The banter and jokes between the three were, in fact, the daily life of the Free Adventurers' Guild.
Sailing was an extremely monotonous affair, and after a long time, one's spirit was bound to suffer. Fortunately, Kōta and the others were all very optimistic individuals.
They had witnessed extreme evil and experienced much beauty.
Money, lust, and the desires of the mortal world—they had encountered no small amount of these during their year at sea.
Watching A Hua and the other two behave just as they had when they first set sail, Gu Yina's eyes held a hint of a smile.
But just as the three seemed to be acting, she too was acting, playing the role of a stern and aloof demoness.
"Alright, it's just some gems!"
"Look at you, so pathetic."
Gu Yina glared at A Hua, then her gaze fell upon A Tao and A Luo. She said nothing, simply watching them in silence.
"Haha!! We didn't take much, just a little, just a little."
Under Gu Yina's cool gaze, the two awkwardly chuckled, exchanged a glance, and despite their evident reluctance, they slowly shuffled over to A Hua's side and returned the gems in their hands to him.
"Hmph!"
Clutching the gems, A Hua smugly cast a subtle, provocative glance at the other two.
A Tao and A Luo, naturally unwilling to be outdone, returned subtle, fierce glares to A Hua.
Shaking her head, Gu Yina’s lips curved into a smile. She paid no further attention to the trio and walked out of the great hall, standing outside and gazing at the vast, empty world with a faraway look.
The increasing appearance of the mysterious and the great was, in fact, making her feel more pressure than usual.
Because she knew that for their future voyages, only by breaking through the world's constraints and truly entering another realm could she keep up with Kōta's pace.
After all, the current world was far too small in Kōta's eyes.
"What are you thinking about?"
Behind Gu Yina, Kōta appeared silently. He first glanced gently at Gu Yina, then walked to the very edge of the platform. One more step forward and there was a ten-thousand-meter abyss.
Squatting down, Kōta casually sat on the edge of the platform, his legs dangling into the void, swinging back and forth. He then took out his wine gourd, drinking as he admired the rare and beautiful scenery.
"I was thinking, in another year, I'll be Kōta's wife."
Looking at the young man, Gu Yina did not share her troubles. Instead, she smiled slightly, squatted down, and also sat on the edge of the platform. Then, she reached out and pulled the young man's left arm into her embrace, tilting her head to rest on his left shoulder.
"Hey! Kōta."
"Mm!" Setting down his wine gourd, Kōta turned his head to look at Gu Yina, his eyes filled with tenderness. "What is it?"
"You say that this starry sky, every star still twinkling, could be a world similar to ours, then..."
At this point, Gu Yina raised her head, her gaze seeming to pierce through the confines of space, truly looking towards the real starry sky beyond.
At this moment, her eyes were shining, filled with anticipation, trepidation, and an infinite fighting spirit.
"Then, do you think, in those worlds we can see but are infinitely far from us, there are countless powerhouses? And among these powerhouses, are there also innumerable sword masters?"
Since childhood, swords and solitude had occupied a significant part of her world. Kōta's arrival had etched the image of the young man into her soul at a certain moment, ending her loneliness.
However, her pursuit of the way of the sword had never wavered.
The physical limitations that had once troubled her had long since been broken after obtaining the Goro Goro no Mi and experiencing the stimulation of lightning, propelling her to another level.
From that moment on, she no longer worried about physical matters.
But human desires were insatiable; once one obtained something, one always craved more.
This could be considered the ultimate pursuit of the sword, but was it not also a manifestation of human nature's desires?
The wish to be the world's greatest female swordsman had been automatically bestowed upon her after Dressrosa. The subsequent deeper understanding of the world and further understanding of Kōta had ignited greater ambition and desire within Gu Yina.
She wanted to become infinitely stronger, strong enough to break the shackles of this world, to journey into the starry sky, to witness a vaster world, and to spar with more masters.
She would always, always, always stay by the young man's side, so that Kōta would not be lonely, and she herself would not be lonely.
Even if she could only see the silhouette of the young man, unable to keep up at all.
Setting his wine gourd aside, Kōta reached out and gently ruffled Gu Yina's hair, remaining silent for a moment.
Ever since he had met Bi An, Kōta had understood Gu Yina's urgency—a desperation that felt as if the person beside her was about to leave, compelling her to do everything in her power to strengthen herself and keep up.
Even though Kōta had said on many occasions and in many circumstances that he would take her wherever he went.
But that sense of unwillingness, the unwillingness to be weak, would not diminish in the slightest due to Kōta's promise.
The girl had always been strong, ever since she was young.
She was always chasing, chasing the young man whose back she could only ever see.
That sense of unwillingness could not be erased, even though Kōta was one of the closest people to her in this world.
In the past, Gu Yina would often pester Kōta to train and spar with him.
But at some point, Gu Yina had stopped making these requests. She simply did everything she believed would make her stronger, in silence.
It wasn't that Gu Yina had changed, but rather she knew that the young man was changing, changing to a point where even with all her strength, she wouldn't be able to touch him.
She feared, she feared that if they sparred again, she wouldn't even be able to see the silhouette she had always been able to see.
This was despair in her eyes.
Raising her head and looking at the white clouds drifting in the sky, Kōta spoke softly, "Gu Yina."
"Mm!"
"Actually, at first, when you made me your goal, I didn't have any special feelings about it, because even I didn't know what I was back then."
"Since appearing in this world, my body has no longer been that of an ordinary human. I knew this, but I never imagined that my body would grow faster and faster as time went on. If not for Bi An, I would never have known that there were beings like gods in this world."
"And I myself could be considered one of them."
"Setting a high goal is of course a good thing, but if the growth of this goal surpasses time and reaches a height we never dared to imagine, then we should no longer fixate solely on this goal, because it can easily lead to our own collapse."
Kōta paused here. He lowered his head, meeting the girl's somewhat lost gaze, and said earnestly, "The world is so vast, and the universe is so boundless. In that starry sky, countless powerhouses await us, await your challenge. What you should pursue from now on is not to stand behind me, gazing at my back, but to catch up, to stand beside me."
"I believe, I believe Gu Yina can achieve this."
"Because you are, after all, my wife, Kōta's wife!"