Domino cheerfully opened the cabin, letting Zeff choose from the plundered treasure at will.
“I’m not short on your money, just pick a few to settle the account!”
The treasure in the cabin made the present chefs’ hearts flutter with excitement, and they couldn’t help shouting, “Whose treasure did you dig up?”
Domino teasingly joked, “Go guess yourselves!”
Of everyone present, only Zeff remained unmoved; after selecting a few pieces of gold jewelry, he prepared to leave without looking back.
Just as Domino was admiring him, Xiaowu beside her gently tugged at her skirt and said, “Dear, I want to learn some cooking styles from him!”
Hearing this, Domino frowned in thought and couldn’t help confirming repeatedly, “About how long would that take?”
Before Xiaowu could reply, Zeff spoke up first: “If it’s just observing in the kitchen, I think ten days to half a month should be enough.
First of all, Baratie never takes female chefs!”
Without hesitation while thinking, Domino said, “I will hand over all the treasure on the ship to you, hoping that you will teach her everything you know, and I’ll come back to pick her up in a few days!”
Zeff threw back without looking back, “Then keep up!”
Seeing this, Domino felt secretly thrilled: [Treasure really does move people’s hearts after all.
When Sanji and Zeff were stranded on a deserted island, I remember he always kept treasure by his side; it wouldn’t make sense to stubbornly say he didn’t like it.]
Leaving Xiaowu temporarily at the Baratie to study culinary arts, Domino hurried off toward Cocoyasi Village.
Not long after setting sail, she spotted the Krieg Pirates, with a small boat tailing not far behind them.
Kuina in her spiritual form sensed the newcomer and looked with inquiring eyes at the “Know-It-All” Captain beside her.
“The World’s Strongest Swordsman, Dracule Mihawk, nicknamed Hawkeye.
Later, your former fellow apprentice Zoro will challenge him, and as for the result, I don’t need to say much.”
Domino could guess Kuina’s thoughts; as for whether or not to challenge him, it was entirely up to her personal wishes.
“I can roughly sense the gap between our strengths; there’s no need to spar for now, plus I still need time to adapt to this spiritual body.”
Then she looked at her own body, which was at most seventeen years old.
“It seems you are stronger than Zoro in more than just swordsmanship!”
Domino knew well that wisdom is an attribute of the strong; the young girl before her would transcend the category of a mere hero and ascend to her own imperial sword throne.
“Actually, ever since I was a child, I’ve been able to clearly recognize gaps and would look for opportunities to surpass them.”
Seeing that the young girl’s mental state was stable, Domino didn’t correct her and simply changed the subject:
“Let me find a navigator first, then get some good swords, and when you can use flying slashes, you can challenge him for a match.”
Before waiting for Kuina’s response, the opposite small boat actually pulled alongside, and Hawkeye on it stared straight at Domino.
Like a rabbit locked onto by an eagle, she flusteredly explained, “Big brother, we’re on the same side!
I’m just a passing Marine!”
The reason she shouted this was because Mihawk had already drawn his sword.
She frantically complained in her heart: [Sister’s newly repaired ship.]
Kuina realized the severity of the problem; as the only swordsman on the ship, she absolutely would not allow herself to harbor thoughts of retreating.
“Rebecca, draw your sword!”
Before the words fell, two clanging sounds rang out as the little girl obediently drew her two-handed sword and tossed the rapier to Kuina.
Yet Domino, serving as the Captain, was shouting for dear life: “System save me, call the cheat, Ouhuang give me strength!”
Inwardly, she was frantically ranting: [According to the plot, you should be going to slash Krieg’s ship; don’t use my sister’s ship to practice!]
As the black blade Yoru slowly pointed toward Domino, Rebecca chose to charge head-on, continually chanting in her heart:
[The truth taught by Captain sister: Strike first to gain the upper hand, strike last and suffer disaster.
There’s no need to shout when using sword techniques; if you can fight, never flap your gums.]
Before Domino and Hawkeye could start reasoning, Rebecca opened with a big move, and Kuina also prepared for the secondary handover.
With a slight flick of Hawkeye’s hand, the greatsword in Rebecca’s hand snapped directly from the middle of the blade.
“Holy crap, you’ve gotta be kidding me?
This gap is a bit too big!”
Domino broke out in a cold sweat of shock, opening a playback of her death in her mind, even conjuring up imagery of being decapitated along with the anime’s ending theme.
“When you become a Great Swordsman, let’s have a match to determine the superior!”
Hawkeye, who was usually sparing with his words, actually spoke, staring intently at Domino the whole time, completely ignoring Kuina and Rebecca on the side.
Domino pointed her index finger at herself and hurriedly explained: “You must have made a mistake; I’m not a swordsman at all.”
Mihawk listened with a look of disappointment, cast a disdainful glance at Domino, and then maneuvered his small boat to leave.
This series of actions by him completely baffled Domino.
