Chapter 37: Noon
Beasts Pirates stronghold, Canteen entrance.
La quietly stood in front of the Gate, Sunlight stretching her shadow long…
In front of her were Aoxi and Obei, whom she hadn’t seen for half a day. Both were bruised and swollen-faced, clearly neither had controlled their strength in time during their recent sparring.
The two little ones supported each other like this, looking at the expressionless La with awkward smiles.
“Um, Sister La… I, I and Obei just accidentally fell down the Stairs, haha~ ha… ha…” Seemingly aware of how feeble her excuse was, Aoxi’s voice grew smaller and smaller, until she finally lowered her head and dared not speak again.
“Idiot Aoxi!” Obei looked at Aoxi’s state and was speechless. “Big Sister, listen to me explain. She and I actually went to…”
“No need to say more. I know what you two were doing this morning. Don’t go so overboard next time. Go inside and eat first now.”
Unexpectedly, La did not scold the two and directly let them in.
She no longer opposed the two sparring with each other.
Compared to being ignorant about This World on the Desert Island, after confirming this was the 《ONE PIECE》 world, she realized Battle was unavoidable here.
Not Battling means no survival.jpg
Rather than letting the two hone their skills temporarily on an uncontrollable battlefield, it was better to accumulate some Experience now in a relatively safe environment.
Besides, sparring with each other was also beneficial for the two to better Master their own Power. La couldn’t guard beside them every moment. If they were defeated by some nameless small fry with strange Ability due to inability to control their own Power, that would be too ridiculous.
The two little ones were greatly relieved and staggered into the Canteen.
The noisy voices suddenly paused, then erupted again after confirming La hadn’t followed in.
“Yo~ Red-haired brat, didn’t expect you two to walk in. When we just saw Lord La standing at the entrance, we thought we’d never see you again~”
“Haha~ Yeah, we were all betting if you two could get through today intact~”
“Good job! Haha, I knew you two would be fine! Hey, the bookmaker! I won the bet, pay up! Twenty thousand Belly!”
“Yeah, and my one thousand Belly! Pay up! As expected from the ones Boss Kaido personally brought back, real guts!”
“Yeah, didn’t lose face!”
………..
“Hmph~ Just some superficial wounds. Osiris acts her whole life without needing to care about others’ opinions.” Listening to the crowd’s flattery, Aoxi became a bit smug.
Obei beside her was very calm instead. She first took ten Lunch portions and placed them on the table: “I advise you to keep it down. Big Sister is right outside, and she can hear everything inside clearly.”
“Gah—”
The Canteen instantly fell silent. Everyone sat properly, and the entire hall was left only with the sounds of eating.
La walked in from the door. Of course she wouldn’t mind Aoxi’s words; she just took a Lunch portion and went into the Kitchen.
Before closing the door, she said to the crowd in the hall: “You don’t need to mind me. I like quiet when eating, but I won’t force you to be the same. Continue as you like.”
As the Kitchen door closed, the air in the hall seemed to start flowing again.
Then gradually, whispers began, growing louder until returning to the previous noisy scene.
“Hey, bookmaker, pay up! You wouldn’t be reneging, would you? When I lost yesterday, you were so quick!”
“Pick, let me tell you, that Restaurant in Town selling Mille-feuille recently launched…”
“Karis! Tell me, what exactly happened between you and Miss Lilith last night…”
“Old Cook, no more alcohol here!”
………..
“Huh? You ask what I was doing this morning? Hmph~ This lord naturally went outside for a great battle of three hundred rounds with this Blue Hair little one!
During it, I used supreme principles to press her down so she couldn’t lift her head. Let me tell you, that battle was earth-shattering, the great paths even…”
Aoxi stood up from the Stool, one foot stepping on the dining table as she began boasting to the crowd~
“Don’t exaggerate, idiot Aoxi. Clearly I went easy, or I’d be the one carrying you back now.”
“What exaggeration? Clearly you this little one were beaten by me underground and crawled out half a day later~”
“Heh~ Just used some third-rate tricks, a momentary fluke.”
“You were clearly about to cry back then!”
“Nonsense! I didn’t cry!”
“You did! You did!”
“I didn’t!”
“You did!”
..
For a moment, the Canteen was filled with a cheerful atmosphere~
Half an hour later, La finished Lunch, washed her own Plate clean, then opened the door and walked out of the Kitchen.
At this time, Aoxi and Obei were still eating while refuting each other.
La walked up, knocked on the table and said: “Don’t talk with Food in your Mouth. I’ll go first. After you finish Lunch, rest for an hour and a half, then continue waiting for me at the Training Ground. We’ll start afternoon Training.”
“Ah? Oh, oh.”
Hearing this, Aoxi and Obei stopped arguing and quickly finished the Food on their Plates.
After leaving the Canteen, La didn’t go home but headed toward the Town. Soon she arrived in front of a Cigarette shop in Town.
Pushing open the shop door, La handed a five hundred Belly Coin to the clerk dozing behind the counter: “Trouble me with two packs of ‘Marlboro’ Cigarettes, thanks.”
The clerk nearly asleep struggled to open his eyes. After vaguely seeing a small figure, he directly refused.
“No can do, Little Sister. We can’t sell Cigarettes to kids here.”
