498 Starting from One Piece

"Pfft!"

Hawk Eyes couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. He patted Kaito on the shoulder and said,

"Impressive! This isn't the kind of fish an ordinary person can reel in!"

Kaito was speechless. He hadn't expected to hook a blue fat guy while fishing.

Jinbe rolled across the ground once, then bounced up with a grunt. When he saw the group of high-ranking Marines in front of him, his brain instantly shut down.

Aokiji: "Huff… huff…"

Kizaru pinched his glasses and puckered his lips as he said,

"Oh isn't this Jinbe the Sea Knight? You really did reel up a rare species"

Akainu raised an eyebrow, took a drag from his cigar, then slowly exhaled as he said in a deep voice,

"Jinbe, what are you lurking around Marineford for? Don't tell me…"

Jinbe frantically waved his hands and said,

"Please don't misunderstand, Admiral Akainu. I quit being a pirate long ago. I came here to invite the King to Fish-Man Island for a banquet!"

Kaito asked curiously,

"A banquet? What kind of banquet?"

Jinbe swallowed and answered honestly,

"The day after tomorrow is Princess Shirahoshi's sixteenth birthday. King Neptune has prepared a grand birthday banquet for her. Princess Shirahoshi really wants to meet you, so she entrusted me to come to Headquarters to see if you were here. If you are, I am to inform you. All the residents of Fish-Man Island are eagerly awaiting your arrival!"

Kaito nodded after hearing this and said,

"I see. Then I'll make a trip. Oh, right—how is Shirahoshi now? Still crying all the time?"

"No, no, not at all. Since the day you left, Princess Shirahoshi hasn't cried even once!"

"Really? Looks like she's grown up. Not bad at all!"

Taking advantage of the moment, Jinbe also extended the invitation to Garp and the others. The group of bigshots looked at each other. Garp and the rest didn't mind either way, but the three Admirals all turned toward Kaito.

Kaito froze for a moment, then quickly understood—they were asking whether he would approve their leave.

He glanced at Aokiji. The guy perked up the moment he heard "banquet." No one knew whether he had actually been asleep earlier.

Under Kizaru's hopeful little stare, Kaito waved his hand grandly and said,

"You can all take a week off. Go if you want."

Kizaru quietly made a victory-sign gesture. Akainu and Aokiji exchanged a glance, then each turned their head away. Both of them had a faint upward curve at the corners of their mouth—they were clearly a little happy.

Hawk Eyes was naturally invited as well. He agreed without a second thought—he might as well bring Zoro along to broaden his horizons.

Seeing that everyone accepted, Jinbe showed a simple, honest smile. Noticing the fishing gear beside them, he said,

"You're all fishing? I can dive down and catch some for you—guaranteed big, tender ones!"

Zephyr raised a finger and shook it as he said,

"That would spoil the fun. Fishing is about enjoying the process. Fish you catch yourself always taste the best!"

Kizaru rolled his eyes and muttered,

"Tch! Old stubborn man. You've been fishing all day and hardly caught anything. If we rely on you, we'll starve tonight!"

"Borsalino, what are you muttering about?"

"Nothing. I was just saying that teacher is still teacher—able to draw out a whole life lesson even from fishing. As expected, the students benefit greatly~"

"Hmph! Stop that sarcastic tone!"

Akainu: "?"

Stuck between them, Jinbe didn't dare make a sound. That big blue fat guy actually gave off a pitiful, helpless vibe at this moment.

Luffy suddenly leaned over. He poked Jinbe's belly and shouted with stars in his eyes,

"Whoa! Such a huge fish! How big a pot would we need for this?!"

He was clearly starving. He'd been on his way to a feast, only to be dragged off halfway to go fishing. After all that fuss, Luffy was already thinking unclearly.

A huge bead of cold sweat dripped down Jinbe's forehead. He cast a pleading look at Kaito.

This time Kaito didn't need to step in—Ace struck first. He slammed his ancestral fist onto Luffy's head, making Luffy instantly snap back to clarity.

Ace shook his smoking fist and apologized to Jinbe,

"Sorry about that. My little brother's a bit dumb. Please forgive him."

Jinbe nodded blankly. He didn't know these youngsters, but anyone sitting among this crowd of bigshots clearly wasn't ordinary—most likely one of those legendary second-generation elites.

After that little interruption, everyone quickly returned to fishing. With Jinbe acting as a lucky charm, their harvest grew rapidly.

Before long, the freshly caught fish had piled up into a small hill.

Akainu tapped the ashes of his half-finished cigar into the sea. He glanced sideways at Aokiji and forced out a line,

"I win."

Aokiji blinked, taking a moment to react. Then he realized Akainu meant he'd caught more fish.

Looking at the single clownfish in his own basket, Aokiji's lips twitched. He had indeed lost miserably this time.

Akainu picked up a bigheaded fish he caught, deliberately waved it in front of Aokiji, then drew a small knife. With a swift movement, he separated a perfect, intact fish bone.

This display caught Hawk Eyes' interest. He couldn't help saying,

"I didn't expect Admiral Akainu's knife skills to be this good. Did you practice swordsmanship before?"

Akainu nodded. In a good mood today, he spoke more than usual.

"When I first joined the Marines, I studied kendo quite seriously. But swordsmanship really doesn't pair well with my Devil Fruit ability, so I eventually gave it up."

Kizaru, who joined the same year as him, revealed a nostalgic look.

"That's true. Back then, Instructor Zephyr often praised your swordsmanship. Hard to believe so much time has passed…"

But the warm atmosphere didn't last long before Luffy's shout shattered it.

"I'm starving! Can we start eating already?!"

Everyone was actually a bit hungry, so after Luffy's shout, they immediately began preparing. Kizaru flashed away several times and returned with a stack of firewood. He set up two fire pits—one for grilling and one for boiling fish soup.

Akainu walked up and used his fruit ability to ignite the firewood. Sengoku pulled out a large supply of tea drinks from his bag. Aokiji casually created several ice cubes and tossed them in; a few cups of icy cold tea were instantly ready.

The group placed the skewered fish onto the grill, then all took off their shirts. Among them, Kaito and Akainu, both covered in tattoos, were the most eye-catching.

Soon, with the sizzling sound of grilling and bubbling of simmering soup, a mouth-watering aroma spread across the entire shoreline.