Dusk settled over the sea, painting the horizon in shades of orange and violet as the Gospel cut through the gentle waves.
After processing his combat notes from the morning's sparring, Ornn stood up, stretched his back, and walked into the storage hold. He returned carrying a heavy canvas bag of hard tack bread, three thick slabs of salted dried beef, and a handful of oranges.
This was dinner for the three of them—or, more accurately, the exact menu they had eaten for every single meal since setting sail.
There was no avoiding it; all three of them were complete disasters in the kitchen.
Yamato looked at the dry bread and salted meat without complaint. Compared to her years locked away on Onigashima, having access to clean water, fruit, and meat every day was a luxury she thoroughly enjoyed.
Rhea's face, on the other hand, collapsed into a visible mask of despair.
As a self-proclaimed foodie who used to spend her fight purses sampling every local delicacy in Keya Town, chewing through bland, rubbery jerky every day felt like slow torture.
She picked up a piece of hard tack, hesitated, and finally spoke up in a gentle, pleading tone. "Captain... when we hit the next supply island, can we please hire a cook first? Even if we can't recruit a high-tier chef right away, at least hire a temporary hand who knows how to make hot soup!"
"A temporary hand?" Ornn repeated the phrase, a self-deprecating smile touching his lips.
He had been so fixated on the Straw Hat mindset—insisting on holding out until he found a world-class, story-worthy crewmate for every role—that he had completely overlooked basic practical logic.
Finding ideal, lifelong companions was a rare stroke of fortune. Instead of forcing his crew to eat dry rations while waiting for a legendary chef to fall into their laps, hiring ordinary, skilled professionals for temporary ship duties as Rhea suggested was vastly superior.
Pulling a sea chart from his belt, Ornn unrolled it across the wooden crate, tracing their trajectory against the ink lines.
"We're less than a day away from our next stop: the Kano Kingdom," Ornn said, pointing to a large island marked with intricate crests. "Although the Kano Kingdom is affiliated with the World Government, it maintains an open-door policy toward pirate crews. In fact, their primary naval force consists of eight official pirate fleets."
He looked up at Rhea. "We'll dock at Kano and look for a proper crewmate. If we don't find a legendary candidate, we'll hire a few skilled local cooks and sailors as temporary crew, just like you said."
Before Rhea could celebrate, Yamato suddenly paused mid-bite, her head snapping toward the stern.
"Ornn... we have company approaching from behind."
As her seasickness gradually receded, Yamato was beginning to regain full control of her senses while on open water, including her Observation Haki.
Ornn set down his piece of jerky, retrieved a brass spyglass from his coat, and walked to the stern railing, scanning the vast expanse of blue.
At the five o'clock position, a large sailing vessel was closing the distance quickly.
The ship featured a sculpted tiger's head as its figurehead. Flying from its mainmast was a distinctive pirate flag depicting an octopus skull crowned by half a blazing sun.
Ornn stared through the lens, a sense of familiarity creeping over him. Where have I seen that crest before...?
Before he could place the flag, a plume of grey smoke erupted from the tiger ship's bow.
BOOM—
A single cannonball arced through the sky, plunging into the sea fifteen meters wide of the Gospel's port side, sending up a high geyser of saltwater. It was hard to tell whether the gunner had terrible aim or if the shot was merely intended as a warning flare.
"Captain! Should we pull over and crack some skulls?!" Rhea's knuckles popped, her cat ears twitching with excitement.
Though she sparred with Ornn every morning, held-back training matches couldn't satisfy her urge for a full-contact brawl.
Noticing the tiger ship had checked its fire after that single shot, Ornn held up a hand. "Let them draw closer. If they break protocol once they reach talking distance, we wipe them out."
"Understood!"
Ten minutes later, the tiger-headed vessel glided alongside the Gospel, its shadow looming over their smaller craft.
With the two ships running parallel, both crews had a clear view of each other's decks.
When the pirate crew on the tiger vessel realized the Gospel was crewed by only one man alongside two exceptionally stunning women, the atmosphere on their deck instantly turned rowdy. A few of the bolder crewmen leaned over the wooden railing, letting out loud, suggestive whistles toward Yamato and Rhea.
Yamato's brows drawn tight in annoyance, while Rhea's expression turned cold.
"Captain, can I—"
Before Rhea could finish her request, a small sphere of golden, liquid magma shot from Ornn's fingertips, streaking across the gap between the two ships and slamming flush into the bare chest of a heavy pirate who had just whistled at Yamato.
As a captain, Ornn had zero tolerance for anyone harassing his crew.
Although the magma cooled slightly during its flight through the ocean breeze, it still struck at a scorching three hundred degrees Celsius. The heavy pirate shrieked in agony, clutching his charred chest as he collapsed onto the deck planks.
The sudden retaliation stunned the tiger ship's crew for a second, before turning their surprise into explosive rage. Cursing loudly, dozens of pirates drew cutlasses and flintlocks, surging toward the gangplank to teach this arrogant lone captain a lesson.
Before they could take a single step, a blurred shadow vaulted across the gap.
FLASH!
Golden claws flashed through the air. Blood sprayed across the mainmast as deep, bone-visible lacerations opened across the chests of two leading pirates.
Equipped with the Lion King belt, Rhea moved with terrifying, feline speed. Her form flickered across the deck like a ghost, leaving a trail of screaming, bleeding pirates in her wake. Within seconds, half the upper deck was littered with groaning men.
BAM!
The heavy wooden doors of the primary cabin were kicked open from the inside. Two men rushed out onto the deck, shouting in irritation.
"What the hell is going on out here?! Who's making all this noise?!"
Observing the battle from the Gospel's railing, Ornn's eyes narrowed as he recognized the two men. His expression turned strange, and he instinctively called out to stop Rhea.
"Rhea, hold on!"
He knew those two—they were Sai and Boo, the future 13th Leader and Vice Leader of the legendary Happo Navy!
SWOOSH!
Ornn's warning was half a second too late.
Rhea had already vanished using Soru, reappearing directly in front of the pair. She threw an explosive, full-power right hook straight toward the orange-haired Boo.
Boo was caught off guard, raising his arms to block, but a heavy hand reached from his side, clamping tightly around Rhea's incoming fist.
It was Sai.
Seeing her punch intercepted, Rhea's eyes narrowed. Driven by her wrestling instincts, she drove her right knee upward toward Sai's exposed abdomen.
CLANG!
Her knee struck his midsection square, but the impact felt like slamming her joint into a solid slab of reinforced armor steel.
Even with the continuous recovery granted by the Lion King, Rhea gritted her teeth against the sharp recoil running up her leg.
With a powerful twist of his wrist, Sai threw Rhea off balance, sending her skidding back across the deck planks. He looked around at his bleeding crewmen, his expression darkening into a fierce snarl.
"You... you did this to my men?!"
"So what if I did?!" Rhea puffed out her chest, completely unfazed.
"I don't care if you're a woman," Sai roared, unslinging his heavy naginata from his back and stepping into a martial stance.
"Anyone who hurts my brothers answers to my blade!"
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