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****************
After saying that, Kizaru left as suddenly as he'd arrived.
'Open the windows for ventilation?'
Kyoma frowned.
Why did it sound like the Admiral was hinting at something?
'A night attack?'
Following that line of thought, various unsettling scenarios flashed through his mind. His face grew increasingly pale, and his body trembled.
"Close the window. Make sure to close every single window!"
Under Kagura's incredulous stare, as if she were looking at an idiot, Kyoma shouted with unusual intensity.
The house had two floors with seven bedrooms total, plus a kitchen, two bathrooms, and an underground warehouse.
Each bedroom came equipped with a balcony, meaning countless windows needed securing.
****
After completing this exhausting task, even Kyoma's enhanced body felt somewhat overwhelmed. He sat in the living room, breathing heavily.
At that moment, Kagura finished washing the dishes and emerged from the kitchen.
She stretched out on the sofa with a contented hum, then retrieved the remote control from the coffee table drawer and turned on the projection Den*Den Mushi television.
The dormant Den-Den Mushi awakened instantly with a "bobo" sound, like someone dialing a phone.
Its eyes opened wide, projecting two beams of light onto the wall.
The light flickered twice before an extremely clear television picture gradually materialized.
Hearing the sound, Kyoma sat down curiously to watch alongside Kagura.
Television in this world seemed to be a recent development.
Unlike Earth's variety of entertainment programs, there were only current affairs reports similar to newspapers, with reporters reading strings of text.
The biggest recent event was naturally the pirate attack on the Celestial Dragon in the Sabaody Archipelago.
Shots of three pirate leaders appeared at the center of the projection:
"Straw Hat" Monkey D. Luffy, "Death Surgeon" Trafalgar Law, and Eustace "Captain" Kidd.
Under the reporter's angry commentary, these three were named as the real culprits behind the Sabaody Archipelago incident.
All losses caused by the battle between the Marines and the pirates after landing on the island were attributed to them.
Seeing this, Kagura turned off the television in disgust.
"Why did you turn it off? We just started watching." Kyoma asked in surprise.
"So boring. Television in this world is terrible. There's only this kind of fake news!" Kagura said indignantly.
She didn't know the other two featured in the report, but she'd spent time with Luffy.
She knew he was just a simple-minded guy who could eat as much as she could.
How could he possibly be as vicious as the report described?
"Indeed, there are plenty of false elements." Kyoma nodded in agreement, then added with sympathy:
"Actually, the real culprit is only Luffy. The other two are just unlucky people who got caught up in it."
"Eh?!"
****
Time passed slowly.
The sun set and night approached.
Kyoma and Kagura hadn't stayed home that afternoon.
They'd first cleaned their new house thoroughly, then gone out to buy clothes and daily necessities, returning home before dark.
Toothbrushes, towels, shampoo, and shower gel.
Kyoma had bought multiple of everything in preparation for the new companions who would be arriving.
That night.
Kyoma prepared a large table of delicious food, arranged in a dazzling display.
In addition to the meal, there was also a bottle of wine on the table.
It was a gift Uncle Neil had brought during his afternoon visit, sent by the shipyard director to celebrate their housewarming.
Looking at Kagura, who waited eagerly with drool practically dripping from her mouth, Kyoma poured himself a glass of wine and announced:
"Let's eat."
Kagura cheered excitedly and raised her chopsticks.
Suddenly…
Crash!
The sound of breaking glass rang in their ears.
Both of them instinctively looked toward the source of the noise.
A figure burst through the window, landed on the ground, slid across it quite smoothly, and finally came to rest at the edge of the dining table directly in front of them.
Kyoma and Kagura stared, completely dumbfounded.
They rubbed their eyes simultaneously, wondering if they were dreaming.
After a long moment, they recovered and focused their attention on this uninvited "guest."
It was a person lying on a stretcher, unconscious.
Judging by the situation, he'd been thrown into their new home, stretcher and all.
'What a miserable person.'
This was the thought that came to both their minds after seeing the state of the person on the stretcher.
He was tall, with a large "X" printed on his chest.
A crescent-shaped round hat sat on his head, and a mysterious eye mask covered his eyes.
The reason Kyoma and Kagura thought he was miserable was that his upper body was almost entirely wrapped in bandages, including half his face.
He'd clearly been seriously injured not long ago.
Kyoma recognized him after just a few glances.
X Drake.
He'd encountered this "guest" yesterday and now understood what Kizaru had meant when he'd said, "Remember to open the window at night."
'Seriously? I don't open the window, so you just smash it instead?'
'Even if you don't care about my window, you can't use the patient's head to break through glass!'
'Is this how the Marines treat their undercover agents?'
Kyoma's lips twitched as he silently cursed Kizaru's methods.
But secretly, he was delighted.
He looked at Drake on the stretcher with surprise gleaming in his eyes.
'Drake. One of the eleven pirate Supernovas. And more importantly… Zoan-type, Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model: Allosaurus devil fruit user...'
Kyoma's eyes lit up.
He silently accessed his summoning ability.
[2 days until next summoning (summoning condition: 30 million Berry)]
[Summoning medium: A bomb strong enough to kill a normal Sea King, or a dragon scale]
Kyoma was overjoyed.
When he'd first seen the summoning medium requirements, he'd thought of the only dragon-related ability user in the early storyline. His Devil Fruit said he was a dragon, so he figured it would qualify.
Because of his own limited strength, he hadn't tried to actively search for Drake.
But he'd never expected Kizaru would actually deliver him right to his doorstep.
'This really is effortless.'
'Wait...'
'After his injuries heal, I'll ask him for a scale. Presumably, with someone like Drake who has such a strong sense of justice, he'll most likely agree to this small request from his benefactor.'
'Combined with the bomb that can kill Sea Kings, it seems that by tomorrow, both summoning mediums might be gathered.'
"Hey, hey! How long are you going to stare at this man?"
"You've never looked at me with that kind of expression before…"
Seeing Kyoma grinning foolishly, Kagura couldn't sit still anymore. She placed her hands on her hips and puffed out her cheeks.
As she spoke, she moved her hands toward the buttons of her cheongsam, as if ready to show Kyoma something interesting.
"Don't!"
Kyoma was startled by her actions and trembled.
"Hmph." Seeing his anxious expression, Kagura snorted proudly with a smug look on her face, then puffed out her chest toward him.
'Damn troublemaker.'
Kyoma's expression darkened.
Unable to hold back his retribution any longer, he raised his right hand high, put his two fingers together, and swung them hard at her smooth forehead.
A crisp flick to the head.
"Ouch!" Kagura covered her head and stamped her feet in pain.
Seeing her reaction, Kyoma nodded with satisfaction.
"Don't make such a fuss. Come help me. Let's move our new roommate to a bed, and then we can finally go back to eating."