The next day.
Jay slept in until the sun was high in the sky.
Beside him, Miss Chizu, who had experienced last night's madness, seemed to have sobered up.
Recalling the absurd events of the previous night, she thought she must have lost her mind.
At first, everything was normal, just a casual dinner and conversation.
But as time passed and their conversation grew more engaging, they suddenly suggested having a few drinks.
Under the influence of alcohol, the distance between them gradually shrank.
Eventually, they ended up going home together… for a yoga lesson.
One eager to teach, the other eager to learn.
A perfect match, exchanging moves back and forth.
Some of the advanced yoga poses were truly eye-opening for Jay, but they also ignited his competitive spirit, pushing him to rise to the challenge.
And so, the lesson continued throughout the entire night, without a moment's rest.
"Chizu-nee, are you awake? There were a few yoga moves I didn't fully grasp yesterday. Could you teach me again?"
Jay was just too eager to improve.
It was clear now, after rigorous training, this new body of his had far superior stamina and recovery compared to his past self.
Miss Chizu rolled her eyes at him. "We don't have much time. I'll teach you once more, pay close attention."
An hour later, Miss Chizu stepped out of the house, looking absolutely radiant.
She needed to take a few days off.
To focus on being someone's private instructor.
After all, yoga wasn't something one could master overnight.
"But it's not a bad deal," she murmured to herself.
Her lips curled into a slight smile.
Completely satisfied with the teaching experience, she mentally gave last night and this morning a five-star review.
As for Jay, he had secured a professional yoga teacher for free, and even found a place to stay.
A massive win.
As expected, being handsome meant you could do whatever you wanted. Readers, you all know this feeling, don't you?
While Miss Chizu was off requesting leave, Jay didn't waste any time.
First, he went to a butcher shop and paid extra to order a wild boar.
He had no choice, asking for just the boar's head wasn't an option.
Even with a 50% markup, the butcher only agreed because there was a profit to be made.
After placing a deposit, Jay casually asked, "By the way, do you know anyone who makes taxidermy specimens?"
The butcher shook his head. "You should probably ask a doctor about that."
That comment immediately enlightened Jay, he'd been overthinking things.
He didn't actually need a taxidermist.
What he truly needed was a surgeon, specifically one skilled in hand surgery.
After all, his intentions weren't exactly pure…
Without hesitation, he headed straight for the Central Hospital.
After some simple inquiries, Jay finally confirmed his target.
Dilixati Pineiro, 51 years old, specialized in hand surgery. However, he was rather dull and not good at networking, which had left him unappreciated in his field.
More importantly, his son had recently racked up a massive gambling debt, with creditors even showing up at the hospital to cause trouble.
It nearly cost him his job.
Jay was confident that if he approached him now, the doctor wouldn't refuse to teach him a thing or two.
As night fell, Jay waited patiently. Finally, after a long wait, he spotted his target leaving the hospital, looking utterly exhausted.
After adjusting his appearance to make sure everything was in order, Jay walked up with a smile.
"Hello, are you Dr. Dilixati Pineiro?"
"That's me. What do you need?"
"I have some questions I'd like to ask you. Of course, I'm willing to pay for your time."
Dilixati had been ready to refuse and head home, but when he heard the words "willing to pay," he hesitated.
As much as he despised gamblers, when it came to his own son, how could he truly harden his heart?
Jay noticed the doctor's hesitation and quickly sweetened the deal. "No need to rush, Dr. Dilixati. How about we grab a bite to eat? Hear me out first, and then you can decide."
"Fine, young man. But I can only spare you thirty minutes, I need to get home as soon as possible."
Hearing this, Jay's face lit up with a sincere smile.
He knew that the doctor agreeing to meet meant his success rate had already jumped to 90%.
The remaining 10% would depend on how much he was willing to offer.
As expected, after a brief moment of consideration, the doctor agreed to teach him some human anatomy in exchange for a reasonable fee.
Of course, human anatomy was merely a cover for what Jay was truly after.
After all, learning how to turn a human hand into a specimen sounded downright sinister.
If Jay had revealed his real intentions right away, the doctor's rejection rate would have been 99%!
So, like boiling a frog slowly, he needed to ease into it step by step.
With that settled, Jay smoothly made his way back to his yoga teacher's home.
The moment he stepped inside, he felt a pair of resentful eyes locked onto him.
"Good evening, Miss Chizu."
"Not good at all! I thought you had disappeared without a word! I waited an entire after, mmph~"
"Teacher Chizu, it's time for our yoga lesson."
Under Chizu's instruction, Jay earnestly practiced every yoga move.
For the more difficult ones, he repeated them over and over.
Three fulfilling days passed.
Mornings were spent learning yoga, afternoons studying anatomy, and evenings reinforcing his yoga training.
Unfortunately, time was too short. He couldn't master all the poses in such a brief period.
His leave was over, he had to return to the base.
Before leaving, Jay apologized to Miss Chizu, admitting he had lied, he wasn't actually Rina's younger brother.
But Chizu didn't seem to mind. She simply asked, "Will you come back?"
Jay's answer?
"Of course. I haven't graduated from yoga yet, have I?"
After saying goodbye to Chizu, Jay visited Dr. Dilixati one last time to inform him of his departure.
Unlike Chizu's reluctance to part, the doctor remained calm, merely nodding. Their relationship was, after all, purely transactional.
Even so, despite needing money, Dilixati never tried to extort him.
In fact, since Jay's shameless persistence was hard to refuse, the doctor even went the extra mile, he helped hollow out and clean the wild boar's head Jay had brought.
Now, all that was left was a bit of sewing and drying before it could be used as a mask.
All in all, this trip to Squid Island had been a great success.
Yet, on the way back, Jay felt an unexpected emptiness.
If given the choice, he wouldn't have wanted to return to Base 88 at all.
But deep down, he knew the truth, only by going back could he reach greater heights.
A simple, peaceful life?
That wasn't what he truly wanted.
If Roger could usher in the Great Pirate Era, then who's to say Jay couldn't bring forth a New Marine Era?
If a new age was destined to bear someone's name…
Then it would be, Nova Jay.