News of Golden Lion's reappearance on the high seas quickly spread throughout the world with the World Economy News Paper.
At breakfast the next day, Stella walked in holding the latest newspaper.
Blake glanced at it:
"These restless old guys."
Blake's words weren't just about Golden Lion, but also about Morgans, who dared to write about anything.
He remembered that in his previous life, many people suspected Morgans had once been a member of the Roger Pirates and had other motives for creating the World Economy News Paper.
However, it was later discovered that Morgans was already active during the God Valley Incident.
This indicated that the guy simply enjoyed watching the show and didn't mind making a big fuss.
The World Government was also very strange; it was clearly a crucial propaganda weapon, yet they tolerated that bird-man Morgans controlling it.
After all, even Sengoku knew to cut off the transponder snail when the situation at the Marineford War started to get out of control.
There couldn't possibly be only albatrosses among long-distance flying birds; the World Government could completely set up its own newspaper and then physically eliminate Morgans.
That would be much better than the current situation, where they had to send CP to threaten him every time a scandal broke out.
After casually flipping through the newspaper, Blake didn't give it much thought; cultivating the little Slaves was more important.
To better foster relationships, Blake had chosen to eat with them during this period back in Mary Geoise.
Awe and dignity were for outsiders; those before him would all be his wings in the future.
At the dining table, Mandy still maintained her icy, expressionless face.
Koala sat properly on her chair, cautiously eating the toast in front of her.
Robin's movements were gentle and elegant, as if she were carving an exquisite work of art.
Perona, however, was a bit boisterous, getting cream on her hands without realizing it.
Stella sat beside Blake, gently attending to him.
Blake deliberately pushed Perona's most hated lemon juice in front of her:
"For vitamins."
Perona puffed out her cheeks, about to protest, but Stella gave her a gentle smile.
The little girl immediately sat up straight, but secretly poured the lemon juice into Robin's fruit juice next to her.
Blake turned his gaze to Koala:
"Koala, what is the first rule of 'Celestial Dragons' Breakfast Etiquette'?"
"It's... it's..."
Koala was a bit stunned; she had never heard of this 'etiquette' before, so how could she know what it was?
Just as she was about to start her fake smile and apologize, Perona suddenly jumped onto her chair:
"I know! It's 'no smearing jam on other people's faces.'"
She pointed a cream-covered finger at Robin:
"Just like you did to the bookworm yesterday."
Blake's face darkened, and he grabbed Perona:
"It's 'no little brats secretly eating strawberries'!"
As he spoke, he pinched Perona's face, rubbing it vigorously, causing Perona to wail.
After some playful teasing, Perona returned to her seat with a huff:
"That's not fair, why can Koala have a double serving of strawberries?"
Blake didn't even lift his head:
"Because she doesn't secretly put strawberry seeds in my teacup."
"Hmph!"
Perona turned her head away, leaving Blake with two pink pigtails, looking like "Baby is very angry, needs a serving of strawberries to be appeased."
Seeing that Blake ignored her, Perona turned her attention to Robin:
"Bookworm, guess what I replaced the sugar cubes in the coffee with?"
Robin didn't mind being called "bookworm"; instead, she slowly swallowed the food in her mouth, gently wiped the corner of her lips:
"Salt, I presume? You were severely reprimanded last time for adding chili powder to the Blake tea."
Blake hadn't noticed their pranks.
After all, besides Katakuri, that sibling-obsessed individual who always wanted to protect his younger siblings, and Eneru, that pervert who liked to eavesdrop, and Redfield, who simply couldn't turn off his Observation Haki, others wouldn't constantly keep their Observation Haki activated.
Just as the two were whispering, a soft sound suddenly came from across the table.
Robin and Perona looked up together, then both were stunned.
Koala had knocked over the coffee pot.
Koala, who hadn't yet adapted to her increased strength, often broke things these past few days.
Koala was even more stunned than the two of them; she was about to kneel down to clean it, but Blake reached out and pulled her up:
"Others will do this kind of thing."
"So... sorry."
Koala lowered her head, her body trembling slightly.
Perona, however, rolled her eyes:
"Stupid Koala, do it like this!"
Saying that, she deliberately knocked over a water glass.
Robin sighed; before the liquid spilled, a hand suddenly grew out of the table and righted the cup:
"This is an application of fluid mechanics."
Blake patted Koala's head, then glared at Perona:
"I think someone wants to learn how to mop the floor today."
Perona wasn't scared at all; she pulled out a few feathers from an unknown animal from her pocket:
"I don't want to, I want to make new clothes for the transponder snail."
Seeing this, Stella sighed:
"Those are from my pillow..."
Even Mandy, who was usually expressionless, couldn't help but slightly curl her lips at this scene.
Blake also smiled helplessly.
He wasn't displeased by Perona's actions.
On the contrary, Perona's antics could help Koala and Mandy adapt to life in the manor more quickly.
This was helpful for Blake's future plans.
Hmm... although Perona herself wasn't aware of it.
However, if they kept this up, breakfast wouldn't be eaten.
Blake cleared his throat:
"Alright, according to the third rule of 'Celestial Dragons' Breakfast Etiquette'..."
Before he finished speaking, Robin picked up her notebook:
"What a coincidence, I once saw a record of the first generation of Celestial Dragons using Slave skulls as dinner plates."
The smile on Blake's face froze.
Robin continued:
"By the way, the color of your tie today is the same as the prison uniform of the executed criminals back then."
Alright, alright, the little girl's venomous tongue and cunning nature already dared to be used on him.
"Then do you know if the criminals executed back then were archaeologists?"
This time, it was Robin's expression that froze.
"Little rascal, trying to mess with me."
Actually, he wasn't even sure if such a thing had happened; he was just making it up.
Blake, who was feeling smug, didn't notice that Perona's hand had already reached for his pocket watch.
This wasn't the first time Perona had been interested in this pocket watch, but this was definitely the closest she had come to success.
"While this guy isn't paying attention, I'll definitely succeed this time!"
Perona cheered herself on in her mind.
Just as her hand was about to touch the pocket watch, it was pressed down by a small, fair hand.
Seeing Blake look over, Koala quickly withdrew her hand and whispered with her head down:
"This isn't good..."
Blake raised an eyebrow:
"Oh? Little Koala can already prevent crimes."
Robin neatly folded her napkin and placed it on the table:
"From a sociological perspective, this is the internalization process of group norms."
Seeing everyone's bewildered expressions, Blake explained:
"Simply put..."
He slipped the pocket watch into Koala's hand.
"She wants to steal it herself!"
Koala's face instantly turned red, and she shook her head wildly.
Suddenly, she put the pocket watch back into Blake's pocket and even patted it gently.
Perona's eyes widened:
"Koala, you traitor!"
Stella, who had been watching all of this with a smile, stood up and called the maids outside to come in, then turned and said to everyone:
"Alright, it's time for them to clean up."
Sunlight filtered through the stained glass, casting dappled shadows on the silver tableware.
This morning, it was still noisy and ordinary.