“Mm, is that so?”
Hearing this somewhat expected response, La showed a troubled Expression.
“Sorry, but I’m buying for my Teacher, not for myself to smoke. Could you make an exception?”
『G-Good, such a cute Little Girl! And her voice is so nice! No! Don’t make that Expression! I’m drowning in guilt here!』
By now the clerk had clearly seen La’s appearance, and his inner principles immediately wavered.
“Oh, buying for your Teacher? What a capable little one. Here you go then~”
After some not-so-intense psychological Struggle, the clerk sold the Cigarettes to La.
“Here’s your change, hold it carefully don’t lose it.”
“Thank you for the exception, Clerk Mister.” La took the change, thanked him, and left.
『Clerk Mister~ Mister~ Mister~ Mister~~』
La’s soft thanks lingered in his ears, plunging this newlywed clerk into a beautiful Fantasy…
“Ah~ If only my future Daughter could be this cute. No, even one-fifth… one-tenth this cute would be enough~”
“Hey! Kid, what are you spacing out for? Come help!”
The shop Boss came in from the back door at this time, pushing a large box of Cigarettes and lighters to restock the Shelves.
“Oh, oh! Coming coming.”
..
La carried the Cigarettes and change to Old Cook’s residence. This was a quiet little House with a yard between the Town and the Canteen.
The House was very clean, and both sides of the yard had various Vegetables planted in the open spaces.
Behind the courtyard was a small flower bed, every flower trimmed neatly. It was clear the owner here cared a lot about these flowers.
At this moment, Cook had also returned from the Canteen and was sitting on a Rocking Chair with a Newspaper, basking in the Sun.
“Cook Dad, Cigarettes bought back. This is the remaining change.” La handed the Bag and change to Cook.
“Ah? Mm… good. Keep the change. Though not much left, Boss Kaido and them probably forgot to give you money.
Haha, with their Personality, not noticing such things is normal.” Cook took the Cigarettes and said smilingly.
And La, who had just eaten for free in Town yesterday, thought—spot on.
Without refusing, La directly pocketed the change.
She was never one to haggle anyway, and such small Money wasn’t worth her time now.
Cook sat up, lit a Cigarette and took a deep drag, then waved the Newspaper in his hand.
“This is today’s Newspaper. I’ll read it to you first, then teach you these words’ meanings.
Mm, don’t stand. Fetch a Stool to sit first, and bring my Glasses by the way, on the bedside cabinet.”
After the morning’s interaction, the two had grown familiar, and Communication became less restrained.
“Got it.”
La stepped into the house with small steps, soon returning with small steps. Under the Sunlight, the old and young sat close together, the scene quite warm.
“Mm, let me see…
It says Navy’s Garp Vice Admiral clashed with Roger Pirates again. No result mentioned, probably let them escape.
‘Pirate Island Hachinosu has Anomaly, Rocks’ remnants suspected to have allied!’ Looks like those guys lurking around lately are from Hachinosu Island.
And also… uh, hm?! ‘Beasts Kaido made a scene at Navy G5 branch a few days ago and escaped. Navy is now organizing recapture…’ Boss Kaido went to the Navy for a meal again?”
Had to say, though Old Cook stayed home and didn’t join outside Battles, as one of the few educated cultural people in Beasts Pirates, he could analyze the On the Sea situation seven or eight parts just from the Newspaper.
La quietly listened to Old Cook reading the Newspaper content, her mind constantly comparing and translating the words and sentences above.
Generally, with sufficient text volume, a foreign Language can be fully translated. Current La could undoubtedly do this easily.
Even with insufficient text volume, she could translate by spending some time.
So now with Old Cook translating aloud beside her, plus those familiar English words in the Newspaper, La almost instantly Mastered most of it.
If not for This World’s Language and writing having discrepancies leading to different grammar and pronunciation from the original world, La could fully Master This World’s Language and writing with just a few Newspapers.
Old Cook soon finished reading the Newspaper content and began teaching words and grammar. La continued listening patiently…
Soon, forty-five minutes passed, and the appointed time with Aoxi and them approached. La then stood to leave.
“Thank you for today’s teaching, Cook Dad.”
“You didn’t ask anything just now. Did you get it all?” Cook saw La hadn’t spoken throughout and couldn’t help his Curiosity.
“Mm, everything taught today I have fully Mastered.” La nodded affirmatively, tone calm.
“What an incredible genius~ Looks like in a few days you won’t need this old bag of bones anymore~” Old Cook teased. After the morning events, Cook didn’t doubt La was brushing him off.
“Language learning may not last long, but for Cooking, I still need some time.” La smiled reassuringly.
“Haha, this old man still has secret ultimate skills at the bottom of the box. Even you would need quite a while to learn them~ Hahahahaha!” Mentioning Cooking, Old Cook always brimmed with Enthusiasm and confidence like this.
“Then I’ll take my leave first.”
“Mm, go on. Be careful on the way back. This old man is going for a nap too.”
Removing his Glasses, Old Cook covered his face with the Newspaper, then gently rocked the Rocking Chair.
Hearing the snores soon coming from under the Newspaper, La quietly put the Stool and Glasses back in the house before silently leaving.
