Poor Tom

"I guarantee I'll complete the mission, Fleet Admiral Sengoku."

Watching Sengoku's retreating back, Lin Qi stretched his arms, took out wool shears and a razor from the box, then slowly approached Goat.

Goat seemed to sense that something was wrong and began pacing around uneasily.

Bzzzz~

Lin Qi switched on the razor and tightly held Goat in place.

With a ripping sound, the fur atop Goat's head was shaved down to the skin, leaving a groove.

Goat felt a chilly breeze on its head and bleated wildly as it struggled fiercely.

"Keep still. I'll be done soon. I guarantee you'll charm all the little nanny goats."

As he spoke, Lin Qi's hands moved even faster.

The shaved areas were completely bare. If it was going to be a bald pate, not a single strand of fur could remain.

The animals in this world were highly intelligent. Not only could they understand speech, some could even talk themselves.

Goat turned back and shot Lin Qi a look that said, "Yeah right, like I'd believe that," then bleated even louder.

"Baa~ Baa... Baa baa baa!!!"

"HAHAHAHA! Sengoku, you old bastard, you aren't doing something unspeakable to your goat, are you? It's crying way too miserably."

The door was kicked open, and Garp swaggered in with an arrogant gait, stuffing Rice Crackers into his mouth from a bag as he walked.

At the same time, Lin Qi finished his final snip.

Goat's entire body was covered in fluffy fur, except for the center of its head, where all the fur was gone. It looked like a balding middle-aged man and was utterly ridiculous.

Goat stood there with tears in its eyes, looking at Garp.

"Pfft—HAHAHAHA! Th-this is killing me."

Garp could not hold it in any longer. Leaning against the door, he burst into laughter so hard that his Rice Crackers fell to the floor and tears streamed from his eyes.

Lin Qi smiled awkwardly and explained, "Fleet Admiral Sengoku told me to help shave its wool."

"HAHAHAHA! That hairstyle—you've got talent, kid."

Whenever Garp saw his old friend's pet's hairstyle, he could not stop laughing until his stomach hurt.

"Senior Garp, you came at the perfect time. Help me see if there are any flaws so I can touch it up."

"Alright, listen to my guidance." Garp eagerly walked over, like an old child.

At first, Garp directed Lin Qi as he cut. Later, perhaps feeling that it was not satisfying enough, Garp simply snatched the tools and started doing it himself.

Lin Qi could not help but sigh. Garp's personality was so much like Luffy's. They truly were grandfather and grandson.

It was already a miracle that a family full of funny men had produced someone like Dragon.

In the end, with the two of them working together, a Punk Goat was born.

"HAHAHAHA! Perfect. I really want to see that old brat Sengoku's face when he sees his goat." Garp laughed as he picked his nose.

As it happened, Sengoku returned after finishing his business.

The moment he opened the door, Sengoku's first reaction was: What the hell was that rare and bizarre beast on the floor?

His second reaction was: Where's my goat?

His third reaction was: That's fucking my goat!

Sengoku's gaze slowly shifted to the scissors in Garp's hand. Veins bulged on his forehead as he gritted out, one word at a time, "Gar! P!"

The Donut in his hand flew toward Garp.

Garp burst out laughing. "Oh no, Sengoku's really mad this time. Let's scram!"

He grabbed Lin Qi and jumped out the window, not forgetting to snatch several Donuts and stuff them into his mouth before fleeing.

After they ran around a corner, Garp stopped and patted Lin Qi on the head. "Don't be afraid. Sengoku's anger will last half an hour at most."

As someone who often stole Sengoku's snacks, Garp knew Sengoku's temper inside and out.

"I'm not afraid. After all, Senior Garp, you're the real culprit. At most, I'm just an accomplice."

Garp's eyes widened. "My fault is my fault. Kid, do you want to come aboard my ship?"

"No, Senior Garp. I still need to build my foundation at the Elite Camp."

Lin Qi thought, With your personality, wouldn't even Great Pirates get taken care of with one punch? How would I have any chance to farm Points?

"Tch. Isn't it just the Six Powers? I can teach you those too." Though he said that, Garp did not press the invitation after Lin Qi refused.

After Garp left, Lin Qi hid in an empty corner and silently said, "Extract reward."

At this moment, in the world of Cat and Mouse.

Tom Cat carried a small bag of luggage on a stick over his shoulder as he trudged dejectedly down the street.

Because he could never catch Mouse, his owner had bought a Robot Cat to replace Tom and driven him out of the house.

Just as Tom was lost and helpless, a system voice sounded in his mind.

Would you like to go to another world? 1. Yes. 2. Very much yes.

Tom Cat's fur instantly stood on end. He shot five meters into the air, hit the ground and flattened into a puddle of cat pancake, then slowly returned to his normal cat shape.

What was that voice? Had he heard wrong?

In exchange, you may make a request.

A sheet of parchment appeared out of thin air in Tom's hands.

Tom's eyes bulged straight out, then snapped back like springs.

It was not an illusion!

As though he had thought of something, Tom fell silent.

After a long while, a line of words slowly appeared on the parchment: Please give Tom an owner, an owner who will not abandon Tom.

In Tom's heart, only a cat with an owner was a house cat.

A cat without an owner was merely a stray cat.

Tom wanted to be a house cat. He did not want to be a stray cat.

The parchment turned to ash and vanished in midair, while a Black Hole appeared from nowhere and sucked Tom Cat inside.

Meanwhile, Lin Qi looked at the British Shorthair that had appeared before him and fell into thought.

Its blue-and-white coloring looked exactly like the Tom Cat he had watched as a child.

"Are you Tom?" Lin Qi asked.

Lin Qi was not worried that Tom would not understand him. After all, this was a cat with extensive work experience.

He had been a sailor in the United States, a royal guard in Britain, a samurai in Japan, gone into space, landed on the moon, served as an assistant to scientists, and more...

Police officer, prison guard, guard, swordsman...

Over his eventful life, Tom had learned countless trades and mastered sixteen languages.

When Tom Cat saw Lin Qi's clothes, he hurriedly gave a military salute and nodded rapidly.

"Amazing. It really is that Tom Cat!" Lin Qi exclaimed joyfully.

Lin Qi crouched down, intending to take a good look, when a stool was handed to him from the side. He took it instinctively. "Thanks."

But in the next moment, Lin Qi realized what had happened and looked at Tom. "Where did you get that stool?"

Tom scratched his head, then pulled another stool out from around the fur near his tail.

"!" Lin Qi swallowed. Both stools were bigger than Tom himself. How had he hidden them in his fur?

Right. The Tom from cartoons would occasionally pull things out too, as if they had appeared from thin air.

"You can store things in your fur?"

Tom Cat nodded.

"How much can you store?"

Tom Cat thought about it. It seemed he did not know how much he had hidden on him either, so he began taking things out one by one.

Shovels, firecrackers, canned food, hammers, Dried Fish, telescopes...

Countless items were pulled out by Tom, piling into a small mountain two meters high.