Under the warm orange lights, the family was having dinner together.
Shano buried his head in the food, eating like crazy. After letting go of the burden in his heart, everything he ate tasted better. The plates in front of him stacked higher and higher, almost reaching the ceiling.
Bellemere had already finished eating. She leaned by the door, lighting a thin cigarette, smiling as she watched the scene.
This kid's appetite was getting more and more ridiculous. Eating over a hundred pounds of food in one meal had become normal. Bellemere even had to expand the kitchen and build a small wooden shed next to it, just to store ingredients.
The food problem was solved.
But the clothes...
Bellemere had a headache. Now, besides buying fruits, vegetables, and meat, her most-visited place was the clothing store.
Almost every one or two months, Shano's body would shoot up and bulk up again. The clothes she made couldn't keep up at all. She had to buy large batches of ready-made clothes to keep up.
But soon, winter was coming.
Knitted sweaters she made herself were always warmer. The question was — how big should she make them?
She was troubled.
Meanwhile, Shano, who was stuffing his belly, was thinking about a similar problem.
His current body, compared to kids his age, was honestly way too abnormal. The terrifying muscles were great for intimidating enemies, but in daily life, they were very inconvenient.
For example, he didn't dare move while eating. If he shifted even a little, the chair under him would creak and groan loudly.
The bathtub couldn't be used anymore either. Now he just stood on the grass outside and used a hose to wash himself down.
And the doors at home — the ones that could be modified had been modified, but the ones that couldn't, he had to turn sideways, crouch down, and lower his head carefully just to squeeze through.
"If only I could split into two forms — a daily life form and a battle form... just like Frieza…"
Shano thought silently.
...
In the days that followed, Shano was busy wrapping things up.
After dealing with the Arlong Pirates, several new problems appeared in front of him.
First, what to do with the treasure on the ship?
Ken and Scarface had checked — there was over 300 million Berries.
Shano wasn't a saint. If Arlong had robbed that money from people on the Grand Line, he wouldn't bother. He would have happily taken it without a second thought.
But the tragedy happened right in the neighboring islands and towns. Especially Koksha Town, which got destroyed into ruins after failing to pay. There were heavy casualties.
He couldn't just turn a blind eye.
After thinking about it, and hating trouble, he simply entrusted it all to Uncle Ken.
Let Uncle Ken contact the surrounding towns and villages, return the treasure to its rightful owners, and use the extra money to rebuild Koksha Town.
This move, along with the earlier feat of defeating the Arlong Pirates —
— made Shano's fame in Cocoyashi Village rise to a new height.
Just walking around town now, shop owners on both sides would greet him enthusiastically. After walking one street, his hands would be stuffed full of gifts people shoved at him.
But, well...
In the end, it was his two sisters who got the benefit. Once he got home, they snatched everything away.
Also, Arlong's pirate ship was now his.
This part was easy to deal with. After a little cleaning and remodeling — removing the pirate flag and the shark-tooth ram at the front — it turned into a great civilian ship.
Their orange farm business at home was booming now, and they happened to need a large enough transport ship.
The last problem left was — what to do about the bounties on these pirates.
Arlong's bounty was 20 million Berries. Kuroobi's was 900,000 Berries.
Chuu, Hachi, and the other officers each had several million too. Altogether, the total reached over 80 million Berries.
Shano was already rich. He wasn't very interested in making even more money.
But it felt like a waste to not make use of these heads properly. After all, he deserved this reward.
So he looked through the maps he had bought for Nami, cut off the heads of the fishmen, and planned to go to the nearest Navy base to claim the bounty.
There were two Navy bases nearby.
One was the 16th Branch to the northwest.
The other was the 77th Branch to the southeast.
As for the 16th Branch—
Bellemere helped him contact some of her old Navy buddies.
After finding out that the current base commander was a Colonel named Nezumi, who had just taken office last year, Shano immediately gave up on going to the 16th Branch.
As for the 77th Branch — Shano had a faint impression of it.
In the original timeline, the Navy ship that dared to fire cannons at Arlong Park seemed to belong to the 77th Branch.
Maybe the commander had changed, but it definitely sounded more reliable than Nezumi.
"So you're planning to set sail again tomorrow morning and head for the 77th Branch?" At the dinner table, Bellemere wasn't too happy. "It'll take four or five days for a round trip, you know?"
"Uh, maybe even longer. Probably over half a month." Shano said. "Last time out at sea, I made some friends. I want to visit them on the way."
And, of course, to fleece them a little more — that was the real reason.
"Half a month?" Bellemere widened her eyes. But after thinking for a moment, she sighed, "Fine. Just make sure you come back as soon as you can."
Before, she used to worry about Shano's safety whenever he went to sea.
But now?
Bellemere snorted.
Even a whole nest of pirates from the Grand Line had been beaten to the ground. In all of East Blue, who could possibly be her son's opponent?
She didn't show off like Nami usually did, but inside, she was already proud to death of her son!
"Big bro, I wanna go too!"
"Me too, me too!"
The two little sisters suddenly raised their hands, shouting.
Bellemere narrowed her eyes, her face turning dangerous.
But Shano just smiled: "Let them come along too. They've been cooped up at home for too long. It'll be good for them to see more of the world."
The two little ones stared at Bellemere with big pleading eyes.
"..." Bellemere held her forehead, helpless. "Fine. But one rule — out there, you must listen to your big brother! If you make trouble and I hear about it, you're grounded forever!"
"Yay!"
Nojiko and Nami clapped hands and cheered.
"I'm gonna be the navigator this time!"
Nami stuck out her thumb and wiped it across her nose proudly. "Humph, who else knows more about navigation than me?"
"Then I'll be the helmsman!" Nojiko raised her head. "I can already ride a bike, and I'm the best at driving stuff!"
Girl, you're riding a kiddie bike, the one I modified for you with training wheels, alright?
Shano silently patted the two small heads.
"Dream on. This time, the ship we're taking is the former Arlong Pirates' big ship. I already hired professional sailors and navigators from the village. Scarface and the others will come along too. You two can watch and learn — but forget about taking the wheel."
Nojiko and Nami's cheers instantly turned into wails:
"Ehhh— how could you!"
...
The next day came in the blink of an eye.
Everyone was packed up and ready. They were about to head to the 77th Branch.
Shano leaned against the railing on the deck, waiting for his two sisters to board. He pulled out a map to double-check the route.
"77th Branch and Shimotsuki Village are in the same direction. That'll save a lot of time. If I head to the Goa Kingdom afterward, Scarface and the others know the terrain — they can help me find Luffy quickly."
As he was thinking about it, he suddenly heard Nami shouting from the shore:
"Eh? Big bro! Look! A big ship is coming! That flag... wow, it's a Navy ship!"
A Navy ship?
Shano raised his head in confusion and looked over.
Far away on the sea, sure enough, a Navy ship was sailing toward Cocoyashi Village.
On the white sails, besides the Navy's usual balance scale and seagull emblem, two big black numbers, "16," fluttered in the wind — very clearly visible.