After enjoying their thoroughly satisfying meal, Kizaru prepared to make his customary escape without paying—a well-practiced routine that had served him countless times before. Gustave was already positioning himself to intercept this notoriously cunning Admiral, determined that this time the man would absolutely pay for his meal.
However, before Gustave could implement any of his carefully planned countermeasures, a pair of small hands suddenly grabbed onto Kizaru's uniform with desperate determination.
"Boss, our parents have been captured! Can you please help us rescue them?" Shin-chan pleaded, gazing up at Kizaru with enormous, luminous eyes that seemed to shine with pure hope and desperation.
"Yes, Principal, please help us!" Kazama and the other children chimed in unison, gathering around Kizaru and clutching at his pants legs with pitiful expressions. "Our parents have been kidnapped by a group of terrible monkeys!"
Kizaru looked down at these distressed children and felt completely overwhelmed by their earnest appeals. It seemed escape would be significantly more difficult than usual with these small supplicants blocking his path.
Observing Kizaru being surrounded and essentially cornered by the determined children, Gustave couldn't help but think that this might finally be the day when the Admiral met his match. Perhaps he had finally encountered individuals who could effectively restrain this notorious freeloader.
"Alright, alright," Kizaru sighed with resignation, "where exactly are your parents being held? I'll go help you rescue them, okay?"
Seeing these kids consistently addressing him as "boss" and "principal" with such genuine trust and affection, Kizaru ultimately decided to assist them in their rescue mission.
Of course, if he truly intended to save anyone, the first critical step would be determining their precise location. Without that essential information, any rescue attempt would be completely futile.
"I know this! They were captured and taken to the island!" Shin-chan immediately raised his hand enthusiastically, as if he were answering a question in kindergarten class.
Upon hearing Shin-chan's spectacularly unhelpful response, Kizaru slapped his forehead in exasperation. There were countless thousands of islands scattered throughout the ocean—how could he possibly determine which specific island their parents had been taken to based on such vague information?
"You idiot! There are so many islands in the world!" Kazama finally stepped forward to scold Shin-chan with obvious frustration. "If you say something that general, how can the principal possibly know which particular island Mom and Dad were captured on?"
Kizaru found Kazama extremely refreshing and sensible. This intelligent little fellow was infinitely more helpful than the potato-headed boy who had provided such useless directions.
"But, Kazama, do you actually know which island Mom and Dad were taken to?" Shin-chan shot back with his characteristic stubbornness.
"Well, this... this..." Kazama stammered, suddenly realizing that he didn't possess any better information than Shin-chan had provided.
"Wait!" Bo-chan interjected, pointing out what should have been an obvious solution. "We came here through that door that Shin-chan and Kazama opened together. Can't we just go back through that same door?"
"You're absolutely right! We just need to open that door again and we can return!" Kazama exclaimed, having been completely awakened to this simple possibility by Bo-chan's logical observation.
"But how do I open the door now?" Shin-chan wondered aloud, his face scrunched in concentration. "I remember that when I thought about it before, the door just appeared automatically. But now I've been thinking about it for a really long time and nothing's happening."
Shin-chan was desperately attempting to replicate the mental process that had occurred when they first arrived, but unfortunately, his efforts were proving completely unsuccessful.
"Oh! Brother Gustave must know what to do!" Masao suggested with sudden inspiration. "After all, he's the one who opened the Bamboo Staff restaurant, so he definitely has to know how these things work!"
But when the children turned around to seek Gustave's assistance, they discovered that he—who had been smiling behind them just moments earlier—had mysteriously vanished from the dining area entirely.
The truth was that when Gustave had witnessed Shin-chan and the others appealing to Kizaru for help, he had immediately retreated to conduct an urgent conference with Po and Tom. After all, it would represent a serious security breach if Admiral Kizaru learned about the true nature of the Gate of All Worlds. This individual was a high-ranking Marine Admiral and could legitimately be considered a direct representative of the World Government's interests.
Gustave understood all too well the true nature and agenda of the World Government. Therefore, the decision of whether or not to reveal Po's supposed "Devil Fruit ability" to Kizaru required extremely careful consideration and strategic planning.
After extensive discussion and debate, Gustave and his two companions reached the same conclusion they had established previously: they would maintain the cover story that this interdimensional portal represented an ability granted by Po's Devil Fruit. After all, if more guests continued arriving from various universes in the future, this would become a secret that simply couldn't be concealed indefinitely.
Furthermore, Gustave and his team now possessed sufficient individual and collective strength to protect themselves. While they certainly couldn't defeat the entire World Government in direct confrontation, they were no longer weak enough to be easily controlled or manipulated by external forces.
