Gustave explained.
"Incredible!" Kazama marveled after hearing this explanation. He couldn't believe that Gustave and his friends possessed the ability to transform Po from a panda into a human.
"By the way, Kazama, we need to locate a bank for money exchange. Do you know where the nearest bank that accepts US dollars might be?" Gustave inquired. He had originally planned to explore leisurely and then ask random passersby for directions to an appropriate bank, but encountering Kazama eliminated the need to deal with strangers.
"I know exactly where to go! Brother Gustave, please follow me," Kazama replied confidently. As the son of a father who worked internationally, currency exchange was a routine family necessity, making him quite knowledgeable about local banking options.
Following Kazama's guidance, Gustave's group made their way to a nearby bank, where they unexpectedly encountered a man with distinctive long green hair and fashionable attire.