One Piece: Shanks' Little Jasmine

Chapter 132 Rice Flower's Abilities

When Moko returned to the villa, Tina and Ian were still asleep, but Ella sensed Moko's presence, hugged her little pillow, and fluttered her wings to fly downstairs.

"Woo-mi~"

The baby's voice when it just woke up was especially cute. Its eyes were still watery from sleep, as if it had been crying. When it saw Moko coming back from outside, it hugged its little pillow and rushed into Moko's arms. Its aggrieved voice seemed to be accusing Moko of not taking it with her, since it used to take it with it when it fell asleep.

Moko quickly reached out and caught Ella, patting her head comfortingly. Mihua also sensed Ella's sadness and fear, reaching out her little paws to touch Ella's chubby bear face.

"Ella, don't cry. How about I make you kumquat pudding?"

"Woo-mi!"

Upon hearing about her favorite dessert, Ella immediately stopped complaining, raised her little head, smiled at Moko, and rubbed her arm against Moko's.

(Ella: Master made pudding for me, so he definitely didn't mean to leave me behind. I'm not angry with Master anymore ヾ(ノ' ﹃' )ノ)

Feeling the softness of the two little ones in her arms, the coldness in Mo Ke's eyes gradually melted away. When she bent down to put the two little ones down, she noticed that there was a small tear in the hem of her skirt at some point, and some dust was also on her shawl.

If Tina and Ian saw her, it would be quite troublesome to explain. After thinking about it, Moko went back to her room and changed into a chiffon dress. The light skirt swayed gracefully with Moko's steps. Her simple high ponytail paired with a white minimalist headband made her look refreshing and cute.

After tidying herself up, Moko returned to the first floor. Ella had already climbed onto Mihua's body and was rolling around in the cat bed. Mihua let Ella play around on her back without getting angry at all. Moko smiled slightly, turned around and went into the kitchen to prepare breakfast and Ella's snacks.

Tina and Ian would probably be asleep for a while, so we could start making the pudding first. They drank alcohol last night, so we could add some hangover remedies. After deciding on the order of the dishes, Moko took off the apron from behind the door and tied it around her body.

Take the eggs out of the cupboard, beat and strain them, pour in the milk, and then add some light cream and honey. Unlike those big men, Moko, Tina, Ian, and Ella all have a sweet tooth, so there's no need to deliberately reduce the sweetness. It's much easier to make than usual.

After mixing well, you can put it in a pot to steam. While it was steaming, Moko started cutting the fruit. Gradually, the kitchen was filled with the sweet aroma of cream and the fragrance of fruit. The two little ones who were playing in the cat bed were attracted over. Moko looked at Ella, who was drooling, and picked up a slice of kumquat and handed it to Ella.

"Woo-mi~"

With the kumquats, Ella sat obediently on Mihua's back, holding the kumquats and munching on them, just like the other children in the family. They wouldn't make a fuss once they had food. Because of this, the children were all easy to take care of from a young age, and Mo didn't need to worry about them at all.

While waiting for the pudding to set, Moke started preparing breakfast. She cut the fish into strips and added them to the cooked white porridge. She cut the fermented dough into equal pieces, wrapped each piece with seasoned minced meat, rolled them into flatbreads, and fried them in a pan until golden brown on both sides and fragrant with meat. The round, plump flatbreads were neatly arranged and looked very appealing.

During this time, Moko also boiled a lot of honey water to help with hangovers. Just a few minutes after breakfast was prepared, Tina and Ian's voices came from the stairs.

"Good morning, Moko-chan." x2

"It smells so good! What did Moko-chan make?"

Tina, who was still a little sleepy, was fully awakened by the aroma. She quickly walked down the stairs to the kitchen, rested her head on Moko's shoulder, and showed the same greedy expression as Ella. Moko smiled helplessly, poured a glass of honey water and handed it to Tina.

"Drink some honey water to help with the hangover, then you can have breakfast soon." Tina was touched by the thoughtfulness. She reached out and took the warm honey water, her eyes lighting up with joy, which quickly turned into worry.

"Moko-chan, marry Tina! What will Tina do without you by her side?"

Tina, clutching the cup, hugged Moko and nuzzled against Moko's neck affectionately. Moko, tickled, shrank her neck and gently flicked Tina's forehead.

"If Tina marries me, what will happen to Smoker?"

Upon hearing this, a blush quickly rose from her ears to her cheeks, turning as red as a boiled shrimp. Noticing Moko's teasing gaze, Tina turned her head away defiantly, "Hmph, he can live on his own."

"Oh, aren't you afraid someone else will snatch it away?"

"Tina doesn't want anything that can be taken away from her."

"Yes, we can't accept something that can be stolen from us."

The voice clearly carried a mocking laugh. Tina glared at Moko with embarrassment and annoyance, picked up the plate of sesame cakes, and went to the restaurant without looking back. Ain leaned against the door frame and listened to the whole thing, with a spectator's attitude, clearly enjoying the show.

Tina was so angry she wanted to stomp her feet. Moko and Ain weren't cute at all today. Hmm, not sure, let's look again. Moko is like a strawberry cake, and Ain is like a magnolia flower. Okay, they're still super cute.

(Tina: (?w?) My two adorable little angels have gone astray! How awful! Who taught them this? Tina is going to lock them up and throw them into the sea.)

After finishing breakfast, Tina still looked sullen. Moko smiled and brought out the pudding she had made from the kitchen, waving it in front of Tina.

The bouncy, plump pudding, with its sliced ​​kumquats arranged in a decorative pattern next to the snow-white cream, and drizzled with amber-colored caramel, released a sweet aroma that captivated Tina's gaze.

