Hearing Chopper's shout, everyone looked up. Giant shadows suddenly enveloped them. As the huge objects in the air drew closer, Leno and the others finally saw them clearly: they were enormous birds.
"Wow These birds are huge"
"Hey, hey, Yamato! Now is not the time to be impressed! These guys are about to attack us!" Nami shielded her eyes, looking up at the giant birds, and quickly reminded Yamato, who was still sighing in amazement.
"Are they? Perfect! We're having barbeque tonight!" Yamato lifted the Kanabo from her shoulder, eager to give it a try.
Robin, Kuina, and the others also prepared to repel the giant birds' attack. Just then, lightning flashed around them, and a grid of electricity enveloped the group.
The moment the giant birds touched the lightning, they all shrieked and fled in disarray, leaving behind a shower of feathers.
Seeing the giant birds flee, Yamato shouted, dissatisfied, "Leno, why'd you let them go? I wanted to practice!"
"You'll have plenty of chances to practice. Besides, we're not lacking for one meal. They can't do anything to us anyway, so just ignore them."
Leno had an impression of these birds. They seemed to be the creatures from the island where Chopper was sent flying for those two years. He remembered they had also migrated from somewhere else, and he thought they could communicate with Chopper.
Of course, Leno could have killed them all for meat, but it was completely unnecessary. He might as well give Chopper a chance to make some friends.
"Let's go. We'll keep moving forward and see what the situation is on the island."
Before long, they finally met humans and followed them to their dwellings.
After some conversation, Leno finally remembered what this place was.
It was called the Torino Kingdom. Though it was called a kingdom, it was actually just a tribe, and a very primitive one at that. The inhabitants here, regardless of age or gender, all had very distinct 'round' bodies, like huge balls.
Leno didn't know if it was because they ate well or for some other reason, but as far as he could see, there wasn't a single exception. They were all extremely fat.
However, the variety of fruits here was abundant. When they hosted Leno's group at night, they served all sorts of different fruits.
In the middle of the night, the giant birds attacked again, and as expected, they retreated without success.
The residents here both hated and feared the giant birds, but also felt helpless.
The medicinal herbs on the giant tree required the giant birds' droppings to grow, which meant they had no choice but to rely on them. It was a complete vicious cycle.
"Do they attack often?" Robin was curious as to how they survived under the giant birds' attacks.
"Of course not! If they attacked often, how could we survive?"
"Sometimes they ignore us for a year or more. We can go gather herbs, and they'll just turn a blind eye. It just happens to be their 'crazy' season again."
Leno, of course, knew the reason for the birds' attacks. His eyes glinted as he reminded them, "There's a reason they attack you. It's because this is the time when they are hatching their young."
Robin's eyes lit up. "Could it be... they're afraid their young will be harmed?"
"More precisely," Leno explained, "they're afraid humans will steal their eggs."
Hearing Leno's explanation, the tribespeople started to get indignant. "We've never thought of stealing their eggs! We're just going up to gather herbs."
Leno rolled his eyes, exasperated, and threw up his hands. "You know that, and I know that, but the giant birds don't know that!"
"All they know is that when they are hatching their eggs, humans are always sneaking up the tree."
"This... this..."
Everyone was speechless. It was true. They all knew, but the giant birds didn't. There was no way to communicate.
At this moment, Leno revealed a fox-like smile. "We can help. My companion can communicate with them."
He pulled Chopper forward and introduced him. "This is our ship's doctor, Chopper. He can talk to animals. We can help you communicate with the giant birds, but we have one condition."
"What condition?!!" Hearing there was a chance to resolve the misunderstanding, the people asked anxiously.
Only then did Leno calmly state his purpose. "I've heard you have many ancestral medicinal recipes here that are very effective for treating injuries and illnesses. We'd like to take a look."
Nami, Nojiko, and the others watched Leno with amusement. This guy was always so shameless when it came to helping his companions. He didn't act like a top-tier expert at all, which made them feel both touched and helpless.
Chopper, who had been listening intently, was so moved his tears streamed down. "Leno~ Woo woo woo..."
"We agree! Then... we'll leave the rest to you~"
After some discussion, the tribespeople unsurprisingly agreed to the exchange. After all, this was a matter of their survival.
The next day, Leno took Chopper directly to the top of the giant tree and had a "reasonable" discussion with the giant birds.
Afterward, Chopper stepped forward and had a friendly chat with the birds, who were still smoking slightly. The process was unexpectedly smooth.
In the following days, Chopper, Kaya, and the others began the process of learning medicine from the island's inhabitants, while Nami, Nojiko, and the others explored the island.
Leno spent his days tasting various fruits, collecting all the ones he couldn't finish. Afterward, he and the insatiable Hancock left traces of their "battle" in various corners of the island.
It couldn't be helped. Nojiko and the others were too shy; they couldn't handle the excitement of "open-air combat."
Only Hancock, who went along with Leno in everything, agreed to his request and accompanied him in trying various "positions" of battle.(T/N: using the float-float ability for his "exciting battles"…)
Leno was somewhat surprised by the recent continuous day-and-night battles.
Before he was... initiated, he could always control his desire. But ever since Skypiea, Leno felt his libido growing stronger and stronger.
This was clearly not normal. His physique was strong, and his power was immense; nothing should be able to affect him.
'Could it be a side effect of the Azure Dragon Fruit? But there are no rumors of Kaido collecting beauties. Maybe it's because it's an artificial fruit?'
'Are dragons inherently lecherous?' Leno, unable to find an answer, decided... to just let it be.
As the days passed, Chopper and Kaya finally completed their 'study abroad' journey. Chopper also used the equipment on the ship to analyze the composition of the medicinal herbs. This exploration of the 'Kingdom of Birds' was coming to an end.
The day of departure finally arrived. Leno and his group slowly sailed away from the Torino 'Kingdom' amidst the farewells of the giant birds and the villagers.
But not long after setting sail, they were stopped by an unflagged merchant ship.
Lindbergh, wearing a jetpack, landed on Leno's ship and greeted him.
"Long time no see, Mr. Leno."
"Our leader would like to invite you to be our guest. We hope you will honor us with your presence~"
"Your leader?..." Leno's pupils shrank. "Dragon?"