OPTC Chapter 251: Horn-Eaters? Good Thing Tom Doesn't Have Horns… Right?
The target they were chasing suddenly disappeared. The few beasts at the front stopped to look around, but the hundreds behind them didn't bother braking, crashing into their companions and sending them tumbling. The herd thundered past, leaving behind only a cloud of dust and a few unconscious beasts trampled by their own.
Zhang Da Ye quickly untied the rope from the unlucky explorer's neck. He pressed a finger under his nose. Thankfully, he was still breathing.
With a fit of coughing, the explorer opened his eyes. He looked around and realized he was sitting safely on the branches of a tree. Recognizing that these three must have saved him, he said, "Thank you for saving me."
Zhang Da Ye replied, "I should apologize. The way I saved you was a little rough."
The man's face twisted, clearly remembering why he had passed out. "Please don't say that. To have survived something like this is already a blessing. I almost never would have seen my wife and son again."
Oh? A family man? At least he seemed more reliable than Donquixote's family.
Zhang Da Ye asked, "What should we call you?"
"My apologies, I'm Zeoler Gist, a zoology researcher. I came to this island of rare beasts to study its unique wildlife. May I know the names of my benefactors?"
The three introduced themselves, and Zhang Da Ye added, "We're travelers. One of our companions got separated, and we're searching for him."
The mention of a "rare beast island" caught Zhang Da Ye's attention. He remembered a rare beast island in the East Blue with a man stuck in a chest who later befriended Buggy the Clown. But here, in the Grand Line, was there another island by the same name?
"You just said this was a rare beast island?" Zhang Da Ye asked. He glanced at Ye Yan in his reindeer outfit. Rather fitting.
Ye Yan only looked confused.
Zeoler explained, "The island's proper name is Crown Island. You must have seen the underwater volcanic eruption earlier? The steam and smoke surround the island like a crown. This phenomenon appears once every few decades, so it's called Crown Island. But because such sightings are rare and the island houses so many strange creatures, people call it the Island of Rare Beasts."
Ye Yan said, "Seems like we're lucky to witness a sight that happens only once every few decades."
Sure, they saw it. From the sky, no less.
Zhang Da Ye, however, wasn't impressed. He had seen "once-in-a-hundred-years" eclipses, "once-in-four-hundred-years" planetary alignments, and even "once-in-a-thousand-years" beauties on the internet. A mere once-in-a-few-decades phenomenon didn't mean much. But it did confirm this wasn't the same island from the East Blue.
"Then why were you being chased by that herd?" Zhang Da Ye asked.
Zeoler explained, "Those animals are called horn-eaters. They usually only attack animals with horns. The reason they chased me today was because someone was controlling them."
"Controlling animals? Beast taming? Wait—only attacking animals with horns?" Zhang Da Ye glanced at Artoria and Ye Yan. "Did Tom ever take off those antlers?"
Artoria said, "I saw them still on his head when he was flung away."
Ye Yan added, "With his personality, he probably forgot to remove them once he landed."
"No time to waste, we need to find Tom fast!" Zhang Da Ye said. Tom might be fine, but wasting time could mean trouble.
He jumped down from the tree and pulled out a small pouch, taking out Tom's life card. They had made these back in Sabaody, with Rui Meng Meng sewing each into a little pouch. Shark Chili never got one, Ye Yan hadn't been around then, and neither Brook nor Perona had one either. They'd have to fix that next time.
Zeoler, seeing them leap down, quickly warned, "Please be careful! Dangerous people live on this island!"
Zhang Da Ye remembered why Zeoler had been chased. "You mean the one controlling the horn-eaters?"
"Yes. He used to be a colleague of mine. But one day, after reading my notes and comparing them with some legends, he became convinced that this island hides a treasure that can make someone a king."
He hesitated but then continued, "His name is Batra. A very talented zoologist. Since the treasure supposedly relates to animal horns, he developed a way to influence horn-eaters using sound frequencies. He even built a violin that lets him control them, and now he slaughters horned creatures in droves. I tried to stop him, but today he finally had enough—he wanted me dead."
A violin that controls beasts? That sounded more like something Brook would invent. This world really had all kinds of strange geniuses.
As they walked, Zeoler eagerly described the island's bizarre animals: square-shaped rhinos like boulders, deer with tiger stripes, rabbits with pig snouts, and more.
"Some say deep in a cave here lives the King of Beasts—a winged qilin-lion with magnificent golden horns. Like a creature from myth itself. If I could see it once in my life…" Zeoler's eyes shone with longing.
Zhang Da Ye, ever the killjoy, asked, "Can those animals be eaten?"
"What??" Zeoler was shocked. "How could you eat them?"
"Because when you're hungry, you eat. Don't zoologists eat meat? Even if we don't, something on this island's food chain must."
Zeoler shook his head. "It's not that I don't eat meat. But every creature here, even those with fangs and claws, feeds only on plants. They're all herbivores. And they're intelligent too—I suspect they can even understand my words."
Intelligent animals did make it harder to think about eating them. Still, Zhang Da Ye asked, "Even the horn-eaters? They don't eat meat either?"
"They only attack horned creatures. Their diet is grass. If they weren't being controlled, they wouldn't mass-slaughter other animals." Zeoler was clearly angry at Batra's cruelty.
"Then why call them horn-eaters?"
"It's an old misunderstanding. People thought they ate horns. Just like whales are mammals but still called fish. Even though the truth is known now, the name stuck."
Zeoler answered all their questions patiently. He was clearly worried they might hunt the animals, so he tried to discourage them.
…
Back on the Amber, Shark Chili, Rui Meng Meng, Brook, and Perona were staring at a group of strange animals.
A parrot holding a cane squawked, "Who are you people? What are you doing on this island?"
Rui Meng Meng's eyes widened. "That bird spoke! Is this one of the Mink Tribe the boss mentioned?"
Brook laughed. "Yohoho! No, it's a parrot."
Shark Chili frowned. "That's not right. Parrots only mimic sounds. This one isn't repeating—it's speaking."
The parrot said, "It's only human language. Nothing special. Though on this island, only I and Crow Assistant can speak it."
Perona pouted. "This parrot isn't cute at all. But the pig-faced ape it's standing on and that striped ram beside it are adorable. Can I make them into zombies?"
Rui Meng Meng quickly warned, "Perona, if the boss hears you say that, he'll make you copy the elementary school student code of conduct a hundred times."
The three animals recoiled in alarm. The parrot squawked, "I knew it! You humans have ill intentions. Leave this island at once!"
"You misunderstand," Shark Chili explained. "We're just travelers. We only wanted some supplies. One of our companions, a blue cat, got separated. Have you seen him?"
"Cat? An animal as a human's companion? Impossible! You must have captured him. Even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you. Leave this place at once!" the parrot screeched.
Shark Chili sighed. "Communication's going to be difficult."
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