"What?!"
Half a minute later, Nao's incredulous voice rang out from inside the cabin. "You're saying… you want to adopt these two little girls as your daughters?!"
"Shhh! Keep your voice down! Don't wake the kids."
Bell-mère hurriedly made a silencing gesture. Facing Nao's gaze, her face was full of guilt as she spoke softly:
"I know it's a selfish request, but… I really can't just leave them behind…"
Nao didn't respond right away. He rubbed his chin, clearly torn, frowning as his gaze kept sweeping back and forth over the two girls.
"If it really won't work, Nao…"
At that point, Bell-mère gritted her teeth, looked up, and met his eyes. "I'll choose to retire. I'll stay on Chaili Island and raise them myself. I promise, they absolutely—absolutely—won't cause you any trouble…"
"Sigh…"
Nao let out a long sigh and ruffled Bell-mère's hair. "You better think this through, Bell-mère. You're only nineteen, you know? Becoming a mom at this age… that means taking on a whole lot of responsibility…"
"I'm not afraid. I already made up my mind last night."
Her expression was firm, her tone carrying a trace of pleading. "Please, Nao, just let me be selfish this once. They can't live without me… and I can't stand by and watch them be sent to an orphanage…"
"..."
The two locked eyes. After a long silence, Nao finally relaxed his brows, gave a bitter smile, and said:
"You've gone this far… what else can I even say?"
"You mean…?" Bell-mère's breath quickened, her eyes lighting up with hope.
"Yeah, I agree to the adoption."
Nao's expression turned serious. "But I didn't agree with something you just said. There's one thing I need to make absolutely clear."
"What is it?"
Bell-mère's face fell, and nervousness crept in again.
"If we're adopting them, then they're not just your daughters. They're my daughters too."
Nao bent down and gently kissed her forehead. When he straightened back up, he couldn't help but chuckle.
"So how could I possibly let you shoulder all that responsibility alone?"
"When we return to the 16th Branch, bring them with you to live at headquarters. While you're at it, bring Mom and Dad too. That way, we don't have to be apart. We can all live together—as a family."
A family, living together…
The tight knot in her chest finally loosened, and a sudden wave of happiness crashed through Bell-mère's heart with overwhelming force.
She was dazed for a long moment, a brilliant smile unconsciously blossoming on her face. Then, all at once, she snapped out of it, blushing furiously. Mortified and angry, she jumped up and punched Nao in the stomach.
"You bastard…"
She huffed, "What nonsense are you spouting? Who said we're a family? We're not even married yet!"
"Ha! That's only a matter of time."
Nao burst into laughter, letting the flustered girl pummel his abdomen with a flurry of turtle punches.
His earlier hesitation had all been an act, of course.
Ever since he'd run into Perona a few months ago, he'd been getting more and more eager to adopt a daughter of his own. Now that the opportunity had come earlier than expected, there was no way he'd turn it down.
Especially since the girls in question were Nami and Nojiko—two beautiful and utterly adorable little princesses…
The reaction he put on had been for two reasons.
First, it was part of the script. When someone's partner suddenly brings up adopting kids, it's only natural to be shocked and hesitant at first—he had to at least pretend to struggle with it.
Second…
He wanted Bell-mère to feel just a little bit guilty about it—so she'd be more tolerant of him later. A setup, a bit of emotional cushioning… for the storm to come.
That's right.
He was done with bouncing back and forth between his three lovers, sneaking around, and constantly suffering through long, painful separations.
And now, with orders placing him at headquarters for several years—
It was time. Time to let the harem meet each other face-to-face and lay everything out in the open. If he could get through the hardest part, he could finally start planning that wedding.
This was fifth-layer thinking, baby.
As for bringing his parents to headquarters—that decision had been made earlier that same morning, right after Sengoku had formally assigned him his new post.
He hadn't done it last year because he was stationed in the West Blue, and he didn't have many enemies there. But now that he was back at Headquarters, and had managed to piss off both the Beasts Pirates and the Big Mom Pirates…
The safest option was to bring the whole family together under one roof.