"Tina is still angry, so it seems she's not in the mood for the freshly baked kumquat pudding."

Before Moko could even retract her hand, Tina had already snatched the pudding away, scooping up a spoonful and stuffing it into her mouth, giving Moko no chance to object or take it back. The sweet and sour taste of kumquat and the sweet aroma of caramel exploded in her mouth, a delightful combination of sweet and sour with a hint of herbal flavor. It was so delicious that she almost bit off her tongue. Tina cupped her face in her hands, her eyes squinting with happiness.

Moko rested her chin on her hand, looking at Tina with a gentle smile, "Tina-chan, you're not angry anymore?"

"Hmph, Tina's still angry." Hearing Moko's words, Tina quickly snapped out of her daze, suppressed her happy expression, and turned her head away, ignoring Moko.

"Shall we add one more?"

“Two!” Tina quickly turned around and made a two-pointer.

"it is good."

Ain looked at Tina, who was being completely pampered like a child, and turned her head away, suppressing a laugh. Tina was completely under Moko's thumb, huh? (??w??)

On the other side, Ella sat on the table, and without caring that the pudding she scooped up was bigger than a bear's mouth, she stuffed it into her mouth. Mihua treated Ella like a pudding, sniffing her all over, which was incredibly cute.

"Moko-chan, is the new assistant that Marshal Sengoku gave you that Corazon?" Tina wasn't angry anymore and remembered what she wanted to ask. She had been having so much fun at the New Year's banquet last night that she had completely forgotten about it.

"Yes, Xiaomiguo is now helping to process documents."

"I see. It's good to change. Tina isn't saying that Moko's previous assistant was bad, it's just that Tina really disliked him. She always felt that he was a bit too arrogant, and he couldn't help Moko with her work for so long. He was really too stupid."

"Yeah, these kinds of people are usually sent home by Zephyr-sensei."

Ain nodded in agreement. She was quite strict when it came to work. Those in the Navy who couldn't handle heavy responsibilities were sent back to the rookie village. Not to mention Zephyr, who was even stricter than her. Moreover, the rules of combat were strict and could not be violated. Any mistake on the ship could cause huge losses. So no matter what the superior ordered, all a soldier could do was obey and complete the orders quickly. A confused person could never become a Navy soldier.

"That child will probably choose a different path later. I'll have to ask him if his dream has come true next time we meet."

"?"

Tina and Ain looked at Moko with suspicion, feeling that there was something more to Moko's words. The Navy's other options were logistics and the front lines. Could it be that the big dazed person was planning to go to the front lines?

Moko took a sip of honey water, smoothed the fluffy rice, and didn't explain much. She had been thinking about Moko's ability since morning, and it seemed most likely to be purification. If she wasn't mistaken, then perhaps the souls devoured by Leviathan could be released. Next time she met that guy, she would capture him and experiment on him.

For the next two weeks after the banquet, Moko basically worked with Corazon to handle various documents. Sengoku didn't just make empty promises; about four or five days after the New Year's banquet, he assigned four or five more assistants to Moko, a group with the scale and resources of a general.

Moko thought that with Corazon and an assistant, that would be enough, but Garp wouldn't allow it. If Sengoku and Tsuru hadn't stopped him, Garp would probably have trained a whole company for Moko. To prevent Garp from actually doing that, Moko accepted all the assistants that Sengoku assigned to her.

(Garp: I never joke around <(｀^′)＞)

Sengoku: You're pretty smug, aren't you!? (￣∧￣)）

As for Aesop, apart from Moko who knew the truth, everyone else just assumed that Aesop had suffered a setback and left the Navy. The disappearance of an unknown rookie Navy member did not even cause a big ripple within the Navy. After all, many rookie Navy members could not withstand the training and left every year, so Aesop's disappearance was not surprising.

Time flew by, and it was almost December. After that, it was basically Moko's vacation time. This time, Moko stayed until about mid-December before preparing to start her vacation, mainly because Garp was also on vacation at that time, so she could go home with him for the New Year.

At this moment, in Moko's office, Borsalino was comfortably lying on the sofa with his long legs crossed, reading the book that Moko had placed aside to pass the time. On the small table in front of him were snacks and tea that Moko had prepared. Kuzan, who was on the balcony, was wearing an eye mask, and it was unclear whether he was asleep or not.

Meanwhile, Moko and Corazon were sitting at their desks dealing with a mountain of work. After finishing the last document, Moko breathed a sigh of relief.

"General Borsalino, General Kuzan, the documents to be processed this year have been sorted out. You will have to handle the new documents yourself during my vacation. You can't leave them until I come back, understand? General Kuzan, don't pretend to be asleep."

Moko glared at the two of them, annoyed. If she didn't say anything, there would definitely be a mountain of documents piled up on the table when she came back, or she would have to leave them all to Corazon to deal with. Thinking of this, Moko looked at Corazon.

"Xiao Miguo, you can't be soft-hearted and help them deal with it."

“Okay.” Corazon nodded with a smile, unconditionally obeying Moko’s words.

Borsalino, who was lying on the sofa, finally looked up from the book in front of him. "Oh dear, I'm going to miss Miss so much while she's not here~"

"Miss Moko, have a nice vacation." Kuzan also lifted his eye mask, turned his head and smiled at Moko.

They didn't mention work at all, and Moko knew at a glance that things were going badly. She looked helplessly at the two old rascals in front of her, who didn't answer her questions directly. Oh well, she was used to it anyway. She had plenty of assistants now, so she could assign them later.