"Sister?"
"That's right. Sister." Michael stared into those blue eyes that were nearly identical to his own, smiling as he said, "I used to live on Angela Island. And my last name… is also Maria."
As he said this, Michael once again recalled that not-so-fond childhood.
As someone who had transmigrated into this world, he had heard his parents talk about a daughter who had left home at the age of nine.
A year later, Michael was born.
Then, when he was three years old, his parents in this world perished in a shipwreck.
Though even at that time he possessed an extraordinary physical talent, it was only extraordinary by the standards of children.
He had the strength to take down several ordinary adult men, but due to his age and size, it was still quite inconvenient.
As a transmigrator, he also knew what the "D" in his surname represented.
So from that point on, he abandoned his surname and called himself simply "Michael."
Not even Sengoku, who had been like a foster father to him, knew this.
"So, you're… my younger brother?"
Sora's eyes widened in disbelief. She never would have guessed that the man who had helped her so much was actually… her real little brother?
"What else could it be? If I remember correctly, on Angela Island, our family was the only one with the surname Maria, and there was also that troublesome 'D' in the middle of the name, right?"
Michael shrugged.
No wonder that, the moment he saw Sora's face and those eyes, he felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity rush over him.
The blurred image of his birth mother, long buried in memory, began to grow clearer under Sora's features.
At least 80% of Michael's good looks were inherited from his mother.
Sora didn't say anything. She simply stared fixedly at Michael's face.
After all these years away from home, she had never imagined that by some twist of fate, she would encounter her biological younger brother.
Her throat moved slightly, and at last, she forced herself to ask the question in her heart:
"Now that you're here… what about our father and mother?"
"They're dead." Michael answered without hesitation. "They died in a shipwreck when I was three. If I remember what they told me correctly, you would've been thirteen at the time."
"...Is that so?" Sora shook her head, as if she'd already anticipated this answer. "No wonder I sent people to Angela Island and the surrounding seas several times and never found a trace of them... And you've been hiding your surname all this time. Looks like that name really is troublesome?"
"As one of the 'D' clan, you should at least be aware of your circumstances, right, Sister?"
Michael called her "Sister" with complete ease.
Even if there wasn't much familial affection between them yet, facts were facts.
Just like how, as a transmigrator, he didn't have deep feelings for the parents who died young—but the bond of blood ran deep and couldn't be faked.
"I see... You've really had a hard time all these years, Michael." Sora reached out and gently placed her hands on Michael's.
At first, her expression remained fairly composed.
But the moment she imagined Michael drifting alone across the vast sea since the age of three, her heart clenched sharply. Guilt and sorrow surged from deep within like a tidal wave.
Her expression began to crumble, and even those eyes identical to Michael's instantly welled up with tears.
This was the woman who had taken powerful drugs at the cost of her life to preserve her son's emotions.
This was the woman who had launched a coup and killed her own husband for the sake of her children and her nation.
Yet now, because of Michael, two hot tears rolled down her cheeks.
"Uh, don't cry..." Michael was caught off guard and flustered. He hadn't expected the bond to feel this intense.
"Things were rough for a few years, sure, but ever since I was six, I've been strong enough. As long as I didn't act recklessly, I was the one doing the bullying. So don't blame yourself. I've never held a grudge against you, and our parents didn't either. They just... missed you."
As soon as he finished speaking, the tears in Sora's eyes could no longer be held back. They poured out uncontrollably.
From quiet weeping, she went straight to bawling.
"Mom! What's wrong?!"
"You stupid Marine! Did you make Mommy cry?!"
Following Sora's sobs, Reiju and Sanji burst through the door in a whirlwind from outside.
The first thing they saw was a speechless Michael, and a sobbing Sora clutching his hands tightly.
Both little ones were stunned.
"Uh... what's going on here?" Sanji tilted his head at Michael, his voice full of innocence. "Why is Mom crying while holding your hand? Did you steal something from her?"
"Mother, even if you're a queen now, there's no need to cry like that over a man..."
Reiju, on the other hand, acted like a little adult, her eyes gleaming with a distinctly feminine "gossip mode" light.
Michael twitched his mouth, waved his hand, and two hands made of Holy Light appeared out of thin air and flicked the kids' foreheads with a solid pop.
Though the flicks were forceful, they caused no real harm—just a good thump on the forehead.
"Ow!"
"What the heck was that for—"
"...Sister, sometimes it's not such a good thing when children know too much."
Watching the two siblings rub their foreheads together, Michael sighed.
Only now did he get a good look at his niece and nephew.
Reiju's eyes were identical to Sora's and Michael's—a deep sapphire blue, like an inverted ocean.
Sanji's eyes, on the other hand, had inherited more from his father—bluish-black in color.
Still, just the thought that these two kids were his niece and nephew made Michael walk over and ruffle their hair.
The three Hancock sisters, Nojiko and Nami, and now the five Vinsmoke siblings...
His side job might be revolution, but his main job was running a daycare and preschool, wasn't it!?
The one thing his family wasn't lacking… was kids!
"Reiju, Sanji, don't say things like that." Sora finally managed to rein in her tears. "Rear Admiral Michael is Mommy's long-lost younger brother. Your real uncle. Which means..."
"He's your blood-related uncle."
"...Huh?" Reiju's face twisted into an indescribable expression. "So my real uncle... took out my real dad... Our family's a total mess."
She shrugged but didn't question it much.
Looking at the two of them now, anyone who wasn't blind would see that this Marine and her mother were siblings by blood.
"Wow, congrats on the family reunion." A breeze of yellow sand drifted by, and Crocodile suddenly appeared by the bed, leaning against the window, her long legs stretched out with nowhere to rest.
"But don't forget your goal."
"The Revolutionary Army's forces have arrived."