After breakfast, Luffy impatiently dragged Green Rabbit off to play, while Droopy, as aloof as ever, returned to the ship alone.
For some reason, Da Hong was in an oddly good mood. With a newspaper tucked under one arm, he actually trotted along behind Kairo and Makino all the way to the shore.
"Mr. Kairo, this is a great place for fishing."
After finding a shaded spot by the sea that was both good for fishing and safe from the sun, Makino placed the rod and bait in front of Kairo and continued,
"I'll head back and take care of a few things first. I'll bring you some fruit later."
Kairo nodded lightly.
"Alright. Thanks."
"It's no trouble."
Makino smiled, then looked toward Da Hong, who had already sat down in the shade with his newspaper.
"Mr. Da Hong, see you in a bit."
Knowing full well Da Hong wouldn't respond, Makino didn't linger and simply turned to leave.
Kairo wasted no time. He picked up the fishing rod and officially began his fishing life in the world of One Piece.
The gear Makino had prepared for him was nothing like the fancy equipment his father used back before he transmigrated.
This rod was just a simple length of bamboo, with fishing line tied to it. The hook was fairly large, and the bait was nothing more than earthworms.
Kairo wasn't unfamiliar with such an old-fashioned setup.
Back when he was still in elementary school, his father's fishing gear had been just as simple—a basin of worms and two bamboo rods, enough to spend an entire day by the water.
Later, as times changed and his family got wealthier, his father's fishing gear upgraded with the times too. By the time Kairo was in high school, a single set of tackle could cost tens of thousands.
Utterly ridiculous.
"Once you step into fishing," Kairo muttered as he wedged the rod into a crack in the rocks and dragged over a little stool, "you leave the mortal world behind."
Then, swaying his head like a veteran angler, he hummed an old fisherman's saying:
"Got money, don't buy groceries—buy better tackle instead.
Got money, don't drink at all—just spend your days by the river…"
The moment Da Hong heard Kairo humming about fishing, he was immediately drawn over.
He got up, came over, then lay down beside Kairo with his head on a rock and one leg crossed over the other, gently swinging his foot in rhythm with the chant.
It was obvious.
Da Hong liked this slow, lazy kind of life too.
"Da Hong," Kairo said, glancing sideways at him, "do you think we're going to get skunked today?"
Then he added,
"If we still don't catch anything by noon, how about you go into the sea and grab a few fish for us?"
Da Hong slowly lowered the newspaper and stared at Kairo without blinking.
Then he suddenly rolled to his feet, grabbed the rod that had been stuck between the rocks, and—with startling skill—reeled it in and cast it back out in one smooth motion.
The stone tied to the line drew an arc through the air, and the hook followed it down into the sea, sinking rapidly.
After that, Da Hong immediately turned his head toward Kairo with a look that clearly said:
Watch closely. I'm only doing this once.
"Good grief. You know how to fish too?"
Kairo didn't hold back his praise and gave him a thumbs-up.
But then he quickly realized that maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised.
Da Hong came from Usavich. In that show, he had literally been stuck in prison at the start. Somehow, he had still managed to get his hands on a fishing rod and use the toilet in his cell as a fishing hole.
Even more absurdly, he had actually succeeded and fished up a frog.
Right then—
The rod suddenly jerked violently.
The next instant, the pull nearly yanked Da Hong straight into the sea.
"We got one!"
Da Hong's face lit up. Excited, he gripped the rod with both hands and hauled upward.
Crack!
The instant he put his strength into it, the fishing rod snapped in half.
Then the surface of the sea suddenly bulged upward at alarming speed.
A moment later, with a heavy boom, the water exploded upward like a tidal wave breaking in reverse—
And from beneath it emerged a hideous sea beast.
Its massive eyes glowed red as it stared fixedly at the tiny figures of Kairo and Da Hong on the shore, making the two of them look like ants by comparison.
"Holy hell—holy hell—holy hell!"
Seeing the gigantic creature erupt from the sea, Kairo's eyes went wide.
Staring at the fishing line still hanging from the beast's mouth, he blurted out in disbelief:
"Don't tell me that's… the Lord of the Coast?"
The monster Da Hong had hooked was, unmistakably, that very same small Sea King from canon—the one that had bitten off the arm of future Emperor Shanks, and the one that swallowed the mountain bandit who had dared smash a bottle over Shanks's head.
The Lord of the Coast.
"ROAR—!"
The moment it rose from the sea, the Lord of the Coast didn't hesitate at all. It reared up, opened its bloody jaws, and let out a deafening roar straight at Kairo and Da Hong.
"Hahahaha! As expected of Da Hong! That luck is insane!"
Looking at the Lord of the Coast with the line still dangling from its mouth, Kairo shoved Da Hong forward without hesitation.
"Get him, rabbit! Today we're grilling this sea beast!"
Da Hong didn't react right away.
He simply stared up at the enormous creature and blinked curiously.
At the same time—
Makino had just finished tidying up the house and stepped outside with some fruit in hand when the massive shape rising from the sea frightened her so badly that she nearly dropped everything.
The instant she recognized the monster, panic took over.
As someone from Foosha Village, she was all too familiar with the Lord of the Coast.
Ever since that Sea King had nearly swallowed Luffy whole years ago—back when Shanks had given up an arm to save him—its reputation had spread all through the village.
In the years since, the villagers of Foosha Village had never dared stray too far from the docks. The Lord of the Coast would occasionally surface and threaten anyone who got too close to deeper waters.
But in the past, it had never willingly approached the shore this closely, let alone entered the shallows.
For two reasons.
First, most of the waters near Foosha Village were shallow.
Second, if the Lord of the Coast ever came too close to land, the villagers could use their advantage on solid ground to kill it.
So over time, an unspoken balance had formed between the Sea King and the village:
You don't come into the shallows, and we won't go too far into the deep sea.
Makino had never imagined that this fragile balance would be broken so suddenly.
After freezing for a moment, she forgot all about the fruit in her hands. In her panic, she even forgot that Kairo had Da Hong, the same rabbit who had chased Vice Admiral Garp around and beaten him senseless.
She turned and sprinted toward the village.
As she ran, she shouted at the top of her lungs:
"Mayor Uwoop! Everyone—this is bad! The Lord of the Coast is in the shallows! Mr. Kairo's in danger!"
At the sound of Makino's cry, Mayor Uwoop Slap was the first to burst out of his house.
Then the rest of the villagers poured into the streets too—some grabbing sickles, some carrying hoes—forming a loud, hurried crowd as they charged toward the shore where Kairo was fishing.