Watching Mihawk, who had long since sailed away, she muttered deprecatingly: “Is this guy a psycho?
The whole New World knows how weak I am, yet he’s acting brain-dead and insisting on challenging me to a fight?”
Rebecca hugged her broken sword at the bow of the ship, grieving to herself…
Kuina watched Hawkeye depart, then turned to look at her own coward of a Captain: “Just how strong are you, exactly, to be able to arouse his fighting spirit?” She could feel the other party’s monstrous battle intent.
Domino was completely baffled and casually spouted nonsense: “Just a Marineford Lieutenant Commander, I guess I could give Smoker from Loguetown a run for his money!”
She had a very clear positioning of herself—after all, there were quite a few Lieutenant Commanders in Marineford whom she couldn’t beat.
“Then why is Hawkeye eager to fight you?”
Quick-wittedly joking: “His brain must be broken!”
Afterwards, the cabin fell into a dead silence.
Everyone looked at Domino, waiting for a more reasonable explanation.
Having calmed down, Domino fell into reflection…
“Big Sister, is he interested in your fruit?”
Domino looked at her palm: “What could be so special about the Pain-Pain Fruit?
Could it be that he also wants to experience maiden pain?”
Combining the Captain’s past experiences, she tried to remind:
“When we first met, you said it looked like the Mera Mera no Mi?
Later, pirates told you it was the Pain-Pain Fruit?
But judging from Hawkeye’s expectations of you, its previous owner shouldn’t be weak.”
Hearing this analysis, Domino instantly laid aside her prejudice: “So, it should be a pretty strong fruit?”
Combining Hawkeye’s transition from expectation to frowning, until finally leaving in disappointment, she arrived at a heart-wrenching conclusion:
[Could it be that as a transmigrator, my development of the fruit is even inferior to the previous user?]
Seeing that Domino didn’t speak, Rebecca tried to correct:
“The name Pain-Pain doesn’t sound very nice.
If that’s really the case, why would those crew members want to take the fruit back?
I think there must be wonderful memories of theirs carried within it.”
“Big Sister, why not rename it the Love-Heart Fruit?”
The few words from her good sisters on board made Domino’s brain turn into a complete mess.
She even wanted to chase after Hawkeye and ask him to what level of mastery the previous user had developed the fruit.
[For the dignity of a transmigrator, I must strive for self-improvement!]
Seeing this, the beauties on the ship, afraid of talking their Captain into depression, collectively chose to change the subject:
“Big Sister, let’s go cultivate instead!”
“That’s right, diligence in cultivation is the right path, and Sister firmly believes that when the water is full, it will overflow on its own.”
“Captain Sister, why did you only teach four of the Rokushiki?”
“Sister only learned five techniques.
Shigan poking into a human body is too disgusting, and as for Tekkai…
I once got psychological trauma from being beaten with it.”
Just as everyone was getting along harmoniously, Kuina suddenly chimed in: “Are the Rokushiki very easy to learn?”
Combining her past experiences, Domino replied:
“I practically ground away for almost two years before learning four and a half techniques.
Other Marines take at least a year, and anywhere from three to five years…”
Speaking of this, Domino fell into deep thought once more…
Sadi fidgeted and spoke up: “It took me two months!”
Looking back at Rebecca: “It took me a month and a half!”
Kuina added: “Xiaowu took a month!”
Hearing these words made her feel somewhat disheartened internally, deeply feeling that a considerable gap existed between herself and her sisters.
Kuina had a guess in her heart, but lacking concrete evidence, she could only temporarily suppress it and keep it unsaid.
Seeing Domino back on deck engaging in her grind-lord style of cultivation, everyone stopped asking further questions.
[Sister knows well that choice is greater than effort, but in reality, how many people can truly break free from the shackles of destiny…]
Sweat from self-awakening cultivation continuously dripped onto the deck…
After sailing for a little while, shouting came from the sea surface: “What kind of pirates are you?
Stop the ship immediately and surrender obediently!”
Domino put down the bow cannon, looked back across, and saw a rat-faced Marine Captain.
Combined with the original plot, she could more or less guess the other party’s origin.
[My heart is feeling all blocked up right now; I just paid a huge training fee, and in the blink of an eye, some bumbling idiot comes knocking to deliver money!]
“Sisters, put on your black stockings for me, and launch a counter-inspection with me!”
Sadi stepped on the Moonwalk and rushed toward the opposite side closely following Domino.
Kuina directed Rebecca to spar with the opposite Marines.
Captain Nezumi widened his eyes: “Pirates who know the Rokushiki?”
However, what shocked him was that the leading female pirate had her fists wrapped in black Haki.
“Are you kidding me?
When did such a great pirate appear in the East Blue?” As he spoke, he turned around wanting to flee.
A blackened Domino roared: “Your ill-gotten gains belong to me now!”
Amidst the loud shouting, her fist intent reached straight to Captain Nezumi’s back.