With quite a few successful catches, everyone looks at least somewhat satisfied.
Alex, however, with his Light Blue Quality [Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna] in his inventory, is quite pleased with the trip.
A blue ingredient. Also, this is a legendary fish. Sanji fought hard for it. I don't remember what happened to it after he prepared it. I vaguely remember Luffy just gulping it down on his own, but whatever happened, this item has a slight potential of creating a unique dish that permanently raises stats. In any case, it will please Menchi.
"It's getting late, the sun will rise soon. We should head back," Benezia says. "We don't know what the next few days will bring, and we shouldn't risk exhausting ourselves needlessly."
"I agree," Alex replies. "It's always best to end things on a high note, right?"
But... Princess Jewel didn't get to use her Ultimate Secret Technique! Princess Jewel likes to gamble. Maybe Soulmate, Benezia, and Princess Jewel should stay a little longer.
Alex shakes his head. "I'm almost glad you didn't need to use that technique. We should leave and not take risks... at least not for something like fishing. Also, gambling isn't wrong if the odds are in our favor, but staying now makes no sense—we've been here for hours. We're leaving. You're outvoted—one human and one asari against one spider."
Princess Jewel thinks she should count for more than one human and one asari. After all, she is a Princess! Royalty stands above peasants.
Benezia frowns at Jewel's logic, unable to even parse it, before finally declaring: "We're leaving!"
The group returns to shore, gives away most of their unranked fish, and heads back to their apartment, which still smells like freshly prepared squid, slightly annoying Alex, and hands their catch to a beaming Menchi, who inspects everything ecstatically. "These might only be Gray Quality fish, but I can still turn them into new and exciting dishes. The more experience I get with different fish, the faster I'll improve. Also, that [Blue-Finned Elephant Tuna] is really special, Alex... I might be able to create something unique with it. I'll save that one for later."
"I'm glad you like the haul. Show me a few dishes later—I want to see what you manage with the squid," Alex says.
The group then heads to bed. Just before drifting off, Jewel crawls into Alex's bed while he silently conjures a fresh round of grenades.
"Jewel..." he whispers. "I'm tired of creating these every day. I'll spend some extra Aura to extend the duration as much as I can. That way they'll last around two days."
Princess Jewel thinks that isn't necessary. Just spend a little extra Aura so they last a day. We will continue fishing, right, Soulmate?
I guess that's true... Okay, you're right, Jewel. Maybe I'll switch to longer-lasting ones when we're done with the fishing arc.
Princess Jewel doesn't think we will ever be done with fishing! There is water everywhere in this world.
Alex snaps wide awake at the thought—before slumping back down, deciding to forget the idea that he'll probably be conjuring grenades every single night.
Well... are you at least having fun, Jewel?
Of course! Princess Jewel has a great time.
I guess that's one great thing at least.
Pulling his pet closer to him, Alex closes his eyes again and relaxes, quickly falling asleep.
After only a couple hours of sleep, Alex hears a calm but insistent knock on their apartment door. He glances toward the window; the sun is just beginning to rise on the horizon.
Who is it? Way too early for a visitor.
Quickly equipping his gear, Alex rests his hand on his [Enchanted Runeblade] and heads for the door.
He notices Benezia and Jewel trailing silently behind him, both ready to strike.
Alex nods to them and swings the door open. To his surprise, it's Mr. 8.
"Ah, Mr. 6, I'm glad you're awake. I also appreciate your donations. After you robb—ma—ma—ma, I mean after you borrowed some supplies, I thought we were ruined. But you've returned quite a haul of fish and hundreds of kilos of squid, so we're actually thankful," he says nervously.
"What do you want?" Alex asks, already tired of his constant flattery.
"The newly hired Billions agent arrived a few minutes ago. She immediately requested to see you."
"Great," Alex says, his mood instantly lifting.
Earlier than expected! She must have really rushed over.
