“Brrrruuu——”
Suddenly, the Den Den Mushi in Garp's pocket buzzed. “Garp! It's me, Up!”
Without hesitation, Garp quickly pulled out the Den Den Mushi and roared into it, “Up, what's going on? I’ve contacted you so many times, but you didn’t respond! Tell me, what's the situation in Fuschia Village right now!”
“Haha, interesting, so interesting!”
Up’s voice, laced with excitement, echoed from the Den Den Mushi. “That young man is a traveler, and all the villagers have gone to the tavern to hear him tell stories of his travels! I joined the crowd too, and I heard a very interesting story!”
Hearing that the villagers hadn't suffered any misfortune and had instead gone to the tavern to hear the traveler’s stories, Garp's tense nerves relaxed.
“Wait, you said the young man… is a traveler?”
“Yes!” Up’s voice was still excited. “This traveler is called Xia Yu, a very warm-hearted young man. I can tell the villagers are very welcoming to his arrival! Of course, what they love most are the stories he tells about his travels.”
“Speaking of which, Garp, you've been on missions across the four seas for so long, do you know about a country called the Three Kingdoms in the West Blue?”
“Three Kingdoms?” Garp was completely dumbfounded. As a Marine Vice Admiral who has roamed the seas for decades, he was intimately familiar with the West Blue, East Blue, South Blue, North Blue, and even the New World.
He knew every influential force in this vast ocean, not just countries, but everything.
However, he had never heard of this place called the Three Kingdoms.
With a hint of doubt, Garp tentatively asked, “Are you sure this country is called… Three Kingdoms?”
“Of course, I’m not sure, but Xia Yu told the story about this Three Kingdoms,” Up briefly retold the Three Kingdoms story he had heard to Garp through the Den Den Mushi.
After listening to Up’s story, Garp's facial muscles twitched violently.
He was certain, absolutely certain that there was no such place as Three Kingdoms in the West Blue, let alone some Nicolas Cao Cao who loved beautiful women and Jerry who loved little girls!
However, purely from the story itself, he inexplicably wanted to learn more!
“Garp, if you could make it back to Fuschia Village now, you might be able to hear some follow-up stories about the Three Kingdoms! All the villagers are gathered at the tavern, and nobody wants to leave. Alright, I won't keep you any longer. Goodbye!”
“One last thing, don’t worry, Fuschia Village is safe!”
Before Garp could respond, Up abruptly ended the call.
Hearing that Fuschia Village was safe, Garp completely relaxed and chuckled to himself.
At that moment, the warship slowly approached the Fuschia Village pier.
“Vice Admiral Garp!”
As the warship neared the pier, a Marine soldier on the deck suddenly widened his eyes, pointing to a large ship not far away, stammering, “Th-that’s the… ship!”
These words made all the Marine soldiers on the deck shift their gazes simultaneously.
On the other side of the pier, quietly docked was the ship that had easily outpaced the warship with only a few Sea Kings pulling it.
On the ship's deck, a Dalmatian dog wearing a top hat and a napkin around its neck sat at a round table.
A bottle of red wine and some delicacies were placed on the table.
Opposite the Dalmatian, a green rabbit shyly looked at the dog, its eyes darting back and forth.
“Cheers!”
Under the watchful eyes of the Marines, the Dalmatian dog raised a round glass half-filled with red wine and gently nodded towards the green rabbit.
The green rabbit didn’t dare be slow, stood up, and held its glass with both hands.
“Delicious!”
The Dalmatian downed its wine in one gulp, then pointed to a plate of steak on the table with the air of a big brother, “Eat!”
The green rabbit quickly lowered its glass, carefully picked up a knife and fork, and began to savor the delicious food.
Just then, the red rabbit walked over, swaggered over to sit between the green rabbit and the Dalmatian, and excitedly placed the brand new canvas shoes it was wearing in front of the green rabbit.
Seeing this, the green rabbit’s eyes instantly lit up, and it kept nodding.