"By the way…"
Bell-mère, still nestled in his arms, had vented enough and looked up at him curiously. "I never asked—how did you even know I was here? And how did you get here so fast?"
"Guess."
Nao raised an eyebrow, smirking.
"Forget it then." Bell-mère snorted, folding her arms and turning her head away.
Tch. No fun. Nao clicked his tongue. Already about to become a mom and still this tsundere?
If it had been Shia here instead, she'd have been all wide-eyed and curious, asking endless questions, and when she couldn't figure it out, she'd get "punished"—a few spanks on that round little butt, kneeling at the foot of the bed, turning back with a crimson face, stammering to beg for the answer…
"Alright, alright. Check that Vivre Card I gave you before—see if it's still there."
Nao finally stopped teasing and smiled.
Bell-mère gave him a puzzled look.
"Of course it's still there. I've been keeping it close this whole time…"
She reached into the gap of her Marine-issue jacket near her collar and rummaged around, but suddenly froze—her expression going blank as she stared at him in confusion.
"No need to look. It's already been burned to ash."
Nao took out a brand new Vivre Card sub-card from his pocket and handed it over "Here, this one's new. Keep it safe."
She took the card in a daze, turning it over in her hands, examining it carefully, but couldn't find anything unusual. In the end, she could only look up at him with a blank expression, waiting for an explanation.
"This was specially made by a mysterious old witch who owed me her life," Nao said, smiling. "She poured everything she had into crafting this Vivre Card. It lets me sense when you're in danger—and teleport straight to you. Kind of like a Space-Space Fruit ability…"
"That should make sense now, right?"
The secret of the system—he planned to take that to the grave. No one would ever know.
But little trinkets like this, which meshed well with the world of pirates and didn't exceed the bounds of normal comprehension—those he could share with the people closest to him.
And Bell-mère, naturally, was one of them.
"Something that magical actually exists…" Bell-mère stared at the Vivre Card, then suddenly looked up, biting her lip. "It must be really rare. You don't have many of these, do you?"
"Don't worry, I've still got two left."
Nao laughed as he sat down on the bed and crossed his legs. "After giving you this one, I still have a spare. Just take it. Otherwise, I won't be able to rest easy the next time we're apart."
Only two left…
Bell-mère was momentarily stunned, her gaze dropping. She vaguely remembered that last year on Chaili Island, Nao had also given one to his parents. So altogether… there must've only been four, right?
And now half of them had been used on her…
She carefully tucked the card away.
Then, to Nao's surprise, she gave a snort, pounced on him, and like a fierce little tiger, bit his lips hard—before wrapping her arms around his neck and diving into a deep, hungry kiss.
"What the—! Easy, easy!"
"Wha—wait—are you stripping?!"
"Here?! In the middle of the day?! The kids are literally sleeping next to us—mmmph!"
But the rest of his words were cut off—sealed away by the passionate kiss of the girl in his arms.
...
By the time he returned to Marineford, it was 3:30 a.m.
The sky hadn't yet brightened, and everything around was shrouded in darkness.
Nao stepped out of a small grove, one hand clutching his sore waist, glanced up at the moon, then put on his coat and trudged tiredly toward his residence.
"Totally underestimated Bell-mère…"
Thinking back on the ten-hour-long affair that had just taken place, Nao's eye twitched.
"Bringing them all to Headquarters really was the smartest move. Otherwise, if we kept having year-long separations like that… who could survive her ferocity?"
He had stamina, sure—but his "rations" were limited!
On the way, he opened his system interface and glanced at the Vivre Cards in his inventory. The one tied to Rosinante had gone dim, its icon grayed out—completely burned up.
No helping it. He'd left for the East Blue around dinnertime, and there was no other way to get back before sunrise. He'd been forced to burn another Vivre Card.
Now he was down to one.
Tomorrow, he'd have to find a way to secretly slip a new one back onto Rosinante.
That way, everything would be perfectly covered.
As for the East Blue, he'd already wiped out every last member of the Black Bat Pirates. The remaining Marines had been instructed not to leak word of his appearance.
Given his rank and reputation, they wouldn't question him at all.
