The group made a grand procession toward Coral Hill. Seeing the unmistakable spectacle of royal travel, the residents along the way all wisely stepped aside.
In front of the Fish-Man Café, Leno noticed a starfish wearing sunglasses, and his eyes immediately lit up.
Finally ran into someone familiar… uh, a fish! He scooped it up and held it right in front of his face.
"Patrick, is that you?"
"Ah! Help me—!" The starfish he'd grabbed panicked, flailing about. When it finally heard Leno speak, it froze in shock. "T-Thunder God?!"
Why would a big shot like this be here? Catching a glimpse of the figures behind him, the little starfish's body began to tremble uncontrollably.
They were all big shots!
Three princes, a mermaid princess, and Boss Jinbe—people you'd be lucky to see once in a lifetime!
What kind of major event was this, to gather them all here?
This was just terrible luck. He'd only come to the café to relax for a bit!
Seeing how badly the little guy was frightened, Leno quickly spoke up to reassure him.
"Patrick, don't worry. We're just here to hang out."
"Hey, don't just randomly call people by the wrong name! My name is Pappag!"
Held tightly in Leno's hand, the starfish dared not lash out, trembling as he corrected him, hoping the other party would let him go.
He was already thinking about finding an excuse to slip away—being around these people was way too stressful.
Leno seemed to see right through his thoughts. Carrying him along, he strode straight into the café.
Before going in, he even remembered to call out to the green-haired mermaid girl nearby, who had completely frozen in place.
"You're Camie, right? Come on, let's go in together."
"Ah? Y-Yes! Thunder God!"
Startled, Camie shuddered and instinctively bowed deeply.
It never even crossed her mind how such an important person could possibly know her name.
As soon as they stepped inside the café, two rows of young mermaids of various colors bowed in unison.
"Welcome~"
"Mm."
Leno nodded lightly, casually sweeping his gaze across them. They were all very young and beautiful mermaids.
But to someone like Leno, who was used to seeing beauties, it was nothing special. None of them compared to his own crewmates.
Besides, they all had fish tails for their lower bodies—totally unusable! Just eye candy at best.
After taking their seats, Leno introduced the starfish in his hand to Nami and the others.
When they heard that the little starfish was a famous designer—and that buying clothes through him meant discounts—
Nami's eyes instantly lit up. She snatched the starfish away, staring at him with blazing intensity, drool practically dripping from the corner of her mouth.
Already flustered, Pappag went completely stiff, as if he'd been targeted by some terrifying predator.
Before long, the little starfish became something the women passed back and forth at will.
Just as they were discussing where to go shopping next, a tall figure entered through the café's back door.
Leno's hand paused slightly as he lifted his coffee. 'She's here.'
The newcomer was the café's owner, a shark-type fish-man—Shyarly.
She first looked at Leno in surprise, then greeted Jinbe.
"Boss Jinbe, long time no see~"
"Shyarly, it's been a while."
Jinbe smiled faintly. Seeing an old friend clearly put him in a good mood.
Thinking back, they used to hang out together all the time as kids—Arlong and the others were there too.
Who would've thought that in the blink of an eye, everything would change so much.
Arlong was already dead, and Shyarly had grown up so much as well.
Shyarly nodded to the three princes and Shirahoshi before turning her gaze back to Leno.
"My, I never imagined the hero of Fish-Man Island would visit my little shop. What an honor~"
Her mature, magnetic voice rang out as her deep blue eyes curiously studied Leno.
She'd long heard of Leno's deeds—they were thunderous in reputation—and she'd always wanted to meet this legendary figure.
Earlier, when her staff told her that several important people had arrived, she hadn't paid it much mind.
After all these years, what kind of big shots hadn't she seen?
But she never expected… a real big shot had actually shown up!
Looking at the hooded, pipe-smoking mature woman before him, Leno's eyes flickered as he spoke softly.
"Hero is a bit too generous~"
Then he changed the subject.
"Actually, the reason I came today is because I heard that Madam Shyarly's divination skills are extraordinary."
"So I wanted to see them for myself. I wonder if you'd be willing to broaden my horizons?"
As his words fell, the hand holding Shyarly's pipe visibly trembled.
After giving Leno a long, deep look, she turned and headed toward the back door.
At the table, Nami, Robin, and the others all looked at Leno curiously. Divination? Was that stuff really reliable?
At that moment, Pappag—now back in Camie's arms—suddenly spoke up. He first looked at Leno in surprise, then said,
"I never thought even you, Thunder God, knew about Madam Shyarly's divination. You've really come to the right person!"
After a brief pause, he planted his hands on his hips, flashing a big toothy grin.
"Madam Shyarly's divinations have a one-hundred-percent accuracy rate!"
"Seriously?!" Yamato nearly sprayed out his coffee. He didn't quite understand, but being shocked was definitely the right reaction!
Robin and Nami exchanged glances, both visibly stunned. One hundred percent—that was no joke.
Right then, the three princes nodded in agreement, and even Jinbe spoke up.
"That's right. From childhood until now, Shyarly's divinations have never been wrong."
"Seriously?! Anything at all?"
Nami swallowed hard, her eyes spinning as a dazzling light gradually ignited within them.
Robin, seated beside her, had a brief glimmer in her eyes as well—clearly, she had thoughts of her own.
Resting his chin on one hand, Leno quietly watched them discuss.
He already knew everything they were saying. The reason he'd come was simple curiosity.
He wanted to see whether Shyarly's crystal ball could truly predict the fate of a traveler from another world like himself.
Before long, Shyarly returned through the back door, holding a shell in both hands. Inside it lay the crystal ball used for divination.
"You should think carefully. Divination results can be good—or bad."
Pushing the crystal ball toward Leno, Shyarly warned him with concern.
She feared predicting something terrible. If the visitor weren't Leno, she would never have agreed to help.
Leno paid little mind to her warning. After observing the crystal ball for a moment, he asked,
"What do I need to do?"
"You… just place your hand on the crystal ball."
Seeing Leno's resolute attitude, Shyarly swallowed the words on the tip of her tongue and began her divination.
The once-transparent crystal ball slowly began to glow with a purple light under Shyarly's guidance, flashes of brilliance flickering within.
Gradually, everyone noticed that Shyarly's forehead was slick with sweat, her deep blue pupils constantly contracting.
As if shocked by something, she jerked her slightly raised hands back as though electrocuted.
Her trembling lips parted again and again as she muttered under her breath.
"H-How is that possible…?"
"W-What… is that…?"
…
…