"Captain Rhett!" She stuffed the pile of items in her arms into Rhett's hands. "These are special Eternal Poses from Sky Island, pointing to Windmill Village. This is a navigation chart of the East Blue currents, which I just updated last night. This is an emergency cloud shellfish life raft. Just press here and it will inflate automatically..."
Rhett looked down at the growing pile in his arms. Big drops of sweat formed on his face. "Lena, I'm just going back to the East Blue, not sailing into a storm belt in the New World."
Her eyes widened, as if she had suddenly thought of something terrible.
"But!" Lena stomped her foot anxiously, her slender fingers twisting together, her voice rising by a tiny bit.
"The currents in the East Blue have been quite strong lately. And according to the newspapers, new whirlpools have appeared near the Red Line... even though these are all normal phenomena." Her voice grew softer and softer until it was almost a mumble. "...At least take a medical kit..."
"What if the small boat sinks for unavoidable reasons?"
"The captain is a Devil Fruit user. That's very dangerous."
"It's okay."
"It's okay. The captain can fly."
"But what if you get stranded in the middle of the vast sea with no islands around???"
"No! You also need to take a lifeboat. The small boat is so tiny. Maybe we should get a bigger one."
"What if Lord Rhett gets sick, runs into pirates, and has no strength left? Wouldn't that be very dangerous!!!"
"That won't happen, that won't happen. The captain is an Emperor of the Sea. He is 'Mist Lord' Lord Rhett."
Rhett watched Lena shaking her head like crazy.
What could he do?
Rhett could only smile while sweating cold drops. His sweating face was about to dehydrate as he watched his navigator's left and right brain fighting each other, planning his route and preparing things for him. The scene gradually became unhinged.
But his heart felt warm.
Rhett interrupted softly, afraid of startling his navigator. "Um, um, Lena, Lena, I think..."
Before Rhett could finish,
Lena's tone rose again, just a little bit more, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Rhett. "Captain, do you also think that letting Lord Tesoro unify the entire East Blue is the safest option?"
Rhett was greatly shocked. What was wrong with this girl? Wait, let Rhett sort this out.
How did the topic jump from "bringing a medical kit" to "unifying the East Blue"?
Rhett felt like an empty-nester old man trying to go out and make a living, planning to go back to his hometown alone, while his kids were giving him a million reminders and instructions.
Although Lena was indeed a child compared to Rhett in terms of age, what was this strange feeling of being bossed around?
Enel leaned against the mast, munching on an apple. He scoffed, "Hey, timid girl, do you think the captain is some brat going out to sea for the first time?"
"Mr. Enel!" Lena suddenly looked up, and for once, outside of sailing, she glared at him firmly. "Even Captain Rhett can run into unexpected situations!"
The air went silent instantly. Enel was so choked that an apple got stuck in his throat, his entire face turning bright red.
Rhett literally lost color. "We are all living our lives as hard as we can."
It was supposed to be a heartwarming scene — a twenty-something-year-old daughter fussing over a forty-something-year-old man who can't take care of himself.
To put it vividly,
Rhett said to Lena: "Lena, I want to go home by myself for a while."
What Lena heard: "Look at this sea, Lena. I'm going to take a big leap right into it and die on you."
Tesoro and his wife walked past this "father-daughter" pair. Rhett's salute followed them, the corner of his mouth rising in direct proportion to Tesoro's distance from him, reaching its peak when Tesoro boarded his ship.
Let's go!
On the cloud sea, a simple yet not-so-simple golden giant ship, exuding luxury, low-key class. A row of black suits.
The moment Tesoro, with Stella on his arm, stepped onto the gangway, the entire ship suddenly blared through loudspeakers:
"Attention, everyone!"
Thirty men in black suits suddenly dropped to one knee, pulled roses from their chests, and shouted in unison: "Welcoming the Boss and Boss's Wife on their honeymoon! A hundred years of happiness! Have a kid soon!"
Stella's blonde hair instantly puffed out like a dandelion. Tesoro's words came out one by one. "Who. Taught. You. To. Do. This?!"
The front bodyguard stood at attention and saluted. "Reporting! It was Boss! He said we had to give you two a surprise!"
"Pffft, hahaha!" Rhett crouched on the dock, laughing and slapping his thigh. "Surprise? Unexpected? I spent three days training them!"
The veins on Tesoro's temples bulged. The golden floor began to twist and deform. Stella quickly grabbed his arm. "C-Calm down! Actually... Lord Rhett put a lot of thought into this..."
Before Tesoro could explode,
Lena's voice followed right after.
"Lord Rhett, don't get distracted. I just gave you a list of things to remember. Did you remember them?"
Rhett: "Ahaha, yes, I remember."
"Then repeat back to me what I said."
"Uh..."
"Lord Rhett!!! I'll say it one more time. Listen carefully. When you encounter a storm, use the..."
Tesoro suddenly felt a little better. Ah, what a nice day today.
Ah, the air today.
Mmm refreshing~
Rhett's small boat drifted slowly across the sea. He wasn't in a hurry to get back to Windmill Village. He planned to "adventure" his way there, sailing his small boat, collecting local specialties from each island, finally arriving at his own "Laugh Tale" — a place called home. Just like when he first set out.
Rhett sat with his legs crossed, holding the "East Blue Sailing Safety Manual" that Lena had prepared for him. It was as thick as a Poneglyph. Slight exaggeration.
"When encountering a storm, use the heat shell cape... When facing a Sea King, feed it the special bait..." Rhett chuckled as he read. "This girl acts like the East Blue is the New World. But I'm not afraid of the New World either."
Suddenly, unnatural ripples appeared on the sea.
"Little boat ahead! Stop!"
"Halt! Hand over your fresh water!"
A rundown pirate ship blocked Rhett's small boat. Standing at the bow was a big, young pirate with a worn-out sword at his waist.
He didn't look like he was doing very well.
Rhett's eyes lit up. "Oh?"
He was in a good mood from going home. He felt like playing a little.
He slowly raised his hands and put on the most exaggerated acting performance, his voice trembling. "P-Please don't shoot, sir!"
The big guy looked visibly confused. He whispered to his three crewmates, thinking he was being quiet but actually being very loud.
"Aya, do we have any guns?"
The skinny young man named Aya answered, "Captain Adai, I don't think we do."
"Then why did he say we have guns?"
"Maybe we do have some but left them on the ship and didn't see them?"
"Okay, we'll look for them later."
This was the first time Rhett had ever felt curious about a group of pirates. "Gentlemen, how much is your bounty? Let me know so I can die knowing."
"Die? That's not necessary." Adai suddenly understood and immediately started carefully rummaging through his pockets. "Wait a minute, let me find my bounty poster..."
He pulled out a crumpled bounty notice, solemnly unfolded it with both hands, and handed it to Rhett. "Look! 65 dollars and 25 cents!"
Rhett took the bounty notice and couldn't hold back a laugh. "Pfft... Captain, 65 dollars. Truly a rare gem."
The four of them shouted, "Gently, gently, don't tear it. That bounty notice was hard to find."
Adai suddenly became serious. "It's 65 dollars and 25 cents!" He pointed at the change with a serious expression. "Those 25 cents are very important!" Then he suddenly turned to his crewmate and asked, "What does 'rare gem' mean?"