Finally, the three partners reached complete consensus and decided to allow Kizaru to learn about the Gate of All Worlds—naturally, under the carefully maintained pretense that it represented Po's "Devil Fruit ability."
Gustave also believed with reasonable confidence that Kizaru wouldn't betray their trust and friendship. After all, they had been friends for quite some time now. If he betrayed friends who had consistently treated him well, Kizaru would lose considerable reputation.
When Shin-chan and the others were actively searching for Gustave throughout the restaurant, he reappeared suddenly and announced:
"I know exactly where the door you came through is located. It's on the third floor. Follow me and I'll show you."
Upon hearing Gustave's helpful words, the children cheered with obvious relief and excitement. They could finally rescue their beloved parents!
At this opportune moment, baby Himawari also awakened from her peaceful nap. Shin-chan attempted to take his sister away from Chu Zihang's protective embrace, but Himawari stubbornly refused to release her grip on him.
"Himawari, you can't behave like this!" Shin-chan scolded his baby sister when he observed her willful behavior.
"Waaahhh!" After being reprimanded by her brother, Himawari immediately opened her mouth wide and burst into heartbroken tears.
"Oh, please don't cry, Himawari. Your big brother is right here," Chu Zihang said gently, patting the baby's back with soothing motions and speaking in comforting tones.
"Hmph!" Shin-chan became genuinely angry at this development, crossing his arms and turning his head away while deliberately ignoring his crying sister.
"How about this—I'll come along with all of you. That way everything should work out perfectly," Chu Zihang suggested, observing the two siblings who were now angry with each other and hoping to resolve their conflict.
Upon hearing Chu Zihang's generous offer, Himawari gradually stopped her crying and looked up at him with lingering sobs and obvious gratitude. Shin-chan also turned around, bowed formally to Chu Zihang, and said with sincere appreciation:
"Thank you very much, Brother Chu Zihang."
In this manner, Chu Zihang officially joined their rescue expedition team.
As the group was making their way toward the Gate of All Worlds on the upper floor, Luffy and Ace watched the departing rescue party with obvious envy and longing.
"Ace, Luffy, would you two like to come along and see?" Gustave asked after noticing their wistful expressions.
"Really?!" both young men responded with eager nodding.
"Then you should follow!" Gustave replied with an encouraging smile.
"Are you serious?" Luffy wondered if he had somehow misheard this generous offer.
"Absolutely serious! Hurry up and go! As long as Shin-chan and the others formally invite you, you can accompany them on their adventure," Gustave confirmed, affectionately ruffling both Luffy and Ace's hair.
The world they would be visiting this time didn't contain any major dangers, and with Admiral Kizaru providing backup support, it wouldn't present significant risks to allow Luffy and Ace to join the expedition.
"Thank you so much, Uncle Gustave!" both young men expressed their heartfelt gratitude before quickly catching up with Shin-chan and his group to announce their desire to participate in the rescue mission.
Shin-chan and his friends were naturally delighted to accept the addition of these two to their team. With this final arrangement settled, the entire group opened the Gate of All Worlds under the watchful witness of Gustave, Po, and Tom, then stepped through the portal together.
Based on the detailed descriptions provided by Shin-chan and his friends, Gustave recognized that they were currently experiencing events from the theatrical movie "The Storm Called the Jungle." The primary antagonist in this particular story was an individual who possessed the ability to control monkeys and demonstrated reasonably impressive power by ordinary human standards.
However, in the original story, this villain was ultimately defeated through the combined efforts of Shin-chan and Gotarō, the actor who portrayed Action Mask in the movie they had been watching. Even without Admiral Kizaru's overwhelming power, Chu Zihang possessed more than sufficient strength to easily defeat this opponent, so there was truly nothing to worry about.
After passing through the Gate of All Worlds, the rescue party found themselves standing on an island of considerable size, surrounded by dense tropical plant and the sounds of exotic wildlife.
"What an absolutely magical door!" Kizaru couldn't help but express his amazement when he realized that the Bamboo Staff restaurant had been on one side of the portal while this completely different island environment existed on the other side.
"Boss, you seem to have gotten shorter again!" Shin-chan observed with his characteristic bluntness, looking up at Kizaru with obvious confusion.
"Oh, you're right! The principal does seem to have returned to more normal height, although he's still quite tall!" the other children also noticed the dramatic changes in Kizaru's physical stature.
Kizaru had indeed undergone a significant transformation, shrinking from his usual height of over three meters down to approximately 1.9 meters. While still impressively tall, this represented the height range of an ordinary human being. Of course, Gustave remained unaware of these changes since he had already closed the Gate of All Worlds and returned to his restaurant duties.
Just as Kizaru, Chu Zihang, and the group of determined children embarked on their rescue mission, a new guest quietly arrived at the Gate of All Worlds aboard the Bamboo Staff.