Ultimate Fruit

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Chapter 74: 10 is Enough

Since Sanji is having trouble keeping his nose in check, Lucas asked Chopper and Kaya to restrain him and keep him in bed. The mermaids giggled and chatted about it.

Meanwhile, Lucas introduced the rest of the crew to Shyarly.

“Shyarly, these are the Strawhat crew. They are the ones I’ve been waiting for. Everyone, this is Madame Shyarly, but only those from around here call her that so just call her Shyarly.”

“...”

“Anyway, I’ve been staying here as a guard for the past few days while waiting for you guys. There is a lot of tension with the regular merfolk and the New Fishman Pirates so don’t cause too much trouble.”

Though Lucas said that, he figures his warning isn’t really going to do much good with how much trouble seems attracted to Luffy…

While Lucas speaks with Luffy and the rest, Nami lifted Luna and handed her to Kaya.

“Kaya, can you take care of Luna for a bit?”

“Hm? Sure. But, where are you going?”

“Oh, I’m just gonna punish that fool for making us believe he was dead and disappearing for 2 years.”

“...”

Lucas paused when he heard that and a chill went down his spine.

...Nami...why does she seem to be scarier than Kaido…?

“E-err, like I said...I can’t really control the fact that I went to the pa-”

“Hmph! You’re lucky you did! But you were prepared to die there weren’t you!?”

“Uhh…”

Lucas sweated and didn’t know how to refute.

Before he knew it, his ear was already being dragged by Nami on one side and Robin on the other.

Even you, Robin!?

“G-guys!? Help me!”

“Ohh! Look! It’s Camie!”

Oii!!!

Camie, who had just arrived, saw Lucas being dragged off and disappearing to one of the rooms.

Confused, she asked the others.

“Umm, is he ok?”

“Oh, don’t mind him. He deserved it.”

“...”

I can still hear you, damned captain!

Lucas was speechless and couldn’t help but question whether it was the right choice to follow that guy…

However, he has other things to worry about now.

At the moment, an orange-haired demon and a black-haired devil were smiling at him.

It wasn’t the sweet kind of smile, but the you’re-gonna-wish-you-were-dead kind of smile…

“So? Anything you can explain for yourself?”

“Any last words?”

Lucas’ face twitched. Are they gonna kill him or what!?

Escape? Even if he were to escape now, they would still be bound to meet again later! There’s no escape in that!

Lucas gritted his teeth.

As a man, there was only one thing left to do…

To push them both down!

“Kya-!?”

“E-eh!?”

Both Nami and Robin were surprised to be suddenly tackled on the ground. Is he really going to escape and force his way out of here!?

However, they saw straddling above them were two identical men...Lucas had split into two!

“Heh, I learned a few tricks in my time in the past.”

Lucas licked his lips and stared at the two women beneath him.

Looking at Nami and Robin, he smiled sincerely.

“I missed you both.”

“You…”

“Lucas…”

…

While Lucas, Nami, and Robin get busy, The New Fishman Pirates had just returned to Fishman District.

The one Lucas had spared spoke in front of a burly shark fishman with pale white skin and dark curly hair. The New Fishman Pirates’ Captain, Hody Jones!

“B-boss! The Shark Knight...he…he says the Strawhats are under his protection! H-he also says...says...”

“Stop stuttering and speak up!”

Hody bared his fangs at the shivering fishman in front of him.

“He says...if he ever sees you again...he would kill you!”

If Lucas was here, he would no doubt curse this fishman. He was obviously talking about the fishman and not Hody when he said that…

Well, even if Lucas were here, the outcome will be the same for him. It didn’t matter if Hody misunderstood or not. Maybe this is even for the best.

Hody heard what he said and veins started to pop on his forehead.

He gritted his teeth as his eyes turned red in anger like a crazed shark.

The fishman paled and felt a shiver down his spine. A thought suddenly appeared in his head which caused him to step back, ready to flee.

However, this one move only agitated Hody. The instant he saw the fishman step back, Hody lunged at him with his mouth opened wide!

“W-wait! Boss! Don’t!!!”

“Graaaaaaaaaah!!!”

Despite the fishman’s pleas, Hody still bit down on the fishman’s neck. Blood spattered in the sea as his corpse floated lifelessly.

The other fishmen watching shivered when they saw Hody suddenly turn to them.

“Bring Strawhat...to me!!!”

“Y-yes!”

The fishmen quickly left the scene, afraid that Hody might change his mind and start killing them all!

Hody doesn’t know why Shark Knight is defending the Strawhats, but he can still use this to his advantage.

Fighting against Shark Knight in his territory is unwise as it is too close to the Ryugu Kingdom. He didn’t want to deal with both Shark Knight and Neptune at the same time...at least, not yet.

He plans to use the Strawhat to lure Shark Knight out and into his Fishman District.

When the time comes...

Hody stood there silently and grabbed a handful of candies from a container handed to him and tossed it all in his mouth.

Instantly, he felt a surge of power that came together with a surge of pain coursing through his body.

A crazed look appeared in his face as he looked at the Fishman Island at the distance.

...I WILL KILL YOU!!!

…

Back in Fishman Island, Mermaid Cafe.

Luffy and the others were having a look around the cafe and found a crystal ball sitting inside a clam.

“Hey, big mermaid! What’s this!?”

“Her name is Madame Shyarly, Luffy-chin!”

Camie quickly tried to correct Luffy but was naturally ignored by him.

Shyarly just sighed and shook her head.

