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Chapter 108: Eating Together
The dining table was piled high with a variety of delicacies characteristic of a desert nation: roasted meat wraps, hummus, rice stuffed with nuts and grape leaves, large bowls of vegetable stew, and flatbread sprinkled with fragrant spices...
A man and two women sat opposite each other at the table, enjoying the feast.
In reality, however, it was two beautiful young women—who were drawing sidelong glances from the other customers—watching a freckled young man devour food like a madman.
Ganyu and Vivi had eaten breakfast before leaving the Going Merry, and the flight hadn't taken long, so they weren't hungry. This meal was purely to treat Ace.
Most people would feel uncomfortable being watched by two people while eating, but this man was different. He ate with an intensity that rivaled Luffy's, as if someone were about to snatch the food away from him.
Vivi couldn't help but whisper, " The way he eats... it's exactly like Luffy."
"They are brothers who grew up together, after all. It's normal for them to share many habits," Ganyu remarked.
Just as her voice fell...
Ace, who had been inhaling food like a vacuum cleaner a second ago, suddenly planted his face directly into his plate with a loud thud.
This sudden turn of events caused Vivi's face to go pale instantly. She cried out in panic, "He... He... What happened to him?!!"
The commotion naturally attracted the attention of everyone else in the restaurant.
"What's going on? That guy looked fine just a second ago, didn't he?"
"Could it be... food poisoning?"
"Impossible! My restaurant uses the freshest ingredients! We inspect them every day!" The chubby restaurant owner ran out from behind the counter in a panic, sweating profusely.
"Heh heh, serves him right for dying! Who asked that kid to eat with two such beautiful women!"
The restaurant instantly descended into chaos.
Customers, waiters, and even the owner gathered around to observe Ace's condition.
Ganyu reacted extremely quickly. She immediately grabbed the headscarf from the table and placed it on Vivi, who was still in a state of shock, hiding her hair and face.
Vivi's face was recognized by quite a few people in this country. Ganyu didn't care about herself—at most, she was just exceptionally beautiful, and she didn't fear the covetous eyes of lecherous men since she had the strength to back it up. But Vivi was different.
"Young lady, please explain to everyone. Did your friend already have some kind of sudden illness?" The owner looked at Ganyu and Vivi, his eyes filled with urgency and pleading.
If someone died from eating at his restaurant, he could forget about doing business ever again.
Vivi wasn't doing much better than him. Her beautiful eyes were filled with shock as she murmured, "What do we do? What do we do...?"
Ganyu was a bit speechless as she looked at the young man lying face-down on the table.
She knew this guy had merely fallen asleep while eating. However, none of the onlookers would believe such an explanation.
She pondered for two seconds, her gaze sweeping over the gathering crowd.
Then, she lifted a slender finger and tapped it lightly on the wooden table.
Click.
A barely perceptible sound rang out.
In the next instant, a biting cold aura suddenly spread out from her fingertip.
A layer of faint white frost instantly condensed on the tabletop. The sudden drop in temperature caused the people closest to the table to shiver involuntarily. However, no one noticed the source of the anomaly.
"It's fine," Ganyu's voice rang out faintly. "He just fell asleep from exhaustion. He'll wake up soon."
Sure enough, the crowd expressed their disbelief upon hearing this.
Who on earth falls asleep for no reason while eating?
But in the very next second, Ace, who had been lying on the table, suddenly sat up straight. A burst of flames rose from his body.
Hiss—
The sound of ice and fire melting together reached everyone's ears. The cold air turned into green smoke and quickly dissipated into the air, and the wisp of flame vanished along with it.
Ace rubbed his eyes, cast a meaningful glance at the blue-haired girl in front of him, yawned, and said, "Ah~ That was a good nap..."
The entire restaurant fell into a strange, dead silence.
Everyone's expressions were frozen on their faces, looking as if they had seen a ghost. Fortunately, Ganyu's words just now had mentally prepared them.
A full five or six seconds passed.
"Nani? That guy really was just sleeping!"
"See! I told you it wasn't my food!"
"Damn it, he didn't die. I thought I could take those two wom—"
"Why didn't you finish your sentence? Wait, why aren't you moving? Why is your body so cold?"
After a while, the restaurant finally returned to calm.
"Who falls asleep while eating?! Couldn't you have told us before you went to sleep?" Vivi's eyes were wide as she scolded Ace angrily.
She had been terrified just now, thinking Luffy's brother had been poisoned to death by the meal she treated him to. That would have made her a sinner in a way.
"Sorry, sorry," Ace laughed without a shred of sincerity. Chewing on his food, he spoke indistinctly, "I've been like this since I was a kid. It's quite troubling for me too."
"You don't look troubled at all!" Vivi puffed out her cheeks in anger.
Seeing that these two were about to start arguing, Ganyu hurriedly pulled Vivi back. "Alright, Vivi. Go pay the bill at the counter. We still need to hurry to the Royal Palace."
Hearing "Royal Palace" and "business," the anger on Vivi's face was barely suppressed.
She stood up, took out a purse, and walked toward the counter to pay.
Once she left, only Ganyu and Ace remained at the table.
Ace ate the remaining food on his plate leisurely. After chugging a large mouthful of alcohol, he finally looked up at Ganyu opposite him and hooked the corner of his mouth.
"That's an interesting ability. It looks similar to a certain Marine Admiral's power. Is it the Paramecia-type Hie Hie no Mi (Ice-Ice Fruit)?"
"No." Ganyu shook her head.
"Then could it be a Mythical Zoan fruit?" Ace's eyes lit up as he pointed to the horns on Ganyu's head. "Are these also a physical change brought about by eating the fruit?"
Hearing this deduction, a trace of surprise flashed in Ganyu's eyes.
She hadn't expected Ace's reaction to be so fast, instantly linking it to a Mythical Zoan.
But after thinking about it briefly, she understood why Ace guessed that. It was simple: she had displayed two abilities in front of him—flight and cold air—which didn't quite fit a standard Paramecia user. And the pair of Qilin horns on her head easily led people to think of animals.
Ganyu smiled gently and said, "You're pretty much correct. However, the horns on my head are something I was born with."
"Is that so? Then are you perhaps from a unique race?" Ace nodded, looking thoughtful.
In this world, there were many races that looked similar to ordinary humans but had subtle differences.
For example, the Oni race, characterized by horns on their heads, represented by the father-daughter duo Kaido and Yamato. There were also the Longarm Tribe, Tontatta Tribe (Dwarves), Giants, Minks, and so on. Ace knew that the Straw Hat Pirates would likely encounter most of these races during their future adventures.
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