This world’s absurdity was starting to show. In this world where lost teeth could be regrown simply by drinking milk, the two emaciated figures devoured the fish to the last morsel.
Not even the crispy scales were spared; they were chewed and swallowed down. Except for the hard bones, there was no trace of the fish left.
Their now-round bellies indicate that they had survived.
In the next moment, Nereus’ large hand scooped up Sanji and Zeff, bringing them to safety along with Zeff’s large sack of treasure.
With his stamina, Zeff tried to save Sanji by swimming with him at first, but it was impossible to tell which direction to go in the vast ocean. He didn’t know where there were any islands, and swimming in the wrong direction would mean certain death.
Not to mention the terrifying sea beasts in the deep sea. With one leg missing, Zeff couldn’t fight off these monsters, so he chose to wait for rescue.
But the dangers Zeff worried about were no problem for Nereus. Only a colossal Sea King stood a chance against her. In the waters of the East Blue, she’s the undisputed ruler.
Her fingers slightly curled to create a wind shield, and within a day, she brought them to another island.
“This island has abundant water and food, and human ships often pass by for supplies. You can get rescued here.”
Nereus placed them on the shore and drew a plate-shaped diagram in the sand.
“I’m looking for a natural stone of this shape. Find it, and you’ll gain immense wealth, possibly fulfilling most of your wishes. If you’re interested, search for it and we can meet again.”
Saying this, Nereus left the Magikarp by the shore and retreated into the depths of the sea, as her pilgrimage had its own risks.
Any individual who is too weak would be left in the Four Seas. This Magikarp was deemed unfit to enter the Grand Line by Nereus, so she gave it this task.
She didn’t leave immediately but observed the situation from the depths of the sea. Only after seeing Sanji and Magikarp interact amicably did she finally depart.
As Sanji interacted with Magikarp using fingers, he turned to Zeff and said:
“Ol’ geezer, this is the trouble you were talking about? Isn’t this a blessing?”
“Heh! Little brat, your luck is really something. But anyway, we’re saved.”
He even saw a ship’s sail approaching from afar; Nereus hadn’t lied.
“But Ol’ geezer, that beautiful big sister, is she the legendary Mermaid?”
Aside from Reiju, even Sanji’s otherwise emotionless brothers had a strong interest in beautiful women, possibly a Vinsmoke family trait.
A strange savior, a beautiful woman—putting these two together, Sanji is likely to be more impressed by the latter.
“Who knows? Maybe she’s not even human. This sea is far more mysterious than you think, Little brat. My leg is gone now, and I can’t continue searching for the All Blue. It’s up to you to carry on this dream.”
“Hmm.”
Though he calls Zeff, Ol’ geezer, to Sanji, this man who gave him all his food was far more important than his biological father.
Afterward, using the treasure Zeff had saved, they established an ocean-going restaurant in East Blue, gathering many roughneck chefs.
Magikarp also stayed with them, and Zeff’s view of Magikarp changed. They even became East Blue’s Magikarp Protection Organization, caring for every Magikarp in the sea.
They also wrote tales about them similar to The Snail Girl, but with a Magikarp repaying its debt as the protagonist.
As the ocean-going restaurant’s reputation grew, these stories spread by word of mouth among the customers, eventually becoming a famous fairy tale in the East Blue.
Of course, that was all in the future. At this moment, the ocean-going restaurant was still just in its infancy.
……
Nereus resumed her pilgrimage with her group. Meanwhile, Tiger was preparing to depart, but a new message had just arrived in Onigashima.
“Lord Sacred Beast, there’s a report from Scotch. Someone wants to join us.”
“Anything special about this one?”
This wasn’t uncommon; each year, rookies joined the Beasts Pirates. With the current, more complex rules of the Beasts Pirates, the screening process for new members had become stricter. They even had a trial period, and only those who passed could become members of Beasts Pirates.
Breaking the rules during the trial period resulted in severe punishment and being blacklisted. Except for a few exceptionally talented individuals, 99% of those pirates who entered the trial period accepted the rules. Those who couldn’t usually backed out at the first step.
The system was now quite refined, and unless someone had exceptional talent, there was no need to contact Onigashima directly.
“This pirate is a former CP9 member, the captain of the Who’s-Who Pirates, Who’s-Who, also known as ‘Who of the Droplets’.”
“CP9?”
“He reportedly defected after failing a mission. Scotch couldn’t decide, so he sent the news back.”
Cipher Pol has strict rules, allowing entry but never exit. Who’s-Who’s defection would have inevitably attracted pursuit by others. Moreover, the intensity of the pursuit was determined by the World Government to be sufficient to deal with Who’s-Who.
Escaping to the New World smoothly indicated he had some skill.
“Lord Sacred Beast, they’re all lapdogs of World Government anyway. How about I take care of him? I’ll extract everything he knows. I also know a bit of what Alber knows.”
Shayna would only mention that name when no one else was around. Even in Queen’s presence, she wouldn’t say this name.
She still harbored resentment towards the people of World Government. Despite Who’s-Who’s defection, he was still a former World Government executioner, so Shayna would have no psychological burden.
“No need. He’s just a knife, and there’s no direct conflict. If he is useful, keeping him around is fine.”
“Yes, I understand. But…Lord Sacred Beast, this person doesn’t have ‘joining fee’.”
“Joining fee… Call Queen. Let him handle this matter. We need answers for what happened back then. Isn’t he from CP9? He should know some inside information.”
“Understood. I’ll call him right away.”
Shayna knew what Arceus was referring to. About a year and a half ago, Queen and Yamato had gone on a mission, and soon after, they inexplicably encountered CP0 in the Cozia Kingdom, and the matter still had no resolution.
This was a perfect opportunity to probe for information. Even if Who’s-Who knew nothing, it didn’t matter, because Queen himself was also bait.
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!