A short while later, Red-Leg Zeff personally brought the dishes over.
His attitude was extremely respectful.
Karl naturally didn't make things difficult for him.
After all, Zeff wasn't even a pirate anymore.
There was no point constantly clinging to old grudges from years ago.
"Mm?!"
"This is sooo good!"
"The chefs here are seriously amazing!"
"Karl, hurry and try this one!"
Without waiting for his response, Ain stuffed a piece of fish into Karl's bowl.
Karl could only sigh helplessly.
Because the food in his bowl had already piled into a small mountain.
Every time Ain tasted a new dish, she immediately picked some for him as well.
Karl was practically struggling to keep up with the eating.
Knock knock knock.
Ain slammed her bowl heavily onto the table and stood up angrily.
"Now who is it again?!"
"Didn't we already say nobody should disturb us?"
"Can't you understand human language?!"
A crisp female voice came from outside the door.
"S-Sorry!"
"I just wanted to see Vice Admiral Karl."
"Sorry for disturbing you."
Ain turned toward Karl with a strange look in her eyes.
"Another romantic debt you created?"
Karl instantly denied it.
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!!!"
"Ain, you know me!"
"Other than you and Hancock, I don't have any girlfriends!"
"As for other women…"
"They're just… uh…"
"Just acting on occasion…"
"Yeah, exactly."
Ain rolled her eyes.
"Hmph."
"You big womanizing carrot."
"You think I don't know what kind of person you are?"
Ain directly opened the door and saw a pretty figure turning to leave.
"Hey, wait a second."
"Hm?"
"Why do I feel like I've seen you somewhere before?"
The moment Nami saw Ain, joy appeared in her eyes.
It was the older sister who looked so much like her!
"Ain sister!"
"You still remember me?!"
"I'm Nami from Cocoyasi Village!"
"Nami…"
A thoughtful look appeared in Ain's eyes.
A memory gradually surfaced in her mind—
an orange-haired little girl.
That childish face slowly overlapped with the beautiful young girl standing before her now.
"I remember now!"
"Wow!"
"Nami, it's been so many years!"
"You've grown up so much already!!!"
The more Ain looked at her, the more she liked her.
Because Nami resembled her too much.
To put it simply—
aside from differences in figure, hair color, and temperament—
their appearances were at least eighty percent similar.
Nami smiled brightly.
"That's great, Ain sister!"
"I didn't expect such a coincidence."
"Hm?"
"Wait…"
"Could it be that you and Vice Admiral Karl are…"
Ain smiled happily.
"That's right."
"Karl is my boyfriend now."
"Hehe, I already knew it."
"The way you looked at Vice Admiral Karl back then was already different!"
The two girls quickly became familiar again.
Karl seemed to have been completely forgotten.
He could only continue eating silently at the side.
After all—
there was no room for him to join the conversation.
…
A while later, Ain suddenly asked:
"Right, Nami."
"What are you doing now?"
"I remember back then you said you wanted to become a navigator, right?"
"Did you achieve your dream?"
Nami awkwardly scratched her head.
"I did…"
"But…"
"But what?"
Karl calmly wiped his mouth and spoke first.
"Because you're now a pirate, right?"
Don't ask how Karl knew.
Because his Justice Envoy ability had already marked Nami as part of the Evil Camp.
Ain's expression stiffened instantly.
She immediately wrapped an arm around Nami's shoulders.
"Really?"
"You became a pirate?"
"Tell me this isn't true!"
Nami took a deep breath and apologized softly.
"I'm sorry, Ain sister."
"I really did join a pirate crew and became the navigator of the Straw Hat Pirates."
"But the Straw Hat Pirates are different from other pirate crews."
"They're not the kind of—"
"Enough."
Ain suddenly interrupted her loudly.
"Stop talking."
Then Ain slowly released Nami and quietly looked at her.
"Nami…"
"You've truly disappointed me."
Nami's gaze dimmed.
She couldn't even bring herself to look directly into Ain's blue eyes.
"Ain."
"There's no need to be this strict."
"The Straw Hat Pirates really are different."
Ain turned sharply toward Karl.
"Karl, don't tell me even you…"
"The captain of the Straw Hat Pirates is named Monkey D. Luffy."
Ain silently repeated the name once before suddenly widening her eyes.
"Vice Admiral Garp's grandson?"
"That rubber kid we saw in the Goa Kingdom?"
"Exactly."
Ain helplessly shook her head before sitting back down and continuing to enjoy her meal.
"Nami."
"Sit."
Nami glanced nervously between Ain and Karl before carefully sitting down.
"Nami."
"Everyone has their own choices."
"I won't forcefully interfere with yours."
"But since you chose to become a pirate…"
"Then you must bear the consequences of being one."
"Vice Admiral Karl…"
"I understand."
"And I won't regret it."
Karl smiled faintly.
"That's good."
"For now, the Straw Hat Pirates still don't have bounties."
"So the Marines haven't paid attention to you yet."
"But once you cause some trouble…"
"Then naturally the Marines will start targeting you."
"Not every Marine will calmly sit down and talk with you like we are now."
"I trust you understand what I mean."
Nami hesitated slightly.
"Then… if we eventually get bounties…"
Ain raised her head and answered instead.
"If we encounter you at sea…"
"We can't simply pretend not to notice."
"I see…"
"Thank you for the warning."
"I'll be prepared."
Nami then stood up seriously.
"One last thing, Vice Admiral Karl."
"There's something I've always wanted to say to you."
"Thank you."
"Thank you for saving our village."
"If it weren't for you…"
"I can't even imagine what our lives would've become."
Karl waved his hand casually.
"Hahaha."
"No need to thank us."
"We were only acting conveniently while passing through."
"Then…"
"I'll be leaving now, Vice Admiral Karl… Ain sister."
After speaking—
Nami bowed deeply toward both of them before turning around and leaving the room.
Once the door closed—
Ain finally spoke with a strange expression.
"What is going on with Vice Admiral Garp's family?"
"His grandson actually really became a pirate?"
"Does Vice Admiral Garp even know about this?"
Karl scoffed lightly.
"What's so strange about that?"
"Isn't Fire Fist Ace also Garp's grandson?"
"Didn't he become a pirate too?"
"Oh right."
"Now he's Whitebeard's son."
Ain nodded subconsciously—
then suddenly froze as though discovering something incredible.
"Wait wait wait…"
"You said Ace is Whitebeard's son…"
"And Garp is Ace's grandfather…"
"Then doesn't that mean…"
"When Whitebeard accepted Ace as his son…"
"He basically found himself a goddamn father too?!"
Karl froze for a second.
Honestly—
he had never really thought about it before.
But after Ain said it…
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The moment Karl burst out laughing—
Ain completely lost control as well.
Her clear laughter rang throughout the room.
Her shoulders trembled violently.
Tears nearly came out from laughing too hard.
…
Outside the room—
Sanji immediately slithered over the moment he saw Nami emerge.
"Nami-saaaan!"
"Are you alright?!"
"That guy didn't do anything excessive to you, right?!"
Nami shook her head helplessly.
"How could he?"
"Vice Admiral Karl isn't the kind of person you think he is."
Sanji looked utterly unconvinced.
As a fellow man—
how could anyone possibly remain unmoved before a beautiful lady like Nami?!
…
Well—
actually there really was one.
After all—
Nami was still just a kid and hadn't fully grown up yet.
Meanwhile—
Karl clearly preferred mature women.
Both Ain and Hancock were very well-developed.
Though admittedly—
Hancock was even bigger.
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