One Piece: The Salted Fish Fruit

He asked me if I would like to join the Straw Hat Ship as a sailor, since the ocean is the domain of us fish-men.

"I thought I could help you on future voyages, but I was afraid you wouldn't accept it, so I secretly boarded the ship myself!" Xiao Ba, seeing that he was attracting everyone's attention, stammered out his purpose for boarding the ship, using his usual catchphrase.

"No problem, I think it's good for Hachi to join the crew." Luffy, sitting cross-legged on top of the lion's head, grinned as he looked at Hachi's appearance.

"Hachi, welcome!" Luffy didn't object, and everyone raised their hands to welcome him without any disagreement. The few people who were also lying on the ground pretending to be dead quickly stood up and greeted him.

"Thank you for being understanding of my past. From now on, leave the ocean to me." Seeing everyone's beaming smiles, Hachi rolled up his sleeves and said confidently.

"I see you're fishing, I'll go catch some fish for you."

"Hey! Hey! Slow down! We're riding the underwater currents forward. If you go in, you'll probably get swept away immediately." Seeing that Xiao Ba had already poked half his body out of the membrane, Mabi and the others grabbed him and pulled him back. If he got lost, it would be difficult to find him again.

"Nuu! I forgot, I'll catch some fish for you guys to eat in Shanghai." Xiao Ba, who was pressed down on the grass, scratched his head and laughed embarrassedly.

"Haha! Sanji welcomes his new crewmate! Let's have a party! Let's have a party!"

"Please wait a moment!" When it was Sanji's turn to provide food, he didn't delay at all and rushed to the kitchen with incredible speed. In an instant, the sounds of chopping and stir-frying filled the air, and the fragrant aroma wafted out of the kitchen, tantalizing everyone's taste buds.

"Let's get started! Get the gear ready and start barbecuing!" Maggie clapped her hands to remind everyone what to do next. However, Sanji was eating such delicious food that even a large piece of meat couldn't be eaten as quickly as Luffy by himself.

"Haha! We'll help too!"

Reminded by Mabi, the group quickly dragged out the dining table, drinks, snacks, and barbecue grill from the warehouse while the Sunny was being swept along by the ocean current.

“Barbecuing is my forte, let me handle this.” Xiao Ba, who had tied on her apron, saw the familiar tools and squeezed to the front, standing in front of the barbecue grill and skillfully operating the tools with her six arms.

Seeing that he had started, no one competed with him. Arms appeared on the railing, delivering the marinated meat and sausages that Sanji had prepared from the kitchen to everyone.

After washing their hands, everyone rolled up their sleeves and started helping to skewer the food. Barbecue only tastes good when everyone works together.

"I want deep-sea fish! I want deep-sea fish!"

"Give me a Meibi tofu skewer."

"Where can I find dried squid? I want it grilled with wasabi."

"Grilled sausages! Grilled sausages! Sausages cook quickly!"

Laughter and shouts echoed intermittently in the deep sea, thousands of meters below the surface, their reflections carried far into the ocean depths by the bright lights.

···

At the same time! Above END POINT, golden rays of light danced in the sky as two figures, each carrying powerful Armament Haki, clashed violently, unleashing a thunderous roar!

Chapter 230 Former General 'Zefa'

The azure sea rippled gently, sparse clouds drifted slowly across the sky, and the giant sails of the Sunshine hung limply and lifelessly, the entire ship lying quietly on the sea without any intention of moving.

Without wind and waves, ships cannot move forward and can only stay in place for repairs, since calm weather is rare on the high seas.

Four women, dressed in light clothing, lazily stretched and lay on beach chairs, enjoying their precious sunbathing time. Apis sat quietly on the swing, swaying gently, thoroughly enjoying herself!

The sound of metal clanging could be heard intermittently in front of them as three metal pipes, each about the thickness of a water tank, extended from the deck of the Sunshine into the sea.

Mabi, wrench in hand, hops around inspecting undiscovered flaws to prevent uneven stress on metal parts from causing them to break due to instability in a certain area.

"Frankie! There are no loopholes to open this path!"

“I have no problems either,” Usopp replied, who was also inspecting another pipe.

“Everything’s fine here,” said Jack, who was a foot tall, as he climbed out from under the pipe.

"Hee hee! The filter screen below isn't broken!" Xiao Ba, carrying a tool bag and responsible for inspecting the pipe inlet below, popped his head out of the sea and shouted loudly.

