Ch 54 - Progress

*Swoosh*

Is all that's heard as I land on top of a tall lamp post, looking below at the entrance of a large Chinese style Villa that's said to house one of the many advisors to King Ramen.

This is the 8th place I've visited today, and so far, I have found very little information that interests me or answers any of my questions about this island.

I've visited important temples, large pagodas that house anything from artifacts of past kings to important (but not really) manuscripts which are preserved for historical purposes.

Every single one of these seemingly important places do hold a lot of valuable information and treasures, but nothing that really catches my attention or helps me in any way.

After so many hours of going from one place to another I finally gave in and chose to sneak into the house of someone important, something that is much harder to do and has a higher probability of leading to my discovery.

However, it's 10 pm now and everyone should be tired from the day's festival, meaning this is the best time for me to act without too much risk.

I crouch on the light pole and survey the area below, 'Guess no one has tried to infiltrate this residence before,' I wryly think so myself as I spot some guards lazily doing their job, seemingly smoking and joking around, playing mahjong and not paying attention to any passerby's.

'Sloppy… but good for me' I think as I spot an opportunity in the west wing of the mansion, which seems to be open and clear of any patrolling guards.

I immediately jump towards the ground, but instead of falling as I normally would I do something extraordinary, I thrust my right leg behind as hard as I can and surprisingly this actually catches the air below my feet, creating a platform in which I can walk (or jump) on.

That's right, I am currently performing none other than Moonwalk or more commonly known as Geppo, and as I soar through the dark sky, I once again enjoy the feeling of freedom you immediately feel when you know you can soar through the air at your whim.

True, Moonwalking is quite hard and labor intensive, not as simple as what I imagine real flying would be like (Kaido, Marco, etc.) but once you get into the rhythm it becomes second nature.

*Pah* *Pah*

I quickly fly over the area and look for anywhere I can land, immediately spotting my target due to it being a beacon of light in the darkness, literally.

I swiftly move towards it and land on the balcony of the main room situated on the second floor, making sure to make as least noise as possible and to land in a shadowed area.

I then sneak forward and look into one of the open windows nearby, apparently opened to let a breeze in, and as I do I spot my target giving his back to me and sitting on his floor mats seemingly talking into a Den-den mushi and reading over some documents.

This advisor's name is Wakame, a name that continues the tradition of being named after a food or in this case a topping of Ramen.

"-you sure of this Advisor Soy?" Wakame asks into the phone with a troubled tone of voice.

…

"This is problematic, if hostilities continue things may go from bad to worse!" he agitatedly states.

…

The heavy conversation continued for some minutes. I'm not going to bore you with the details, but I think I just got lucky and finally found our scapegoat. 'Now only to wait until he goes to sleep and get my hands on those documents.' I think to myself as I continue listening into a second call he just made after the first.

'Hopefully this won't take too long,' I complain in my head as I hear another call coming in before the second even began.

[Carina Pov]

*Haah*

Is the sound that escapes my mouth as my body is dunked in hot water. No, not in a bad way or anything, all that's currently happening is that I'm enjoying the jacuzzi that this hotel suite provides.

And just a few seconds later you can hear another loud exhale as Porche similarly sits down and enjoys the steaming waters of the jacuzzi.

"Hah! I'm so glad people of this island like hot springs so much! They even provide each room with their own little hot tub." Comes Porches' soothing voice as she relaxes.

"Right… Its great! I am feeling a little weak though… but its barely noticeable" I respond while focusing on the slight feeling of weakness, but I simply ignore it and focus more on my relaxing muscles.

A few minutes later Porche once again speaks, "Carina-san, I can't believe how lucky you are, finding the Hasshoken, and even being able to find and monitor Chinjao. Wish I had such luck today, I couldn't really find anything too interesting."

"Hmm yeah… these new nifty powers sure make life much easier! It would have taken me a week of constant surveillance to accomplish what I did only in a single day! Unluckily however we didn't really get what Cade was looking for." I respond excitedly.

This is the first time I really get to test my devil fruit in a setting that I'm accustomed to, and I've got to say I lucked out! I have now become the ultimate spy, after all plants are everywhere and as long as they aren't too far away from me, I can still communicate with them! I can also talk to a few forest animals like squirrels, but I unfortunately can't seem to speak to city animals, like pigeons for example, must have something to do with my identity as a guardian of nature and not of cities. It's all very stupid but meh? What can I do?

"Hmmh, we will still need to pull off the heist in the end… after all I doubt Cade-kun wanted access to such an incomplete and weak version of Hasshoken." Replies Porche to my statement.

"Yeah, who knew that the Chinjao family was so stringy with their soldiers? Giving an incomplete and weakened version for them to use instead of the more powerful version that Cade told me about? Hmph, at least it was easy to get ahold of, I mean they had hundreds of these manuals on their ship, not being guarded at all."

"But enough about that! I've had this question on my mind for a while now but is Cade really as good in bed as you make it out to seem?" I ask Porche teasingly, getting my mind away from work and trying to get some juicy info.

"Hmm? Well, I guess it's obvious how I feel when I am with Cade-kun… yes, he's that good, at least to me he is." Replies Porche.

"Hmm? To you?" I ask questioningly.

"Yeah… I'm pretty sure he's a good lover in general, but even if he wasn't I would still feel good, after all I chose to follow Cade-kun for the rest of my life! He is my destiny!" Porche replies with enthusiasm.

"Destiny? Follow Cade for the rest of your life? Wasn't this merely a team Cade formed to steal the Hasshoken and get to the Grand line?" I ask.

"Hmm… well not really, I know it may seem like that at first glance to you, but he's actually acting for the long term, preparing for something. Cade has never spoken about his dreams openly, always saying that it's for survival and whatnot, but over the months I've known him I can tell that he has hidden dreams and desires that he either hasn't acknowledged yet or doesn't even know about… I'm sure that played a part in him finding you as well." She elaborates.

"Yeah? Well, how did you know he has such dreams if he doesn't seem to know it himself?" I ask again.

"Because my dream is to follow and support Cade-kun as best as possible, I wish to be the great woman behind the great man that Cade-kun is destined to become, and I'm sure he will, I can see it. The enthusiasm he has for everything, the fire in his eyes that longs for everything this world has to offer. He wants it all, he just doesn't know it yet." Porche replies tenderly.

Cade has such lofty dreams!? Hmm I guess most people want such things, there's a reason why a large percentage of the world are pirates after all. Wait…

"Everything? Does that include women?" I skeptically ask.

"Yes, even women." Porche nonchalantly nods.

"What! Are you okay with him going off and hooking up with anyone he sees?" I ask in disbelief.

"Of course not! I am however okay if Cade-kun likes someone and decides to bring that someone into our lives, I know it's inevitable after all, there are just too many amazing women in this world." Porche replies back emotionlessly.

"What so like a harem? You're okay with Cade forming a harem?" I ask again.

"Yup, it's not uncommon for powerful people to have harems in this world, hell the king of this very island has a harem of 5 women, and that man is nothing compared to even the current Cade-kun… but of course I will always be the most important in his heart!" she replies with a nod of determination.

"Right…" I reply trying to get my head around that. It is true that harems are not super rare, uncommon yes but not too rare, especially for powerful people… is that one of the reason Cade sought me out!? … well, I don't dislike Cade, so I'll simply have to see where it all leads in the end, I guess…