Smoker walked through the restaurant door, delighted with his news, but the scene inside left him dumbfounded.
Aqua was diligently watering a giant bird egg with a watering can, her expression full of anticipation, as if she expected a beautiful flower to bloom any moment;
King, with his incredible strength, was doing strange poses with light dumbbells, looking like he was performing some bizarre fitness routine;
Meowth, with a coin balanced on its forehead, was seriously reassembling a dismantled gun on the floor;
And the restaurant owner, Icey, was casually reading a newspaper and sipping tea.
Seeing the culprits of his headache so relaxed, Smoker’s eye twitched with the urge to arrest the entire crew for attacking a Warlord of the Sea!
All his hard work to mitigate the fallout felt utterly wasted!
And that talking cat, was it really part of the Infinite Dream crew?!
“Hey, Smoker, you’re here! Have a seat,” Icey said, putting down his newspaper and getting up to greet him.
“…You’re just sitting here drinking tea,” Smoker said, his face darkening as smoke wafted from his head.
To anyone else, it might look like his Devil Fruit powers had awakened.
“Oh? Sorry, what would you like to drink? I’ll make it,” Icey said with a smile.
“That’s not the point! Did you even hear me? The Arlong Pirates have split from the Fish-Man Pirates, so you don’t need to worry about retribution from the World Government!”
Smoker’s anger flared as he watched Icey prepare tea. “Green tea, please,” he added.
Hearing this, Icey fetched some green tea leaves, placed them in a pot, and whistled towards Aqua, who was tending the birdcage.
Experienced as she was, Aqua immediately understood and used her fan to create a boiling water stream.
She had mastered This new trick after regaining her powers, using the Divine Fist to generate high temperatures and boil holy water.
Since it couldn’t heat large areas quickly, it was essentially useless in combat.
In short, it was a divine tea-making skill—Aqua always managed to be unexpectedly useful in the most irrelevant ways!
Smoker’s already grim face darkened further.
Having deduced that Aqua was likely a Mythical Zoan Devil Fruit user, he wasn’t too surprised by the spectacle.
But still, boiling water being splashed around was not what he had in mind!
Fortunately, Icey, used to Aqua’s antics, was prepared and used his Observation Haki to appear instantly, catching the hot water in the pot.
“Sorry, she’s still getting used to her powers,” Icey apologized, pouring a steaming cup of tea and handing it to Smoker.
Suppressing his anger, Smoker took a sip, his eyes widening in surprise: “Such a delicate and smooth flavor with a faint aroma, excellent tea! Where did you get this, Icey?”
“It’s just regular tea leaves. If it’s good, it must be the water,” Icey replied, sitting opposite Smoker.
Maybe it was because of the Water Goddess, Aqua’s pure, holy water seemed to have a calming effect, reducing anxiety and stress.
This was also why Aqua’s pure water sold so well in the restaurant.
“I see, water created by a Devil Fruit user,” Smoker said, leaning back in his chair.
It felt so good, this gentle sea breeze on his face, the rare sense of relaxation…
Wait a minute!
“No, I’m here for serious business!”
Dealing with these quirky individuals, Smoker felt his serious demeanor slipping.
Which was not a good sign.
“I know, I know, there’s also the bounty for taking down the Arlong Pirates,” Icey said, rubbing his hands with a miserly grin.
“Bounty? Icey, don’t you fear provoking a Warlord of the Sea? Or did you already know Arlong wasn’t under the Fish-Man Pirates?” Smoker asked, realizing the truth.
“If Arlong was still under the Warlord of the Sea, it wouldn’t matter to me since it was a volcanic eruption that killed him!” Icey said nonchalantly, skillfully diverting the topic.
“That excuse might fool children and those who didn’t witness the battle,” Smoker thought, recalling the erupting magma pillar and the explosion. He looked at Icey with newfound wariness.
With speed akin to the Six Powers’ Shave and a body as tough as Iron Body, dual Haki, and the ability to cause explosions from the ground at will…
Even in the Navy Headquarters, someone like this would be at least at the rank of Captain or Commodore!
Nearby, Aqua, playing with the giant bird egg, looked relieved: luckily, she wasn’t a child.
As Meowth finished reassembling the gun, patting the dust off its paws confidently, Smoker glanced over, intrigued: “So, you have a pet that can talk, a cat that can speak—is it because of a Devil Fruit?”
“I’m not a pet, you moron!” Meowth’s sharp ears caught the comment, and it retorted immediately.
Then a large shadow loomed over, and Aqua picked it up, hugging it to her chest: “That’s right, this little one is also our companion!”
“Let go of me! I’m not a pet!” Meowth struggled, trying to escape Aqua’s embrace.
The scene looked comical from a distance.
“Even a Devil Fruit user can’t just speak human language out of nowhere,” Smoker remarked, curious.
His words caught Aqua’s attention, even King, who was lifting weights in the corner, stopped to listen.
Only Icey, knowing Meowth’s story, remained unfazed.
“Heh, this is a long story,” Meowth said, wriggling free from Aqua, adopting a mysterious expression.
“Never mind, I don’t have that much time,” Smoker said, turning back to Icey, “I have a lot to deal with after handing over the bounty.”
Seeing Smoker dismiss him, Meowth’s rage flared: “This smoke punk, I really want to tear him apart and stuff him in a sardine can!”
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