In fact, some of the more imaginative ones were already whispering amongst themselves, speculating whether Vice Admiral Nao had been on some kind of top-secret mission—and feeling proud to be part of keeping that secret safe…
As for the credit for annihilating the Black Bat Pirates?
Nao didn't even care. He simply handed it off to the Marines, with Bell-mère naturally getting the lion's share.
If all went as expected, when she returned to the 16th Branch and filed her report, she'd probably be promoted three ranks on the spot—straight to Branch Lieutenant Commander.
"But her strength's still lacking a bit…"
Remembering how Bell-mère had been powerless before that Black Bat guy, Nao stroked his chin thoughtfully.
Well, he'd have a few quiet years at Headquarters. Once Bell-mère moved in, he could take some time to train her one-on-one.
Then, when spring rolled around and the new Elite Training Camp opened, he'd ask her if she wanted to join for a two-year course.
In any case, with his influence at Headquarters, recommending Bell-mère to the camp would be a simple matter. All he'd need to do is make a call.
As he was thinking this, he unknowingly arrived at his doorstep. The light on next door caught Nao's attention.
He turned his head—and saw Ace bawling his eyes out in the living room, while Garp clumsily tried to calm him down, utterly at a loss and hopping around in frustration.
"What a pathetic sight."
Nao couldn't help but chuckle. "It's so much better to raise daughters. Daughters are so well-behaved. When Nami and Nojiko come over later, this kind of thing definitely won't happen."
He pushed the door open, quickly washed up, and sat on the couch. Then he pulled up his system interface and began reviewing the gains from this trip to the East Blue.
On the surface, he had been forced to use two precious Vivre Cards, which seemed like a huge loss.
But in truth, the rewards far exceeded expectations.
Gaining two adorable daughters—that was easily the greatest prize of all. Even now, just thinking about it made him smile like an idiot.
But what really pushed things over the edge was the unexpected mission reward:
[Side Quest "Saving the Girls" – Stage 3 Complete]
[Mission Stage Reward: 200,000 points, Random Attribute Point x1]
[Side Quest Complete]
[Final Reward: 300,000 points, Random Attribute Points x3, S-Rank Gift Box x1]
[Overachievement Detected: 4/3]
[Bonus Reward: 100,000 points, Random Quality Item Pack x1]
...
Over the past year, Nao had already rescued both Robin and Perona—two major female characters from the original series—meeting the conditions for Stage 1 and 2.
So this time, by saving Bell-mère and her daughters in one go, the final stage had naturally completed as well.
What he hadn't expected was that the notoriously stingy system would actually count it as an overachievement, and generously give him extra reward.
That was a pleasant surprise, no doubt about it.
"All up, that's 600,000 points, 4 attribute points, and two item boxes…"
First, he decided to open the bonus reward—the Random Quality Item Pack. He'd opened every other kind of gift box before, but this one was new.
"What'll I get this time…"
Rubbing his hands expectantly, he opened the pack. No dice rolls. No suspense.
Just a flash of bluish light—then a prompt box popped up:
[You opened the Random Quality Item Pack. You received: Special Vivre Cards x8]
…Eh?
Nao's eyes widened. He was just about to grumble, "That's it?"—but when he saw his Special Vivre Cards increase from 1 to 9…
Yeah. In the end, he had to admit—it was pretty damn great.
"Come to think of it, these weren't that expensive in the shop back then…"
He stroked his chin. "But it hasn't shown up again for a long time. It's probably not likely to show up in the future either, so all in all, it's still a profit…"
After all, the practicality of this item was simply too strong, far exceeding the pile of other junk he had stashed in his inventory.
"Next up—the S-Rank Gift Box…"
His gaze shifted. Just yesterday, he'd opened three A-Rank boxes. The results were… meh.
This time, though—he was hoping for something better.
[ROLLING. Please wait…]
The familiar blue die appeared—each side marked with a different reward category.
[ROLL COMPLETE]
[Reward Category: Consumables]
The prompt faded.
Two golden pills, glittering with radiant light, appeared in the air—reflected in Nao's stunned, curious expression.
[You obtained a new item: "After Tomorrow"]