18: Chapter 18 Makino's Desserts

After Dracule Mihawk left, the entire Sambas Sea returned to calm.

The Baratie restaurant remained neutral between pirates and the Marine. Although the outer walls were severely damaged in the battle, its unique "fin" combat platform remained intact.

Over the next few days, the white dove temporarily docked at Baratie for repairs.

On the second night of the repairs, in the kitchen.

"Phew... Rice, I've figured it out."

Sanji smoked his cigarette, looking at Rice, who was helping clean up the tableware nearby.

The confusion and struggle of the past were long gone from his eyes. The newly awakened Observation Haki had made his perception extremely keen.

It also filled him with heartfelt awe for Rice, who had revealed the truth about his heritage.

"I want to go to sea with you! I want to go to the New World, to find traces of where my mother fought, and to see my sister!"

Sanji stepped forward, making his request with extreme sincerity and passion.

However, Rice just leaned against the stove, looking him up and down with an expression of extreme disdain:

"I told you already, the white dove only recruits beautiful women, not crude brutes like you who only know how to fawn over women."

"Want to go to the New World? Find your own way there."

Sanji was stunned, his previously passionate expression instantly collapsing, and he twitched his lips speechlessly.

"However..."

Rice patted Sanji on the shoulder, raising his eyebrows with a wicked smile:

"I love to eat sweets when I'm adventuring at sea. I heard Baratie is skilled at pastries and whipping cream. For the next few days, you're responsible for teaching Makino, how about that?"

Sanji sighed helplessly, but when facing Rice, a top-tier powerhouse who could foresee the future, he could only compromise:

"I understand. Beautiful Miss Makino, please allow me to pass on Baratie's top-tier pastry and cream whipping techniques to you without reservation."

Over the next three days, the white dove continued to dock.

Every day, Makino would be in the Baratie kitchen, diligently and focusedly learning various advanced dessert baking techniques from Sanji.

Sanji was extremely gentlemanly when facing women, and combined with his gratitude toward Rice, he passed on his closely guarded secrets—like "how to whip special fresh cream that melts in the mouth, is sweet, and rich in smooth moisture"—to the gentle and eager-to-learn Makino without reservation.

Meanwhile, Nami, who was silently watching all of this from the side, looked more conflicted and restless with each passing day.

...

On the fourth night of the repairs, the moon was bright and the stars were sparse.

Inside the suite at the Baratie floating restaurant.

Rice leaned against a large, soft pillow, bare-chested. On his perfect, bronze skin, which looked like an ancient Greek sculpture, the sword scar left by Hawkeye had already been covered with a special ointment.

"Creak..."

The wooden door of the master bedroom was pushed open gently.

Makino walked in with her head down, her pretty face flushed.

She had just finished bathing, and her short, dark green hair was still damp with moisture. She was wearing a very thin, milky-white, semi-transparent silk nightgown.

The conservative design, due to the extremely form-fitting material, outlined her stunning curves—which were usually tightly covered by an apron and resembled a ripe peach—without reservation.

In her hands, she held a delicate silver bowl containing the special chilled fresh cream she had whipped that afternoon.

The icy white, delicate cream exuded an extremely rich milky fragrance and sweetness.

"Rice... I have mastered the 'dessert training'."

Makino sat down by the bed, her gentle, watery eyes brimming with uncontainable shyness.

"Is that so? My Makino is the best, as expected."

Rice stretched out his long arm, domineeringly pulling her warm, soft body into his embrace.

He held her tightly against his hot, solid chest.

"Ah... go easy, you still have wounds."

Makino cried out softly, looking at the scar on his chest with some heartache, and scooped up a small spoonful of snow-white, delicate cream, bringing it to Rice's lips.

Rice took the spoon into his mouth; the cold, silky, and extremely rich sweetness melted on the tip of his tongue instantly.

"It is indeed delicious."

Rice nodded in approval, then gave a wicked smile and snatched the silver bowl from her hands, placing it aside.

Rice's large, thick hand traced the edge of Makino's nightgown, and with a slight force, he caused her posture to undergo an extremely shy transformation.

"Since it's 'dessert training,' how could just using a spoon demonstrate Makino's skills?"

Rice whispered in Makino's ear.

"Rice... you're too bad..."

Makino's eyes were instantly covered with a layer of mist, and she was so shy she wished she could find a crack in the ground to hide in.

She never imagined that the cream-making techniques Sanji taught her would be used by this domineering man as a special "prop" to mess with her in the bedroom.

"Teacher Makino, it's time for you to check the results."

Rice lay on the pillow, giving a domineering command.

Under Rice's gaze, which was full of unrefusable dominance, Makino bit her silver teeth; in the end, she could not resist the deep, sea-like love for Rice in her heart.

"Then... then I'll begin..."

Makino's voice trembled uncontrollably.

She closed her eyes and, under Rice's possessive gaze, slowly leaned forward.

The night was still long.

...

Nami was curled up in the blankets in the bedroom of the white dove.

She was clutching that heavy box in her arms.

One hundred and five million Berries—this astronomical figure that had left her unable to breathe for eight whole years was now in her arms.

Nami's eyes were red, and two lines of clear tears slid down her beautiful cheeks silently.

Extreme self-blame, guilt, struggle, and that hint of affection that had quietly taken root in the depths of her heart tormented her so much that she couldn't fall asleep.

"I'm sorry, Rice... Sister Makino..."

Nami let out a silent sob in the darkness.

She knew Rice was very strong.

But the Arlong Pirates had ruled Cocoyasi Village for eight whole years; in her heart, the terror of Arlong was deeply ingrained.

She absolutely did not want to drag Rice and Makino, who had protected her, into this desperate war against the Fishman monster because of her.

"I cannot implicate you... If Arlong finds out about this money, he will definitely come for you."

Nami bit her lower lip tightly.

She made the most difficult decision of her life.

She would take this money and return to Arlong alone to redeem the village, using her own betrayal to ensure the absolute safety of Rice and Makino.

Late at night.

Nami quietly put on her clothes and tied the iron box containing the gold vouchers and cash tightly to her body.

She stepped onto the deck with footsteps that made almost no sound, used her skilled navigator techniques to quietly release the main sail of the white dove, and steered this sailboat—to which she had developed infinite attachment—away from the port under the cover of the night, desperately and lonely.

The moment the white dove disappeared into the end of the night.

Inside the suite at the floating restaurant, Rice, who had been keeping his eyes closed, slowly opened them.

A faint, extremely profound glimmer flashed in his eyes.

In fact, the movement Nami made when she left was as clear as day in Rice's Observation Haki vision.

But he did not stop her.

"Finally left, huh... Nami."

"It seems only by letting you see Arlong's betrayal and despair with your own eyes will you truly break the shackles of your past."

...

Early morning, sunlight spilled over the Sambas Sea.

"Rice! Miss Nami... and the white dove! They're all gone!"

Sanji ran onto the deck anxiously, shouting at Rice and Makino, who were standing by the berth watching the sea.

Although Makino was a bit worried, she did not panic, influenced by Rice's calm expression.

"She stole the ship and took the one hundred million Berries."

Rice said calmly, arms crossed.

"Nani?!"

Sanji bit his cigarette, looking disbelieving.

"The white dove is my ship; she can't get away."

Rice smiled slightly.

Although the white dove was stolen, this was actually an opportunity.

"However, we have no ship now. Sanji,"

Rice turned his head, looking at Sanji with a wicked smile:

"Lend me Baratie's small rowboat, you don't mind, right?"

"Eh? That spare dinghy?" Sanji was stunned.

"That's enough. Makino, Richie, let's go."