"What should we do next? Shall we just run away?"

"I told you to calm down!" After returning, Xia Che looked at Nami, who was still fidgeting, and said helplessly, "It'll be fine. Even if something happens, I’m confident I can escape."

"Alright! Alright! But he's a naval hero! Our Captain Xia Che will definitely be able to team up with the naval hero," Nami said. However, seeing Xia Che so calm, she felt a bit more reassured and curiously glanced around, "Where's Robin? Why isn’t she here? Did she sneak away?"

"Robin has something to take care of and will be back later." Xia Che waved his hand, providing no further explanation about Robin's whereabouts.

As for Garp...

To be honest, he wasn't sure whether Garp would collude with him.

It could be said that Garp was fishing in troubled waters, acting carefree, and had some double standards, but there’s no doubt that as a naval hero, he had his own sense of justice.

In this world, there is no pure evil, and there is no pure good; this is a world belonging to a cesspool.

There are bad people in the navy, and there are good people among pirates!

And Monkey D. Garp has his own unique way of distinguishing justice within the navy.

As for the World Government and the navy...

Honestly, just the capabilities the World Government shows on the surface are already despairing. If there isn’t a good way to resolve this, then the current justice found in the chaos is all they can achieve.

Deceiving superiors above and enforcing his own justice below!

Without power, one either becomes a pirate hiding from the law, joins the World Government, or just muddles through.

As for him...

He was just taking advantage of the World Government and the navy headquarters.

You see, this is a world for the strong; the strong can destroy everything in an instant, while the weak can only abide by the rules set by the strong. Without great power, everything is just talk.

Xia Che shook his head with emotion, looking at the newspaper in his hand, and said, "At least it seems like we won't be arrested now."

After all, just now, Rear Admiral Garp had eaten the pancakes he provided.

He looked up at Nami, who had a puzzled expression, "If you really have nothing to do, why don’t you go out and help deal with the newly arrived refugees? You should know that quite a few people were captured this time!"

……

"Daddy, are they really not going to sell us?"

"No, I don't know."

"Then can I eat? That’s white rice and big white buns; it smells so good!"

"I... I..." Looking at his daughter with those eager eyes, the man known as Daddy wanted to refuse but couldn't bring himself to say it.

He didn't know if all this was a trick or if this would be their last meal as ordinary people.

Once they finished this meal, they would become slaves, sold to those despicable nobles, or even the terrifying Celestial Dragons.

Although they were just refugees, he, living in these seas, also understood that those divine beings... no, they should be called terrible demons.

He had heard that once they fell into the hands of the Celestial Dragons, they would no longer be human but would have to live like insects.

They would even suffer unimaginable torment.

But…

"Daddy, I’m so hungry~"

Hearing his daughter’s words, holding her frail body, the man couldn’t bring himself to refuse.

Pike.

That was his name.

His wife had starved to death, and he didn’t want his daughter to die of hunger either.

But…

As an ordinary person, he had no way out.

Remembering yesterday…

They were originally just citizens of the Wittergen Kingdom, or rather, forgotten citizens.

To pay the exorbitant heavenly gold, the king of the Wittergen Kingdom confiscated their property and drove them to a remote part of the island, leaving them as forgotten people to fend for themselves in desolation.

Some said this was learned from the legendary most beautiful country in the East Sea—the Goya Kingdom, which expelled useless citizens to keep the country clean and beautiful.

There were even rumors that the Goya Kingdom was praised by the Celestial Dragons for this.

He didn’t know how beautiful the most beautiful country was, but how beautiful could a country be that abandoned its own citizens?

Yesterday morning, they were still scavenging in the desolate place, and then suddenly a group of pirates stormed the island, and here they were.

He still remembered when he heard he had a daughter; the bald pirate captain paused for a moment, then let out an excited smile and shouted, "You have a daughter! Bring her along!"

What a terrifying demon!

Not even a little girl was spared.

Originally, he thought they would suffer unimaginable abuse after being captured, even being sold into slavery, but unexpectedly...

It turned out to be like this now?!

Pike looked around, his nose involuntarily sniffing the delicious aroma wafting through the air. Forget about a little girl; even he couldn’t resist.

He was hungry.

Really hungry!

He wanted to eat!

At that moment.

"Bang bang bang~"

A series of metallic sounds pulled Pike back to reality. He raised his confused eyes to look at the window in front of him.

Was it his turn already?

Had the people ahead finished their queue?

