The Name of the Beaver-Cat

The two of them weren't lying to him; the moonlight tonight was truly beautiful.

The night sky was dense with stars, a bright moon hung high, casting down a soft, gentle radiance. The surface of the sea shimmered, and one could faintly see the shadows of fish darting through the water.

There was no wind at his ears, no waves before his eyes; it was tranquil and silent.

Aside from the three of them, there were other figures on the deck, mostly fellow marines who had finished dinner and come out for a stroll.

"The journey has been a bit too smooth..." Rosinante leaned against the railing, looking up at the silver moon in the night sky, complaining out of boredom. "We haven't even run into a couple of Sea Kings fighting or anything; it's really dull."

"Not running into them is a good thing." Shiryu sneered. "Sea Prism Stone isn't omnipotent. If a Sea King were to leap out of the water nearby, it would still spot us at a glance, and then we'd be in big trouble."

"What's there to be afraid of? Vice Admiral Kuzan is here anyway, he could easily defeat a Sea King, right?" Rosinante muttered. "And Commodore Gion, though I don't know if she has the strength to handle a Sea King."

"That would depend on the size of the Sea King."

Shiryu was lighting a cigarette again, a sight that made Noah's scalp tingle. He felt that one day, the unit of measurement for this guy's smoking wouldn't be cigarettes or packs, but lighters; he might even die from an explosion of a room full of hoarded lighters.

"If we accidentally capsized the warship, it wouldn't matter for us, but if you sink and drown, don't blame us for not saving you in time."

Rosinante rolled his eyes.

Before becoming a marine, he had already eaten the Silent-Silent Fruit and become a power user. However, in the elite camp, he rarely revealed his ability, and the only ones who knew he was a "landlubber" were his two good friends, Noah and Shiryu.

Of course, Rosinante had another secret that he hadn't even revealed to these two friends...

Perhaps it was because he didn't want to mention the painful memories of the past, or perhaps he didn't want this hard-won friendship to change due to his special status.

In short, in the entire headquarters elite camp, apart from Zephyr, no one knew he was once a Celestial Dragon who lived in Mary Geoise, and no one knew his foster father was Admiral Sengoku; he was a "marine nobleman" through and through.

As a transmigrator, Noah was, of course, an exception, but since Rosinante didn't want to bring it up, he naturally respected his friend's wishes and wouldn't deliberately expose him.

"Hey, what is that?"

Just as the three were chatting idly, a surprised exclamation suddenly came from the railing not far away.

Noah turned his head and saw that the voice belonged to a young female marine with pink hair, whom he remembered was named Carola. She was standing on tiptoe, pointing at the sea in the three o'clock direction, looking as excited as if she had discovered a new continent.

Following the direction she pointed, the three of them widened their eyes, searching the sea surface for a long time, and sure enough, they saw some strange little things...

To be precise, it was a group of small Beaver-Cats. Their furry faces had the same dark circles as raccoons, but their hindquarters had fish-like tails. They were paddling slowly on the sea surface, as if they were on vacation in a swimming pool, looking relaxed and carefree.

"It's Beaver-Cats!"

Rosinante recognized this species and couldn't help but be surprised. "How did they end up in the Calm Belt? Aren't they afraid of being eaten by Sea Kings?"

At the same time, the group of Beaver-Cats discovered the warship drawing closer. They swam to the side of the ship, observing the marines by the railing with curious eyes.

"Oh my god, so cute!"

Many of the girls already had stars in their eyes. The pink-haired marine named Carola, who was still holding an unfinished rice ball, immediately broke it into pieces and tossed them toward the little creatures.

A few Beaver-Cats leaped up, caught all the rice balls, and instead of swallowing them immediately, they used their little paws to divide the rice balls into even smaller pieces, sharing them equally among all their companions.

After eating, they licked their furry paws and, while still floating on the sea, bowed in unison to thank Carola.

"Hahaha, so polite." Rosinante was amused and reached out to greet the Beaver-Cats. "Hey, little guys, come up and play! I'll go get you some food!"

