"A bear that can't talk is the real good bear," this was Perona's perception of cute creatures. Clearly, Bepo in his mummified form better suited her aesthetic.
In a sense, the Beasts Pirates nowadays weren't quite normal because this pirate crew has gathered a lot of strange people with peculiar tastes.
"Weird. Where am I? Who wrapped me up like this?"
Bepo, slowly waking up, peeled off the bandages covering his mouth, but his mind was blank. He remembered sleeping in a tree hole, and then…
He rubbed his head, which was aching a bit, but some scenes started to come back to him.
"I think I saw a very cute yellow female bear, and a woman."
Most Minks were still oriented towards their fellow Minks or other species, but there were a few who had a fondness for beasts of the same kind. It wasn't strange, just very rare.
Bepo's last memory was of a girl recognizing him as a Mink, and the female bear waving at him in a friendly manner. After that, it seemed he fell asleep.
"Yi!"
At that moment, he suddenly heard a roar. Looking over, he saw that Bewear had somehow moved a huge rock from somewhere, blocking the stream, and was now catching the passing fish.
"Beweear~"
After slapping the stream, Bewear wiped nonexistent sweat off its forehead. At this moment, it noticed that Bepo was awake. This time, it didn't wave at him. Through Setsuna's communication, it understood that this strange white bear wasn't an enemy.
"Yi!"
Shouting towards a nearby spot, Setsuna, who was grilling fish, received the message.
Though Bewear's attack was just a regular one, an underage Mink couldn't withstand a blow from Bewear who is known as Bear God. Despite using healing bandages, Bepo's recovery time was delayed until the following morning.
When he was brought over, Setsuna was grilling dinner, but now it was breakfast the next day.
As for getting tired of it, for a Mink of carnivorous species, it wouldn't happen to her. Zeraora, due to his bloodline, was the same. As for Perona, though her tastes were unique, she wasn't picky.
A child who grew up surviving in a graveyard didn't have the luxury of choosing food. Whatever was available, she would eat. Though she had favorite foods, most foods were palatable to her.
"Awake? You're Bepo, Zepo's brother, right."
"Yes, that's me. Do you know my big brother?"
"Not very well, but I know of him. Don't worry, I'll take you back to Zou Island in a while. For now, just stick with me. Oh, and one more thing."
"What?"
"Zepo asked me to give you a good scolding on his behalf, to prevent you from running around in the future and worrying him."
Rubbing her fist, Setsuna mentioned Zepo's request from yesterday. When a child runs away, his parents and relatives will naturally worry when he is missing. However, after he is found, they may receive this special treatment.
"Huh?"
"This is what Zepo left for you. He'll probably give you a call when he's free, so listen to this for now."
Saying that, Setsuna handed over a Tone Dial. These Dials from Skypiea were even more useful than most machines. As long as the dial wasn't damaged, its functions would remain intact, and the sound quality was excellent.
As for why Zepo hadn't called yet, Bepo rubbing his ears explained the reason.
Inside the Tone Dial, there wasn't just Zepo's concerned and scolding voice; there were even sounds of explosions.
The call yesterday seemed to have been untimely, perhaps made while Pedro and Zepo were engaged in battle with enemies. However, judging from their ability to take the time to answer the phone, their fight seemed to be quite easy.
Just to be on the safe side, she planned to wait until both of them were free before calling back.
When Setsuna was frequently shuttling back and forth to Zou Island, Bepo was still very young and his mind was still fuzzy, so he didn't recognize Setsuna immediately. Now he realized she was the designated duke heir.
"You, um, you're the new Duke now?" [TN: the first you is spoken informally and the second one spoken formally]
"Yeah, but Hitsugisukan is still managing the affairs of Zou Island for now. Nothing much has changed over there. Just behave yourself during this time, don't go running around everywhere, okay? Otherwise, don't blame me for really scolding you."
Although Zepo told her not to be lenient to him, she wasn't really going to scold Bepo, provided he didn't delay her upcoming trip. Otherwise, she wouldn't be so lenient.
"Yes, sorry, I won't run around."
Seeing this meek white bear, Setsuna didn't say much more. And so, their team gained a meek white bear.
Meanwhile, after narrowly escaping death, Law slowly regained consciousness. Using the Op-Op Fruit, he performed a surgery on himself without anesthesia, then passed out from the pain.
He was later rescued by an elderly man claiming to be a genius inventor named Wolf. Wolf took Law in under the condition that he worked for him in exchange for food and shelter, thus beginning a new chapter in Law's life.
Some time later, the Genesis had returned to the Grand Line from the West Blue. During this time, the West Blue also gained a new maritime horror story: some villagers would inexplicably fall into nightmares, and the entire village shared the same dream.
Whether pirates or Marines, ordinary people or beasts, such eerie situations often occurred in certain areas.
This was the influence of Darkrai. In his search for the underworld, he doesn't want to interact with too many people, so he was using this method to make everyone fall into dreamland.
Darkrai's nickname, the God of Nightmare, wasn't just for show. Some people had investigated this abnormal phenomenon, but they always returned empty-handed.
There were also very few individuals who had encountered Darkrai and even communicated with him, but most people just thought they were talking nonsense and considered it a paranormal event.
As the Genesis gradually approached Onigashima, something incredulous happened: they struck a reef. Although the sturdy hull of the Genesis didn't break, they were still temporarily stranded here.
"What's going on? How could there be reefs here???"
The navigator looked innocently at the route map. He had traveled this route hundreds of times; this area was supposed to be safe. But for some reason, there was now a massive coral reef here.
In fact, this incident was related to Arceus. Due to his enlargement of the sea currents, the sea now contained some special energy, which caused mutations in some organisms. Ordinary fish just grew larger, nothing too serious.
But the corals were also affected, and they began to grow at an unscientific speed.
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