After nearly twenty years, returning to the real world, everyone was very excited.
Chika, Yotsuba, and other energetic girls greedily breathed the air of the real world, stretching their arms as if embracing the entire sky.
"Although the Pirate World was also very interesting, I feel this place suits me better, a city girl."
Chika squinted her eyes. The sunlight falling on her face gave her entire body a golden glow.
Just then—
"Ah—!"
Nayuta's loud shout drew everyone's attention.
Makoto raised an eyebrow, turned his head, and asked, "What are you freaking out about now?"
Then, everyone froze.
They saw that Nayuta, who had grown into a young woman in the One Piece World, along with Kokoro and others, had now reverted to their pre-transmigration states.
Nayuta, six years old.
Kokoro, six years old.
Kei, fifteen years old.
Moeha, fifteen years old.
Everyone then remembered: after returning to the real world, their physical states would also revert to their pre-transmigration appearances.
Those decades spent in the One Piece World, those years of aging, those mature faces… all erased, as if they had never existed.
Seeing this, Makoto couldn't help laughing out loud, slapping Nayuta's little head.
"I'm still more used to you like this."
Nayuta, infuriated, bit Makoto's mouth, making him cry out in pain.
Kokoro also looked aggrieved, pulling on her sister Kotonoha's hand and asking, "Onee-chan, does this mean I can't do those things with you and Makoto-nii anymore?"
At these words, Kotonoha's face turned bright red, and she lightly tapped her sister's head in exasperation.
'This child, why was she always thinking about those things?'
Then, Kotonoha and the others looked at Nayuta, who was still biting Makoto's hand and throwing a tantrum.
Nayuta was probably angry about this too, after all.
After finally growing to sixteen in the One Piece World, finally being able to 'legitimately' eat the sausage, now she was back to being a six-year-old little peanut.
In stark contrast to Nayuta, Kokoro, and the others were the members of the MILFs Team.
They immediately took out mirrors to look at their faces.
Although they had obtained Pure Gold in the One Piece World, which prevented them from aging, the effect of Pure Gold was only to maintain their 'original appearance'.
By the time they were in the One Piece World, they were already fifty years old, with more or less wrinkles on their faces. Even after obtaining Pure Gold, they only maintained that state.
However—
After returning to the real world, their appearances all reverted to around forty years old, or even younger.
The wrinkles on their faces also disappeared, or at least significantly faded.
"Aaaahhh—!"
Yukiko was the first to scream, holding her face in both hands, her eyes wide.
"The wrinkles are gone! They're really gone!"
She hugged Eri and jumped up.
"Eri, look! Look! This smooth skin of mine!"
Eri, shaken so hard her glasses nearly fell off, still couldn't help the corners of her mouth turning up slightly.
Kayoko touched her own face, was silent for a moment, then let out a long sigh.
Even Mrs. Yukinoshita, who usually didn't show much emotion, couldn't help looking at herself in the mirror from side to side, nodding with satisfaction.
Makoto finally broke free from Nayuta and said to everyone, "Let's go home first."
Then, he prepared to lead the large group back to his palace.
Just then, Chika remembered something and asked Makoto, "Makoto-kun, the [MVP Player] that the Reincarnation System just mentioned... they have the right to freely return to the cleared world, right? That means you and Ishigami-kun can go back to the One Piece World anytime?"
Hearing Chika's words, everyone's attention was also drawn.
Many subconsciously looked at Nayuta and Reze.
Sayuri asked, "Weren't you the MVP player in the Chainsaw Man World, Makoto-kun? You used that method to bring Nayuta and the others over, right?"
Makoto nodded.
"I'll bring Hancock and Robin over later."
Hearing this, although the women weren't surprised, they couldn't help rolling their eyes.
The household was getting more and more crowded.
"I'm so annoyed."
Beam pouted, his tone full of sourness.
"If it were Chainsaw-sama, fine, but why was that guy Ishigami chosen too?"
Moreover, from the system's announcement earlier, Yu's ranking was even above Makoto's.
Makoto just smiled and said, "That's normal. After all, Ishigami spent twenty more years than me in the One Piece World and did more things. Honestly, even if they had only chosen Yu for this award, I wouldn't have found it strange."
