So it wasn't Tom the cat—
it was a top-tier fox from the same world as Droopy.
Looking down at Jerry at his feet, then at the elegantly departing fox, Kairo's expression grew more and more complicated.
What was this ridiculous system trying to do?
Was it planning to summon every top dog in the animal worlds of the multiverse?
In Droopy's world, the fox stood on the same level as Droopy—a genuine conceptual monster. In some respects, he might even be stronger.
Kairo still remembered one episode clearly.
Droopy had once tried to capture the fox over a steak, only to get kicked.
On the surface, it looked simple enough.
The fox ran ahead, Droopy chased, and then the fox casually spun around and landed a kick.
But that was only what the camera showed.
What really happened was far more absurd.
While fleeing, the fox had effectively locked the "frame" itself into place. At the same time, he sealed Droopy's ability to instantly shift through higher-dimensional movement outside the frame, and also sealed Droopy's "what I see is what I get" kind of immunity—making it impossible for Droopy to negate the force of that kick.
As for Jerry, compared to Droopy, the fox, and Da Hong, he was probably a little less outrageous.
But now he was carrying a paintbrush.
Which likely meant he had arrived with some kind of divine brush authority attached.
So what seemed on the surface like one absurd crew addition was probably, in reality, a collision of multiple layers of rules.
Mm.
At this rate, the One Piece world was going to get broken beyond repair.
At the same time—
In the waters near Syrup Village—
more than ten meters below the sea, a group of fish-men were swimming at high speed toward the shore.
At the front was Arlong.
Ever since Vice Admiral Gion had abruptly appeared in Cocoyasi Village with Marine forces, Arlong and the Arlong Pirates had gone into hiding underwater.
Although Gion had later left, she had still stationed Marines at Arlong Park.
It was obvious what she intended.
She wanted to wait for them to return and wipe them out in one net.
The moment Arlong learned that, his rage could no longer be contained.
Then, after hearing that the red rabbit—the same one that had indirectly ruined their homecoming—was going to be publicly executed in Loguetown today, Arlong immediately led the Arlong Pirates back to Arlong Park.
There were quite a few Marines left behind there—
but against the frenzied assault of the Arlong Pirates, the garrison was quickly slaughtered.
From one surviving Marine lieutenant, Arlong learned the real reason Gion had appeared in Cocoyasi Village.
It wasn't entirely because of the red rabbit.
It was because a traveler named Kairo had told Gion that the red rabbit was his pet.
The moment Arlong heard that, he nearly exploded from rage.
He immediately led the Arlong Pirates back into the sea and began searching everywhere for information on that damned traveler.
After an entire morning of searching and gathering word, they finally learned that Kairo was currently in Syrup Village.
The moment they reached the waters off Syrup Village, Arlong surfaced first.
As soon as he spotted the ship anchored nearby, a vicious gleam flashed through his eyes.
"Kairo… I finally found you."
One after another, the other members of the Arlong Pirates rose out of the water behind him.
"Boss Arlong, look!"
One fish-man pirate immediately swam to his side and pointed excitedly toward the beach.
"That guy on the shore should be the traveler!"
"It's definitely him," another fish-man pirate said hatefully as he swam over. "He's got a Droopy dog and a Green Rabbit with him. It has to be him! Huh? What's that little thing at his feet? Mickey Mouse?"
"Boss Arlong, over there!"
A voice suddenly came from Arlong's left.
One of the Arlong Pirates' officers, Kuroobi, pointed toward the deck of the travel ship.
"There's a fox on board too!"
"Destroy the ship first."
Arlong didn't hesitate.
He surged forward at once, speeding straight toward the travel ship.
The rest of the Arlong Pirates followed close behind.
On the deck of the ship, the fox—who had been elegantly sipping coffee—tilted his head toward the sea.
When he noticed the strange creatures appearing on the surface, a faint trace of puzzlement crossed his eyes. Then he spoke in an even, unhurried tone:
"Honored Mr. Kairo, more than a dozen unidentified lifeforms are approaching our vessel. Would you like me to deal with them?"
The fox's voice wasn't loud, yet every word reached Kairo clearly all the way from the beach.
Kairo blinked in surprise and turned back.
Because of the angle, he couldn't yet see the Arlong Pirates themselves. All he saw was the fox standing on deck, coffee cup in hand, looking as elegant as ever.
"Well, damn… did all of you awaken Observation Haki the moment you arrived in this world? You're even using long-distance transmission?"
"Observation Haki?" the fox's voice drifted over again. "That sounds rather elegant, but I have no idea what it is. So then, Mr. Kairo—shall I handle these unidentified creatures for you?"
Kairo couldn't be bothered to care what exactly was approaching.
He answered blandly, "Please do."
"Understood."
Having received permission, the fox set down his coffee cup and walked to the edge of the deck.
He looked around, then noticed a pile of pebbles stacked there—apparently gathered by either Green Rabbit or Droopy.
His eyes lit up slightly.
He pointed toward Arlong and the others racing toward the ship, then began calmly counting.
When he finished counting the approaching "unidentified creatures," the fox bent down, casually picked up a pebble, and flicked it into the sky.
Then another.
And another.
In the blink of an eye, he had flicked more than ten pebbles upward.
After that, he simply returned to the round table, lifted his coffee cup, and took another elegant sip.
At the same time—
Arlong, relying on his speed, reached the ship first.
Without hesitation, he raised his massive saw-blade sword and prepared to slash into the hull.
But the instant he lifted the blade, a sharp whistling sound came from high above.
"What the—?"
Sensing a sudden surge of deadly pressure overhead, Arlong instinctively looked up.
The moment he did, a pebble descended from the sky.
Its speed was terrifying.
By the time it reflected in his pupils, it had already grown absurdly large.
"Damn it!"
Arlong tried to dodge on instinct.
But the moment he attempted to move, he found that he couldn't.
It was as if some invisible force had locked him in place.
He could only watch helplessly as the pebble expanded in his vision.
Boom!
A thunderous explosion rang out.
The falling pebble smashed into Arlong's head.
In the next instant, his skull burst apart like a watermelon, blood and brain matter spraying everywhere.
The sudden scene left the Arlong Pirates, who had been rushing up right behind him, staring in complete shock at Arlong's corpse slowly sinking into the sea with the waves.
"A-Arlong… Arlong got smashed to death!"
"Damn it! Where did that meteor come from?!"
"Move! More are falling!"
As panicked screams broke out, some of the slower fish-men finally snapped back to their senses and dived for cover.
But they were already too late.
High above, the pebbles the fox had flicked into the sky were now plunging back down one by one, each locked onto a target with horrifying precision.
They were descending so quickly that friction with the air had set them ablaze.
They looked exactly like meteors falling from the heavens, painting the sea itself red with firelight.
Splash after splash rang out across the water.
The Arlong Pirates had barely dived beneath the surface when the "meteors" struck them.
Some had their heads smashed apart.
Some were pierced straight through.
Others were pulped beyond recognition.
In a single instant, the entire Arlong Pirates crew was annihilated.
Even their pet Momoo, the giant sea cow, failed to escape.
This was true judgment from the heavens.
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