"Lily, bring me a plate."
"Lily, grab that fish for me."
"Lily, help me with this..."
The kitchen stayed lively as Amon cooked and called for help at every turn. Each time he spoke, Lily would immediately use her telekinesis to float whatever he needed straight into his hands. She was an excellent little assistant, quick, precise, and never once complained.
Life with two people was so much better. There was someone to talk to, someone to keep him company, and now even someone to help with work. Most importantly, Lily was obedient to an almost ridiculous degree. Whatever he asked for, she fetched without hesitation.
With her help, Amon soon prepared a rich lunch.
Lily stared at the dishes on the table. She had never seen any of them before, but the aroma drifting from them was irresistible. She clearly wanted to eat, yet did not quite dare. Looking at her hesitant expression, Amon suddenly felt less like he was raising a pet and more like he was raising a daughter.
"Come on, Lily. Try a bite. It's good."
He picked up some shredded potato with his chopsticks and brought it to her lips.
"Open your mouth."
"Okay..."
Her first instinct was to shrink back, but temptation won out in the end. She opened her small mouth and carefully tasted it.
Her eyes lit up at once.
"So good!"
Just one bite was enough to make her exclaim in delight, and Amon immediately felt a burst of satisfaction.
"Haha, if it's good, then eat more."
"Mm! It's really delicious. You eat too, Master."
Lily copied what he had done, awkwardly picking up food with chopsticks and bringing it toward his mouth. In her excitement, she forgot to call him brother and slipped back to Master again. Even so, she looked so earnest and well-behaved that Amon only laughed.
"Good girl."
She was clever. He had shown her how to use chopsticks only once, and she had already grasped the essentials.
"Here, I will give you another piece."
Seeing how eager she had become after tasting his cooking, Amon picked up a piece of very spicy fish and placed it in her bowl.
"Thank you, Master."
Apparently, calling him brother still did not come naturally to her, because she had gone right back to Master again.
As punishment, Amon decided she had to experience the full flavor of that fish.
Completely unaware of the danger, Lily took the bite without suspicion.
The instant she swallowed it, her entire face turned red.
Amon burst into laughter, thoroughly pleased with himself. When Lily saw the grin on his face, she understood she had been tricked. She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.
"Hmph. Master is the worst!"
And so, lunch passed in what could only be called a warm and lively atmosphere.
After the meal, Amon noticed that Lily's experience had gone up a little. He was not sure whether that came from eating, or from her frequent use of telekinesis while helping in the kitchen. Her intimacy had risen as well, climbing from 75 to 80 after just one meal together.
Of course, if he had not tricked her into eating that spicy fish, it probably would have gone up even more.
Still, Amon was in no hurry. Bonds were built slowly. Besides, Lily's angry expression was far too cute, and every time he saw it, he could not resist teasing her.
After they ate their fill, Amon took Lily into Loguetown.
The first thing he did was buy her pretty dresses and clothes.
He had more than enough berries on hand, so he spent freely without a second thought. The shop owners in the clothing district looked at him with dazzling smiles.
Lily was visibly delighted after changing into her new clothes. She clung to Amon the whole time, and her intimacy with him kept rising.
Once the clothes were settled, Amon headed off to the food markets and stocked up heavily on ingredients. With his subspace ring, he did not need to worry about freshness, and money was never a problem. He had never been the sort to cling to wealth anyway. If money was earned, then it was meant to be spent. Living happily was what mattered.
After finishing the shopping, Amon went to see the place where Roger had been executed.
For a One Piece fan who had come to this world, it was a place he could not possibly skip.
...
Roger barely had any screentime in the main story, yet he still showed up again and again at the start of episodes, leaving a mark every single time. Beyond that, as the former Pirate King, he possessed a kind of presence that was hard to ignore. Even Amon admired him.
Especially that calm courage in the face of death.
That was not something ordinary people could imitate.
After taking a proper look around and treating it as a small pilgrimage of his own, Amon left the town the next day.
He said his goodbyes to Smoker and Tashigi, then set sail for the legendary Grand Line.
The Grand Line was one of the most important regions in the world of One Piece.
Together with the Red Line, it divided the world into the four seas. It was a ring-shaped stretch of ocean intersecting the Red Line vertically, and the most mysterious and dangerous route in the world. On both sides of it lay the deadly Calm Belt. The first half of the Grand Line was known as Paradise, while the second half was the New World.
Its magnetic fields, weather, currents, and airflows were all chaotic. Even determining one's own position was extremely difficult, let alone locating islands. Ordinary navigation methods were almost useless there. The only dependable tools were Log Poses and Eternal Poses.
For people from the four seas, there were only two ways into the Grand Line: cross the Calm Belt, or enter through Reverse Mountain.
Reverse Mountain was also the starting point of the Grand Line.
From there, seven magnetic routes extended outward. At the start, any one of them could be chosen, but once a route was selected, it could not be changed. A traveler had to continue island by island along that path until, eventually, all seven routes converged at the Sabaody Archipelago. After entering the New World, new routes could be chosen again, and at the end of it all lay the final island of the Grand Line, Laugh Tale.
As for Amon's own plans, once he entered the Grand Line, the first stop was naturally that giant whale, Laboon.
After that, he wanted to visit Alabasta and see Princess Vivi, along with Karoo the lovable duck.
Then he would continue onward at his own pace, selling Jars all the way to Skypiea, Sabaody, Amazon Lily where the Pirate Empress lived, Fish-Man Island, and beyond.
It promised to be a very interesting journey of selling Jars indeed.