"Pfft!"
Hawk Eyes couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. He patted Senga on the shoulder and said,
"Amazing! This fish isn't something just anyone can catch!"
Senga was speechless; he never expected to catch a blue robot cat while fishing.
Jinbe rolled on the ground, then sprang up with a whoosh. When he saw the group of high-ranking naval officers in front of him, his brain immediately went blank.
Aokiji: "Whoosh whoosh whoosh..."
Kizaru, pinching his glasses and pouting, said...
"Oh~ isn't that Jinbe, the Knight of the Sea? He really did catch a rare species."
Akainu raised an eyebrow, took a puff of his cigar, and slowly exhaled, saying in a deep voice,
"Jinbe, what are you doing loitering around Marineford? Could it be...?"
Jinbe quickly waved his hand and said,
"Please don't misunderstand, Admiral Akainu. I stopped being a pirate a long time ago. I'm here to invite the King to a banquet on Fish-Man Island!"
Senga asked curiously,
"Attending a banquet? What kind of banquet?"
Jinbe swallowed hard and answered honestly.
"Princess Shirahoshi's sixteenth birthday is the day after tomorrow. His Majesty Neptune has prepared a grand birthday banquet for her. Princess Shirahoshi very much wants to see you, so she asked me to come to headquarters to see if you are there. If you are, she wanted to let you know that all the residents of Fish-Man Island are eagerly awaiting your arrival!"
Senga nodded after hearing this and said,
"Oh, I see. Well then, I'll go there. By the way, how is Shirahoshi doing? Is she still crying so much?"
"No, no, Princess Shirahoshi hasn't cried since the day you left!"
"Really? Then it seems she's really grown up. Not bad, not bad!"
Taking this opportunity, Jinbe also extended an invitation to Garp and the others. The group of big shots looked at each other, while Garp and the others didn't seem to care. The Three Admirals all looked at Senga.
Senga was taken aback for a moment, then quickly realized that she wanted to know if he could grant her leave.
He glanced at Aokiji; the guy woke up as soon as he heard about the banquet, and he wondered if Aokiji had actually been asleep.
Seeing the expectant look in Kizaru's eyes, Senga waved his hand and said...
"You're given a week off. Go if you want!"
Kizaru silently gave a peace sign. Akainu and Aokiji exchanged a glance, then turned their heads away, both with Kakuzu, looking rather happy.
Hawk Eyes was naturally invited as well, and he agreed without hesitation, thinking of it as taking Zoro to broaden his horizons.
When Jinbei saw that everyone had agreed to come down, a simple and honest smile appeared on his face. He noticed the fishing gear next to everyone and said,
"Are you all fishing? I can go into the sea and catch some for you, I guarantee they'll all be big and tender!"
Zephyr held up a finger and shook it, saying,
"That wouldn't be fun. Fishing is about enjoying the process, and the fish you catch yourself taste the best!"
Kizaru rolled his eyes and muttered something.
"Tch! You old fogey! I've been fishing all day and you haven't caught many. If we were counting on you, we'd be starving today!"
"Borsalino, what are you muttering about?"
"It's nothing. I just mean, a teacher is a teacher after all. Even fishing can be turned into a profound lesson, and the students benefited a lot from listening!"
"Hmph! Stop with your sarcastic remarks, you can't expect anything good to come out of a monkey's mouth!"
Akainu: "?"
Jinbe was caught in the middle, not daring to utter a sound. This huge blue robot cat looked weak and helpless at that moment.
Luffy suddenly leaned over, poked Jinbe's belly, and shouted with stars in his eyes,
Wow! What a huge fish! How big of a pot will we need?!
He was clearly starving. He was originally going to have a big meal, but he was tricked into fishing here. After all this, Luffy is a bit out of his mind.
A Jinbe bead of cold sweat trickled down Senga's forehead as he looked at Chiga for help.
This time, without Senga even needing to make a move, Ace struck first, landing a ancestral punch on Luffy's forehead, instantly Luffy back to his senses.
Ace shook his smoking fist and said apologetically to Jinbe,
"I'm so sorry, my younger brother is a bit slow-witted, please forgive him!"
Jinbe nodded blankly. Although he didn't know Luffy and the other juniors, those who could sit with such a group of big shots were obviously not ordinary people, and were most likely the legendary second generation.
After this little incident, everyone quickly got back to fishing, and with Jinbe as their lucky charm, their catch increased.
Soon, the fish caught had piled up into a small mountain.
Akainu burned his half-finished cigar to ashes and scattered them into the sea. He glanced sideways at Aokiji and uttered a sentence.
"I won!"
Aokiji was stunned for a moment before realizing that Akainu meant he had caught more fish than him.
Aokiji glanced at the clownfish in his basket, his lips twitching slightly. This time, he had truly lost completely.
Akainu picked up a bighead carp he had caught, deliberately waved it in front of Aokiji, then took out a small knife and, with a swift stroke, separated the fish into a complete skeleton.
This move piqued Hawk Eyes's interest, and he couldn't help but say...
"I didn't expect Admiral Akainu to have such good swordsmanship. Did he practice swordsmanship before?"
Akainu nodded; he was in a good mood today and was a little more talkative.
"When I first joined the Navy, I did study swordsmanship, but it just didn't suit my Devil Fruit ability, so I eventually gave it up."
Kizaru and Akainu were in the same year, a nostalgic look appearing on his face as he spoke.
"Indeed, Teacher Zephyr used to praise your swordsmanship quite often back then. It's been so long!"
Aokiji pulled out a blade of grass from somewhere and put it in his mouth. He rested his chin on his hand and listened with great interest as the two senior students reminisced about the past.
However, this warm atmosphere didn't last long before it was broken by Luffy's shout.
"I'm starving! Can you please hurry up and serve the food?!"
Everyone was indeed a bit hungry, and upon hearing Luffy's shout, they immediately began to prepare. Kizaru quickly brought over a pile of firewood, setting up two fires, one for grilling and the other for stewing fish soup.
Akainu stepped forward and used his Devil Fruit ability to light the firewood. Sengoku took out a large amount of tea from his bag, and Aokiji casually put in a few ice cubes. Several cups of chilled tea were thus prepared.
Everyone placed the skewered fish on the barbecue grill, and then took off their shirts, with Senga and Akainu, who had tattoos, being the most conspicuous.
Soon, with the sizzling sound of barbecue and the bubbling sound of stew, an enticing aroma filled the entire riverbank.