One Piece: The Salted Fish Fruit

"Tiger soup! Tiger soup! I want to drink it!" Luffy, who was dozing off, immediately shouted when he heard about food. Nothing could stop Luffy's desire for food.

"Heh! You actually found out! It seems that being defeated by you wasn't just luck. As long as you give me that white tiger, I'll let you go. After all, losing 30 million Berries is quite a waste." The storage room door slowly opened.

"Eric!"

"The murderer of Master Long! Rubber Rubber! Machine Gun!"

"court death!"

"Wind Blade! Wind Blade!"

"Those who destroy Merry shall die!"

"Tch! What did he say?" Luffy asked, picking his nose and looking at the twinkling Venus in the sky.

"Who knows? It's good to live a good life, why do you have to come out and court death?" Mabi sheathed her sword, shook her head, picked up the limp white tiger cub, and walked towards the kitchen.

"Hey, its fur is so soft. Since it's going to die anyway, let's keep its fur intact and make a cushion for Nami, Sanji!" Mabi said admiringly, stroking its soft fur.

"No problem! I'll definitely make a perfect cushion for the beautiful Miss Nami." Taking the ingredients from Maggie's hands, he immediately bent over and fawned over her.

"Thank you, Sanji!"

A flying kiss instantly made Sanji collapse.

Looking at Sanji lying on the ground, Mabi felt contempt.

"It went limp in less than three seconds!"

Sanji, his nerves stimulated, delivered a whip kick.

"You pervert! You've only lasted less than three seconds!"

"Heh, looking for a beating? Then try it." He took Sanji's attack and sneered, raising his sword to strike.

"Damn it! Who attacked me?! You perverted bastard!"

"Kill Star! Rotten Egg!"

"Smack!"

Usopp, having been hit, knocked the rotten egg out of his hand and it hit Nami, who was lying on a chair. Upon seeing this, he immediately apologized.

"Nami, I'm sorry, it's all their fault."

"Hehe! We're having a lot of fun!"

A group of people who were still playing around suddenly felt like they had entered a cold winter, the kind of winter that could freeze people to death.

"Oh my god!" The group looked up and immediately huddled together in a corner. The pitch-black sky was lit only by two bright lights and the gleaming white teeth that smelled like rotten eggs.

"Bang! Bang!..."

"I'll go cook."

"I'm going to rest."

"I'll go make it." The bruised and battered men immediately surrendered, stopped fighting, and went about their own business. The joke had gone a bit too far.

"Ah! No! I'm just a child!" A heart-wrenching child's voice came from the kitchen.

"A struggling tiger must be very strong, and it'll smell delicious when cooked." Sanji said with a smile, holding a kitchen knife and looking at the white tiger on the cutting board. As for the child's voice, nobody knows where it came from. Right now, his main task is to make Nami a nourishing tiger soup.

"Ah! Ah! Ah! Sister, Elder, I'm dying. I can't go back to help you have children."

"Sister? Whose sister!" Sanji caught the word and looked around but didn't see anyone.

"My sister, I'll never see her again." The tiger lying on the chopping board cried, its eyes instantly filled with tears as it longed for the past.

Finally, he realized that the source of the sound was the talking tiger in his hands and cried out in surprise. He hadn't noticed anyone when the sound was coming from right next to him, but now that he had discovered a talking animal, he naturally trembled and cried out in alarm.

"Ah!!! A talking tiger!"

"What?! A talking mouse! There it is!" Luffy burst in with sparkling eyes, followed by everyone who had heard the commotion.

Taking advantage of everyone's momentary daze, the white tiger seemed to have seen a savior and pounced down, clinging to Nami's leg and trembling as it glanced at the menacing crowd around it. The fear from the previous battle was etched into its frail heart; the powerful Devil Fruit user had been sent flying, but this woman had managed to take down five of them, so naturally it chose to cling to the strongest leg.

"Big sister, help me!"

"Huh, a talking tiger? Is this guy also a Devil Fruit user?" Nami said, picking it up.

"It can talk! That's so cool!" Luffy, who hadn't figured out the facts, immediately widened his eyes in admiration, satisfying his curiosity.

Upon seeing Luffy's eyes, he immediately trembled and flipped over to cling to Nami's forearm for protection.

"Sister, I'm scared!"

"Isn't this the guy we took off the pirate ship before? Haven't we cooked him yet?"

Upon hearing these words, the tiger, which was still hanging on Nami's arm, immediately became all fluffy and stared at the gentle Nami with its two dark eyes in disbelief. Now, it was unsure whether to put down its snow-white hooves or hug her.

"Sister!" the little tiger called out tentatively.

"Haha! Just kidding. Now it's time to tell me about your background."

