At noon.
Inside the newly rented small house of Xiang En and Kagura.
At the dining table, an old man and a young girl sat facing each other. From the kitchen came the crackling sounds of stir-frying and the roaring of the range hood.
"So, you stinky old man, are you here to freeload on food again?"
Kagura shook her leg, propped her chin on her hands, and narrowed her eyes into slits as she spoke to the man across from her with displeasure.
She was very angry. Yesterday, when she and Xiang En were eating at the restaurant, they were suddenly interrupted by this old man, and then a bunch of other people inexplicably showed up, making it impossible for them to enjoy their meal.
And today, when she woke up on the sofa, the first thing she saw was the disgusting smiling face of this stinky old man, startling her so much that she nearly smashed him with her umbrella out of an emergency reaction.
However, this was, after all, Xiang En and her new residence for the next month. If she struck him, she feared not only would the deposit not be returned, but she would also have to pay a large amount in compensation.
More importantly, the beast-like sharp sense hidden beneath Kagura's body told her that this old man was very strong, and she would most likely not be his opponent.
"The old man and little brother Xiang En met by chance on the street, and we had a pleasant conversation. As we were parting, it happened to be lunchtime again, so under the sincere invitation of little brother Xiang En, the old man couldn't very well refuse."
Kizaru glanced at Kagura with a half-smile, then looked around the interior of the house as he spoke.
"Hmph, you think I'll believe that nonsense?" Kagura curled her lip, her gaze still unfriendly.
Kizaru looked a bit helpless; he truly had no malice in coming here.
While trying to capture the Straw Hat crew yesterday, he unexpectedly learned from that Straw Hat boy that Xiang En and Kagura were still on the Sabaody Archipelago. Since the two had distinctive orange hair, he instructed the Marines stationed there to look out for the two young people with orange hair.
He was only trying his luck, but this morning, he actually received word that the two young people the Admiral was looking for were at the Marine Base getting their rental contract stamped.
So he came, hoping to recruit these two exceptionally promising young people into the Marines.
One possessed physical fitness that made even him feel inferior, and the other had the potential to become a king of the sea. If these two young people became his subordinates, it would not only boost the future combat strength of the Marines but also ensure his own leisurely work life in the future.
After a moment's thought, Kizaru decided he couldn't let Kagura's impression of him be too bad. He needed to make some improvement to facilitate recruitment, so he thought of a way to win over a child.
"Do you want some candy?" He took a piece of candy out of his pocket.
"Hmm?" Kagura raised an eyebrow, then suddenly slammed the table in rage:
"Stinky old man, you don't think a single piece of candy can appease me, do you? Am I the kind of innocent little girl who can be fooled by one piece of candy?!"
"Then how about two?"
"..."
When Xiang En carried the dishes out of the kitchen, he saw a harmonious scene.
The old man and the young girl seemed to be chatting happily, their behavior even appearing affectionate, truly like a doting grandfather and granddaughter. Kizaru's sunglasses were placed on Kagura's eyes, while he was playing with Kagura's parasol.
This...
Wait a minute... did I spend an entire year in the kitchen? What exactly happened? How did your relationship get so good?!
Xiang En's mouth twitched, his expression as if he had seen a ghost.
"Dinner is served!"
After neatly placing the four dishes and one soup on the table, and out of habit, Xiang En prepared a plate for everyone and evenly distributed the food.
It looked no different from cafeteria food, except for the richer variety of meat.
Since university in his previous life, he had lived alone in a rented apartment, forcing him to develop cooking skills. The ingredients in this world were even richer, especially the fish, so when buying groceries, he had specifically consulted the vendors about the cooking methods of this world.
They weren't vastly different. By understanding the basics and integrating them with his own culinary skills, the resulting food actually had a unique flavor.
The two people across from him, who were eating with evident enjoyment, fully proved this point.
"Thank you for the meal, little brother Xiang En. I never expected your cooking skills to be so excellent, almost on par with the Marines' top chefs."
After eating, Kizaru wiped his mouth and complimented him sincerely.
"Haha, it's not as amazing as you make it sound."
Xiang En waved his hand. Being praised by a Marine Admiral, regardless of the aspect, made it hard for him to hide his pleasure.
But soon, seeing the girl next to him holding an empty plate and looking at him with expectation, he had no choice but to reluctantly get up and go back to the kitchen to serve her another large plate.
Watching the girl's small mouth intake food like a vortex, Xiang En was both pleased that his cooking was enjoyed by the girl and worried about his savings.
Three meals a day, each costing hundreds of thousands of Beli, would use up over ten million Beli a month. This wasn't even counting other living expenses, rent, and so on.
He had acquired 1 billion Beli at the Human Auction House. 500 million had been spent on shipbuilding. The remaining 500 million had to cover their living expenses and be used to summon new partners. As the number of partners increased, daily expenses would also rise.
Calculating it this way, it seemed like it might not be enough...
Seeing Xiang En's worried expression as he watched Kagura eat, Kizaru smiled. It wasn't hard to guess what he was concerned about. He tapped the table and said:
"You won't have to worry if you join the Marines. You can eat as much as you want, little brother Xiang En. You don't want little Kagura to go hungry in the future, do you?"
Hiss...
Why is your Admiral's way of speaking so suggestive?
Uh, wait, it was drawn by a Japanese person in the first place, so never mind.
Xiang En glanced at him with a hint of shock, then fell silent for a moment. He propped his chin with one hand, watched Kagura eat, and spoke plainly:
"Last night, I promised a new friend to help him with something, and after doing that, it will be impossible for me to join the Marines."
"What kind of thing?" Kizaru's eyes narrowed slightly, and a sudden surge of pressure emanated from him—a pressure capable of making a pirate Supernova sweat profusely.
"Hey, I'm under no obligation to tell you, you freeloader." Xiang En, however, seemed completely unaffected. He met Kizaru's gaze with no sign of backing down.
Xiang En wasn't sure why he was being so bold.
Perhaps it was the awakening of his Haoshoku Haki, or perhaps it was the advantage of possessing a cheat ability, but it gave him, a former ordinary employee constantly ordered around, the courage to confront a top-tier powerhouse in this world.
A long moment passed.
Kizaru withdrew his pressure, stood up, and his eyes showed both satisfaction with Xiang En and regret.
He shook his head and said, "Forget it. You're not a pirate anyway, so whatever you do, what does it have to do with me, a Marine?"
With that, he left directly. As he stepped out the door, he suddenly looked back and said with a playful smile:
"This house of yours is nice, but it's been vacant for too long and needs to air out. Remember to open the windows tonight."