“Hatchan,” Arlong said calmly as he rose to his feet.
“Call Momoo.”
“Got it.”
Hatchan immediately gave up attacking Zoro and walked to the water’s edge, blowing through his mouth like a giant trumpet.
Zoro frowned slightly.
“What’s he doing?”
Feeling the ground tremble beneath her feet, fear flashed across Nami’s eyes.
“It’s coming…?!”
That sea beast from the Grand Line.
“Come on out, Momoo!” Hatchan spread his arms wide and shouted excitedly.
But the moment he saw the sea beast clearly, he froze in confusion.
Why did Momoo look like he’d just gotten beaten half to death?
“Oh, it’s that guy,” Luffy said casually after one glance.
It was the same sea beast they had beaten up earlier on their way here.
The second Momoo recognized Luffy and the others, he immediately turned around and tried to flee.
He absolutely did not want another beating!
“Wait, Momoo!
Where are you going?!” Hatchan shouted in disbelief.
“You just got here!”
“Momoo,” Arlong called out flatly, “what exactly are you doing?”
The instant Momoo heard Arlong’s voice, his body stiffened.
The fear buried deep inside him resurfaced once again.
“That’s all you’re capable of, huh?” Kai said mockingly as he looked at Arlong.
“Can’t you see the poor little guy’s already terrified?”
“Little guy?” Arlong turned toward Kai with a strange look.
“I think you’ve misunderstood the meaning of the word ‘little.'”
“You seriously think he’s big?” Kai replied with genuine surprise.
“Weren’t you from the Grand Line?”
“The sea beasts there are far larger than this.
Especially the ones in the Calm Belt.
Some of those monsters are over a thousand meters long.”
“Compared to them, this little guy’s barely a snack.”
Arlong’s expression finally became serious.
“Who are you?
How do you know about those places?”
People from the East Blue shouldn’t know anything about the Grand Line.
This was the man Nami had brought back earlier.
Realization flashed through Arlong’s eyes.
“You’re from the Grand Line too?”
“Something like that.” Kai waved a hand dismissively before glancing at Momoo.
“Go on, little guy.
Leave while you still can.”
“If you stay any longer, someone’s probably going to turn you into dinner.”
Honestly, Momoo looked strangely adorable to him.
Kai couldn’t quite bring himself to kill the creature.
Now if it had been Richie the lion, that would’ve been a different story.
“Huh?” Luffy suddenly perked up and turned toward Sanji.
“Sanji, can you eat this thing?”
“Yeah,” Sanji answered casually while kicking away Kuroobi’s attack.
“Sea beast meat actually tastes pretty good.”
“Then…”
Luffy stared at Momoo as if he could already imagine the flavor.
Momoo’s entire body trembled in horror before he instantly fled at full speed.
Even Arlong shouting after him couldn’t stop him.
“Wait!” Luffy jammed both feet into the stone floor and stretched his arms out to grab Momoo.
“My food!
Don’t run away!”
Hearing that only made Momoo swim faster.
In the end, his slippery scales let him escape Luffy’s grip.
“What a waste…” Luffy sighed while watching him disappear into the distance.
“I almost had a great meal.”
“You scared Momoo that badly?” Arlong asked, genuinely confused.
“What exactly did you people do to him?”
“Oh, we just beat him up a little on the way here,” Luffy replied while trying to pull his feet free.
Then his expression suddenly changed.
“Huh?
Why are my feet stuck?!”
“You idiot!!” x3
Even Kai almost lost it.
If Luffy wanted to grab Momoo, why in the world had he jammed his legs into the ground?!
Luffy looked embarrassed.
Now what?
“Really?
Thanks!” he said sincerely, somehow misunderstanding the situation entirely.
Did this idiot seriously think he was trying to help?
With a cold laugh, Arlong walked over and ripped up the massive chunk of stone floor trapping Luffy’s legs, lifting both the stone and Luffy high over his head.
“Devil Fruit users can’t swim!” Arlong laughed viciously.
“You can drown to death!”
“Hahahaha!”
Killing Luffy outright would be too merciful.
He wanted him to suffer.
“Luffy!” Zoro and Sanji shouted at the same time.
Their expressions darkened with worry.
Once a Devil Fruit user fell into the sea, it was over.
Kai rubbed his forehead helplessly.
“You really are a walking disaster…”
Then he slowly raised a finger.
“Boom.”
BOOM!
This time, Kai controlled the explosion perfectly.
The blast shattered only the stone trapping Luffy’s legs without hurting him at all.
“Oh no…” Luffy panicked as he looked down.
Then he blinked in confusion.
“Huh?”
The stone beneath him had exploded apart.
Was that Kai?
“Thanks, Kai!” Luffy shouted gratefully.
Then, without warning, he stretched out his arms and grabbed Kai.
The force nearly sent Kai flying across the battlefield.
“What the hell are you doing, idiot?!” Kai nearly had a heart attack.
Unlike these monsters, his physical strength was still basically normal.
He quickly slammed an iron rod into the ground to anchor himself in place.
At the same time, Luffy kicked off the broken stone behind him and pulled hard on Kai’s arm, launching himself safely back.
Kai crouched on the ground afterward, clutching his aching arm.
“Sorry, sorry!” Luffy apologized awkwardly.
“One day I’m seriously going to blow you up,” Kai growled through gritted teeth.
For the first time, he truly understood how Zoro felt dealing with this idiot every day.
Still…
His body did seem tougher than before.
Maybe coming to this world had strengthened him somehow?