The Sunny was sailing steadily towards Fish-Man Island. Luffy, Brook, and Robin were exploring for traces of Fish-Man Island underwater, riding Franky's submersible, Shark Submerge III.
Everyone on deck listened to the farce coming from the Den Den Mushi, their faces filled with speechlessness. Nine times out of ten, it was Luffy's troublesome antics that had attracted a sea beast again.
Sanji pushed open the kitchen door and turned around, swaying.
"Miss Nami~ I've made a delicious fruit tart using the ghosts from Thriller Bark."
"Ah~ So delicious!" Nami took the fruit tart, served on a stemmed glass from Sanji's hand, and covered her mouth in surprise.
Franky, Chopper, and Usopp also looked delighted, finding it delicious.
Watching Nami enjoy the dessert, Sanji had a doting expression, then stood up and patted his face to regain his composure. He took a fruit tart and walked over to the mast.
Seeing Orochimaru, who was tied to the mast as punishment, Sanji took out a spoon and offered it to him, but he couldn't help but show that lecherous expression.
"Come... Orochimaru~ Ah~~~" Orochimaru, who was originally lost in thought about Ninjutsu, opened his eyes to see Sanji's lecherous big face.
"Get lost! I'll eat it myself!" Orochimaru took the ghost pear fruit tart with one hand and raised a foot to step on Sanji's face.
He was only symbolically tied to the mast, not imprisoned.
In Nami's words, since Orochimaru said they would be parting ways soon, he might as well be hung on the mast so they could keep an eye on him and prevent him from causing more trouble where they couldn't see him.
Sanji crawled back, covering his face, and sighed, listening to Luffy's excited shouts and Brook's screams from the Den Den Mushi.
"It's going to be stagnant again, just like with Sky Island."
"Yes," Nami sighed. "Even if we know the direction of travel, we don't know how to get there."
Orochimaru, who was eating a fruit tart, suddenly poked his head over. "I know, Nami..."
"Ah!!!" Nami shrieked at the head next to her and slapped Orochimaru back.
"Shut up, you punished snake!! Don't just stick your head out!!"
Orochimaru ate his fruit tart with a palm print on his face, looking wronged. Really... now they wouldn't even listen to his opinions... it wasn't like this before... Only Chopper ran over to comfort him, patting Orochimaru's head.
"Orochimaru, be a good boy ε(*･ω･)_/"
Just then, Nami suddenly jogged over to the mast.
"Ah, you're back... How's the situation?"
As Shark Submerge III slowly surfaced, Luffy, Brook, and Robin laboriously climbed out of the submersible one by one.
Luffy looked dejected, spreading his hands helplessly. He frowned and loudly said, "It's really no good! I can't see the bottom of the sea at all. Is Fish-Man Island even real?"
Robin turned to Nami, her expression grave, and said, "Nami, if we go any deeper, we might really be in mortal danger. The water pressure is getting stronger and stronger, and the submarine can barely withstand it anymore."
Nami, holding her hand to her forehead, said in annoyance, "The log pose is indeed pointing straight down... This is really a headache... I should have asked Lola and the others more about the specific situation of Fish-Man Island."
Orochimaru, tied to the mast, muttered softly, "I know... listen to me..."
However, no one paid him any mind. After all, Orochimaru's previous actions had completely exhausted his credibility.
Although they knew he was telling the truth, they refused to adopt his suggestions, as it was easy to fall into a trap inadvertently.
Before everyone could ponder further, suddenly, an enormous sea rabbit ₍ᐢ..ᐢ₎ leaped out of the sea bottom like a shadow.
This sea rabbit had a terrifying, ferocious face, and its sharp fangs glinted with a chilling light in the sunlight.
It lunged at Luffy without hesitation, as if to swallow him whole.
Seeing this, Luffy's eyes instantly changed, and he roared, "Don't think you can beat me at sea!! Gomu Gomu! Revolver!"
Luffy quickly extended one arm, rapidly spinning it, and with immense power, struck the giant sea rabbit.
With a dull thud, the sea rabbit's massive body swayed a few times before collapsing onto the sea surface, falling unconscious.
And as the sea rabbit fainted, two unknown objects were forcefully ejected by the powerful impact, falling rapidly from the sky with piercing screams.
Luffy looked up in confusion, muttering, "What's that?? A fish...? No, that's not right? Is it a person??" He rubbed his eyes hard, trying to see what was falling from the sky.
Just then, as the figure continued to descend, Sanji's eyes lit up, and he joyfully spread his arms, gazing infatuatedly at the falling girl, as if she were the only one left in the world.
With a loud "bang," the figure crashed directly onto Sanji, raising a cloud of dust. As the dust gradually cleared, everyone was surprised to find a mermaid lying on Sanji.
The others were completely stunned by the sight, their gazes fixed on Sanji and the girl with the human torso and fish tail.
After a long while, everyone exclaimed, "So mermaids really do exist in this world!!!!!"
Only Orochimaru's gaze was fixed on the Starfish that had landed, his eyes instantly lighting up.
No one knew when he had gotten down from the mast, but he had directly kidnapped the Starfish.
Orochimaru's figure flickered, and he appeared in a corner. "A talking Starfish!!" Orochimaru muttered excitedly, turning the Starfish over and over, carefully examining it to confirm it was indeed a Starfish. He excitedly covered the Starfish's mouth and quickly returned to his laboratory.
At this moment, the mermaid Camie was anxiously shaking Sanji. "Are you okay...? Are you hurt...? I'm really sorry." Then, sensing something was amiss, she turned around and saw the stunned Luffy and the others.
She was so scared that her face instantly became a meme ヽ(ຶ▮ຶ)ﾉ!!!
"Ah ah ah ah ah... You scared me to death, so many people..."
Then she suddenly calmed down, looking at the group with a smile.
"Thank you very much for saving us when we were about to be digested. I get eaten by sea beasts very easily... about 20 times now... How should I thank you?" The girl tilted her head adorably.
"Oh, do you guys eat takoyaki?"
Luffy excitedly leaned in. "Takoyaki! I love it the most!"
"Really...? Then everyone please pay 500 Berries." The mermaid girl instantly went into business mode... Then she blinked... She felt like something was missing.
Robin looked at the mermaid girl. "You just said 'us,' who are you with?? There's only you here."
The girl then realized, "Ah!!!!! Papagu!!!"
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