A few kilometers away from the cave, in a temporary camp.
Hina and her two female teammates were gathered around a campfire. They looked at a roasted seabird next to the fire with blank expressions. It was burnt black.
There were no spices, and they hadn't controlled the heat well. It was dry and tough to eat. It also had a fishy smell that wouldn't go away.
But on this deserted island, this was already the easiest source of protein to find.
Just then, an evening breeze drifted over. It carried a thick, overwhelming scent of meat.
"Hmm?" A short-haired female soldier suddenly stopped chewing.
She sniffed the air hard and looked at Hina in confusion. "Hina, did you... did you hide some secret spice? Why does it suddenly smell so good?"
The other female soldier also stopped. An enchanted expression appeared on her face.
"Yeah... what is this smell? Just smelling it makes me feel like I'm about to drool."
Hina herself had already stopped moving.
Her eyes, which were usually lazy and calm, were now rarely opened a bit wider.
She slowly raised her head. Her nostrils twitched slightly as she followed the magical scent. She looked toward a certain direction in the jungle.
That scent was a mix of pure meat and the aroma of fat being toasted by fire. It was like an invisible hand forcefully grabbing all of their taste buds.
At the same time, the three of them looked down. Their eyes fell on the black, inedible "roasted charcoal" next to their fire.
Silence.
A second later, the three of them acted with perfect timing. They all threw the "food" in their hands into the fire.
"I can't take it anymore!" The short-haired soldier was the first to stand up. Her face was full of hunger and frustration.
"I have to go see! Who is it?! Who can prepare food with such a delicious aroma on this deserted island?!"
"Hina thinks it is very necessary to scout it out."
Hina also stood up and put out the campfire. Her eyes sparkled with curiosity like never before.
The three women were like three leopards lured by a scent. They followed the aroma drifting in the wind and dove into the dark jungle.
They crossed streams and passed over mountain valleys. Finally, the sound of a waterfall blocked their path.
The source of that scent they were dreaming of seemed to be behind the waterfall.
The three of them looked at each other. They carefully moved to a high point on the side of the waterfall. They pushed aside the wet bushes and looked down.
Then, they saw a scene that made their worldviews collapse—
Behind the massive water curtain of the waterfall, a warm campfire was burning in a dry and bright cave.
Three figures were sitting together near the fire.
Two of them were like hungry ghosts. They were frantically tearing at the giant, golden, oily meat steaks in their hands.
The third figure was leaning lazily on a cot that seemed to appear out of nowhere.
He was slowly using a knife and fork to cut a small piece of meat. He even had a drink placed next to him!
Hina recognized those three people.
Smoker, Rosinante, and Aiden—the one who had only scored 101 in the Doriki test.
After calmly weighing her options for a moment, Hina led her teammates out.
They walked through the splashing water curtain and appeared at the edge of the campfire's light.
"Who's there?!"
Smoker and Rosinante were startled by the three figures. They both jumped up almost by instinct.
Rosinante scrambled to find a weapon. Instead, he tripped over his own foot and nearly fell.
Smoker stepped in front of the campfire. His mouth was still full of meat as he took a combat stance.
He growled something unclear, and his eyes instantly became extremely fierce.
Aiden didn't even raise his head.
His Observation Haki had already captured everything.
After noticing the visitors, he continued to slowly cut his meat with his knife and fork, as if he had expected this.
Just as the atmosphere reached a breaking point, Smoker clearly saw the visitors' faces.
His tense fighting stance relaxed instantly. It was replaced by a mix of annoyance and a headache.
"Tch, it's you, Hina," he grumbled unclearly. However, he didn't lower his guard completely.
"Relax. Hina has no hostility."
Hina raised a hand to show they weren't a threat.
Her eyes, which always had a hint of laziness, swept over the defensive Smoker and the clumsy Rosinante.
Finally, they landed on the overly relaxed figure.
"Hina only followed a scent that shouldn't exist on this deserted island. I don't intend to steal your dinner."
She paused. A playful curve appeared at the corner of her mouth, and she finally spoke her true thoughts.
"However, Hina is indeed very surprised. It seems some people are living even more comfortably during survival training than they do at Marineford."
"What are you looking at?!" Smoker finally swallowed the meat in his mouth.
He grabbed a giant rib that was still dripping with oil and waved it like a spiked club. "This is our meat!"
Aiden didn't even look at him. He simply raised his hand calmly and made a gesture to "stay calm."
This simple movement made Smoker's rising temper stop in its tracks.
Hina's gaze didn't stay on Smoker. She slowly looked at the tent, pots, and sleeping bags on the ground.
Finally, her eyes landed on the ordinary-looking small backpack next to Aiden.
"We came here following the smell of good food. But now, Hina is more curious about something else."
She looked back at Aiden. "How did you manage to bring a whole logistics warehouse to this deserted island?"
Aiden repeated his old trick. He pointed at the backpack with an innocent expression.
He gave an explanation that sounded like an insult to her intelligence: "I'm just... very good at packing."
This answer, which felt like he was lying to a fool, made Hina's brow twitch slightly.
The two teammates behind her had expressions that clearly said, "Are you kidding me?"
Growl—!
A very loud, long, and echoing stomach growl suddenly rang out in the quiet cave.
The atmosphere instantly became incredibly awkward.
The faces of the two female soldiers behind Hina turned bright red instantly. They wished they could find a hole in the ground to crawl into.
However, their eyes couldn't stop staring at the sizzling, oily meat over the fire. They swallowed their saliva frantically.
Aiden picked up his Wazamono sword.
Under Smoker and Rosinante's nervous eyes—which were clearly saying "That's mine!"—he cut a large, fragrant, oily rib from the roasted boar.
Crunch—!
The sound of the blade cutting through the crispy skin and the sizzle of the juices being squeezed out sounded like the most beautiful music in the world at that moment.
He placed that piece of meat onto a "plate" made of a giant leaf. But he didn't hand it over.
He just held it and looked calmly at Hina.
"Want some? If you want some, let's make a trade."
However, Hina's reaction was completely beyond Aiden's expectations.
Instead of stepping forward, Hina took a flustered step back.
A strange look flashed in her usually lazy eyes, and a faint blush even appeared on her cheeks.
"Hina has to remind you," she said, crossing her arms and using an extremely subtle tone.
"Even if your cooking is great! And you are... you are indeed very handsome, don't think you can use a single piece of meat to trade for Hina's..."
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