"This is absolutely fantastic! You guys step aside, leave the rest to me." From inside the spatial door opened by Little Green, Franky's slightly excited voice buzzed. As a mechanical enthusiast, every mechanical product was a treasure he poured his heart and soul into, and being able to use it successfully would make him even happier.

A sound of fan blades whirring came from inside, and the sound of rushing water came from the three metal pipes at the same time. Mabi jumped directly into the space gate along the pipes.

Three streams of water gushed from the top of the wall through steel pipes, forming three graceful arcs as they plunged into a metal building about 200 meters in diameter and 60 meters high, echoing the old-style cylinder of similar size standing beside it.

"Hey! Little Squid, this is your new home." Luffy sat cross-legged on top of the wall, looking at the little squid lying at the bottom and greeting it with a smile. At the same time, Zoro, who was on duty watching the ship, and the five girls who were sunbathing all came over and looked at the little squid's giant body with joy!

After all, keeping pets is Luffy's consistent style, and today he finally fulfilled one of his small dreams.

As the water surged, the little squid lying inside the giant water tank gradually regained its spirits under the impact of the seawater and let out a happy laugh. Several squid arms splashed snow-white waves and rushed towards the crowd.

I am extremely satisfied with this newly made squid nest.

"Huff! Hopefully it won't collapse this time, the water pressure is just too great for the little squid to live in." Franky stood on top of the sixty-meter-high metal wall, wiping non-existent sweat from his forehead, and said with lingering fear. He and Merry had spent a day and a night building this giant fish tank, and the tank had collapsed once under the water pressure when they were filling it with water.

“Yes! Even after we melted down the metal chains that the Sea Kings had discarded on Noah, it still wasn’t enough. We had to use a lot of other materials to make it.” Maggie nodded with her arms crossed.

With a whoosh, lush green vines extended from the old tube to greet the new neighbors. As a result, the two playful creatures, one yellow and one green, immediately intertwined their tentacles and started arm wrestling with each other.

Sizzle! Sizzle! Sizzle! The powerful force pulling the two giant buildings together caused a piercing scream, instantly waking the onlookers.

"Hey! Hey! You two, stop right there! If this keeps up, it'll collapse!" Seeing the 60-meter-tall building begin to move, Franky yelled at both sides. If they kept stalemate like this, the whole thing would probably collapse and all their hard work would be for nothing.

brush!

Frankina's general-like majesty penetrated their very souls, instilling fear in them both. They quickly withdrew their tentacles, the tips of the tentacles and the heads of the vines carefully touching each other as a sign of intimacy.

tread!tread!

Zoro's figure appeared at the top of the wall along the stairs, surveyed the area, grabbed Chopper by the back of the neck, lifted him up, and went back.

"Chopper rescued someone; go back and help treat them."

"Ah! A person? A shipwrecked person? I'll go save him right away!"

After saying that, it dashed away in a flash, leaving only a furry figure behind.

"Huh? Someone's here, I'll go check it out too!" Luffy, equally curious, lifted his hat and jumped off the top of the 60-meter-high building.

That's incredibly fast!

Maby shook her head as she watched the group's actions and then spoke to Franky.

"Frankie, how long will it take to finish?"

"The water level should be fine for about three hours, since it's only enough for the little squid to sleep. Normally, when we stop the boat at night, it goes back to the sea to sleep, and it only comes in during the day when we're sailing at high speed."

"It's not a big problem, hopefully no ships will arrive." Mabi nodded. Her Observation Haki indicated that no large ships appeared within a radius of tens of kilometers, and even if they were to rescue Zephyr, they probably wouldn't appear for several hours.

"What's wrong? Are enemies attacking?" Franky, sitting cross-legged on the ground with a Coke bottle in his hand, asked curiously. As long as the water flow is turned on, there's no need to move it to keep an eye on it, as long as the pipe doesn't burst.

"Yes, Zoro rescued the former Marine Admiral, and he's being treated in the medical room by Angelia and Chopper."

"puff!"

Mabi's bombshell remark immediately shocked Franky: "Have you forgotten that the Admirals are the world's top combat force, and you're just making it sound so easy for them?"

"Is he really the former general?" Franky asked again, wiping away his cola.

“Yes! He appeared at Marineford and completely rendered Blackbeard’s Dark-Dark Fruit useless with his Seastone mechanical arm.” Maggie replied calmly, suggesting that Seastone was probably the only power in the world capable of breaking the Dark-Dark Fruit.

