"What the hell was that?"
Standing on the distant beach, Kairo's eyes widened in shock as he watched the "meteorites" fall from the sky.
He knew the fox was strong.
But this was way beyond anything he remembered seeing on screen.
Had the fox been buffed after being summoned into the One Piece world?
Throwing pebbles into the air and turning them into literal meteors—who could withstand that?
Thankfully, the fox didn't seem combative by nature.
Otherwise, if he casually tossed a few pebbles over Mary Geoise, the Celestial Dragons in Pangaea Castle would probably be wiped out on the spot.
Which raised a very important question:
what unlucky idiots had just been blessed by that heavenly judgment?
Droopy, standing nearby, looked completely unsurprised by the fox's display. His ears dragged lazily behind him, and his expression remained as unchanged as ever.
Compared to Droopy's calmness, Green Rabbit and Jerry were far more skittish.
The moment the "meteorites" started falling, both of them rushed to Kairo's side. Jerry was especially dramatic, hiding behind Kairo's heel and trembling while staring at the destruction ahead.
Then the final pebble struck.
The last thunderous explosion faded.
And silence returned to the world.
On the travel ship's deck, the fox still stood there with his coffee cup, elegant as ever, as though nothing at all had happened.
"It's over."
Kairo shook one foot and dislodged Jerry, who had somehow climbed onto the top of his shoe.
Then he grinned.
"Let's go see what those 'unidentified lifeforms' were."
"Maybe tonight's dinner just got solved."
The moment he mentioned dinner, Green Rabbit's eyes lit up instantly.
Jerry forgot all about being scared and dashed off first.
Droopy remained his usual calm self, but he followed along without objection.
By the time Kairo stepped back onto the ship, a thick smell of blood hit him in the face.
The sea off the other side of the deck had already turned red, as though sunset itself had been poured into the water.
More than a dozen strange corpses floated on the surface.
At first glance, Kairo didn't think they look weird.
That was Jerry and Green Rabbit's reaction.
The moment they saw the floating bodies, both of them widened their eyes.
Most of the corpses had already been smashed beyond recognition, but Kairo could still roughly guess who they were.
The one floating closest to the ship had its head completely crushed, but its body shape still looked vaguely shark-like.
It was probably Arlong.
Kairo was genuinely surprised.
He had deliberately misdirected Vice Admiral Gion toward Cocoyasi Village, yet somehow Arlong had still escaped.
That meant Gion wasn't exactly reliable either.
Leaving a threat like that alive and at large was asking for trouble. If the fox hadn't encountered them here, there was no telling how many places Arlong and his crew might have harmed after fleeing Cocoyasi.
While Kairo was still thinking that over, Droopy suddenly pulled out his lasso under Jerry and Green Rabbit's eager gazes.
The next second, Arlong's corpse was hooked and dragged up onto the deck.
"So it really was Arlong."
A trace of surprise flashed in Kairo's eyes.
At that moment, Jerry suddenly leapt onto Kairo's shoulder and shouted excitedly,
"This one's no good! Switch it out, switch it out!"
Droopy did not waste any time.
He flicked Arlong's corpse back into the sea and hooked up another enormous body.
This time it was Momoo, the sea cow pet of the Arlong Pirates.
Momoo was the biggest thing among the bodies, which meant he had also taken the hardest hit. His massive body had been smashed into several sections by the falling pebbles.
"That one! That one! Steak, steak!"
The instant Momoo was dragged onto the deck, Jerry started hopping up and down in excitement.
Droopy's eyes lit up too.
He turned to Jerry and gave him an emphatic thumbs-up.
"Steak. Happy."
Before the words had even fully landed, Droopy had already dragged the sea cow over toward the side of the deck.
Then he jumped down after it.
Seeing that, Green Rabbit instantly sprinted into the kitchen. He came back with knives, seasonings, and cooking tools at astonishing speed.
By the time Kairo fully processed what was happening, Momoo had already been cleaned, butchered, and set over the fire.
"?????"
Kairo stared.
So when Green Rabbit's absurd repair speed wasn't useful, it just got reassigned into culinary speed instead?
Just then, another corpse drifted up against the side of the ship.
It was a fish-man with an octopus-like body.
The moment Jerry saw it, he immediately perked up again.
"Takoyaki! Takoyaki!"
Without even needing Jerry to finish, Droopy had already hooked the octopus fish-man corpse up onto the deck.
It was Hatchan, one of the officers of the Arlong Pirates.
None of that mattered to Jerry.
What mattered was that Jerry was about to get takoyaki.
And the truly outrageous part was this:
Droopy really spoiled Jerry.
Green Rabbit, on the other hand, was the one doing all the hard work.
New ingredients kept appearing, which meant more prep, more slicing, more fire, more seasoning.
But clearly, none of that bothered him.
Whether he got to sit at the table with Droopy, the fox, and Jerry didn't matter.
What mattered was that he genuinely loved cooking and grilling.
Soon, fragrant slices of octopus meat were laid out one plate after another.
Jerry was thrilled.
Droopy was thrilled too.
The fox didn't show much outward excitement, but the expression on his face was unmistakably one of deep enjoyment.
By then, the three of them had already moved a dining table from inside the ship and set it up neatly on deck.
Each took a seat.
Several bottles of red wine and full place settings had already been arranged.
When Green Rabbit brought over the grilled sea-cow steak and octopus slices, Droopy, Jerry, and the fox all tied napkins around their necks with great ceremony.
Then they each poured themselves some red wine.
The ritual was absurdly formal.
Next, the three of them lifted their glasses and said in perfect unison:
"Happy. Cheers."
After one sip, the three gluttons ignored Kairo completely and began eating in earnest.
Not long after, another corpse floated up beside the ship—
this one with its head smashed beyond recognition.
The moment Jerry saw it, he drooled all over the table.
This time, Droopy didn't even wait for him to ask.
He casually hooked the corpse onto the deck.
It was Kuroobi, one of the Arlong Pirates' officers.
Again, that wasn't really the point.
The point was that Droopy really, really doted on Jerry.
Green Rabbit had to stay busy the whole time.
But for him, that wasn't a problem.
He enjoyed preparing and grilling food. That alone was enough.
Soon, slices of fish-man flesh were being plated like premium sashimi.
Jerry was ecstatic.
Droopy was delighted.
The fox remained elegant, but clearly satisfied.
It was only then that the fox noticed the head seat at the table was still empty.
He blinked, then turned to look at Kairo, who was still standing there with an increasingly complicated expression.
"Honored Mr. Kairo…"
"If you don't sit down soon, this American little friend is going to finish everything."
"No, no need."
Kairo waved both hands at once.
"You all enjoy yourselves."
Enjoy yourselves?
With that?
No chance.
Those "delicacies" on the table were members of the Arlong Pirates.
From one angle, fish-men were still people.
There was absolutely no way he was putting that in his mouth.
Looking at the endless stream of "food" being served onto the table, Kairo suddenly felt a trace of sympathy for the Arlong Pirates.
If Jerry still wasn't satisfied, and Droopy kept indulging him like this, the Arlong Pirates were going to be eaten clean.
At that moment, Kairo found himself unexpectedly missing Da Hong.
Compared to these gluttons, the red rabbit who had killed a Celestial Dragon and wiped out the Goa Kingdom royal family suddenly seemed unbelievably kind.
Da Hong killed people and left the bodies where they fell.
These three, on the other hand—
killed them, then ate them.
◇ I'll drop one bonus chapter for every 10 reviews (leave a review/comment!)
◇ One bonus chapter will be released for every 100 Power Stones.
◇ Read 60 chapters ahead on P@treon: patreon.com/KageNaruto