Hozumi, Nezuko, and Zou!
"Wow----"
"What a huge elephant! It's enormous! Ikoma, look!"
The Mumei —no, it should be Hozumi —was clinging excitedly to Ikoma's arm, her delicate face flushed.
"Yes, the earth is indeed incredible, is that Zou?"
Ikoma, with his grey-green hair, stared in utter shock at the enormous creature on the sea.
The two were currently on an Air Force Flying Warship, and their destination was the Whale Forest on Zou's back.
Originally, that place was the kingdom of the Mink Tribe, but they have moved to the Red Line and are now being transformed into Air Force base by the workers of the Construction Division.
"This will be our home from now on. It really is on the back of an elephant!"
Hozumi looked up at Ikoma, his eyes filled with happiness.
She is no longer 'Nue', but an ordinary human who has been restored to normal using two doses of 'White Blood Plasma', and naturally she has left the CP-Nue team.
However, he did not completely withdraw from the CIPHER POL organization, but continued to serve the World Government as a CP1 member.
The main reason was that the officers at CIPHER POP felt that Hozumi was too young, and that they needed her elsewhere.
That's right.
That place is the colossal elephant 'Zou'!
Ikoma, currently a mid-level researcher at the Academy of Sciences, took a few days off specifically to accompany Hozumi on this visit.
Yeah. It's like a young couple coming to see their new house, one is only thirteen years old, and the other is exactly eighteen.
"Hozumi, you should be more concerned about whether you can control it right now."
Ikoma looked at Zou getting closer and closer and said with some worry.
"It should be fine. I've tried my abilities many times before, and they'll definitely work on any animal!" Hozumi confidently, raising his chin with a smile.
"That would be for the best, otherwise you've become a landlubber for nothing."
In fact, Ikoma had something he didn't say.
That means if Hozumi's abilities fail, her value to the World Government will definitely be greatly reduced, and her future treatment will certainly not be good.
"Ikoma, don't just talk about me, tell us about yourself too. How's it going at that Weapons Research Institute? Has anyone bullied you?"
Hozumi asked softly.
"It's going well. I'm mainly responsible for the modification and development of Jet Bullet. At first, the atmosphere was quite tense, and not many people were willing to talk to me."
Ikoma didn't say much about those unpleasant things.
"But then a guy named Buggy came, and our research institute started to get noisy. Every day we could hear his loud shouts and the explosions from gunpowder experiments."
At this point, a smile appeared on his face. Hozumi, who noticed this, could sense that Ikoma seemed to really like this Buggy.
"Buggy is really funny. He has a round, red nose, but he hates it when people call him Red Nose. Even if the pronunciation of Red Nose is slightly off, he'll hear it as Red Nose and get angry."
"Furthermore, his physique is remarkable. No matter how large the gunpowder explosion, aside from burning some hair, he will not suffer much damage."
Ikoma envies Buggy's physique; if it were him, he'd probably be in a coffin by now, right?
Are you two close?
Hozumi asked curiously, Ikoma nodded and smiled, "It's alright. Buggy was curious after hearing that I'm from Otherworld, so he took the initiative to chat with me."
"He has a great personality and didn't look down on my physical condition or social status, so we became friends as we chatted."
"We also made an agreement that once his 'Buggy Gunpowder' is completed, we'll combine it with my 'Jet Bullet' to create a shell that can penetrate an island in one shot!"
Ikoma started talking non-stop about these things, which made Hozumi secretly happy, thinking, "Ikoma has really found new friends here, that's great!"
At the same time, she also thought of her new friends from Otherworld.
She is Nezuko Kamado from the Demon Slayer World. A few days ago, when she was still in CP-Nue, she learned about the latter's return to human form through Den Den Mushi.
Nezuko is currently living in the Flower Capital of Wano Island, enjoying a peaceful life with her brother.
She heard on the phone that her brother, Tanjiro Kamado, is only fifteen years old this year, so the World Government hasn't assigned him any official position. Instead, he's continuing his Swordsmanship training at the Swordmaster Hall.
Nezuko told her that her happiest moment was cleaning the house and yard assigned to the Kamado family every day, and then making breakfast and dinner for her brother, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, who often came to visit.
When I get bored during the day, I go to the Ubuyashiki Family's estate, where I either learn the tea ceremony from Mrs. Amane or play with the four Ubuyashiki sisters, and occasionally we go sightseeing on Wano Island together.
She also told me to come and visit when I have time, and that I would definitely introduce everyone to her then.
Honestly.
Hozumi often finds his current life unbelievable, not only because he lives in Otherworld, but also because all his friends are from that Otherworld.
You can see, hear, and come into contact with all sorts of amazing things at any time.
Half an hour later.
The Flying Warship docked near Zou's mouth. At this point, the two men fell silent, too terrified to speak.
The sense of awe and the feeling of being close to a giant beast are completely different.
Imagine that less than a hundred meters away from you, there is a towering, dark gray mountain that seems to reach into the clouds, but it is not a mountain; it is a large, living thing that is constantly moving!
Honestly.
Hozumi and Ikoma were so shocked that their hair stood on end and they were frozen in place, unable to move.
Fortunately, at that moment, a gentle voice came from behind.
"Don't be nervous, Zou has a good temperament and won't attack us unprovoked. It'll be feeding time soon, and I'll fly over with you then. Be sure to seize the opportunity to throw the dumpling into its mouth!"
The next moment.
Warm hands rested on their shoulders, and as a ball of bluish-green flame appeared, their bodies gradually relaxed, like pieces of thawing meat.
"Vice Admiral Marco!"
Hozumi and Ikoma turned to look at each other gratefully.
That's right.
The captain of this Flying Warship is none other than Marco, the former First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates, known as the "Phoenix".
However, he is two meters tall.
He had to bend down to meet the couple who were 1.7 meters and 1.5 meters tall, but this made Marco appear even more kind and gentle.
"Hozumi- chan, are you afraid of heights?"
Hozumi shook his head and said firmly, "Don't worry, don't worry, I definitely won't fail!"
Although she is young, she has received education from Biba Amatori since childhood and understands very well what personal value means.
Although she has now escaped the control of the 'Hunters,' she has still been greatly influenced in her thinking, which is why she is far more mature than other girls her age.
In this respect, she was actually better than Ikoma at eighteen, and in her eyes, Ikoma was sometimes quite naive and childish.
"That's really reliable!"
Marco smiled approvingly.
But then Hozumi revealed her mischievous nature.
"Vice Admiral Marco, I've heard that my Millet-Millet Fruit ability is also effective against Zoan users. Would you like to try one?"
As she spoke, she pinched a chubby little ball off her fair and tender face and placed it in her palm, making a joke.
"Stop fooling around, Hozumi!"
Ikoma quickly stopped him, then immediately bowed apologetically to Vice Admiral Marco, saying, "I'm very sorry, please don't take it to heart."
"Hehe." Hozumi softly.
"Uh, hahaha, it's nothing, it's nothing."
Marco stood up, somewhat embarrassed, and touched the tip of his nose. He really didn't dare to eat that dumpling; after all, anything could happen with Paramecia Devil Fruit ability.
"Alright, alright, Zou's about to eat, you can save your dumpling for him~~"