“Don’t go touching that now, Strawhat boy.”

Shyarly left it at that but Camie still explained in her stead.

“That’s a crystal ball used for fortune-telling! The Madame is famous for her prophecies here!”

“Oh, I don’t do that anymore...it’s better not to know the future…”

“Heeh. Say, do mermaids poo-!?”

Hancock quickly held Luffy’s mouth to stop him from speaking.

“Mmm!? Mmmmm!!!”

Hancock just ignored his protesting and didn’t remove her hand.

In her mind, she was already in her dreams.

Ahh~ Luffy is kissing my hand~ Am I going to get pregnant too?

...

While Luffy and Hancock chatted with Shyarly and Camie, Brook and Usopp hung around the cafe while ordering food and having beautiful mermaids hugging at them on both sides!

“Yohohoho! It’s a shame Sanji-kun can’t join us here today! There’s a warm fuzzy feeling in my heart...then again, I’m all bones and don’t have a heart! Yohohohohoho!”

“Haha, Brook, aren’t you getting too excited?”

Usopp laughed as well while embracing two beautiful mermaids.

“I’m so happy I can die! But I’m already dead! Yohohohohohoho!”

“Hehe, Soul King, you’re funny~!”

The mermaids beside Brook laughed as well and cuddled closer which only excited Brook even more.

Usopp shook his head.

“Tsk tsk, if you’re a man, you should act cool! Ladies like cool men!”

“Ara, is that so?”

“Yeah!”

“...”

Suddenly, Usopp froze.

He turned his head around with difficulty and saw a smiling Kaya standing behind him. However, her eyes were as if she was already looking at a dead man!

“W-wait! Kaya! I can explain!”

“Ara ara, is that so?”

“...”

The next moment, Usopp was already being dragged by Kaya in some quiet corner.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t getting the same ‘punishment’ like Lucas is getting now...but a real...and painful...punishment!

As for Luna, she’s busy playing with the Medaka quintuplets as she chases them around with her bubble bike that she got from Sabaody.

“Haha you can’t catch me!”

“Can’t catch!”

“She will!”

“I think she won’t catch us?”

“So what if she can’t?”

“Ahahahaha!”

Luna seemed to think the way they talk is funny and didn’t care about catching them or not.

Since Kaya and Usopp had disappeared somewhere, Brook is...preoccupied...Luffy and Hancock are with Shyarly, Chopper is taking care of Sanji, Franky is also off to find his mentor Tom’s relative, and Lucas, Nami, and Robin are somewhere as well...the only one person remaining who can look after Luna was Zoro.

Zoro looked at Luna laughing and chasing the Medaka quintuplets and sighed.

“...Why me…?”

Well, it should be fine as long as he keeps watch on her and makes sure she doesn’t get hurt.

“Hm? Hey! Don’t run off outside!”

Zoro just looked away for a second and already, Luna had somehow started moving outside with her bubble bike!

He panicked for a bit and quickly chased after.

Thankfully, nothing bad had still happened and Luna was just strolling around.

It seems she’s gotten bored with playing tag with the Medaka quintuplets so they went for a stroll outside.

Looking at the 6 kids in front of him, Zoro sighed once again.

He just continued to follow the kids without speaking.

Only after a few minutes that he noticed the scenery around them seemed different.

“Huh? Where are we?”

Zoro scratched his head and sighed. He walked up to Luna and patted on her.

“Kid, this is far enough. Let’s go back to your parents.”

“Uuu, okay…”

Zoro nodded and held on the string attached to her bubble bike and started pulling to guide her back while the Medaka quintuplets followed.

After a few more minutes…

“Uncle Green, where are we?”

“Mmm...as I thought, I think the cafe is that way.”

Zoro nodded and started pulling in another direction once again.

A few minutes later…

“Uncle Green, where’s mommy and daddy?”

“U-uhhh, we’re close. I just need to turn here…”

An hour later…

“Uuu...are we lost…!?”

Zoro quickly panicked when he saw Luna and the other kids were about to cry and quickly explained.

“W-wait! Don’t cry! We’re almost there! Look, let me just find someone to ask directions, okay!?”

As if answering his pleas, a group of fishmen arrived and encircled them.

Zoro didn’t think much about it since he could see they all looked weak. Even if they’re enemies, he can deal with them.

Still, calming down Luna and the kids were his priority so he spoke in a friendly manner.

“Ah, hello. It’s our first time here in Fishman Island and got a bit lost, can you folks tell me where the Mermaid Cafe is?”

Zoro’s face twitched as he smiled. He wasn’t used to this kind of tone at all!

The fishmen looked at each other and chuckled as they all started drawing their weapons.

“Kukuku, you’re one of the Strawhats aren’t you? How kind of you to deliver yourself to us here in Fishman District!”

“Boss Hody has been looking for you!”

Zoro’s smile disappeared and a cold look appeared on his face.

He turned to Luna and kids and grinned.

“Kids, let’s play a game.”

“Uuu...game?”

Luna, who was about to cry, stopped when she heard the word ‘game’.

Zoro nodded.

“That’s right. Let’s play hide and seek. See all these people? They will be playing with us!”

“Waa! So many!?”

“That’s right. So you all close your eyes and shut your ears, okay? Do you know how to count?”

Luna and the Medaka quintuplets nodded, their scared expressions already gone.

“Un! Mommy taught me how to count to 100!”

“Hehe, that’s good. But you don’t need to count to 100.”

Zoro grinned as his hand gripped his sword on his waist.

“10 is enough.”