[Pirate] I! Orochimaru! I will never split! Chapter 103

“What is Pappagu? Is it also a person?”

Chopper was full of doubts, his round eyes looking at the mermaid.

Keimi anxiously looked around, her eyes red-rimmed, on the verge of tears. She spoke urgently, “Pappa… Pappagu… isn’t a person… Pappagu is a starfish, a very special starfish. It can talk and has a very high IQ.”

Luffy frowned upon hearing this, asking in confusion, “A starfish?”

Usopp’s eyes widened, his right eyelid twitching uncontrollably, and he exclaimed, “It can talk??”

Nami’s mouth twitched slightly, a premonition of unease in her heart, “Very high IQ?”

Upon hearing these descriptions, an unpleasant feeling spontaneously arose in everyone’s hearts.

Robin quietly pointed to the empty chain on the mast, “Where did Orochimaru go…”

!!!! Oh no!!!!

It was clear as day, that unique starfish, Pappagu, must have been taken to Orochimaru’s lab.

Just as everyone realized this, Usopp was the quickest to react.

He flashed, like an arrow shot from a bow, sprinting towards Orochimaru’s lab on the second floor.

Usopp pulled open the lab door and shouted, “Chotto matte!!! Hands off my seafood!!!! Deadly! Snake-catching net!!”

At this moment, Orochimaru had just set up his equipment and was about to begin his research on Pappagu. Suddenly hearing the shout, he turned around in a daze.

Before he could react, a net flew towards him, enveloping him. Caught off guard, Orochimaru was covered by the net, lost his balance, and slumped weakly to the ground.

He was filled with astonishment, “No… where did this Seastone net come from????”

When Luffy and his crew rushed into the room, a truly bizarre scene unfolded before them.

Orochimaru was tangled in the net, slumped on the ground.

On the operating table, a starfish wearing a hat was weeping miserably, snot running down its face.

Its four points were tightly bound with red ropes, the ends of the ropes firmly nailed to a board, forming a perfect five-pointed star shape.

(Pappagu restrained illustration →)

Beside it, an instrument they had never seen before was particularly eye-catching. Four syringes were fixed on the instrument, their cold, gleaming needles pointed at the poor starfish.

The syringes looked as if they could plunge down at any moment, creating a strong sense of oppression.

Keimi, who entered later, screamed at the sight.

“Pappagu!!! What happened to you, Pappagu?!”

Luffy and his crew all covered their faces. Robin carefully moved away the instrument and rescued the poor starfish. After all… the starfish had to be saved… but the equipment couldn’t be damaged, or the kid might turn dark.

Zoro had come down from the crow’s nest at some point. He carried the net containing Orochimaru and carefully exited the lab.

After all, there were many fragile things in there, and no one knew if there might be strange liquids in any of the beakers.

On the deck, Luffy bowed very solemnly to Pappagu, speaking sincerely, “I am truly very sorry!”

Then he turned and roared at Orochimaru, “Orochimaru!! You too! Apologize quickly.”

Orochimaru, hanging back on the mast, was full of grievances, still constantly defending himself, “I just picked up a starfish… It’s not like you haven’t eaten Sanji’s seafood medley… You clearly ate a lot of starfish too, why are you so agitated?”

Upon hearing Orochimaru’s words, Luffy’s mind involuntarily conjured up Sanji’s seafood platter. He instinctively looked at Pappagu and swallowed.

Pappagu was currently trembling, huddled in the mermaid Keimi’s arms, watching Luffy stare at him with starry eyes and drooling. His heart was filled with terror, “Waaah, these people are devils.”

Nami saw Luffy’s reaction and instantly turned into a shark face, furiously punching Luffy on the head and shouting,

“Don’t make things worse!! What’s 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 raised her fist, turned, walked over to Orochimaru, narrowed her eyes, and looked at him with a smile.

“Orochimaru… listen carefully… from now on, anything that can talk cannot be researched, understand?”

Orochimaru was unwilling due to Nami’s violent coercion, but he could only nod helplessly, muttering softly,

“Got it… won’t research anything that can talk.”

Nami, however, did not stop there. She stared intently at Orochimaru, her gaze seemingly able to see through everything. After staring for a long time, she spoke again, adding,

“Not even mute humans… and you definitely can’t poison them mute before researching them!”

Orochimaru suddenly wilted like a droopy cabbage, saying nothing.

Nami nodded in satisfaction, then comforted Pappagu and Keimi.

“I’m really sorry… Orochimaru didn’t mean any harm… um… he’s just a bit obsessed with science… yes… obsessed, and he found Pappagu quite novel. We’ve already educated him… no need to worry.”

Sanji handed Pappagu a cup of calming black tea. After drinking it, Pappagu regained his composure.

“Although many unexpected things happened… I still thank you for saving me and Keimi.”

Keimi also nodded along.

“Mm-hmm! Thank you very much. Let me reintroduce myself, I am the mermaid Keimi, and this is my pet Pappagu, who is a starfish and also my master.”

“Master??” Luffy had gotten up at some point and was poking Pappagu repeatedly with his finger.

“Yes… master.”

“This guy?”

“Yes.”

Pappagu suddenly spoke, breaking the awkwardness, “Please take care of me.”

Although there had been a series of chaos, everyone was still curious.

“It really is a talking starfish,” Nami said to Usopp, sighing.

“A pet and a master, don’t you think that’s strange?”

Usopp and Nami exchanged glances. The big-hearted starfish suddenly jumped out, holding a guitar, and began to strum and sing.

“I let her keep me, and there’s a reason for it. Keimi always gives me clams.”

“Feed, huh?” Nami retorted.

Then the starfish began to play and sing to itself, but no one paid attention to him. Everyone gathered around Keimi, listening to her explain that her clothes were designed by Pappagu and that his dream was to be a designer.

Pappagu, seeing that no one was paying attention to him, slumped dejectedly on the railing.

Luffy looked at the blob that was Pappagu… and asked curiously,

“By the way, why can you talk?”

Pappagu 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 terrifying thing. This world still relies on motivation.”

Orochimaru nodded in agreement upon hearing this.

Pappagu struck another pose.

“Therefore, I am Pappagu the starfish, and also a famous designer of the New World! Thank you for saving me!”