Under the worried gazes of the other women, Makoto recalled for a moment and said, "Pure Gold was invented hundreds of years ago by a scientist trying to save his daughter who was suffering from an incurable disease."
He couldn't remember the girl's name. But he remembered that the girl, relying on a piece of Pure Gold set in a ring, estimated to be only one or two carats, had lived from hundreds of years ago all the way to Luffy's era.
That means, just one or two carats were enough for one person to survive for hundreds, even thousands, of years.
In the original work, when Luffy and his crew found the complete Pure Gold, that piece was estimated to be at least the size of a fist. At least for the people currently on the ship, there should be enough.
"It should be enough," Makoto replied to the women.
But the women weren't very convinced… after all, Makoto had only heard this rumor... how did he know it would be enough when it wasn't even clear if Pure Gold actually existed?
Seeing the expressions of Sayuri and the others, Makoto knew these older and younger women didn't believe him. But he couldn't help it... it wasn't like he could tell them, "I know because I'm a Transmigrator."
After finishing breakfast, Makoto went to train as usual. Some women sat dumbfounded in their seats, while others began clearing the dishes listlessly.
"Don't worry, it's still a long time before we get old," Utaha said, patting Megumi on the shoulder.
This time entering the Reincarnation Game, neither of their parents had been selected, which was their greatest relief. They also didn't have to worry about their parents dying of old age in the other world.
Although if they didn't find that Pure Gold, they would age themselves in another thirty or forty years, they trusted that Makoto wouldn't abandon them.
"Mm." Megumi smiled softly. The pressure was lowest for players like them, who were already 'Mrs. Nishikawa' and whose parents hadn't been pulled into the game.
Slightly more pressured were the MILF like Yukiko, Eri, and Mrs. Yukinoshita, who had a relationship with Makoto but were already getting on in years.
They believed that if the Pure Gold was found, Makoto would definitely give them a share. But the problem was… could they even hold out until then?
And the ones under the most pressure were undoubtedly the ladies who were already older and had no special relationship with Makoto whatsoever. Like Sayuri, for example.
Although Leonora and Mana also hadn't yet gone that far with Makoto, at least their daughters were Mrs. Nishikawa. They could be considered half mothers-in-law to Makoto. When the Pure Gold was obtained, Makoto would surely give them a share no matter what.
The most awkward ones were still those like Sayuri and Nao… the mothers who hadn't had anything happen with Makoto themselves, and whose daughters were also unimpressive.
"Mom..." Ai, the mother-con girl, looked at her mother with teary eyes. Seeing this, Mrs. Hayasaka, who shared an eighty percent resemblance with her daughter, hugged her and comforted her, saying, "Why are you crying, Ai? If we can live out our natural lifespan in this world, I think that wouldn't be so bad either."
Indeed. Nao's life in the real world wasn't much better than in the other world. Her treatment in the Shinomiya Family was basically a copy of her daughter's, struggling to survive between those important figures.
On the contrary, she felt quite free in this other world. If she could truly live out thirty or forty years in this world with her daughter without incident, and then pass away peacefully, Nao felt that would be a pretty good ending. She didn't necessarily have to return to the real world.
But Ai didn't feel that way. Finally, Oko was dead, and the head of the main family, Shinomiya Gan'an, was nearly gone too. Their mother-daughter's good days were finally about to begin. And then Makoto said they had to stay in this dangerous other world for nearly forty years? Ai couldn't take it!
Kaguya, seeing Ai looking so helpless for the first time, couldn't help but come over to comfort her.
Usually, it was Ai comforting Kaguya, who was like a younger sister to her. Today, it was the opposite.
Looking at Kaguya, who was like a sister to her, Ai suddenly remembered how well Makoto and Kaguya had gotten along talking yesterday. At the time, Ai had thought about setting the two up… both to repay Makoto for killing Shinomiya Mitsuo and to let Kaguya find happiness.
But now... Ai decided to change her plan.
Sayuri was also deep in thought. Unlike Nao, Sayuri still wanted to return to the real world. Even if she died, she wanted to die in the real world, where otaku culture thrived. Ideally, her daughter would burn the latest otome games for her every year after her death.
Dying in this world... she felt a little unwilling. But her daughter was specifically unimpressive! Sayuri smacked her lips and looked at her daughter with a sigh.
Eriri felt inexplicably insulted and couldn't help but retort, "Mom, what's with that look?"
Sayuri sighed. "Ah, Eriri, aren't Utaha and Megumi your good friends? Can you ask them to take you along tonight?"
"Take me along?" Eriri didn't quite grasp her mother's meaning at first, but as a doujinshi artist, she figured it out the next second. Eriri's face instantly turned as red as a monkey's butt, and she roared, "Mom! What are you thinking?!"
