Hiroto hadn't reached any conclusion by the time he returned to Nami's house.
Just as he was about to think, he heard a series of hurried footsteps. Turning his head, he saw Nami carrying a bag as she pushed the door open and entered.
As soon as she entered, she stopped, panting heavily.
"What's wrong?" Hiroto frowned, instinctively thinking something bad had happened.
"Nothing, I just ran all the way back, so I'm out of breath." Nami gave him a strange look, then held up the bag.
"My sister's injuries are fine, she's asleep now. I figured you wouldn't have anyone to cook for you, so I came back."
"How about tangerine marmalade meat today?"
Nami asked as she skillfully walked toward the kitchen. Clearly, asking what to eat was just a formality.
On the Going Merry, she and Carina took turns cooking, though it was mostly Carina. After all, Nami usually needed to be at the helm navigating.
"Okay."
A flash of surprise crossed Hiroto's eyes, followed by a slight warmth in his heart.
He thought for a moment, pushed open the window of the house, and sat down in a chair by the dining table to wait, feeling the gentle breeze brush against his face.
Listening to the rustling of the tangerine leaves outside and the sounds of Nami cooking in the kitchen, for a moment, he felt a rare sense of ease and comfort.
'This is quite nice.'
Hiroto closed his eyes to enjoy this harmonious scene.
However, not long after, he suddenly opened his eyes because a second set of hurried footsteps rang out.
Zoro?
No, it should be...
A guess surfaced in Hiroto's mind.
A second later, Carina pushed the door open and entered, seeing Nami busy cooking and Hiroto with a subtle expression on his face.
"Carina?"
Nami, who was making the tangerine sauce, heard the noise and saw Carina with a face full of smiles.
Carina held up a large bag in her hand and looked at Hiroto, saying, "Let's have barbecue today."
Nami immediately followed up, "I've already finished the tangerine sauce."
Hiroto: "..."
After thinking about it, Hiroto simply decided to give up. "I'll eat both. Hurry up and cook, I'm hungry."
"Hmph!" x2
Regardless, Carina and Nami ended up cooking together in the kitchen. Except their dishes were different, and they frequently fought over the kitchen utensils for some unknown reason.
By the time Hiroto really felt hungry, a large plate of tangerine marmalade meat and tender, juicy barbecue were placed on the table. One on each side, they almost took up the entire table.
Then, Nami and Carina also took sides, sitting down with their faces resting on their hands and their elbows on the table. The two of them just watched Hiroto like that.
"Aren't you two eating?" Hiroto raised an eyebrow.
"Not hungry." That was Carina.
"On a diet." That was Nami.
Hiroto was helpless and simply picked up his knife and fork to start eating from the left.
Fortunately, the two didn't say anything because Hiroto chose the tangerine marmalade meat first, their eyes just clashed with each other. Faint 'flashes' seemed to erupt in the air, much like the clashing of swords.
Witnessing the process, Hiroto finally remembered that while Carina and Nami were partners, they had actually always been each other's rivals. It was just that the direction of their competition had now shifted to him.
'It's fine. Only when they compete with each other do I get to eat.'
Hiroto didn't care about these things. Questions like whether to choose Nami or Carina didn't even need to be asked. Only children make choices, adults want everything.
Before long, Hiroto had finished all the meat on the table, resulting in a solid sense of fullness.
"I'll clean up."
"I'll clean up too."
In a synchronized response, Nami and Carina both stood up to clear the dishes.
Hiroto was about to say something amusedly when suddenly, scenes flashed before his eyes.
The passive [Incoming Chaos] had triggered.
The scenes that abruptly appeared looked down from the sky, the perspective diving at high speed.
In a fleeting glimpse, Hiroto saw four Marine Warships gathered in that sea area. There were more further away, this was only a part of them.
The perspective lowered, landing on a tall man with a resolute face, chomping on two cigars.
Smoker!.
Only this time, Hiroto saw that the other party had changed weapons. The style was still that of a jitte, but judging by the brand-new steel surface, it was clearly an imitation. It wasn't the one with Sea Stone.
It seemed the previous failure had prompted Smoker to take countermeasures.
The perspective scattered, and the image vanished.
Hiroto immediately understood that this was a Marine encirclement operation targeting him, perhaps mobilizing thousands of Marines. Judging by the sky, it should be later today.
And there was Smoker's change.
"Interesting. Do you think you can win just by throwing away the jitte?" Hiroto grinned, his gaze turning cold.
He sought support from the Marines and wanted to become one of the Seven Warlords of the Sea to gain enough time for development.
To be able to focus on hunting pirates to develop and level up.
He didn't want to play the game of 'beat the small one and the old one comes' with the Marines. But that didn't mean he would always be smiling.
After showing enough goodwill, what he needed to show now was his value for a united front.
One punch to open the way, to avoid a hundred punches coming his way.
"What's wrong?"
Hearing Hiroto's words, Nami and Carina walked out of the kitchen in some surprise to ask.
Hiroto slowly stood up. "Some trouble has arrived. I'll just sweep it away."
This battle would end quite quickly.