Did everyone really get food?

His heart was full of doubts, but...

"Daddy, Catie is really hungry!" The little girl, who called herself Catie, cautiously glanced at the window, her eager eyes turned back to her father as she said, "Can I eat?"

"I..." Pike lowered his head to look at his daughter's eager eyes, then raised his head to look at the food in the window, swallowed hard, and then looked at the others who had finished their meals and sat down at the direction of the security team, appearing as if he were dreaming.

Maybe it really was a dream!

But even if it were a dream, they had to eat to their fill!

Thinking this, Pike's cloudy eyes became serious as he stared intently at his daughter, "Eat! We must eat our fill! This might be our last meal."

Though he shouldn’t say such things to a girl, there was no other way now.

"Even if we are to die, we must eat our fill before we die; we absolutely cannot become slaves; that place is hell!"

However.

As soon as the words fell.

Before the young daughter could curiously ask what it meant.

"Bang bang bang~"

Another series of metallic sounds rang out.

Just when Pike thought he would be punished for what he just said.

“Hey, hey, hey! I’ve been waiting for you for a long time; I thought you were choosing dishes, but I didn't expect you to say such things to a child!”

“???” Pike raised his head in confusion and looked at the window, where a plump old lady in a loose white chef's coat, unable to hide her plump figure, was holding a big spoon.

What does this mean?

Worried they might commit suicide?

Before he could ask.

“Pah pah pah, what are you talking about, death and all! This is Cocoa West Town, Captain Xia Che’s territory; there are no slaves here, and you aren’t here to be slaves.”

The old lady serving the food retorted impatiently, then looked at the little girl who was staring at her in fear, and with a wrinkled face, she smiled at her.

“Don’t be afraid, little girl, this is not a bad place. From today on, you can have enough to eat, wear beautiful clothes, and no one will bully you.”

“Really... really?”

“Of course, I wouldn’t lie to you. As long as your father works hard, it will be fine.” Looking at the eager eyes, the old lady cheerfully raised the big spoon in her hand and excitedly said, “Here, you can find a job, earn wages, have enough to eat, and wear beautiful clothes.”

“You can learn useful knowledge, sleep peacefully, laugh happily, and live joyfully every day!”

“If you have a skill, you can get a better job and earn higher pay. Of course, if you don’t know anything but work hard enough, factories will need you; they are very short of workers here!”

“Welcome to Cocoa West Town, the most beautiful place in the East Sea.”

“Now hurry up and pick what you want; you can have as much as you want, but remember not to waste and don’t overeat; you’ll be quite busy tonight.”

“……”

Finally, under the old lady's urging, Pike took his daughter to fill a plate with food.

It had rice, big white buns, delicious dishes, and tempting meat—food they had never eaten before as a family.

At the moment they sat down, looking at the food in front of them, it felt like a dream.

Is this real?

“Daddy, can I eat now?”

“Yeah! Eat, Catie~” Hearing his daughter’s voice, Pike snapped back to reality, confirming that it was indeed real. He signaled to his daughter that she could eat, watching her happily devour the food with a smile spreading across his face.

At that moment.

As if hearing something, he turned his head and saw another group of people walk in—not another group, but the others who had come with them.

It seemed this group had just gone to... right, they had gone to take a shower.

Pike looked at the people who should have been as ragged and dirty as him, now clean and wearing new gray clothes, and he was completely stunned.

His eyes were filled with disbelief.

“Daddy, you should eat too! It’s so delicious; this is the best food Catie has ever had.”

It was only when his daughter’s shout brought him back to reality that he looked at his daughter’s round belly, and the originally worried and anxious Pike couldn’t help but smile, “Eat! Daddy will eat too!”

In fact, he had been hungry for a long time, but everything in front of him was so shocking that he had forgotten his hunger. Now that he was back to reality, the uncomfortable hunger in his stomach awakened him, and he couldn't wait to eat.

But just one bite of the bun left him stunned.

“It’s so delicious!”

In an instant.

Tears streamed from his eyes, rolling down his cheeks.

Will they really be able to eat their fill just by working hard?

Pike looked at his daughter, who was also in tears without knowing when, took a deep breath, and said firmly, “Catie, Daddy will definitely work hard.”

“Yeah!”

“I will, even if it costs me my life!”

Pike raised his head, looking at the window where the queue had formed again, his eyes no longer confused but determined and serious.

Cocoa West Town...

Captain Xia Che!