"What?! You want my wife on the ship too? No way—didn't you say it was just going to be us, father and daughter?"
The moment he heard Shirakawa wanted to bring Lisa aboard, Adara's father immediately exploded.
"Shut it. I haven't said a word yet, so what are you yapping about?" Lisa shot a glare at Adara's father. Who exactly wore the pants in this family wasn't clear yet?
"Sorry. Originally we were just aiming for the two of you, father and daughter, but after hearing your wife is a miracle doctor, I got ideas. Our ship still doesn't have a doctor, and we don't think much of ordinary ones."
Shirakawa apologized smoothly.
"Dammit, I should've never brought them home." Abulo grumbled inwardly. Yes, Adara's father was named Abulo—just one character off from the sun god Apollo.
He was already regretting it. If he'd known, he would've just agreed to their proposal straight away. Now they might end up hauling a tigress along too.
Lisa didn't answer right away. Instead, she shifted her gaze toward her daughter and noticed that the girl's eyes had been glued to that young man, Salar, the whole time.
After the brief interaction earlier, Lisa had already learned everyone's names. And that Salar, at a glance, seemed rather decent.
Besides, Adara was already eighteen. It was high time to start thinking about her lifelong future. No need for a perfect match in social status, but he had to at least be pleasant on the eyes—and right now, every way Lisa sized Salar up, he just looked better and better.
"What does that young man do?"
Lisa asked Shirakawa about Salar's situation.
"Oh, him? He's our ship's cook. His cooking is incredible."
"A cook? A cook is great." Lisa's eyes lit up.
"Let him cook something for you to try when there's a chance."
"No need for a chance. He can do it right now. There just happen to be some ingredients in the fridge, and none of us have had breakfast yet."
"Alright then." Shirakawa looked over at Salar, and Salar gave a nod.
It seemed Salar was playing a very crucial role in this recruitment.
"It's on you, Salar." Shirakawa's eyes shot him a look that gleamed with what could only be called encouragement.
"Leave it to me." Salar signalled back with his eyes.
While Salar was busy cooking, Adara had long since slipped away into the kitchen, and Shirakawa and the others finally began to talk in earnest.
Both Abulo and Lisa wore extremely serious expressions. They were forty years old, and this decision could affect the entire second half of their lives.
"I know your pirate crew has been making a huge name for itself in the North Blue lately."
"I'd imagine so. At this point, there shouldn't be anyone in the North Blue who hasn't heard of us."
Shirakawa wasn't bragging—it was simply the truth. After staying in the North Blue for over a month, they were already wildly famous.
"You really don't do modesty, do you?"
"But isn't that exactly how things are?"
"Now let's get down to business."
"Go ahead."
"Since you want to invite us to join your crew, you should at least show some sincerity. You see, while I might not be much good in a fight, when it comes to medical skill—I'm not boasting here—I'm probably among the very best in the world."
"What do you want?" Since Lisa was that confident, Shirakawa was willing to trust it for now. After all, time would prove everything. If her medical skills turned out not to be that impressive later, well, she shouldn't blame him for not being so polite then.
"We want to become the kind of people who stand at the very top of this world."
Lisa stated it with the utmost seriousness.
Hearing this, Shirakawa was briefly stunned. The kind of people who stand at the very top of the world... "Don't tell me you want to become Celestial Dragons?"
When he thought of the top people in the world, his first reaction was the Celestial Dragons, since they were the highest-ranked nobles on the entire planet.
"No." Lisa flatly denied his answer.
"We want to become the kind of people even more feared than the Celestial Dragons. Do you have the confidence to make that happen for us?"
"You want to become great pirates that everyone fears?"
When pirates grew powerful enough, they truly became existences more terrifying than the Celestial Dragons. Just like Roger, Golden Lion, Whitebeard right now, or the future Four Emperors—figures like those, even the Celestial Dragons, would probably have to steer clear of them at a respectful distance.
"That's right." Lisa affirmed without hesitation.
"No problem."
Shirakawa answered with equal confidence. Their pirate crew already had the embryonic shape of a hegemonic power. He believed that before long, they would certainly reach that level.
"Good. Since you have the confidence, then we agree to join you."
"Just like that? No other demands?"
"None."
Throughout this back-and-forth between Shirakawa and Lisa, Abulo hadn't said a single word. That was because his wish was exactly the same as his wife's—or rather, the request his wife had raised was actually for him. He wanted to become someone everyone feared.
This had everything to do with Abulo's own special ability. Ever since he was a child, he'd been ostracized and bullied no matter where he went. He'd held honest jobs and also done his fair share of sneaky, dishonest work. But no matter the place, he'd never been given decent treatment or a good outcome.
So from a young age, he'd sworn he'd one day become someone above everyone else. Yet he'd never found the right moment, and his head wasn't exactly the sharpest either. It wasn't until he finally met Lisa that he decided to settle down. He'd found a job without restrictions, one perfectly suited to his ability.
"Lisa... thank you." Abulo whispered. He knew that everything Lisa had done was entirely for his sake.
Even though he'd never told Lisa about everything he'd gone through or his dreams, with her intelligence and all their years together, she had long since understood everything there was to know about him.
"It's nothing. It's what I should do. And we're an old married couple—what's all this about?"
This unexpected public display of affection caught Shirakawa and the others completely off guard. Weren't they just a cat and a tiger a moment ago? How did they suddenly turn into two lovey-dovey dogs?
"Ahem." Shirakawa cleared his throat a few times. Right at that moment, a rich, enticing aroma wafted out from the kitchen.
"Alright, looks like Salar's breakfast is ready. Let's all go sample his cooking."
"Perfect. I want to taste the cooking of my future son-in-law too," Lisa declared.
Not a single thing had been decided yet, but Lisa already seemed to have settled on Salar. Sure enough, mother and daughter really did share the same eye for men.
Shirakawa was also pleased. This time he hadn't just found a father-daughter pair with special abilities—he'd also picked up a miracle doctor, and all three of them were one family.
"Hold on, Captain." Just then, Jora leaned in and whispered into Shirakawa's ear.
"What is it?"
"Think about it. If Salar really does become their son-in-law, then their family will have four people on this ship. Won't the whole ship end up being theirs?"
"Relax. Salar isn't that easy to crack."
But the moment they stepped into the kitchen, Shirakawa's eyes practically popped out of his skull. What had he just seen? He'd just witnessed two people locked in an embrace!
Just how ferocious was that girl's offensive? How little time had passed, and she'd already cracked that iceberg?
"I take back what I just said. I'd planned for Salar to lure in the mother and daughter; I never thought he'd end up getting seduced instead. What a weak-willed guy."
Salar and the girl, seeing the crowd suddenly flood into the kitchen, were also quite startled and hastily let go of each other. And Salar's gaze when he looked at Abulo and Lisa was a little shifty, nothing like how he'd been just moments before.
/-\
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