"As long as I'm the captain, we'll go and plunder, and kill! We'll trample the Marines and the World Government under our feet! We'll build a country that belongs only to me! Totto Land!"
"What I want is not a country," Newgate shook his head. His gaze swept over Gatz, Silver, Dolum, and even the reclusive Gloriosa, his eyes becoming gentle. "What I want is a family."
"A family?" Linlin scoffed, as if she had heard the funniest joke in the world. "What's the use of such a weak thing? Can you eat it?"
"If our paths are different, we shouldn't make plans together." Newgate said no more. He planted his broken naginata on the deck, making his position clear.
Two equally terrifying Conqueror's Haki clashed above the wreckage. Black and red lightning crackled, making the already fragile hull groan under the strain. An internal war that would decide the fate of the remnants of this pirate crew was about to erupt.
"Enough." Just then, a calm voice sounded, not loud, but it clearly reached everyone's ears. It was Ren. He walked out of the kitchen, holding a large tray. On the tray were not delicacies, but a few bowls of steaming hot, plain-looking white rice porridge, and a few small dishes of salted vegetables and jerky made from dried sea beast meat.
Everyone's attention was drawn over. They saw Ren walk between Newgate and Linlin and place the tray on a relatively flat piece of deck. He ignored the two Conqueror's Haki that could make an ordinary person's liver and gallbladder burst, as if he were just walking through a gentle breeze. "Time to eat," Ren's voice was calm and steady. "Before you fight, you should at least fill your stomachs."
This out-of-place sentence caused a strange loosening in the tense atmosphere. Linlin looked at the bowl of steaming white porridge and said with disdain, "This stuff? You call this food?"
"You don't have to eat it," Ren didn't look at her, just handed a bowl of porridge to Gatz. Gatz hesitated for a moment, but still took it. He now had a blind trust in Ren's cooking. Even a bowl of white porridge must have something magical about it. He took a sip.
The next second, Gatz's eyes shot wide open. It was a taste that could not be described in words. The rice grains were cooked to perfection, melting in his mouth. The mellow fragrance of the rice oil and the sweetness of the rice grains blended perfectly, turning into the purest, warmest power, which slid down his throat and into his stomach. That warmth instantly dispelled the depression, confusion, and unease of the past few days. It was as if he had returned to his most carefree childhood, to the simplest bowl of rice porridge that his mother had cooked for him by the fire. This was the taste of home. "Ugh..." This big, rough man's eyes actually turned red.
Linlin looked at Gatz's exaggerated reaction and, half-believing, also picked up a bowl. The moment the porridge entered her mouth, her massive body shuddered. She seemed to see her childhood, the scenes of living with the nun and the other children in Elbaf. Although she was always causing trouble back then, it was the happiest and most blissful time of her life. This bowl of porridge had awakened the memory that she both longed for and feared the most. Her heart, which had been wrapped in desire and ambition until it was as hard as iron, at this moment, showed a slight crack.
Newgate also picked up a bowl. He took a sip and saw his wandering childhood, his infinite longing for a family. Silver took a sip and saw his abandoned past. Gloriosa took a sip and saw the man she both loved and hated. This was no longer a simple bowl of porridge. This was Ren, using his "Boon of the Feast" to infuse everyone's memories and emotions into it, a bowl of... the past.
For a time, only suppressed, soft sobs could be heard on the wreckage. An imminent civil war was dissolved by a bowl of porridge.
The past was like porridge, scalding as it went down the throat, burning everyone's soul. When the last bowl was empty, the atmosphere on the wreckage was no longer tense, but was shrouded in a complex and heavy emotion. No one mentioned the captain's position anymore, and no one clamored to conquer the world. That bowl of porridge had temporarily pulled them out of the shadow of Rocks's death and their confusion about the future, forcing them to face their deepest desires and pains.
Linlin hugged her knees and sat in a corner. The face that was always filled with a greedy and willful smile now showed a rare vulnerability. She thought of the nun, of Elbaf, of the warmth of a family that she thought she had long forgotten. But soon, that vulnerability was replaced by an even firmer ambition. She looked up at Ren, her expression complex. "Kid, your cooking... is really good." This was the first time she had sincerely praised Ren.
"But," Linlin stood up, dusted herself off, and the aura of a future queen returned to her. "What I want is not memories, but a future. A country where I can do whatever I want, where I can eat all the delicacies in the world, where all races can live peacefully at my feet!" She no longer looked at Newgate, but at the vast, boundless sea. "There is nothing left for me here."
Linlin turned and said to the others, "From today on, I, Charlotte Linlin, am leaving the Rocks Pirates. I'm going to form my own pirate crew, my own country!" With that, she summoned Zeus directly. Her massive body leaped up and flew toward the distance without looking back. "Mamamama! Goodbye! A bunch of pitiful creatures who only know how to wallow in the past! The next time we meet, I will be a queen!" Her signature laugh grew fainter and fainter on the sea, taking with it the last of this pirate crew's past arrogance.
Linlin's departure was like the first domino to fall. Gloriosa also stood up. She walked over to Ren and gave him a deep look. "Thank you for the porridge. It reminded me of some things that I should have forgotten, but couldn't." Her voice was still cold, but it had lost some of its icy, standoffish quality. "But my journey should also end here." She glanced at Newgate, then at the others. "You monsters are not suitable for a woman like me who just wants to find a quiet place to wait for death." She leaped onto a floating piece of wood and, with her superb physical skills, she rode the waves away, in the opposite direction from Linlin. Her back was still proud, but no longer so lonely.
"Hey! Why are you all leaving!" Gatz was anxious. "Aren't we comrades?"