After all, gravity can absorb all energy and matter.

"I'm going to see the mechanical arm that can crack Devil Fruits." Franky agreed and ran down the stairs.

"Merry, I'm leaving this to you." After everyone left, Mabi could only call out to Merry, who was in charge of replenishing the turbine's energy, and asked him to watch the water pipe and be responsible for filling the squid with water.

"No problem, you guys go ahead."

···

"Where is this? Did you save me?" The purple-haired old man lying on the bed blinked to clear his eyes from the light, straightened up, and looked at the group of young men and women surrounding him with a question.

"Hehe! Uncle! We swordsmen saw you lying on the sea and were afraid you would be eaten by the fish if you were left to drift away, so we rescued you." Luffy grinned, showing his big white teeth as he leaned back in his chair and laughed carefree.

"Thank you so much! Straw Hat Luffy." The other person glanced at Luffy's cheerful smile, a slight smile playing on their lips, and chuckled softly.

The aged and weary tone of his voice was perceived by his companions, who possessed strong Observation Haki. It carried a hint of anger rather than gratitude.

"Do you know where my arm is? It's a rare and valuable weapon. I can't feel anything with my arm empty." Zephyr raised his empty right arm and asked, seemingly unperturbed by his identity as a pirate.

"Your arm? Mabi said it was inconvenient to treat, so she removed it for you and took it out. I can help you find it." Chopper replied, extending his two hoof nails, and pulled him by his gloved arm to lead him outside.

"Thank you, veterinarian." Zeffa smiled as he tucked Chopper's head around his neck, but the twitching at the corners of his eyes beneath his dark pupils betrayed his true feelings.

"Damn it! I won't be happy even if you praise me." Chopper felt uncomfortable after receiving the praise, wagging his tail which was almost reaching the sky, and pulled him outside.

There will be two more updates later.

Chapter 231 Ain's Threat!

Click! With Chopper's help, Zephyr pushed open the wooden door. Mabi, who was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, glanced at Zephyr's presence. According to her Observation Haki, the other's soul was getting angrier and angrier. Zoro, Sanji, and Mia unconsciously clenched their fists and moved forward to shield their frail companions behind them, ready to intercept them as quickly as possible in the event of a conflict.

"Huff! Your shipwrights are really good! This is that mad scientist's mechanical arm, it requires special tools to open!" Zeffa said, panting heavily as he watched his gray-white mechanical arm lying quietly on the lawn below, being disassembled by Franky.

“Uncle, that’s for sure. Our shipwright is the most skilled shipwright in the world. The ships he builds are meant to sail the entire world and become the Pirate King with us,” Luffy replied, his words filled with an unyielding will that no one could change.

"The Pirate King? What an amazing ambition! This ship must be a treasure to you all." Zephyr roared, his suppressed emotions exploding instantly. He stomped hard on the wooden plank, and the broken pieces of wood, carrying violent force, attacked the crowd that surrounded him. He himself, under the force of the impact, shot towards the gray-white mechanical arm like a cannonball.

A figure appeared before him even faster, its powerful right arm twisting upwards with a twist of the waist, aiming straight at the oncoming, armor-colored hand.

Boom!

The two collided, producing a deafening explosion that created rings of white sonic booms that spread towards the distant sky. Zefa, stranded in the sky with nowhere to gain leverage, was slammed into the sky by Mabi's powerful attack.

Zephyr, who was blasted into the sky, spun around continuously, using the rotation to dissipate the terrifying impact of Mabi's attack. He then stomped his feet again, creating crisp sonic booms as he stabilized himself and remained suspended in the sky.

He looked down at Maggie's young body with lingering fear.

What a terrifying brat! He possesses the strength of an admiral, yet he willingly submits to a pirate.

He slightly raised his head to look at the group of young people behind him who were armed and on guard. Sensing the rising aura through his Observation Haki, a mocking smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

"The Navy has indeed fallen. None of these powerful young people belong to the Navy; they have all become pirates."

Since they've abandoned you, then I will bury you here.

Before he finished speaking, his figure disappeared again and reappeared in front of everyone, his powerful Armament Haki covering his fists as he charged towards Luffy and the others.

Bang!Bang!Bang!

The companions, not understanding what was happening, immediately drew their weapons and slashed at the oncoming Zephyr.

Without backing down, they drew their swords!