"Very well! This king..."

"Clang, clang!" Sanji picked up the whetstone and sharpened the worn-out kitchen knife in preparation for the next use.

*Thump!* Just as the little white tiger was about to speak, it heard the sound of a knife being sharpened and swallowed hard to calm its fear. It then squatted down on its front legs and hindquarters, sitting gracefully on the table.

"My name is Jack Thorndike, you can also call me Jack. I am a White Tiger from Cloud Tiger Island. I ran away because I was playing around and was captured by a group of pirates who threatened me to go to my homeland. Because our tiger fur is as soft as clouds, it is coveted and thus hunted indiscriminately. My ancestors led their people to our current island and escaped the pursuit thanks to its natural defenses. We have lived on Cloud Tiger Island for generations, and we can only go out by disguising ourselves. I heard about the outside world and longed for human life, which led to this situation. Now I want to go home and I would like you to take me back."

“No! We can find your people to take you back.” Nami resolutely refused.

"Haha! I feel great!" Luffy laughed heartily from the side.

"Captain Lu!" the little tiger exclaimed, his eyes brimming with tears of admiration.

The words that followed instantly plunged him into hell.

"You tigers must have lots of meat at home! Hahaha! Invite me to eat tiger meat!"

"Mommy!" The seated body immediately darted to Nami, trembling.

"Sister, I can give you compensation. As long as you can afford it, my family will definitely give it to you."

Nami's eyes lit up as she asked:

"Gold?"

"Yes, I have some that I can give you." The little tiger nodded sharply.

"Really? What about the others?" She pulled the little tiger aside and whispered to him.

"Luffy?"

"Alright, everyone, let's go to Tiger Island for some meat."

"Oh! Ah! Okay!"

Looking at the excited crowd, Mabi recalled that Eric had followed that pirate ship and then asked for the tiger. She figured it wasn't as simple as she had imagined and that they would encounter the Na'vi pirates. Turning her head, she saw Zoro slightly push his finger, guessing that he was just as excited as she was about to meet the Na'vi pirates.

Chapter 20 Encounter in the Calm Belt! Another Pirate Crew

Two days later, as they approached the Red Line, Nami watched the falling sails slap against the 1.8-meter-tall tiger-man beside her and cursed.

"You stupid tiger! You live in the Calm Belt? Don't you know this is the lair of sea kings?"

Tiger, wearing only shorts, wiped the sweat from his brow and replied:

"Believe me, it's really, really not far off."

"Eek!" A drawn-out sound rang out. This was the third time they had entered the Calm Belt. Luckily, they hadn't encountered any Sea Kings.

Mabi, holding a paddle, rowed towards Sanji, glancing out of the corner of her eye at the trembling tiger. Before she knew it, the little white tiger had already grown up. It was only because it ate the Ancient Mythical Beast Cat-Cat Fruit that it remained in its cub form.

"Sanji, it seems like it'll be easier for us to drink tiger soup."

"I agree!"

"I think that's fine too."

"I..." The white tiger at the bow of the ship almost collapsed when it heard this, but then it saw the only cloud in the sky and immediately cried out when it saw the familiar shape.

"Sister! Sister! I'm here!"

"Huh? Little brother?" came the crisp, clear voice from above.

"Sister! Sister, it's me! It's me! I can't find my way home." Upon hearing this, Baihu burst into tears and cried.

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately dropped their oars and began rubbing their hands together.

"Oh, I see. You don't remember the way home either! You've made us wander around in circles in the Calm Belt!"

"Big brother, listen to me! I really didn't mean it!" The white tiger, now shrunken and curled up in a ball, weakly protested from the corner of the wall.

"Don't bully the younger brother!" A clear shout rang out, and a gust of wind swept towards the group.

Legs, palms, fists, swords, and rotten eggs all attacked at once.

Go play somewhere else.

···

After the chaos subsided, a catwoman huddled against a wall, trembling with fear, clutching a small white tiger, awaiting the judgment of the crowd.

"Tell me, how can we get through?"

"Sanji, don't you not hit women?" Maggie asked curiously, after he had been quite rude just now.

"She is a cat."

"Soliciting nonsense."

"You can kill me, but I will never tell you that it's the foundation of our survival, and that I'm a tiger."

"Sister, they are the pirates who took me home."

"Huh?...You've really screwed me over! You bastard! Why didn't you say so sooner!" The trembling catwoman immediately stood up and threw the pillow in her arms to the ground like a rag doll before walking towards Nami. As the only one who wasn't rowing, she was either the captain or someone of high status.

The little tiger stood up, rubbing its sore face, and replied softly.

"You didn't give me time to speak."