South Blue.
A steamship with a half-bent chimney and a rusted hull wheezed as it docked at the crude pier.
Lucas and Baccarat stepped onto land one after the other.
Neither of them knew how to repair a ship, and after the voyage across the Calm Belt, this steamship, which wasn’t new to begin with, was basically in a semi-wrecked state.
“Let’s go buy some clothes first.”
Baccarat naturally hooked her arm through Lucas’s, pressing his arm against her ample chest, while carrying a heavy money case in her other hand.
“I’ve been wearing this for so long, I couldn’t stand it anymore.”
She grabbed a passerby to ask for the location of a clothing store, then half-dragged Lucas toward the town.
Half an hour later, the two returned to the ship wearing matching, well-tailored black trench coats.
Baccarat adjusted her collar in the porthole glass, her mood visibly improving.
“Darling, the South Blue is so big, how do you plan to find that fruit?
We can’t just search island by island, can we?”
“We’ll go to the Marine branch first.”
“I know the fruit is on Kutsuk Island, but we lack an accurate nautical chart.
A Marine base is sure to have one.”
That night, following the information they had gathered, the two crept to the perimeter of the nearest Marine base.
In front of the base gate, two Marines holding flintlock rifles stood straight, their vigilant gazes scanning the pitch-black street.
In the shadows where the light couldn’t reach, an ordinary copper coin rolled out and stopped at their feet.
An invisible force quietly swept over, and the luck of the two soldiers was instantly drained away.
“Who’s there?!
Come out!”
The soldier on the left shouted sternly, holding his rifle as he cautiously moved forward.
Just as he took his second step, his right ankle twisted, causing him to lose his balance and fall heavily to the ground.
His finger subconsciously pulled the trigger.
“Bang!”
A lead bullet whistled out, striking his companion’s shoulder squarely, and blood splattered instantly.
The two men lay on the ground, gasping in pain.
This was the insidious nature of the Luck-Luck Fruit.
For thick-skinned powerhouses, it might just be a nuisance, but for ordinary people, the consequence of having their luck drained could range from broken bones to death.
Taking advantage of the chaos at the entrance, Lucas and Baccarat vaulted over the wall and snuck into the base.
The training ground was brightly lit.
A muscular officer with a black ponytail and a mustache was bench-pressing with his shirt off, sweat rolling down his well-defined muscles.
Another coin rolled to his feet.
“These little brats, throwing their pay around like this…”
As soon as Maynard had this thought, his foot inexplicably slipped, and he fell straight backward.
The barbell smashed heavily onto his chest, making a dull, loud thud.
With his physique, he naturally wouldn’t be crushed to death, but two of his ribs were broken, and he couldn’t get up for the time being.
“Colonel Maynard!
What happened to you?!”
The patrolling Marines nearby were shocked and rushed over in a swarm to help.
The one running in front tripped on some loose gravel and fell face-first, and those behind him couldn’t stop, causing a chain reaction of people falling in a heap.
Screams, cries of pain, and curses rose and fell one after another.
In just a few minutes, the entire base had fallen into inexplicable chaos.
The door to the navigation archives was gently pushed open.
Lucas and Baccarat, taking advantage of the fact that everyone was preoccupied, slipped inside.
The two nimbly searched for nautical charts on the shelves, the soft sound of rustling paper drowned out by the noise outside.
“Darling, I don’t have Kutsuk Island on my side.”
Baccarat lowered her voice.
“I don’t have it on my side either,” Lucas said, closing the last file.
“Let’s go, to the next base.”
In the following days, the two replicated tonight’s operation at several other Marine bases, causing chaos and panic in those places, until they finally found the desired nautical chart at the fourth Marine base they targeted.
The sun was setting, and orange-red light filtered through the window lattice into the restaurant’s private room, casting fine golden patterns on the table.
On the table sat sashimi of the South Blue specialty, the Elephant-Nose Tuna, its meat fresh and translucent.
“Darling, I’ve been wanting to ask,” Baccarat said, picking up a piece of fish and putting it into her mouth, speaking indistinctly,
“With your strength, couldn’t you just barge in and take the chart?
Why go through all this trouble?”
In her view, the strongest colonels in these bases couldn’t even take one of Lucas’s punches.
There was absolutely no need for such a roundabout way.
Lucas set down his wine glass and was silent for a few seconds.
“My first woman was a Marine.”
Baccarat’s hand paused as she reached for food, and she looked up at him.
She had long guessed that a man like him couldn’t possibly have only her by his side, but hearing it with her own ears still gave her a subtle feeling.
She quickly recovered and asked:
“What if the Marines are determined to capture or kill you?
Would you still show mercy?”
“Then I will kill them.”
Lucas could, for Gion’s sake, avoid actively slaughtering Marines and try to get what he wanted in a gentle manner.
But this consideration had a bottom line.
If it truly came to drawing swords against each other, he wouldn’t be soft-hearted in the slightest.
He had always agreed with that saying from Shanks—once you draw your gun, you must be prepared to bet your life.
Baccarat breathed a sigh of relief.
What she feared most was that this man would be held back by old feelings and end up getting himself into trouble.
Now it seemed she had overthought it.
In this world, it was perfectly normal for a powerful person to be surrounded by multiple partners.
From the day she decided to follow Lucas, she had been prepared for this.
What she never feared was “being one of many,” but rather “inequality.”
She feared someone being favored exclusively, and she feared being left behind.
Since everyone was the same, she had nothing to fear.
Dinner ended, and the two checked into the best hotel in town.
Just as the door closed, Baccarat reached out and hooked her arms around Lucas’s neck, dragging him toward the bathroom without a word.
Since she already knew there was an older sister ahead of her, she had to perform even better.
It might have started as a binding of interests, but after more than a month of spending days and nights together, this powerful, calm man who occasionally revealed a bit of true emotion had long since moved into her heart.
Lucas didn’t resist and followed her lead inside.
Hot water poured into the bathtub with a splash, and dense white mist soon filled the entire bathroom.
Amidst the swirling steam, soft sounds mixed with the sound of water leaked from the door crack, only to be quickly swallowed by the night wind.