Ron casually swiped away the trending topic about Kaido, his fingertip pausing on the TikTok search bar. As if possessed, he typed in "Big Mom's Current Status."
The result was a blank slate.
There were no latest updates, no live stream clips, not even a blurry candid photo. This Emperor, who once dominated the New World, had vanished as if into thin air.
"Tsk, where did she go? Did she go into seclusion to cultivate immortality?" Ron scoffed, his fingers unconsciously tracing the rim of his wine glass.
This was too abnormal.
The account status was also completely silent.
Ron narrowed his eyes, a possibility flashing through his mind:
Could she have really been brainwashed by some cultivation novel, hiding in a deep mountain forest to comprehend the Heavenly Dao?
At this moment,
Ron stood on the edge of the Whale Forest on the back of the giant elephant Zou, looking up at the sky.
A "Special Delivery" formation of a dozen News Birds was swooping in, each bird's claw clutching a bulging waterproof package, and their wings emblazoned with the fluorescent logo of the TikTok News King account.
"Caw--!" The leading News Bird dived, precisely dropping the package at Ron's feet.
The package opened automatically upon landing. The moment it opened, a dozen of the latest waterproof Devil Fruit phones poured out. Then, each News Bird dropped another package, all of which were filled with phones, now piled like small mountains on the fluffy grass.
Wanda, who was trimming wool, dropped her scissors with a "clank," a wisp of smoke rose from Duke Inuarashi's pipe, and even Nekomamushi, who was playing with static electricity, opened his mouth wide.
"How did the News Birds find Zou?" Carrot's rabbit ears stood straight up. "We're clearly ten thousand meters high, these News Birds are too amazing..."
"That's the charm of Belli."
Ron bent down, picked up a phone, and casually tossed it to the nearest Mink Tribe warrior: "The charm of Belli is one aspect; on the other hand, I sent Morgans my TikTok location." He tapped open the app, and Zou's real-time coordinates were clearly displayed on the 3D map. "It's much more accurate than a Log Pose, with an error of no more than five meters."
"Location?"
Clearly, this was the first time the Mink Tribe had heard these terms. Although they didn't fully understand, seeing the accurate function of the location, they realized its wonderful use!
"Still three hundred short." Ron counted the number and sent a voice message to Morgans: "Next time, remember to send more phones; there are still many Minks without phones."
The News Birds all gave an OK gesture, indicating they had it covered.
Duke Inuarashi finally came to his senses, clumsily poking the screen with his paw: "So now... we can see Kaido and Big Mom's updates by just scrolling TikTok?"
"More than that." Ron swiped open the trending list. Kaido's novel was at the top, followed by Shenyu Culture Media's Empress video, and further down were many other productions from Shenyu Culture Media, such as the little swordsman Rebecca, and the beautiful and lovely Princess Shirahoshi, among others.
"You can also see scenery from islands all over the world, not just one island, but the whole world!"
"What!!!"
"How can such a small iron box hold the scenery of the whole world?!" The Black Panther warrior of the Musketeer Squad's eyes widened, his furry paws carefully holding the phone, afraid of crushing it with too much force.
Ron's lips curled slightly, and he casually opened a 4K aerial video of the Sabaody Archipelago. Dreamlike bubbles refracted colorful light in the sunlight, and the giant mangrove roots intertwined like a mythical scene.
"Gulp!" A chorus of swallowing sounds echoed around.
Carrot's rabbit ears trembled with excitement: "This, this is even clearer than Uncle Pekoms's adventure stories!" She suddenly pounced on the screen, "Wait! Is someone flying in that bubble?"
"It's a hovercar." Ron swiped to the next video - the Water 7 Sea Train was whistling through an arch bridge, and the waves shattered into diamonds in the sunlight. "Look, you should be familiar with this..."
"The flying sword experience project, a conjecture from Tomato Free Novel."
"You're kidding, right?!" Duke Inuarashi's pipe dropped to the ground for the nth time. "And, how can that long train run... inside this thing?!" His lion's mane bristled, looking as if he'd seen Chopper in Sulong form dancing a girl group routine.
Several Mink Tribe elders gathered in a circle, discussing seriously:
"It must be an Image Devil Fruit user!"
"No! I guess some kind of Devil Fruit shrunk the real islands!"
"I feel like there's an image Den Den Mushi inside."
Ron rubbed his forehead; these guys truly had rich imaginations.
Nekomamushi suddenly slapped his thigh: "Meow hahaha! Does that mean I can travel the New World without moving?" His paw slid quickly. "Quick, let me see the mermaids of Fish-Man Island... Ow!" He was punished by Wanda with a lightning fur punch.
"Next, distributing phones, of course, isn't free, after all, these News Bird brothers worked hard with transportation and such."
Subsequently, the Mink Tribe gathered in a large circle, their eyes sparkling as they stared at the glowing phone screens in their hands, so excited they almost popped their eyeballs out.
As the News Birds flapped their wings, awaiting their reward, Duke Inuarashi grandly waved a paw: "Although we Minks don't use Belli, this is more than enough!"
Several strong Mink Tribe warriors carried out a wooden box. The moment the lid opened, golden light burst forth; inside were piles of ancient-looking gold jewelry, gem-encrusted vessels, and even a few exaggerated crowns.
"These are all spoils of war brought back by generations of Mink Tribe warriors from the sea," Nekomamushi explained, pipe in mouth. "They're just decorations to us, so it's better to exchange them for something practical."
The News Birds' eyes turned into Berry symbols. The leading bird quickly pulled out a miniature scale and professionally began weighing and appraising.
The other News Birds were busy transporting the gold with special small carts, each just as excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood!
"This stuff is more exciting than fighting!" The Black Panther warrior of the Musketeer Squad grinned, clumsily poking the screen with his paw. He accidentally opened the front camera and saw his own furry big face suddenly appear on the screen, scaring him so much he almost dropped the phone.
"Hahaha! Your expression just now was hilarious!" The nearby Wolf Mink Tribe warrior laughed loudly, having self-taught the continuous shooting function. "I'm going to set this as my wallpaper!"
"We still don't know how."
"Yeah, how do you use this phone?"
"Teach us!"
Although he had already explained the basic operations of the phone in detail, when Ron saw a group of Minks scratching their heads around the phone, he knew he was too naive.
These warriors, usually brave and skilled in battle, now showed more confused expressions towards the smart device than they did when facing the Beasts Pirates.
"Let's have another special training session." Ron sighed, clapped his hands to get everyone's attention. "This time, listen carefully."
....
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 70 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
[patreon.com/TripleCrown07]
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"