Yu, standing to the side, suddenly said, "Senpai, later I'll go back to that world and offer all the remaining Devil Fruits to you."
At this, many recalled that there were indeed quite a few Devil Fruits left behind in that world.
For example, the Seven Warlords whose lives were absorbed by Imu, and the Marine's top combatants.
Those people died too suddenly. Ai hadn't even had time to use her Dark-Dark Fruit's ability to steal their Devil Fruits before they were gone.
Not to mention the others, if Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit couldn't be retrieved, it would be quite a pity.
Makoto smiled and nodded. Even if he tried to stop him, Yu would still go.
After returning to the Nishikawa Palace, including Makoto, everyone couldn't help but feel a sense that 'a long separation feels like years'.
This time, they had been away far too long.
Over forty years.
Although only a moment had passed in the real world, for them, it was a genuine forty-plus years for them.
The girls were all excited.
Some ran into the back garden to play. Chika, for example, took her big yellow dog, Pesu, and raced around the back garden, the two of them rolling on the grass, their laughter echoing throughout the garden.
Others started playing games or singing karaoke, enjoying these forms of entertainment only available in a modern city.
Nino took some of her good sisters and went out on the town, shuttling between shopping malls and clothing stores, their hands loaded with bags.
Others began using their abilities from the One Piece World in their real-world jobs—
For example, Eriri used her Brush-Brush Fruit to draw doujinshi.
She sat at her desk, her paintbrush flying through the air. As the tip of the brush moved across the paper, lifelike characters appeared on the page.
What used to take hours to draw a single page now only took a few seconds.
Just like Kishibe Rohan.
The entire afternoon was spent with everyone doing their own thing.
When it came time for dinner, Makoto got down to business.
That is, distributing the various abilities obtained from the previous Summit War.
"Kei, you've worked hard striving for improvement. Take this sword."
"Eri, you're both wise and brave. Take the Strong-Strong Fruit."
"Saika, you're androgynous. Take the Horm-Horm Fruit."
"Yoshino, you've been diligent and devoted. Take the Barrier-Barrier Fruit."
"Ayano, you've given your all through hardships. The Arrow-Arrow Fruit is yours."
Apart from people like Saika, who had clearly stated which Devil Fruit they wanted before the war, most of the Devil Fruits were given to the women from the MILFs Team.
After all, the aunties weren't young anymore.
They couldn't start training from the ground up like Kei or Ai. So Devil Fruits were basically the most suitable power-ups for them.
After the distribution, although there were still many Devil Fruits left in stock, Makoto didn't hand them out.
After all, Devil Fruits, as power-ups, were only decent at best. They were far inferior to the Zanpakuto from Bleach World or the magic from Fairy Tail World.
For talented girls like Saeko or Kokoro, eating a Devil Fruit would be a waste.
Every women who received a Devil Fruit kissed Makoto on the cheek.
Except for Saika.
Moeha looked at Kei, who had received a sword, and asked her friend, "Kei, do you want to eat Aokiji's Ice-Ice Fruit?"
Kei shook her head, refusing.
"I'll be satisfied if I can just use this sword well."
Kei's combat talent was only decent. She didn't think she could bring out the full potential of the Ice-Ice Fruit.
Being able to use this sword well was already her limit.
The Yukinoshita sisters, sitting at the Nishikawa Palace dinner table for the first time, watched their own mother, who had also received a Devil Fruit, feeling somewhat complex.
"So this is what they mean by 'choice is more important than effort'," Haruno whispered to her sister.
Their mother's combat talent was far inferior to theirs.
But through the previous Summit War, they had also seen that the [Arrow-Arrow Fruit] their mother had received, originally belonging to Gunko, was undoubtedly quite a powerful fruit.
Even if eating that Devil Fruit didn't make her incredibly strong, it would at least give her self-defense capability.
Yukino did not answer this.
To be honest, rather than a powerful Devil Fruit, she was more concerned about the relationship between Makoto and her mother.
How to put it...
After so many years, Yukino had basically accepted the improper relationship between her mother and Makoto.
But now, when Yukino thought about the two of them being together, she felt even more uncomfortable.
Especially after the previous Summit War, when Makoto had first shown recognition of her, she felt some feelings towards him changing.
And just now, seeing her mother kiss Makoto on the cheek, that strange feeling grew even stronger.