"The cat talked!" Rosinante's eyes popped out of his head as he exclaimed with an exaggerated expression.
Law peeked out from behind Rosinante. He was stunned for a moment, staring at the talking kitten. "It's so cute!" he whispered.
A cat speaking was a shock to all four of them, especially since, in many cultures, a black cat represents bad luck.
Gladius frowned. "Who are you? Are you a Devil Fruit user?" he asked, sounding unsure.
The black cat was incredibly small, only about the size of a human head. Normally, a human who eats a Zoan-type Devil Fruit gets bigger, not smaller, unless it's a special Mythical Zoan.
"If you give me a few cans of fish, I'll tell you, meow~" The kitten tilted its head, its round, emerald-green, amber vertical pupils wide as it gazed at Gladius expectantly.
"I can give you a hundred cans of fish, as long as you don't protect them!" Gladius said gravely, not wanting to fight the strange cat. His tone was wary.
Buffalo looked on in astonishment, his eyes wide as he glanced at Gladius.
When the cat heard Gladius's offer, it lowered its head dejectedly, licking its right paw. "I can't accept that condition. How about something else, meow?"
"How about a thousand cans? Or you can come with me, and I'll give you a lifetime supply of fish cans!" Gladius pressed on, upping the ante. It was the first time he'd ever bribed a cat, and he felt a little bit of shame.
The cat lifted its head and looked at Gladius as if he were an idiot. It leaped down from the rock and nimbly walked over to Rosinante. "You two two-legged creatures need to hurry up. I don't want to be here waiting for Cross to get back while you still haven't boarded the ship yet!"
At that moment, Buffalo looked like he'd seen a ghost. He was in utter disbelief. "It…it…it has two tails... Damn it, am I seeing things?!" he stammered.
Rosinante and Law looked equally shocked, their expressions frozen as they stared at the two tails on the cat's body.
"Are you sent by Commodore Cross?" Corazon cautiously asked, examining the two-tailed kitten.
"My name is Bastet. Cross gave me the name. He said that in the world of you two-legged creatures, every one of you has a name to represent yourself, so you can call me Bastet!" the cat, now identified as Bastet, replied.
Gladius's face darkened. He muttered under his breath, "Damn it, I guess we'll have to fight after all!"
Gladius's words snapped Buffalo out of his daze. He rubbed his eyes and said, still bewildered, "If I'm not mistaken, there are no two-tailed cats in this world that can talk, right, Gladius?"
"It called us two-legged creatures... which means it's not a human; it's most likely a cat!" Gladius mused for a moment, then began his analysis. "And, it's a cat that ate a Devil Fruit! I noticed it had two tails from the start, and if you look closely when it speaks, its teeth are serrated on both sides. Even its eyes are far more beautiful than a regular cat's, like a pair of flawless emeralds. If I'm not mistaken, those features belong to the mythical Cat Demon—the Nekomata!"
"Nekomata..." Buffalo was stunned, then his expression turned to one of unconcealed envy and jealousy. "Are you telling me this black cat ate a Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Nekomata, a Mythical Zoan?!"
Now he understood why Gladius didn't attack right away and instead resorted to the absurd act of bribing a cat with canned fish. Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruits are even rarer than Logia-type ones and signify immense power. Even if the user is a cat, they absolutely cannot be underestimated.
What's more, the person who "owned" this cat was Amphitrite Cross, that monster. And since he sent this cat to protect Law and Rosinante, its strength must be considerable.
Even though Buffalo understood, he was still consumed with jealousy. A Mythical Zoan-type Devil Fruit! And a cat got to eat it... Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!
"Be careful. That monster sending a cat has to have a reason!" Gladius leaned in closer to Buffalo and whispered a warning. "Besides, the name Bastet comes from the mythological Cat Goddess Bastet, whose counterpart is the Lion Goddess Sekhmet. Both were once war goddesses!"
Buffalo tensed up, staring unblinkingly at Bastet. It was true. Using a cat as a bodyguard—either you're a fool, or you have a reason for it, and that reason is power!
Gladius wasn't the only one who realized Bastet's extraordinary nature. Rosinante had the same thought. While he didn't understand why Cross's subordinate was a cat, that didn't stop him from trusting Cross.
"I'm sorry we're moving so slowly; we're both injured. When we get back to Marineford, I promise to buy you tons of fish cans—any flavor you want!" Rosinante smiled, deliberately trying to flatter it.
"Good, you're a smart one. I'll take two hundred cans, meow!" Bastet's voice was full of joy, and its two fluffy black tails swished back and forth behind it.
"Now!" Gladius noticed that Bastet's back was turned to him as it spoke with Corazon. He yelled, raised his pistol, and aimed it straight at Bastet.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Gladius wasn't underestimating his opponent in the slightest. He pulled the trigger without hesitation and kept firing. The gun barrel blazed as one lead bullet after another shot out at an incredible speed, too fast for the naked eye to see.
The next second, Gladius saw Bastet turn around, extend its small paw, and, with its pink, padded toe beans visible, casually batted away all the lead bullets, which fell harmlessly to the snow in front of it.
When the gunshots rang out, Rosinante's heart leaped. Without a second thought, he pulled Law to duck. But after only a few steps, he realized no bullets were flying toward them.
"Toppu: Matasaburo!" Just then, Buffalo leaped into the air, his head-turned propeller spinning at high speed, creating a powerful, high-pressure windstorm below. The blast of wind roared, blowing away the falling snowflakes and a large pile of snow on the ground.
"What?!" Rosinante's face went pale with shock. Before he could react, he saw Bastet vanish, and he and Law were sent flying by the fierce gale.
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