Several days passed in the blink of an eye.
Ron felt like he was about to collapse.
The little food they had brought when they set out was completely devoured by Linlin in less than a day.
He thought that was the worst of it. Then, while flying, Linlin suddenly asked him whether the route was right.
Ron: ?????
'No, you bastard, do you even hear what you're saying?!'
If time could turn back, Ron swore he would never team up with Linlin again.
'You think that was the end?'
'No. If you think that, you are terribly mistaken.'
'That bastard Linlin's hunger pangs acted up again.'
"Strawberry cake... where did my strawberry cake go? I can't find you..." Linlin stood on the thundercloud and repeated the same words over and over.
"Mama, you ate the strawberry cake right after we set off," Zeus replied.
Ron sat behind them, looking at Linlin as she stood up. His eyes had lost their light. "Zeus, throw your mom into the sea."
He was genuinely done.
Damn it. They had not even arrived yet, and unexpected accidents were popping up one after another.
And this was the best solution Ron could currently think of for Linlin's hunger pangs.
Once a Devil Fruit user fell into the sea, their entire body would lose strength and they would be unable to fight back.
After Linlin passed out, they could fish her back up.
If there was still a problem when she woke up, throw her back in and repeat the process. Once they landed on the island, they could solve her craving for strawberry cake.
"No," Zeus said with firm resolve. "Mama will die!"
Ron froze for a moment, then laughed in anger. His voice suddenly rose as he cursed, "If you don't throw your mom into the sea, you and your mom are going to die together in a minute!"
Whoosh!
The moment Ron finished speaking, a figure rapidly fell from the thundercloud.
"Good job, Zeus!" Ron gave a thumbs-up in midair.
Yes. Zeus did not throw Linlin into the sea. It turned around and threw Ron off instead.
Brilliant.
Absolutely brilliant.
Well done, Zeus. You little bastard!
Just as he was about to hit the sea, Ron's previously expressionless face instantly twisted ferociously. "You are so dead, Zeus!"
Boom!
The sea exploded in towering waves. An incomparably huge golden Nine-Tailed Fox rose from the surging curtain of water.
Zeus had been flying away at high speed when it suddenly felt wind pressure bearing down from behind. It subconsciously looked back, its eyes nearly popping out of their sockets, then desperately accelerated.
"Mama, hang in there!" Zeus shouted as it flew.
Linlin stood on the thundercloud, her eyes unfocused, still repeating the same words. "Strawberry cake... where's my strawberry cake... I want to eat it... I really want to eat it..."
"Hey, Zeus," Prometheus floated beside Linlin, his tone a little uneasy. "Wasn't it bad to throw Ron down? He's the helper Mama hired."
"Prometheus, did you not hear what he said just now?" Zeus sounded both indignant and wronged. "He said he wanted to throw Mama into the sea! He wanted to kill Mama!"
Napoleon sat quietly on Linlin's head, as if it had observed for a while before slowly speaking. "Whether he wants to kill Mama... I don't know. But I feel like he wants to kill you."
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!
The moment those words fell, three Tailed Beast Bombs came howling after Zeus like three dark-red meteors.
"Zeus! Dodge!" Prometheus shouted.
Zeus reacted quickly, immediately rolling left and right and changing direction at high speed. The Tailed Beast Bombs grazed its edges and exploded violently against the sea.
Boom!
Boom!
Three huge water pillars were blasted out of the ocean. Waves surged into the sky, and even the thundercloud shook several times.
"Everyone, think of something!" Zeus shouted anxiously. "Otherwise Mama really will be killed!"
"Fly higher! Fly higher!" Prometheus immediately proposed.
"What a great idea!" Zeus took a deep breath, and the thundercloud climbed sharply upward.
Boom!
The sea exploded in towering waves once more. The golden Nine-Tailed Fox followed from the water curtain, its enormous body rising like a golden mountain as it chased from below.
"We're doomed!" Prometheus' voice stretched long and sharp.
Before the words finished, a huge golden chakra arm had already reached up from below. Its five fingers spread like a closing net and seized the entire thundercloud in its palm.
Linlin lost her balance and fell straight from the cloud.
Whoosh!
Another chakra arm extended from the golden Nine-Tailed Fox's body and accurately caught the falling Linlin.
But the instant Linlin's fingertips touched the chakra arm, a powerful burst of Haki erupted from her body and shook the arm away.
Ron frowned slightly. He fell silent for a moment, as if making a decision that required no real thought. "Fine. Then go down and cool off."
The golden Nine-Tailed Fox adjusted its direction slightly in midair, and its golden pupils slowly turned toward the thundercloud clenched in its palm.
"Run," Ron's voice sounded from within the golden Nine-Tailed Fox, low and clear. "Go on. Keep running."
Rumble.
At some point, dark clouds had gathered overhead. Lightning flickered in and out between them like a silver dragon turning over.
Crack!
A bolt of lightning descended from the sky and struck the golden Nine-Tailed Fox just as it landed back on the sea.
Electric light exploded across the surface of the golden chakra cloak in a ring of flashing ripples. It failed to cause any real damage, but it did make those golden pupils narrow slightly.
Veins slowly bulged on Ron's forehead.
"Not bad. You little thing, you're really not a coward."
As his voice fell, the chakra arm gripping the thundercloud swung downward violently, like it was hurling a disobedient sack, and smashed the entire cloud into the sea.
Boom!
Sea water exploded into towering waves, white foam scattering in every direction.
The golden Nine-Tailed Fox opened its huge mouth, and a Tailed Beast Bomb slowly began to gather within.
But Ron's gaze lingered on the thundercloud for two seconds. After a pause, he let the nearly formed Tailed Beast Bomb dissipate in the end.
Who knew how long passed.
The sea gradually calmed.
Ron sat on the water with four chakra arms extending from his body. One held Linlin, who had fainted from being soaked in seawater. One gripped Zeus, who had been beaten to the brink of dispersing. The other two held Napoleon and Prometheus separately.
Although the latter two Homies had not participated, Ron did not indulge them. He beat them along the way too.
"Sumimasen, Ron-sama!" Prometheus said.
"Sumimasen, Ron-sama!" Napoleon said.