Inside the bath, Luo Chen leaned comfortably against the stone wall, feeling a pair of soft, delicate little hands gliding across his shoulders and back.
He could sense that Kozuki Hiyori had been somewhat distant before, always maintaining a certain degree of separation.
However, her sudden decision to come in while he was bathing tonight—if she claimed it was merely to scrub his back, Luo Chen didn't believe it for a second.
"Between being a beast and being worse than a beast, I'll definitely choose the former," Luo Chen muttered to himself.
If Kozuki Hiyori didn't leave shortly, he would certainly take action. As for their feelings, those could be cultivated slowly later on.
Inside the bathroom, the atmosphere was somewhat peculiar.
Kozuki Hiyori's nose twitched slightly as her beautiful eyes stared at the back of Luo Chen's head, feeling conflicted.
*Should I continue to seduce him?*
*Is this being too shameless?*
"Luo Chen!"
A shout suddenly rang out from outside the bathroom.
Startled, the conflicted Kozuki Hiyori jerked her head toward the door. Luo Chen also turned back in confusion.
That voice just now was... Yamato?
The wooden door of the bathroom was pushed open, and through the thin white mist, a tall figure walked toward the bath.
Kozuki Hiyori's pretty face turned pale with panic.
Why would Yamato come in?
She couldn't help but glance at Luo Chen. Could it be that those two were in *that* kind of relationship?
If so, wouldn't her current appearance—scrubbing Luo Chen's back—be misunderstood?
Kozuki Hiyori became so nervous she didn't dare to breathe.
What should she do? She was about to be discovered!
As Yamato's figure drew closer, Kozuki Hiyori acted on a sudden impulse. She lifted her long, fair legs, stepped over Luo Chen, and plunged directly into the hot spring pool.
The warm water splashed all over Luo Chen's face.
He looked down at his side.
Only Kozuki Hiyori's head remained above the water's surface.
When she met Luo Chen's gaze, her face flushed completely red. She signaled him to stay quiet, took a deep breath, and dove underwater.
A second later, a muffled scream from Kozuki Hiyori echoed from beneath the surface.
Fortunately, the sound wasn't loud, and Yamato, who had reached the edge of the bath, didn't hear it clearly.
Luo Chen's expression became rather unnatural.
On one hand, he knew why Kozuki Hiyori had screamed.
Unlike the custom here in Wano Country, he didn't wear a bath towel while bathing; he wasn't wearing anything at all. Since Kozuki Hiyori had dove underwater, she had likely seen everything.
On the other hand, Yamato, who was standing diagonally above him, shared his "clothing style."
When Luo Chen turned his head, he saw everything as well.
He coughed, withdrew his gaze, and asked, "Why did you come in?"
Yamato's expression was as casual as ever, as if meeting in total honesty was a perfectly normal occurrence.
She jumped into the bath, sat down next to Luo Chen, and stretched comfortably.
"After traveling through Wano Country for so many days, I'm tired too. I wanted to soak in the bath to relieve my fatigue."
Yamato smiled, glanced at Luo Chen's chest, and whispered:
"It's still better to be like you. There's no sense of a burden when running or fighting."
She unceremoniously hefted her own, expressing a bit of annoyance.
Luo Chen watched for a few moments, feeling quite speechless.
Yamato truly viewed herself as a man and had no concept of the differences between genders.
*Speaking of which, in this situation, should she be considered a man or a woman?* Luo Chen couldn't help but wonder.
If possible, he still wanted to bring Yamato back to the mindset of a normal woman.
*How can I make Yamato realize she is a woman?*
As the thought flashed through Luo Chen's mind, he glanced beneath the water.
Under the surface, there were only his and Yamato's four legs. Kozuki Hiyori had already swum to the far side of the pool; she was currently poking her small head out to breathe, peeking over at them.
Luo Chen sighed helplessly and focused on his bath.
Beside him, Yamato felt a bit bored and looked for a topic of conversation.
"Luo Chen, are you currently the strongest person overseas?"
"Probably."
"Can you fight me?" Yamato's amber eyes brightened.
She was very curious about exactly how strong Luo Chen was. Back on Onigashima, she hadn't even seen Luo Chen use any techniques before he suppressed both her and Kaido.
Yamato desperately wanted to see how powerful Luo Chen was and what abilities he possessed.
"I can," Luo Chen agreed, then suddenly remembered something. "After leaving Wano Country, you want to travel the world, right?"
Yamato nodded. This had been her dream since childhood.
Like Kozuki Oden, she wanted to go out to sea, travel, and see the local customs and people from all over the world.
Luo Chen smiled and said, "But didn't you agree to join the Jinghai Army?"
"Everyone in the Jinghai Army must be stationed or go on field duty according to orders. You can't just act as you please."
Hearing this, Yamato's face froze.
Is that so?
She opened her mouth to ask Luo Chen if he could choose not to restrict her.
"After you complete your work for the Jinghai Army, I can give you time off to go traveling," Luo Chen provided the answer.
Yamato breathed a sigh of relief. "Then... what is my job?"
Luo Chen smiled and said, "To be the Commander of the personal guards for my women."
"The problem now is that you view yourself as a man and believe you are a man."
"A man, naturally, cannot fulfill my requirements."
Yamato's expression was a bit dazed.
What did this have to do with her gender? Was there a difference between being a man or a woman?
She couldn't figure it out, so she stopped thinking about it and asked directly, "Then what do I need to do to complete the job?"
Luo Chen smiled. "Just change your perspective and go back to being a woman."
"Once your perspective has shifted, I will arrange for someone to train you so you can take on the responsibilities of the Guard Commander."
"When the training is over, you can take your time off to go traveling."
Having said that, Luo Chen looked Yamato over and encouraged her: "With your strength, completing the training will be easy. I estimate about seven days should be enough."
"The key is still changing your gender identity."
After listening, Yamato opened her mouth, unsure of what to say for a moment.
Now she understood.
The prerequisite for her vacation was that she had to "become" a woman...
Yamato showed a look of distress.
How could that work?
From childhood to adulthood, she had been a man.
Furthermore, she wanted to become a man as heroic and righteous as Oden. If she became a woman, how could she still be Oden?
"Can you give me a different position?" Yamato was unwilling to change her gender.
Luo Chen shook his head and smiled. "What you desire is to be a man like Kozuki Oden, right?"
Seeing Yamato nod, he continued, "There was only one Kozuki Oden in this world, and he is already dead."
"You can never become Kozuki Oden."
Hearing this, Yamato suddenly became a bit angry, staring at him with wide eyes.
Luo Chen smiled and explained, "The 'Kozuki Oden' you truly want to become, and can become, is accurately described as a spirit."
He believed that Yamato's strange idea of wanting to be Kozuki Oden was mainly caused by a low level of education.
Any person who had received a normal education would understand that what Yamato admired were the personality traits of Kozuki Oden: being unrestrained, loving freedom, possessing courage... and so on.
Yamato's distorted perception was primarily due to Kaido's neglect of his child's education.
Yamato's view of herself as a man was also related to never having received a cultural education. Being unable to distinguish the difference between men and women, and believing only a man could be Kozuki Oden...
No one who has received a normal education would ever have this kind of thought process.
Luo Chen estimated that if Yamato were allowed to undergo a period of cultural study, there was a high probability of reversing her mindset.
---
**Would you like me to translate the next chapter for you?**
[Reviews - Power St0nes - Comments are highly appreciated to keep me going.....(+50 chapters) patre0n.c0m/talecrafter]