Witnessing this scene, Garp’s curiosity was piqued once more, and he leaped directly from the warship deck, landing steadily beside the red rabbit.
Surprisingly, neither the green rabbit nor the red rabbit, or even the Dalmatian, showed any surprise at Garp’s sudden appearance.
The Dalmatian simply glanced sideways, then elegantly took another sip of its wine.
The green rabbit blinked blankly.
The red rabbit's reaction was the most uneventful; it seemed as if it hadn't noticed Garp, its eyes fixed on its brand new canvas shoes.
“Ahem—”
Seeing that neither the Dalmatian nor the two rabbits reacted much to his arrival, Garp felt a pang of awkwardness, coughed twice, and tentatively said, “Hello, the three of you. You should be able to understand our language, right?”
The dog and the two rabbits continued to ignore Garp; the one drinking wine continued drinking, and the one looking at shoes continued looking at shoes.
Garp wasn’t giving up, continuing to probe, “May I have a look at your ship?”
Finally, the Dalmatian, with a casual glance at Garp, said indifferently, “Feel free.”
Unexpectedly, the Dalmatian dog could actually speak. Garp’s eyes instantly lit up. He could now almost confirm that both this Dalmatian dog and the red rabbit who was completely ignoring him were likely to have eaten the Hito Hito no Mi.
Of course, it was also possible that the mysterious young man who called himself a traveler had fed these three pets the Devil Fruit.
If it were the latter, then this mysterious young man’s background would be no small matter.
After all, even the Marines who constantly patrol the four seas and the Grand Line often encounter a Devil Fruit only once a year or even every two or three years.
Of course, there was another way to quickly obtain a Devil Fruit, which was to go to the black market or issue a high-priced bounty to the black market.
But regardless of the method, Devil Fruits were rare treasures.
Yet this mysterious young man casually gave them to his pets, which was enough to show his extraordinary background.
Although his heart was filled with curiosity, Garp didn’t show it.
With the Dalmatian’s permission, Garp scanned the surroundings before walking straight to the cabin.
As soon as he bent over and entered the cabin, a pair of red canvas shoes on display in a glass cabinet caught his eye.
Before Garp could react, a figure suddenly darted past him from behind.
The next second, the red rabbit stood in front of the glass cabinet, staring at Garp with an air of alertness.
“Huh?”
Sensing the sudden surge of energy from the red rabbit, Garp blinked in confusion, “Those canvas shoes, are they yours?”
The red rabbit didn’t speak, its gaze becoming increasingly sharp.
Seeing this, Garp instantly understood, “Don’t worry, I won’t touch your shoes!”
Then, Garp began to look around the cabin.
The cabin was spacious and well-equipped. There were wine cabinets and bookshelves, a wooden table in the center, and stacks of newspapers on the table.
Some were newspapers from the Marine Headquarters News Department, some were reward posters issued by the World Government, and many more were from various news publications from the civilian world.
Seeing that the red rabbit was standing in front of the glass cabinet, not interfering with him, Garp gradually relaxed, casually picked up a newspaper, walked to the sofa by the window, sat down, and said with a smile, “Rabbit, come over and chat with me. If you can tell me something about the young man on this ship, I’ll give you a pair of canvas shoes, how about that?”
As soon as he said this, the red rabbit’s eyes lit up.
This is a deal!
Seeing the red rabbit’s reaction, Garp narrowed his eyes, and nonchalantly asked, “Can you tell me where you come from?”
The red rabbit didn’t hesitate, pointing to the ceiling.
“Huh?”
Garp’s pupils constricted, “Sky Island?”
The red rabbit first blinked blankly, then shook its head and pointed to the night sky outside the window.
Outside the window, a full moon hung high in the night sky. Moonlight cascaded down, painting the sea surface with poetic beauty.
Garp, oblivious to the beauty of the night sky, widened his eyes and said, “You’re from the Moon?”
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