The Beaver-Cats looked at each other, chattered and discussed for a while, and after seemingly reaching a consensus, they jumped out of the water one after another. With astonishing jumping power, they hopped onto the deck and stood in a neat row on the railing.

Up close, these little guys looked even cuter.

Someone went to the cafeteria to get some leftover food, and the female marine soldiers began to coax and lure the little cats into their arms, taking the opportunity to pet them, making the entire deck look like a large cat café.

Noah couldn't resist either; he reached out and stroked the head of the little cat closest to him. The latter looked like it was enjoying it, standing still and even squinting its eyes comfortably.

"This guy seems to be the leader."

Shiryu, standing to the side, seemed to want to reach out too, but eventually held back. With a cold face, he said faintly, "Just now, I saw the other Beaver-Cats dragging a bamboo raft, and this one was lying on it lazily like a king, not swimming at all."

"Is that so?"

Noah looked down and carefully observed his little cat. Compared to the others, it seemed much the same; other than being a bit fatter, he didn't find anything special about it.

"Speaking of which, I've heard rumors that Beaver-Cats have transformation abilities and can briefly turn into the appearance of anything."

Shiryu puffed on his cigarette and glanced at the little fat cat, suddenly saying, "Hey, little thing, can you show us?"

"That's rude." Rosinante, standing nearby, expressed his dissatisfaction. "We haven't even fed them yet; you should say 'please'."

The fat Beaver-Cat finally opened its eyes. It blinked its little eyes, nodded, and suddenly its form shifted. With a "pop," it instantly transformed into a cigarette identical to the one in Shiryu's mouth.

"Whoa!"

Noah was shocked. He picked up the cigarette and squeezed it, finding that it felt no different from a regular cigarette. Just as he was marveling at it, another "pop" sounded, and the cigarette turned back into a Beaver-Cat.

"Chirp chirp!"

The little guy glared at Noah indignantly, as if blaming him for pinching it too hard. Noah felt a bit embarrassed, and just as he was about to apologize, a slender, fair hand suddenly reached out from behind and picked up the Beaver-Cat.

"It really can transform."

A pleasant, soft voice, like a clear spring, rang in Noah's ear. He instinctively turned his head and saw Momousagi's exquisite profile, which was filled with surprise. "I thought the rumors were fake; I didn't realize there was such a magical species."

"Commodore Gion!"

As soon as she appeared, Rosinante and Shiryu could no longer lean on the railing; they stood straight and saluted her.

Noah did the same. After Momousagi waved her hand nonchalantly, signaling them to stand at ease, he asked softly, "Commodore Gion, is this your first time seeing a Beaver-Cat as well?"

"Yes, that's right."

Momousagi nodded with a beaming smile, but after merely glancing at Noah, she turned her attention back to the Beaver-Cat before her and asked curiously, "Hmm... tell me, little one, can you turn into something else? Something harder than a cigarette?"

The chubby Beaver-Cat hung upside down in mid-air, scratching its head in thought, before suddenly going "pop" and transforming into the exact likeness of the Marine headquarters warship.

However, it was miniature in size, only about two palms wide, looking more like an exquisite scale model.

"That's quite impressive."

Momousagi stroked her chin, looking a bit regretful. "It's a pity it's too small. As expected, it still can't compare to the Copy-Copy Fruit users I've seen before..."

Pop!

The light blurred, and the Beaver-Cat reverted to its original form. It looked somewhat anxious, hopping around on the spot as if desperate to prove that it was an extraordinary creature.

After scratching its ears and cheeks for a moment, the little guy's eyes suddenly lit up. It slapped its head, turned toward Momousagi, and extended its small right paw.

"What does this mean?" Momousagi found it amusing, but she still took the furry little hand and gave it a shake. "Is there some other trick that requires holding..."

Before she could finish her sentence, the Beaver-Cat suddenly thrust out its left paw and hooked onto Noah's thumb.

Then, the very next moment.

Amidst the gasps of those around them, Momousagi felt her vision blur, as if everything around her were drifting away, while her body fell uncontrollably backward toward the deck.

And just before she completely lost consciousness, the corner of her eye seemed to catch Noah, on the other side, also collapsing straight to the ground...