Chapter 31: Morning Practice (lower)
“Uro-ro-ro-ro-ro~ Brat, let me see where your limit is!” Kaido laughed heartily.
The Wolf Fang Club and Obelisk swung faster and faster, with power growing heavier with each strike.
The two swung their respective weapons as if without limit, unleashing their respective Haki. Each strike of the Obelisk erupted with lightning, and each blow of the Wolf Fang Club seemed to split mountains and crack stones.
However, despite the increasingly fierce clash, the two tacitly refrained from using their abilities, relying solely on Haki to attack from start to finish.
“Hah!”
Kaido leaped down heavily, smashing his Wolf Fang Club onto La’s Obelisk, causing the ground within a dozen meters around her feet to cave in entirely.
But before he could press further, La twisted her wrist to deflect the Wolf Fang Club, then thrust straight at his face from an inconceivable angle.
Kaido hastily tilted his head back, narrowly avoiding having one side of his mustache severed.
“Haha! You brat are getting better and better at adapting to battle.”
“Because battle techniques aren’t hard to learn.”
“So arrogant~ But you do have the capital for it. Keep going, I’ve only just warmed…”
“Mr. Kaido（ Boss）!”
Before Kaido could finish, the voices of Ember and Burufaruto came from afar, interrupting this morning exercise.
Kaido and La simultaneously halted their actions.
Even after what outsiders would see as super high-intensity battle, both their breaths remained steady. The Zoan Mythical Beast type and divine sculpted body had nearly bottomless stamina.
“It’s you guys. Did our morning practice commotion wake you up?”
“Probably not just us—the townsfolk and our crew members all thought it was an earthquake and hid. Everyone’s taken cover,” Burufaruto said helplessly.
Honestly, with Kaido and La’s current power, even just morning practice shouldn’t happen on the island serving as their garrison.
“It did cause an impact after all. Captain Kaido, we can’t do this again.”
“Don’t worry about that. By the way, your Buns should be ready by now, right? Old Cook’s side should already be prepping breakfast at this hour. I’m hungry after the workout!”
Kaido didn’t care at all, stowed his Wolf Fang Club, and headed to the Canteen.
“Twenty-five minutes forty seconds—should be just right by the time we get there. I’ll go wake Aoxi and Obei,” La calculated in her mind and immediately got the precise time.
………..
“Mmm! So fragrant and delicious! Sister La, when did you learn to make Buns?” Aoxi popped one after another into her mouth, waving her hands like windmills.
“Learned this morning. Have some water, don’t choke,” La handed over a cup of tea.
“Aoxi, slow down! Look at your eating manners… Leave some for me!” Obei started to say something but, seeing Aoxi devour a whole steamer in a flash, hurriedly grabbed some herself.
“Hm, too small—can’t taste anything!”
Burufaruto pinched one up with two fingers and tossed it into his mouth, smacking his lips twice.
Beside him, Kaido simply dumped a whole steamer into his mouth—this amount was truly not enough to fill the gaps between his teeth.
“Not bad, just too little.”
Ember didn’t touch any, seemingly unwilling to remove that airtight Mask.
“I made them to our standards after all. Next time I’ll try making bigger ones… Ember, you not eating?”
“I don’t need to.”
“Ember isn’t used to eating in front of others,” Kaido explained.
“I know, I know! It’s that setting where he can’t remove the Mask in public, right? Usually that means either bearing some unknown past, or… mmph, mmph!”
Obei directly stuffed a Bun into Aoxi’s mouth.
“Eat when you’re eating— you writing a novel over there?”
Ember: ……
“Skipping breakfast isn’t good for the body. If you’re not used to showing your face in public, you can take some to go,” La said from the side.
“No need to worry—Ember isn’t some kid who needs to be fed. You’re quite the young brat, but with the personality of an old nanny,” Burufaruto remarked from the side.
“Yeah, yeah! I’ve always thought Sister La is like a mom—this not allowed, that not allowed,” Aoxi chimed in.
“Agreed.” Obei rarely agreed with Aoxi.
La: ……
Truth be told, La felt like she was no different from a retired Elder with nothing to do, always wanting to find something—like cooking or feeding some cats and dogs…
While they chatted idly, the Canteen’s official breakfast was served.
Unexpectedly, the bowls no longer held the usual uniform grilled Steaks, but rather quite light vegetable porridge.
Seeing the puzzled Expressions on everyone’s faces, the Pirate who brought the dishes cautiously explained: “Boss Kaido, there was some kind of earthquake this morning out of nowhere. The veggie vendors all fled to safety, so we had to make do with yesterday’s leftovers.”
Hearing the explanation, La turned to glance at Kaido, who acted like he hadn’t heard a thing and downed a whole bowl in one gulp, not minding the heat.
“No meat just isn’t satisfying! By the way, how’s your Haki training going, you two brats?”
After downing ten bowls, Kaido paused a bit, then recalled the task he’d assigned Ember and Burufaruto yesterday.
“M-me! Me! I’ve completely mastered that Observation Haki already!” Before anyone else could speak, Aoxi proudly raised her hand.
Obei kept her head down, sipping her porridge in small mouthfuls without a word. She still hadn’t found the knack.
“The red-haired brat’s talent is outstanding—Observation Haki is barely usable in battle now. But the blue-haired brat has made no progress,” Ember said bluntly, stating their situations.
Obei’s head drooped even lower—Ember’s words were like public execution to her usually proud self.
“Hm? No clue why?” Kaido didn’t believe Obei lacked talent in this.
“Maybe this method doesn’t suit Obei. I’ll take over the rest of the training,” La said gently, stroking the head-down Obei.
“Fine. But speed it up—the Sea’s been restless lately. At least those two need to be able to protect themselves by then,” Kaido reminded.
“Understood.”
La nodded, then asked something else on her mind: “Right, Captain Kaido, I saw a bird delivering Newspaper in town—is that this island’s specialty?”
“You don’t even know about the news gulls?” Burufaruto was a bit surprised.
“That’s the World Economic News Agency’s dedicated delivery method. With these news gulls, they can get the latest news to any corner On the Sea in the shortest time—that’s why they dominate the news industry.”
“Using birds to deliver News—aren’t you afraid they’ll get shot down and eaten?” Aoxi immediately thought of that.
“Very few people do. Unless they’re starving to death.”
“Because attacking one news gull means no more deliveries from any of them afterward. Losing outside info On the Sea is extremely dangerous—not worth it for a bit of meat.”
“Oh~~ I see. I thought the meat just wasn’t tasty.”
“Captain Kaido, can you collect past Newspapers for me? I want to learn about events from the past few years. It’d be even better if you could find someone literate to translate,” La started seeking tasks again.
“Just go to Cook. That guy’s literate and buys basically every issue,” Kaido recalled the experienced old Cook.
“Mm, got it.” La nodded, thinking she could also learn Cooking from Cook.
The sun was high, and Pirates began rising one after another. The Canteen gradually livened up.
“Aoxi, Obei, rest after eating. I’ll be waiting for you at yesterday’s training spot in one hour.”
“Got it, Sister La（ Big Sister）”
“Ember, Burufaruto, since you two don’t need to teach these brats anymore, come out with me.”
“Got it, Mr. Kaido（ Boss）”
……
PS: Ember turns his mouth into a Pterodactyl beak when eating, so he can eat without removing the Mask.
This is also recorded in the SBS~