"However... there's something else you need to know," Mr. 8 adds nervously. "A large group of pirates just arrived. I've already reported this to Miss All Sunday, and she told me to make sure nothing goes wrong. She gave me permission to ask you and Miss Judgement Day to help out. I'm quite sure we can handle them on our own, but please support us as best you can—after we do our usual thing—be ready to strike!"
"I see," Alex says, his tone edged with annoyance. "Walk me through the process... real quick."
"It's simple," Mr. 8 explains. "We'll hold a grand banquet and let the alcohol flow. Once they're wasted and can't fight back—or fall asleep outright—that's when we reveal ourselves. Everyone here, including the children and older women, is a deadly bounty hunter. We just need you to take care of any unusual problems that might arise. We haven't checked yet if they carry high bounties, so there's a chance we've caught ourselves a big fish."
"Alright," Alex confirms. "We'll observe the situation, and if things go south, we'll intervene."
So the missions and requests are starting already... is that good or bad? We need to go over our initial plans again, now that Tereza is here.
[Side Quest Offered
Mission: Assist the bounty hunters of Whiskey Peak in taking down the Pike Pirate crew.
Reward: Increased Reputation with Baroque works, Increased Reputation with Whiskey Peak agents, Increased Reputation with Mr. 8, Minuscule increase in Mission Rating
Time Limit: —
Failure: Decreased Reputation with Baroque works, Decreased Reputation with Whiskey Peak agents, Decreased Reputation with Mr. 8, Minuscule decrease in Mission Rating]
[Side Quest Accepted]
Alex sighs in frustration as the quest immediately gets accepted, despite him not doing anything.
So another mandatory quest! Why does this damn system say accepted when I did nothing of the kind? It just forced me into this!
"What else?!" Alex snaps, his mood swinging hard into irritation. "Send her up now! And don't bother us for a while—your plan takes time anyway, right? So get to it then!"
"Ma—ma—ma, of course!" Mr. 8 stammers, clearly confused about Alex's shifting mood and a little wary as he shuffles downstairs.
Moments later, Tereza bursts in. She immediately hugs Alex before hurrying over to the others.
"I'm so glad!" she cheers, dropping into a chair with a big grin.
"Do I have to call you Mr. 6 now?" she asks, teasing him.
"I hate that name... but outside, maybe it would be for the best," Alex admits, already weighing the consequences if she goes around and calls him by his real name.
Other players might learn about me, as much as I loathe this silly naming practice of Baroque works, it could be useful.
With Alex yawning slightly, the group sits in the lounge while Menchi prepares a quick breakfast, which surprisingly consists mostly of squid dishes—failed experiments that didn't make it into an actual dish, ready for use or trading.
Alex, deciding not to even try these "accidents," eats only the other tasty dishes she has prepared and a few of his snacks and prepared meals from his inventory.
As much as he personally dislikes squid, the others—especially Jewel—seem to enjoy the squid.
Menchi, looking somewhat pleased with these results, explains, "These are made out of some of the worst cuts of the squid. I started with the unranked meat, to get a feel for it: salt and pepper calamari, fried squid balls, simmered squid, squid ragu. I've also included them in a few pasta dishes, a salad, and made a paella with them. I think these turned out pretty average, but if I were to use the Light Green Quality meat, they would probably become something special."
Jewel does not react, but keeps violently eating as much as she can, her body visibly gaining bulk as she stuffs over a kilo of meat into her small body.
What the...? How is she eating so much? She only weighs like 10 or 15 kilos.
Tereza and Benezia, on the other hand, seem quite intrigued by the dishes, and to Alex's surprise, he notices a satisfied smile on Benezia's face after every bite.
As soon as the food disappears, Benezia explains the current situation to Tereza.
"I see," she says, looking a little worried. "You know I also got the quest to help Whiskey Peak assigned to me automatically...."
"So we're still stuck here, at least for one more day," Alex concludes. "We made some plans beforehand, but this situation is not quite what we expected, right? Now that we have Tereza and can fly over the Grand Line, what should we do? Let's go over the plan!"
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