Sure enough.
When Nojiko and Nami woke up and couldn't find their beloved items, they were both anxious and aggrieved, crying their hearts out.
Shano was indignant and echoed Belle-Mere, scolding the shameless thief. "What a scumbag, stealing even children's belongings, lower than animals!"
He then went out to the market, bought a bunch of new hair clips and a few new headbands, and after coaxing and tricking for quite a while, finally made the two little ones smile through their tears.
After this whole hassle, plus some subsequent comparison experiments.
Shano finally figured out the judgment logic of the sacrifice system.
1. The offerings must be things closely related to the comic characters, and the value is positively correlated with the degree of closeness;
For example, Nami's cherished orange blossom hair clip is far more valuable than her worn out smelly socks.
2. The value is also positively correlated with the strength of the source of the offering and the importance of their role in the manga;
It's natural for it to be related to strength, as things with emotional bonds to stronger characters are harder to obtain and thus more valuable;
As for the importance of the role, it's easy to understand. For instance, offerings obtained from Nami are of a higher grade in value.
After all, in the manga, Nami is the number one female lead, while Nojiko is just a marginal supporting character, and Belle-Mere lives only in memories.
To confirm this, Shano even seized the chance while Uncle Ken was napping, and sent his subordinate, Little Thief Cat Nami, to steal the little windmill from his head, happily earning a mere 10 points.
Well, even the smallest amount counts. Low value can't be helped; after all, most manga readers don't even remember who this person is.
3. Offerings from the same source can only be sacrificed again after a year.
In other words.
Profiting repeatedly has a cooldown period, and it's a long one; you can't just keep harvesting from one good source endlessly.
Looking at his remaining 25 points, Shano sighed mournfully, understanding that this rule is why he is so broke now.
If there were no such limitation...
Give him a few years to develop quietly, by the time he sails out as an adult, Shano can't even imagine how strong he could become.
Not sure if the Three Great Admirals could withstand a punch from me when combined.
"What are you daydreaming about?"
Belle-Mere waved a hand in front of him, breaking Shano's daydreaming, "You've changed into your clothes already, so why not hurry and eat? You worked all afternoon, not hungry?"
Indeed, eating is the priority.
...
The kitchen was warm with the rich aroma of meat floating in the air.
The two little gluttons were already digging in, but unfortunately, their mouths and stomachs were too small, so the table full of dishes still looked abundant as if untouched.
But when Shano sat down, clapping his hands together, and said "I'm starting," the scene immediately changed.
Honey-glazed ribs, garlic bread… whatever it was, once thrown into his mouth, it disappeared instantly as if swallowed by an endless black hole.
The number of empty plates quickly piled up into a small mountain.
If an outsider were here, they'd surely be dumbfounded.
But the family was already used to it.
Since the beginning of last year, Shano began growing rapidly, with his height increasing by over twenty centimeters in a year's time, and his appetite also growing day by day.
The little one, finally hitting puberty and doing physical work every day, it's just natural he now eats a bit more than little girls!
Belle-Mere propped her elbow on her cheek, smiling as she watched Shano savor the meal.
The heavens must have blessed her in her past life to send such lovely little angels, especially Shano, who is steady, sensible, diligent, and reliable.
If he truly were an angel, he'd probably be the most popular one in Heaven, right?
Speaking of which.
Though she had served as a marine for a few years, and her physique was stronger than the average person, it's still quite a challenge to support such a large family on her own.
The three children's childhood was quite poor and frugal for a long time.
There was even a time when Nami could only wear her sister's hand-me-downs, and Belle-Mere often felt guilty and self-blaming for it, until Shano grew into the family's main breadwinner, and life gradually improved.
Especially during the harvest seasons these past two years, Shano could finish harvesting the entire Orange Garden within a week. Back in the day, it would take her a whole month.
Finishing the harvest and sorting work early means they can sell everything as soon as the first cargo ship arrives, fetching a slightly higher price than later on.
This virtuous cycle over the years has led to the family's income increasing steadily.
Belle-Mere counted on her fingers, after selling this year's batch of oranges, the money she saved would break through three hundred thousand Belly!
Wow, is my childhood dream coming true? Who could have predicted a few years ago that I would become a millionaire one day!
"Is this from today's delivery?"
This time, it was Shano's voice breaking her wonderful fantasy.
"Eh?"
Belle-Mere snapped back to reality, only to see Shano had somehow finished eating and picked up a newspaper she had left on the table corner.
"Yes, the News Bird came at noon," Belle-Mere complained, "and I don't know what the World Economic News Agency is up to, raising the price again, last week it was 40 Belly, now it's 50 Belly per copy. Back when I was your age, it was only 20 Belly a copy..."
Back then, she didn't have the habit of subscribing to newspapers, nor could she afford to.
It was only in the past couple of years as things improved that they started subscribing at Shano's strong insistence, and he reads it carefully every day.