Chapter 37: Catch That Bird and Stew It!
After wiping out Bellamy and his entire crew, Luo Lin felt much lighter—like he'd just taken a nice post-meal dump.
He glanced at the sky. He'd been out longer than planned. Time to head back.
Slinging his mountain of fruit over his shoulder, he strolled out of the bar.
The crowd that had gathered outside instantly scattered like startled pigeons.
From the moment he'd kicked Bellamy through the wall, half the street had shown up to watch the show. They'd witnessed the whole one-sided massacre.
Now, as he emerged, everyone held their breath, terrified he might decide they were next.
Only after he'd walked far away did they finally dare to speak.
"…Is that guy a monster? That was Hyena Bellamy's crew! He took them apart like it was nothing!"
"And so casually!"
"Shut up! Want to die?! What if he comes back?!"
Mock Town was a pirate paradise—dead bodies were Tuesday. The crowd dispersed quickly and went back to their own business.
(Previous bar owner's "nobody ever died here" claim was strictly about his own bar.)
Not long after leaving, Luo Lin's stomach let out a thunderous growl.
"Ugh~ starving! Shopping with Robin-baby really takes it out of you. Gotta eat first—then bring something back for her! They won't mind!"
He randomly picked a restaurant, ordered a mountain of food, and tore into it like a starving beast.
The owner watched in silent awe at the carnage.
Mid-meal, Luo Lin suddenly remembered something important.
He wolfed down a few more bites, swallowed, and pulled over his fruit pile.
The top layer was soft stuff—strawberries, mangoes, bananas.
He unwrapped it—and there it was.
One very special "strawberry."
Same size as the others, but bright yellow with swirling spiral patterns.
A Devil Fruit.
The moment he saw it, Luo Lin grinned like a kid on Christmas.
Besides venting anger, today's slaughter had been an experiment.
He vaguely remembered: when a Devil Fruit user dies, their power doesn't vanish—it respawns nearby as the exact same fruit.
"Hehehe—jackpot!"
He pocketed the fruit and happily resumed demolishing the menu.
Fifty bowls of rice later, he let out a satisfied burp, picked his teeth, paid, and sauntered toward the harbor.
Humming a cheerful tune the whole way.
Back at the docks, Nami and the others were waiting—and fuming.
"LUO! LIN!"
"Hm? Wuzzup?"
"Do you have any idea how long we've been waiting?! Where the hell did you go?! Weren't you with Robin-nee? She came back ages ago!"
Nami's chest heaved dramatically with every word.
Sanji nearly fainted from nosebleed.
"Angry Nami-swan is gorgeous too~"
"Oh, I went fruit shopping. Then grabbed dinner."
He answered honestly.
"You have the nerve to say that so calmly?! I'm gonna kill you!"
"Calm down—here, for you."
He casually tossed the Devil Fruit at her.
The big "strawberry" bounced off her chest and into her hands.
"What the—? A strawberry? It's weirdly shaped and colored…"
Nami examined it, confused.
"You've been at sea this long, met tons of Devil Fruit users, and you've never seen one?"
"Wait—this is a Devil Fruit?!"
Her jaw dropped.
Everyone crowded around to stare—most of the crew had either eaten theirs accidentally and forgotten the appearance, or had never seen a real one.
(Luffy remembered perfectly—he'd been mad at Shanks when he ate his—but he still wanted a closer look.)
"So this is a Devil Fruit? Kinda ugly!"
"Those swirls look creepy!"
Nami's focus was different.
She grabbed Luo Lin's sleeve.
"Where'd you get this?! I hear they're worth a fortune!"
"Found it on the ground. And yeah—every single one is worth at least 100 million beli."
"RED BEAN MUD?!"
Nami's eyes turned into beli signs.
"Of course it's real. Why would I lie?"
"Luo Lin onii-chan♡ Are you full? Did you have fun? Want Sanji to cook you more? Or go play a bit longer? Don't worry, I'll make them wait! If Robin-nee gets mad, leave it to me♪"
Luo Lin: …
I liked you better when you were being a tsundere. Go back.
"Uh… no thanks. I'm gonna find Robin-baby."
"Okay, Luo Lin onii-chan~ Hurry along!"
Nami's smile was pure sugar.
Luo Lin rolled his eyes and bolted back to the Devil.
He leaped aboard, slid up to Robin, and proudly presented the takeout like a treasure.
Nami turned around to order departure—Robin had already shared the Skypiea clues. First stop: find the dreamer Montblanc Cricket.
She turned—and caught everyone staring at the Devil Fruit now hidden in her cleavage.
She clutched it protectively.
"Hands off! This fruit is MINE! Nobody touch it! Now set sail!"
"Tch, stingy."
"What was that?"
"N-Nothing!"
…
As the genius navigator, Nami's word was law on sailing matters (except when Luffy randomly picked the next island).
Half an hour later, they reached the other side of Jaya and spotted… a castle!
Only to discover it was a painted wooden board.
The actual house behind it was tiny by comparison.
Two gorilla-looking guys were sitting on the ground, worriedly watching a man lying unconscious.
One of them was the ape-man pirate captain from earlier!
"Hey! What's wrong?"
"Doctor! Do you have a doctor?! Our boss is sick!"
