(TL/N: I mistyped chapter number. This should be 80 mb xD. Let's just roll with it.)
His heart raced, and his hands trembled.
Tom shakily lifted a glass of juice and gulped it down, then let out a satisfied burp. He clutched his round belly, sprawled out on the ground, smiling with bliss written across his face.
Once again, he had eaten himself into a food coma—so stuffed that his waistline had completely outgrown his height.
A pot of crabs alone wouldn't have done it, but today's sea beast meat tasted so perfect to him that he simply couldn't stop.
"Amazing… you actually ate all that?" Camie poked Tom's side with a stick she'd found somewhere.
"Eh-heh-heh, ohoho…" Tickled by the touch, Tom burst out with silly laughter, making everyone else laugh along with him.
Clearly, the swimming contest with Camie would have to wait.
Since Tom couldn't move, he was left out of the water fight.
Zhang Daye carried him over and placed him on a beach chair so he could watch everyone else play. A cruel fate indeed.
Tom feebly raised his stubby little arm, but could only manage another helpless burp before giving up.
The water gun he had carefully picked out earlier was passed to Camie, who was now having a blast with Rui Mengmeng and Artoria.
Artoria still needed her swim ring to float, her whole look back to being adorably clumsy—her combat power at its absolute lowest.
At first, she was completely outmatched. That was, until Zhang Daye couldn't resist shooting her ahoge with his water gun.
Strangely enough, her hair was usually indestructible—always sticking up whether she had just showered or gotten soaked. But this time, once hit, it drooped flat against her head.
In that instant, her entire aura shifted. Her eyes sharpened, though no one noticed right away because she kept her head lowered.
"A water fight? A fight? War! If it's war, then victory will be mine! Take this!"
"Oh crap, Artoria's competitiveness just switched on!" Zhang Daye shouted, right before getting shot in the forehead.
Though it was just a thin stream of water, it felt like someone had smashed a hammer into his skull. He was sent flipping into the sea.
Rui Meng Meng and Camie, too bold for their own good, kept shooting at her. But Artoria dodged nimbly, retaliating with sharp *piu-piu* blasts that knocked them both squarely on the forehead.
"Ow!" Camie yelped, holding her head.
"Why does it hurt so much when she shoots us?" Rui groaned, rubbing her forehead. "Boss, you okay?"
"It stings, but I'll live. Luckily I'm tougher now—if this were the old me, I'd probably be knocked out cold." Zhang Daye steadied himself, then called out, "Artoria, are you alright?"
"I'm fine. In fact, I feel better than ever! Come at me, all of you!" She spun her water gun dramatically. "Victory will be mine! Haaa!"
Zhang Daye squinted—there was a faint glow of magical energy around her gun. "Something's definitely not right with her!"
"Yeah, I noticed too!" Rui squealed as she scrambled to dodge.
"Artoria-sis is so scary right now!" Camie dove underwater, refusing to surface.
For the next few minutes, the battlefield belonged entirely to Artoria. Only her terrible swimming skills kept her from utterly dominating.
Luckily, she wasn't truly corrupted—just a little too fired up. Once the three of them surrendered in defeat, the great water fight tyrant finally stood down.
Sunlight gleamed off her golden hair, a breeze teased her ahoge back upright, and she basked in the glow of her victory.
Zhang Daye floated past her on the waves, grumbling, "That was overkill, Artoria. It's just a water fight."
Rui sat on the shore fixing her messy hair and added, "Yeah, my head still hurts where you hit me."
"Artoria-sis, you were really scary just now…" Camie said, still shaken.
"Sorry… I got carried away." Realizing she had been yelling things like "Come at me!" and "Is that all you've got?" made her cheeks flush red. How embarrassing.
Nobody blamed her, though they all silently decided never to invite her to competitive games again. A water fight was one thing, but a beach volleyball match? Someone would end up hospitalized.
Zhang Daye, ever the schemer, thought, *Next time, we'll let Tom handle her.* Leaving him out today had been a huge mistake.
As the sun dipped lower, Camie said her goodbyes. "Thank you, everyone. This was the first time I've had so much fun on the surface."
"We had fun too. It was great meeting you," Zhang Daye said with a smile.
"If you ever come to Fishman Island, please let me host you properly!" Camie waved cheerfully in the water.
"We'll definitely visit someday!" Zhang Daye replied. Truthfully, he was very curious about Fishman Island—but without proper safety, he wasn't about to risk it.
"I'll be counting on you then," Artoria said, already dreaming of the sweets she'd heard about there.
"Be careful on your way back! Don't get eaten by another sea beast," Rui warned.
Everyone waved farewell.
Only Tom, now back to normal size, pulled out a white handkerchief and waved it around solemnly, completely out of sync with the mood.
Before she left, Zhang Daye handed Camie a baby Den Den Mushi. "If you ever come again, give us a call. We're friends now, and I don't want you getting tricked by some human trafficker."
To protect it, he even sealed the snail in a bubble.
It wasn't logical at all—the bubble wouldn't pop even ten thousand meters underwater, and the oxygen inside never ran out. It would let someone breathe and swim in the deep sea indefinitely.
That was when Zhang Daye realized his goggles had been a waste of money. If he wanted to dive, all he needed was a bubble.
…
Far away, a shadowy figure watched through a telescope. Their gaze lingered on Tom for a moment, then shifted to Camie's tail.
"A mermaid? Interesting… Looks like this trip might bring me more than I expected."