Luffy ignored Shirahoshi, who was huddled under the covers, and continued to devour the remaining food.
Finally, he stuffed the last bite of bread into Orochimaru's mouth.
He happily rubbed his stomach, contentedly stood up, and turned to look at the still crying Shirahoshi, his face showing no ripple of emotion.
"I'm full, I'm full! Thanks for the meal!
By the way, you've been stuck here for ten years, you must be getting sick of it, right?" Shirahoshi poked her head out from under the covers, still crying miserably.
Luffy looked at Shirahoshi and grinned.
"Hey! Is there anywhere you want to go?"
Shirahoshi, who was crying, heard this and her tail first wagged excitedly, then drooped in disappointment, her voice becoming weak.
"Of course there are many places I want to go, but..."
Luffy nodded slightly.
"Right... Then let's go out... Let's go for a walk."
Shirahoshi quickly stood up, blocking Luffy who was about to jump down.
"Wait... you can't do that."
Luffy, not understanding, took Orochimaru's hand, who was still chewing bread, and was about to jump off the dining table, but was blocked by Mekaro again. Luffy's expression became a little wronged.
"Why not?"
Then he thought of something and looked serious.
"It's okay, if anything else flies in, I'll knock it away! ✧٩(ˊωˋ*)و✧
And Orochimaru is also very strong, he likes you very much, he won't let you get hurt."
"Mhm..." Orochimaru, with bulging cheeks (from the bread), nodded, agreeing with Luffy's point of view. After all, anyone who praised him was a good child, and he could reluctantly protect her.
Luffy put his hands on his hips, looked at Shirahoshi, and said loudly:
"Then hurry up and get ready, we're going out right away."
Shirahoshi looked shocked and stammered:
"Ah... n-now? But... but... I still..."
"Still what?" Luffy urged, a little impatiently.
Shirahoshi's face was flushed with shyness, and she hesitated to speak:
"It's too sudden, I still... haven't prepared myself mentally. Please give me a little more time."
"It's just going for a walk, why make such a fuss? Fine, then hurry up."
Luffy put his hands on his hips, sighed, then plopped down on the bed, his gaze turning to Orochimaru who was drinking milk.
"Orochimaru... I want some too."
Orochimaru casually threw over a bottle of strawberry milk, and the two brothers sat cross-legged on the bed, slurping milk together, their eyes occasionally glancing at Shirahoshi.
Luffy let out a milk burp and sighed (*¯ㅿ¯*;)
"Sure enough, I still hate you."
꒦ິᯅ꒦ີ...(つᯅ⊂)
Upon hearing this, Shirahoshi instantly burst into tears again.
Luffy looked at Shirahoshi helplessly, just quietly watching her cry.
He would occasionally snatch a few senbei from Orochimaru, as if watching some interesting entertainment show.
The two sat there munching on senbei, making crunching sounds, and occasionally chatted, completely ignoring Shirahoshi.
Luffy: "Oh... new flavor of senbei... where did it come from?"
Orochimaru: "The king's chef in the country I lived in for two years made it. There are many other flavors."
Luffy: "It's a very novel taste. Next time I have a chance, tell him to make more."
Orochimaru paused his senbei eating.
"If there's a chance."
-------- Changing Maps --------
On the other side of Ryugu Palace, Usopp looked at the bound Fishman soldiers and the enormous King Neptune, complaining non-stop to Zoro.
"This is too much!"
Brook also chimed in: "That's right, that's right!! Hurry up and reflect!"
Zoro, carrying Wado Ichimonji, looked at them defiantly: "Huh? What nonsense are you talking about? Didn't you two start this dispute? We're accomplices! Idiots."
Usopp retorted dissatisfiedly, grumbling at Zoro.
"We just wanted to scare them and then run away!
We passed by Fish-Man Island and accidentally took over Ryugu Palace or something ~＜(｀^´)＞
Do you think we're all Orochimaru?! How are we supposed to explain this kind of inexplicable thing!
And did you lose someone!
What if he causes trouble!
And Luffy is gone too!!
One is enough to deal with, but these two brothers are both let loose!
No matter how you look at it, it feels like big trouble is coming!"
Zoro was momentarily speechless by Usopp's words, unable to retort.
Nami also sighed and used her charm to turn a Fishman soldier's face.
"We're really sorry, but we're really in a hurry, so stop teasing us and tell us quickly."
Usopp said seriously, "Yeah! Quickly tell us where Luffy and Orochimaru ran off to!"
"Where's the treasure vault?" Nami's voice fell at the same time as Usopp's.
Usopp instantly roared at Nami with a shark-like face.
"That's enough of you!"
Nami instantly turned around and looked at the group of people pitifully.
✧ऀืົཽ≀ˍ̮ऀืົཽ✧ "Eh... why?"
Usopp was completely unmoved and continued to roar at her.
"What are you trying to be cute for?! Get a grip on the current situation!!"
Brook even provided background music for Usopp's roar.
He was then scolded by Usopp, who turned his head.
"Shut up! Soul King!"
-------- Map Switched Back --------
While the group was making a ruckus over there, Orochimaru was chatting idly with Luffy here.
Shirahoshi, who had been silent, suddenly spoke.
"I'm sorry... I still can't go out."
Luffy felt his patience was running out.
"Why? Didn't you say there were places you wanted to go? As a thank you for the meal, we'll go with you wherever you want to go..."
Shirahoshi looked hesitant, and as she spoke, she started to cry again, not knowing what she had thought of.
"But if I go out without permission, I'll cause trouble for the people in the city.
But if I could... I want to go to the Sea Forest, that's my dream.
But it's dangerous outside, Lord Luffy, can you really take me out? Can you really protect me?"
Luffy confidently patted his chest and looked at Shirahoshi, saying:
"Leave it to me, no problem! Right, Orochimaru?"
"Oh... slurp slurp."
Orochimaru didn't even lift an eyelid, still slurping his milk, and casually handed Luffy another banana-flavored one. It had to be said... the milk Doffy prepared was really delicious.
Luffy paused, took the milk, and started slurping it.
Shirahoshi's eyes were originally moist with emotion, about to cry, but when she saw the two of them, her tears instantly stopped. She felt that these two creatures, who didn't even look at her but only at the milk, were a bit unreliable.
Luffy tilted his head and looked at Shirahoshi, then looked at Mekaro, his eyes lighting up, and he instantly had a good idea.
"But you're so big, if you go out, you'll be too conspicuous, everyone will definitely recognize you right away.
So! I thought of a super great method, hehehe... I'm really smart... slurp."
Mekaro looked at Luffy, who was slurping milk and smiling brightly, and a bad premonition arose in his heart.
-------------------------------
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