Just as Makoto came out of the dining hall, he saw a flock of News Coos flying overhead. Makoto waved his hand, and one of them saw this and flew down. Makoto handed a coin to the bird. The News Coo handed a newspaper to him, saluted, flapped its wings, and took off again, following the rest of the flock away. Makoto opened the newspaper and saw the headline—
[Lord Imu's World Tour Performance, Second Stop: Drum Island.]
Below the headline was a photo of Imu lying on the ground, the Teddy Devil entering from the front, the Rabbit Devil entering from the back, and the Gorilla Devil and Dolphin Devil occupying Imu's two hands.
Makoto rolled his eyes and tossed the newspaper aside. It felt like he wouldn't need to read the newspaper for quite a while. But Makoto was quite curious… in this [Great Suppression] era, would anyone use the photos of the Four Gay Bros and Imu to masturbate?
Meanwhile, on Hachinosu Island in the New World. Rocks, nicknamed [King of the Sea], was also reading the newspaper and also looked disgusted. "Damn it, that editor named Morgans actually made me see something so disgusting. I'm going to kill him!"
Rocks pushed away the woman leaning against him and cursed. Edward Newgate, sitting nearby, who hadn't yet acquired the nickname [Whitebeard], glanced at him and retorted, "I hope you're just talking and won't actually do it."
Although Newgate didn't know exactly how strong this so-called King of the World was, having dominated this world for eight hundred years, he should at least be stronger than Rocks.
Newgate didn't think that just the few perverted Zoan ability users in the newspaper could have imprisoned Imu and forced him into such humiliating acts.
The answer was simple… Imu wanted to escape, but didn't dare. Because he knew that if he ran, Makoto would come knocking immediately. And if Rocks dared to attack the Four Gay Bros, then the next one to host a world tour performance would be Rocks himself.
As soon as he said this, Rocks fell silent instantly. Charlotte Linlin, Shiki, Ochoku, and the others nearby couldn't help but burst into laughter. Seeing Rocks looking cowardly wasn't easy.
Feeling embarrassed, Rocks snorted and said, "That guy killed Harald. This matter absolutely cannot be left like this."
"Hey, hey, hey, you don't really want revenge on him, do you?" Shiki was so startled by this that the cigar in his mouth fell to the ground. "That Harald refused your invitation more than once. I don't think he really considered you a friend. Would you offend a monster like that for such a person?"
Miss Bakkin interjected, "If you want to fight Nishikawa Makoto, allow me to withdraw from the Rocks Pirates first."
"Me too."
"Me too."
Silver Axe, John, and others chimed in one after another. The members of the Rocks Pirates never hid their true intention of 'splitting up if trouble arises'.
These people were all powerful and refused to submit to anyone. Rocks didn't mind this, as long as these people could be useful to him for now.
"Hmph! You're all cowards. Is it really that serious?" Rocks bellowed, "Don't you want to see what that monster who played the World Government like a dog actually looks like?"
Upon hearing this, the others also became interested. Linlin stuck out her tongue and licked her bright red lips. "If I could have a go with him, I should be able to give birth to the strongest child, right?"
"Hahaha! Is Linlin starting up again, huh?" Shiki mocked. "I hear he's got plenty of women around him. You probably can't even get in line!"
Newgate said, "I heard he threw Roger and his crew all into Impel Down, but let Rayleigh go. I'm a bit curious why he did that."
Silver Axe said, "If it's just a chat, I can oblige. But if it's a fight, I'll be the first to leave."
…
The perspective returns to Makoto's side.
Ten days had passed since arriving in the New World. The supplies Neptune had given them on Fish-Man Island were nearly used up, and they needed to restock on a new island.
That evening, the Otherworlder-Go approached an island that looked somewhat desolate from afar. When they docked at the harbor, they asked the locals about it.
They learned that the island was called [Forget Island], and the only town on the island was named [Sleepy Ancient Town].
It was just an ordinary town, nothing special, and not a World Government's member state, so very few people came here.
Because it was very late, the shops in town were mostly closed. Makoto's group decided to sleep on the ship and restock tomorrow morning.
After these past few days, the women who had been nervous about the aging issue had calmed down considerably.
Except for Ai, who was worried her mother would die of old age in the other world, and Sayuri, who was disappointed in her unimpressive daughter, everyone else had basically returned to a calm state of mind.
After all, as Makoto said, there was still plenty of time... there was no need to rush.
"Hey, hey, Makoto-kun, look, isn't this nice?"
After dinner, Alice secretly pulled Makoto aside and pulled down her zipper in front of him. What was revealed was a tight purple nightgown. Makoto was speechless for a moment and retorted, "Did you steal your mother's clothes again?"
"Don't you like it?" Alice rolled her eyes at him, 'Damn man, doesn't he see who this is for?'
"I've already washed up. I'll be over in a bit." Alice gave Makoto a seductive look, then sneaked away.
Watching the girl's retreating figure, Makoto suddenly thought, 'Maybe I could have Erina steal Nakiri Mana's clothes to wear.'