"What is Papagu? Is he also a person?"
Chopper looked at the mermaid with a face full of confusion, his round eyes wide.
Camie anxiously looked around, her eyes red-rimmed, on the verge of tears. She said urgently,
"Pappa... Papagu... is not a person... Papagu is a Starfish, a very special Starfish. He can speak and has a very high IQ."
Luffy frowned slightly upon hearing this, asking with a puzzled expression, "A Starfish?"
Usopp's eyes widened, his right eyelid twitching uncontrollably as he exclaimed, "Can speak?!"
Nami's mouth twitched slightly, a bad feeling rising in her heart, "Very high IQ?"
Upon hearing these descriptions, an ominous feeling simultaneously welled up in everyone's hearts.
Robin quietly pointed to the empty chain on the mast, "Where did Orochimaru go...?"
!!!!!!! Oh no!!!!!!!
It was obvious to anyone that the unique Starfish, Papagu, had certainly been taken to Orochimaru's lab.
Just as everyone realized this, Usopp turned out to be the quickest to react.
He flashed by, like an arrow shot from a bow, and sprinted towards Orochimaru's lab on the second floor.
Usopp pulled open the lab door and shouted, "Chotto matte!!! Spare the seafood!!!! Killer move! Snake-Catching Net!!"
At this moment, Orochimaru had just set up his equipment and was about to begin his research on Papagu. Suddenly hearing the shouting, he turned his head, utterly bewildered.
Before he could react, a net flying towards him enveloped him. Caught off guard, Orochimaru was covered by the net, lost his balance, and fell weakly to the ground.
He looked utterly astonished, "No... where did this Sea Stone net come from????"
When Luffy and his crew rushed into the room, they were met with an incredibly bizarre scene.
Orochimaru was trapped in the net, sitting on the ground.
On the operating table, a Starfish wearing a hat was crying pitifully, snot streaming down his face.
His four points were tightly bound with red ropes, the edges of which were firmly nailed to a board, forming a perfect five-pointed star shape.
(Papagu's restraint diagram ->)
To the side, an instrument they had never seen before was particularly striking. Four syringes were fixed on the instrument, their cold, gleaming needles pointed directly at the poor Starfish.
The syringes seemed ready to plunge down at any moment, creating a strong sense of dread.
Camie, who entered later, screamed upon seeing this scene.
"Papagu!!! What happened to you, Papagu!"
Luffy and his crew all covered their faces. Robin carefully moved the instrument away, rescuing the poor Starfish. After all... the Starfish had to be saved... but the equipment couldn't be broken, or the kid might turn dark.
Zoro, who had come down from the crow's nest at some point, carefully exited the lab, carrying the net containing Orochimaru.
After all, there were many fragile things in there, and no one knew if there might be some strange liquid in any of the cups.
On the deck, Luffy bowed very solemnly to Papagu, saying sincerely, "I am truly very sorry!"
Then he turned and roared at Orochimaru, "Orochimaru!! You too! Apologize quickly."
Orochimaru, who had been hoisted back onto the mast, looked utterly wronged and continued to argue, "I just picked up a Starfish... It's not like you haven't eaten Sanji's seafood platter... You all ate plenty of Starfish, so why are you so agitated?"
Hearing Orochimaru's words, Luffy couldn't help but recall the seafood platter Sanji made. He subconsciously looked at Papagu, swallowing his saliva.
Papagu, currently trembling and cowering in the mermaid Camie's arms, looked at Luffy, whose eyes were shining with greed and drool was flowing, and was filled with terror, "Wuwuwu, these people are all devils."
Nami saw Luffy's reaction and instantly turned into a shark-face, furiously punching Luffy on the head and shouting loudly,
"Don't make things worse!!! What is wrong with you two brothers!" The punch made Luffy see stars, and he lay on the ground with a steaming red lump on his head.
Nami turned, fist still raised, and walked over to Orochimaru. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked at Orochimaru with a faint smile.
"Orochimaru... listen carefully... from now on, you can't experiment on anything that can talk, understand?"
Orochimaru was full of reluctance due to Nami's violent coercion, but he could only nod helplessly, muttering softly,
"Understood... won't experiment on anything that can talk."
Nami, however, did not stop there. She stared intently at Orochimaru, her gaze as if it could see through everything. After staring for a long time, she spoke again, adding,
"Not even mute humans... and certainly don't poison them to make them mute before experimenting!"
Orochimaru suddenly wilted like a small cabbage and said nothing.
Nami nodded in satisfaction, then comforted Papagu and Camie.
"I'm really sorry... Orochimaru meant no harm... Um... he's just a bit obsessed with science... yes... obsessed. He just found Papagu quite novel, that's all. We've already educated him... no need to worry."
Sanji handed Papagu a cup of calming black tea. Papagu drank it and regained his composure.
"Although many accidents happened... I still thank you for saving me and Camie."
Camie also nodded.
"Mm-hmm! Thank you very much. Let me reintroduce myself. I'm Camie the mermaid, and this is my pet Papagu, a Starfish, and also my master."
"Master??" Luffy, who had gotten up at some point, kept poking Papagu with his finger... "Yes... Master."
"This guy?"
"Yes."
Papagu suddenly spoke, breaking the awkwardness, "Please take care of me."
Despite the series of chaos, everyone was still curious.
"He really is a talking Starfish," Nami said to Usopp with a sigh.
"He's both a pet and a master, don't you find that strange?"
Usopp and Nami exchanged glances. The big-hearted Starfish suddenly jumped out, holding a guitar, and began to sing.
"I let her keep me. There's a reason for it. Camie always gives me clams."
"Food, huh?" Nami quipped.
Then the Starfish began to sing and play to himself, but no one paid him any mind. Everyone gathered around Camie, listening as she explained that the clothes she was wearing were designed by Papagu, and that his dream was to be a designer.
Papagu, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, slumped dejectedly against the railing.
Luffy looked at that lump of Papagu... and asked curiously,
"By the way, why can you talk?"
Papagu instantly revived and stood up.
"Good question! When I was little, I always thought I was human. By the time I realized I was a Starfish, I could already speak human language.
Motivation is a scary thing. This world still relies on motivation."
Orochimaru nodded in agreement upon hearing this.
Papagu struck another pose.
"Therefore, I am Papagu the Starfish, and also a famous designer of the New World! Thank you for saving me!"
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