"Gurararara..." Newgate's low laughter sounded. He walked over to Gatz and patted his shoulder. "Gatz, all good things must come to an end. Rocks is dead. It's time for us monsters who gathered because of him to find our own places to belong."
-------
My : pat*eon*com/RuneA
I, Herta's Fiancé, the Universe's Number One Male Fist (114 Chapter (Simulpub-Full) )
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Succubus in Sixth Street (400 Chapter)
Reborn in Type-Moon, My Sister is Aoko Aozaki (254 Chapter)
MyGO!! A Story Voiced by Me (140 Chapter)
BLEACH: Blade of Purification (158 Chapter)
Konoha: Starting the Game as Yoriichi (400 Chapter)
My Real Job is Spying on Konoha, but I'm Also its Hokage (140 Chapter)
The Pinnacle of the Navy! Starting from Being Captured by Garp (172 Chapter)
Watching Yu-Gi-Oh! short videos is making the veteran players lose...(80 Chapter)
Uma Musume : The Trainer Who Just Wants to Live (200 Chapter)
Zenless Zone Zero The Random Kamen Rider (200 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: It All Began With Me Being Stepped On by Arlecchino (120 Chapter)
Naruto: I Can Synthesize Summoning Beasts (96 Chapter)
Demon Slayer: The Great Swordsman's System, Disciple of Yoriichi (140 Chapter)
My Wife is a General, but I'm an Emanator of Abundance! (160 Chapter)
Type-Moon: My Nine-Fold Path (140 Chapter)
Uma Musume: They're Peeking at My Diary, and All of Tracen is Panickin (Ending)
The Wild History of Type-Moon world (70 Chapter)
Reborn in Conan, But I Refuse to Be the Bad Guy (80 Chapter)
Ruan Mei is begging me to go back? But there's no going back anymore (140 Chapter)
Just a Slacker at Tracen Academy (165 Chapter)
Survival in Blue Archive (70 Chapter)
Kimetsu no Yaiba: Doma Wasn't Hated Today, Either (100 Chapter)
The Vibe of This Chat Group is a Little Off (100 Chapter)
Heartbreak Simulator: I Broke Them and Made Them Cry (80 Chapter)
The Talentless Trainer Doesn't Want to Restart (80 Chapter)
A Journey Starting as a Quincy (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: The Master of Romance Obstruction (80 Chapter)
Uma Musume: You Can't Be a Hero Without a Little Chemical Enhancement (40 Chapter)
Honkai Impact 3rd Your Boyfriend is Really Amazing (40 Chapter)
Warhammer 40K: My Fiancée, Fulgrim (180 Chapter)
Classroom of the Elite: Trying to Capture Me! (120 Chapter)
Genshin Impact My Named Senji Muramas (150 Chapter)
A Chef, the Vice-Captain of the Rocks Pirates? (160 Chapter)
Naruto : My Uchiha Girlfriend is Too Tsundere (130 Chapter)
Type-Moon: Reincarnated in a Lostbelt, I Became the Alien God (90 Chapter)
The Way These Horse Girls Look at Me Is Terrifying! (160 Chapter)
Naruto: Tsunade's Deskmate (130 Chapter)
I Just Want to Live a Normal (50 Chapter).
Genshin Impact: A Hundred Confessions? It's Just a System Task (70 Chapter)
OnePiece : Starting as a Veteran of the Roger Pirates (60 Chapter)
Uma Musume : I Have Special Horse Taming Techniques (190 Chapter)
Uma Musume : My other self is a Horse Girl (130 Chapter)
Jujutsu Kaisen : All Affection Stats Maxed Out (200 Chapter)
Satou Kazuma's Decision to Live by Swindling, Starting from Re:Zero (60 Chapter)
Bleach : Ichigo! Take Over the Soul Society (89 Chapter)
Crossover Anime: The Master of Plagiarism with a 'Love Obstacle (140 Chapter)
Arknights Succubus Nurturing System, But I'm a Quiet Office Worker (90 Chapter)
Genshin Impact: Using My Personas to Break the Hearts of Players (50 Chapter)
One Punch Man : i am King? (150 Chapter)
Genshin: My Stats Are Irresistible (70 Chapter)
Naruto: Master of Dream Fulfillment! (70 Chapter)
Why Are All My Chat Group Friends Spin-Off Characters? (123 Chapter)
Arknights : Batman System (30 Chapter)
Chat Group: Swapping Bodies with the Bad-Ending Herta from the Start (72 Chapter)
DanMachi: Why Did My Dungeon Turn Into a Soulslike Game? (92 Chapter)
Losing Money on Uma Musume...What Do You Mean You Actually Won? (93 Chapter)
I'm Gotou Hitori—Who Are You? (40 Chapter)
Were You Ever Even a Uma Musume? Stop Making Things Up! (75 Chapter)
Moon Project: A Full-Time Love Adventure for the Lobotomy Corporation (75 Chapter)
The Leisurely Days of the Hyuga Main House (65 Chapter)
Arknights : A Draco Surviving in a Matriarchal Terra (115 Chapter)
Arknights: What if My Luck Is Too Good? (105 Chapter)
Honkai: The Romance System Only Shows Up After I Marry Mei (55 Chapter)
Arknights: Who Are You Calling Repressed, X?! (105 Chapter)
The Chat Group Only Arrived After I'd Cleared the Game (42 Chapter)
Gojo Satoru Flat-Out Refuses to Admit He's a Supporting Character (40 Chapter)
Chat Group Isn't Supposed to Be Like This! (30 Chapter)
If You're Moriarty…then Who Am I? (45 Chapter)
Uma Musume: Since I "Can't See," They Take Turns Stealing My Underwear (43 Chapter)
If there's a particular novel you're enjoying on Patron, please give it a 'like' so I know to focus on it