Chapter 008 – Kalifa and Zanbai [New Technique – Please Add to Favorites, Please Give Flowers]
Ignoring Franky and Iceburg, those two guys who kept ignoring Master Tom and came to freeload books from his place every day, James had already figured it out—who cares what happens in the future? As friends, if they can enjoy the present, isn't that enough?
So James lived a leisurely life where clothes came to hand and meals to his mouth. The only thing he had to do was constantly draw drafts for Claymore and ensure that at least one single-volume book was published every month. Very quickly, Claymore had reached its 10th volume.
Another year was almost over!
Seeing the weather turning colder, James was glad his home was near Locke Street, not far from the city hall boulevard. Otherwise, given Water 7's habit of flooding once a year, if his house was on the outer edge of the island, he'd waste a lot of time every year moving and repairing it. The tides of Water 7 weren't as merciless as the one when Luffy later came; at worst, half the coastline would be submerged, and within half a month the water would recede.
And during the flooding season came the mating days of Water 7's unique transport mounts—"Bulls," the sea beasts Luffy and his crew once rode through the city canals. The "Bulls" would give birth to calves during the flood, nurse them until weaning, and then, when the waters receded, resume work for the new year while the young were raised in captivity.
Once the water receded, it was time for Water 7's annual Masked Carnival. Sometimes, if the tides were late, people would hold it earlier. Locals would wear all kinds of masks, roam the streets freely chatting and mingling. James found it boring, so he skipped last year's carnival.
This year, Franky and Iceburg forcibly dragged him out, saying it was a once-a-year festival and he couldn't just stay at home—they had to join the whole city in the fun!
Fine. Following the two gluttons, James finally found a stall selling "Water Meat." Eating the fresh and tender Water Meat made the trip worth it—life felt full of sunshine.
After eating their fill, the group wandered the streets.
Before long, Franky returned with several masks. James's face darkened—Franky had an iron knight's steel helmet mask, Iceburg had an elegant upper-class gentleman's butterfly-eye mask… and James? A Doraemon mask. Was this supposed to be an insult?
Seeing James about to get angry, Franky quickly explained: "I thought it was your own work, so you'd like it. I barely managed to grab the last one…"
Fine. It was the Masked Carnival—nobody knew who was who under the masks. James put on the silly blue cat mask and followed the two flashy mask-wearers, lamenting his poor choice of friends.
As they walked, James suddenly felt someone tug at him. Looking down, he saw a little girl in a princess dress wearing a Nobita mask. When he looked at her, she excitedly shouted toward a nearby woman: "Mom! Mom! I found Doraemon!"
The woman, about thirty, with shoulder-length blonde hair, came over and gently scolded, "Alright, alright, you've pulled the big brother's clothes—this isn't polite."
Then she looked up at James and smiled: "I'm so sorry. I didn't hold onto my daughter."
"No problem. I'm Doraemon, and I like Nobita too~!"
Seeing the lively little girl and her polite mother, James's inner "loli soul" burned faintly. Pretending to be Doraemon, he played with the girl, making her laugh happily.
"Let's go, Kalifa, we still have to go to your grandfather's for lunch."
The blonde mother patted the little girl's head and led her away, giving James a final, mysterious glance before leaving.
Only after the girl was gone did James realize—wait, that name… wasn't that CP9's bubble-bubble fruit user, the black-stockinged, bespectacled, long-legged, red-lipped beauty Kalifa?! In the future, she would be Iceburg's secretary at Galley-La Company—meaning her mother's identity was… suspicious.
After all, who would send their daughter to that hellish intelligence agency for high-intensity training? In these times, Judicial Island and the Navy weren't the same system, and CP9's members weren't as broadly recruited as Navy soldiers. James figured Kalifa's family must have some connection to Judicial Island—especially given that final glance from her mother, which now seemed oddly… schadenfreude-filled?
After all, his two companions were prime CP9 surveillance targets, and he might be implicated as well.
No point overthinking. In the decade before Tom built the sea train, they should all still be safe. Kalifa becoming his little fan could only be a good thing, right?
Thinking of a certain novel he had followed before crossing over, whose author must have eaten too much Water Meat—updating only once every two or three days and filling it with fluff—James, in his irritation, ordered another serving of Water Meat at a street stall. From now on, he would strive to emulate that "style"!
The Masked Carnival lasted into the night. Water 7 lit its streetlamps, the city glowing brightly. That night, the trio entered a bar, but as soon as they stepped inside, they saw someone thrown out. A chorus of voices from inside yelled: "Never come back to this bar! If you do, we'll throw you out again!"
What kind of grudge was that?
The man thrown out had spiky hair, wore a white trench coat, and rolled several times on the ground before shouting back: "Priscilla is the strongest! Screw your Teresa!"
Whoa! Brother, that's… a very refreshing opinion. No wonder you got beaten up!
Hearing his heartfelt roar, James also felt like hitting him—after all, Teresa was Claymore's most popular smiling goddess! Yelling "Long live Priscilla" in a crowd of Teresa fans was just asking for it.
Iceburg recognized him: "Zanbai? What are you doing here?"
James and Franky turned to look at Iceburg—"You know this guy?"
Iceburg smiled: "This is Zanbai. He applied to work as a shipwright at our company recently, but Master rejected him. He said Zanbai's skills weren't even at the minimum for a shipwright—if you make mistakes during repairs, you could doom an entire crew. He told him to go study his theory better and come back. Didn't expect to meet him here."
Reading involves three things: Reading, Adding to Favorites, and Tipping!
---