The two ape bros looked like they'd seen salvation and frantically waved the Straw Hats over.
"Nani?! A patient?! Doctor—oh, that's me!"
Chopper instantly went full doctor mode, grabbed his kit, and rushed in.
…
Diagnosis: decompression sickness from long-term diving without proper decompression.
Chopper treated him immediately.
Outside, Luffy was having the time of his life chatting with the ape bros—laughing like old friends.
Zoro was napping somewhere.
Just as they were deep in conversation—
"LUFFY! The old man's awake!"
Everyone crammed into the tiny house (the ape bros kept getting stuck in the doorway together).
Out of gratitude for saving his life, Montblanc Cricket—though embarrassed—explained everything he knew and handed Nami a 400-year-old logbook from the "great liar" Noland.
Nami read the important parts aloud. It mentioned Skypiea.
Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper immediately started dancing.
It was written by a real person—proof enough for them.
Still, even if the island existed, how do you reach an island in the sky?
Cricket smiled at their disappointed faces and shared everything he'd discovered over the years, plus his own theories.
Usopp questioned him a few times, but Cricket didn't mind.
On an island where dreams were mocked, meeting a bunch of dream-chasing idiots made him happy.
He was one too.
Usopp sincerely apologized. Cricket accepted with a grin and invited them to a banquet that night.
Obviously, no objections.
…
Night fell.
The Straw Hats were partying hard at Cricket's place.
Luo Lin and Robin skipped—Luo Lin had already demolished 50 portions earlier and brought Robin a huge takeout bag.
They weren't hungry.
Right now, Luo Lin was on the Devil, discussing a multi-billion beli "project" with Robin.
Light caresses, slow teasing, candle-lit boat rocking gently on the waves—fish and water in perfect harmony, heading straight to Mount Wu… (you get the idea).
Some time later—
Luo Lin held a sleeping Robin (curled up like a kitten) and stared at the ceiling.
Skypiea was next. Which meant the Thunder-Thunder Fruit was finally within reach.
But that garbage system…
Ten years of "upgrading" and still not done?! Useless piece of—
If he could still see the panel, he'd have forgotten it existed.
Speaking of which, he glanced at his status.
Host: Portgas D. Luo Lin Age: 30 Swordsmanship: Great Swordsman Haki: Armament (Advanced), Observation (Advanced), Conqueror's (Advanced) Rokushiki: Mastered
In the first few years after the system went into "upgrade mode," he'd actually trained hard—brought the remaining two Haki to advanced, learned Ryuo, future sight, and even Conqueror's coating from Rayleigh.
After that? Total salted fish.
Training or not, nothing changed. And once he finally got Robin all to himself? Went full degenerate.
Used to train every few days. Now every minute was spent plotting new ways to tease Robin. (Beast!)
Outside of real fights, he barely swung a sword once a month.
If not for the system skills being permanent, his swordsmanship would've dropped back to Swordsman level.
Current strength: could fight an Admiral or Yonko one-on-one and at least not lose. Give him a good fruit and it's a guaranteed win.
"When the hell is this stupid bird system gonna finish upgrading? And once it does—what do I even need it for?"
He sighed.
"Chirp-wooo~"
"Huh? What was that?"
A strange, rough call—like someone trying to whisper through a megaphone using chest resonance.
"Someone messing around?"
Then it hit him.
"Wait—don't tell me someone was listening while we were…?! No no, Observation Haki didn't pick up anything!"
Whatever. Better check.
Whoever dared eavesdrop was getting silenced.
Reluctantly pulling his hand from the big white bunny, he kissed Robin's forehead, got dressed, grabbed his sword, and stormed out with murderous intent.
Outside, the moon was bright.
Luffy's signature machine-gun laughter echoed from the house next door.
Luo Lin ignored it, stepped onto the deck, and unleashed Observation Haki—blanketing half the island.
(If he stood in the center, he could cover the whole thing.)
The moment he did, Usopp in the next room shivered violently but thought it was just cold.
Nothing unusual.
"Weird… maybe farther? Into the forest!"
He headed deeper.
He walked until his Haki nearly covered the entire island—still nothing.
"Just my imagination? No, definitely heard it. Maybe something from the sea…"
Right as he retracted his Haki to leave—
"Chirp-wooo~"
Much closer this time.
Luo Lin: ???
"You sneaky bastard! The second I drop my Haki you show up?! You're mine!"
Good thing it was close—he still sensed the direction.
He blasted off.
One minute later.
"Chirp-wooo~"
Luo Lin: …
What the hell is this thing?
Perched on a thick tree trunk was the ugliest bird he'd ever seen.
Kinda like a helmeted hornbill from Earth—but with no neck.
Its head was almost as big as its body. Two bumps on top, a fish-tail-like crest at the back—looked like someone had carved it out of wood.
"Chirp… chirp chirp…"
It noticed him staring and let out more ugly chirps.
Luo Lin: …
Whatever it is, it's coming with me.
Catch first, ask questions later. If Robin doesn't recognize it—we're having ugly bird soup tonight to help her recover!
He leaped.
The bird sensed danger and tried to fly.
Too slow.
Luo Lin already knew exactly where it was going.
One grab—he had it.
It flapped like crazy.
One massive slap to the oversized head.
Silence.
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