Gyumaru looked at the interaction between the giant fish and the small skeleton with an expression like Ɛ(°——°)3.
It didn't really understand this kind of behavior.
But it always felt that the relationship between the giant fish and the skeleton was very similar to the relationship between itself and Naruto.
Yes, just as 'Gyumaru' was its name, 'Naruto' was the name of the blond human.
Truth be told, Gyumaru couldn't say exactly when it had gained self-awareness, nor when it had emerged from a state of chaos and truly obtained intelligence.
It thought that perhaps all of this had to do with that blond human.
After all, the first living being it saw after gaining intelligence was him.
The process of signing the summoning contract hadn't been pleasant for Gyumaru.
At the time, it only thought he was going to eat it. Why else would he cut its body to make it bleed?
Bleeding hurt. Gyumaru was scared, scared that it was about to be eaten.
That blond human was too strong… it couldn't break free.
But unexpectedly, it wasn't eaten. Instead, it was thrown back into the waters where it usually lived.
Gyumaru, whose brain was large but whose intelligence was still lacking, couldn't understand this behavior. So, it eventually decided to put the matter behind it and continue looking for tasty little shrimp to eat.
But for some reason, everything changed after that.
The most obvious change was in other creatures. The originally plump and juicy little shrimp somehow became much smaller. Before, Gyumaru could get full after eating a dozen or so, but now it needed to eat dozens, even hundreds.
But there were also good things. At least the carnivorous fish that used to bother it had also shrunk.
It thought about it for a few days before realizing: it had gotten bigger… the fish hadn't shrunk.
Of course, besides these things, Gyumaru's simple brain couldn't process much else.
Every day was still just eating, eating, eating. Only now, its targets had become larger fish.
Soon, Gyumaru discovered the benefits of its increased size.
Those sharp-toothed fish that used to chase and bite it couldn't even break its skin now. Instead, one casual swipe of its tail could knock them all unconscious.
It quickly ate all the sharp-toothed fish in that area.
Then, Gyumaru made the first groundbreaking decision in its life as a fish.
It would expand its territory!
It would eat more fish and get even bigger! As for what came after… it hadn't thought that far.
Things went as smoothly as it planned. Its size soon exceeded several tens of meters, and then, under the influence of some unknown energy, it grew further to a hundred meters.
There were almost no creatures in the surrounding waters that could withstand a single bite from Gyumaru.
But this also brought a problem.
There simply wasn't enough food. The energy required for daily hunting now exceeded the energy it could obtain from eating.
What should it do?
Gyumaru didn't know.
Perhaps fortune favored it. At that very moment, Naruto chose to summon it across worlds to the world of One Piece.
Truth be told, when it first saw the super-giant fish 'Laboon', whose size far exceeded its own, Gyumaru was very scared.
But along with the fear, it also felt a sense of longing and desire.
It wanted to become as big as him too.
And Laboon's friendliness and intelligence exceeded Gyumaru's expectations.
Not only did he not attack Gyumaru or steal its food, but he even actively helped it hunt larger fish for food.
Gyumaru, who had been half-starved for so many days, finally had a full meal with Laboon's help.
Because of this, it decided to consider him part of its own family.
Yes, only a smart and powerful fish like this was worthy of being its partner. In Gyumaru's eyes, its former so-called kin were just stupid fish.
'Big Bro Laboon! I want to become a big fish!'
But just as Gyumaru was joyfully expecting Laboon to take it to catch a few more strange-looking big fish, a small skeleton appeared on the sea surface.
Then Big Bro Laboon made an excited cry, and that little skeleton started howling too.
And it had continued until now.
Gyumaru didn't know what they were doing. It just wanted to eat quickly.
'Sigh… How much longer are they going to keep this up?'
…
Ignoring the last two members of the Rumbar Pirates reuniting after decades apart, and ignoring the mysterious summoned creature contemplating the meaning of fish life due to hunger, something even more entertaining was happening on the other side of Amazon Lily.
At least, that was the case for the onlookers.
"Who is this?"
In the crowd, Lucky Roux asked Katakuri quietly.
Even though they belonged to two different Emperor crews, there didn't seem to be the expected hostility between them.
"I remember her. This woman broke into Mom's tea party with that crazy old man Garp last time."
Katakuri thought for a moment before finally recalling the name of the woman not far away from his memory.
"I think she was called… Gion?"
Just as the whispers were circulating, the tall woman standing in the center of the venue, still wearing a [Justice] coat despite being surrounded by so many 'criminals', spoke.
"Congratulations on your marriage."
Ignoring the looks from those around her, Gion walked over gracefully and gently placed down her gift, wrapped with a lace ribbon.
Hancock and Stussy, the two women she looked at, reacted differently… one with a calm expression, the other with an amused one.
At this moment, even Kaido and Big Mom, who had been ready to fight moments ago, fell silent, watching intently, eagerly anticipating any explosive developments.
It seemed that the human nature of gossip was universal, just varying in degree.
Even the [Strongest Creature on Land, Sea, and Air] wasn't immune.
The veterans present were all shrewd individuals… they could easily sense the strange atmosphere surrounding Gion's arrival.
Clearly, this woman was here for Naruto.
Meanwhile, Garp, who was holding onto his two grandsons, finally realized the trouble he had caused. He began to inconspicuously edge toward the crowd's exit.
But he hadn't gotten far when Naruto caught him.
"Hey, you old geezer, why did you bring her along?"
Naruto maintained a smile, but his teeth were gritted.
Garp could only laugh awkwardly, unable to utter a single word of explanation.
What could he say?
Was he supposed to tell Naruto that after Tsuru had let slip about Gion's past with Naruto, he went straight to Gion herself and asked her about it?
"Hehe…"
The guilty Marine Hero could only offer a silly grin, which itself was an answer.
This was definitely the old man's fault.
If only considering the disparity in power, Naruto wasn't afraid of either the 'criminal' or 'justice' side of the sea.
On this planet, the only one worthy of his attention was Imu.
That was why he had the confidence to send invitations indiscriminately across the world, without worrying about a brawl breaking out.
If they couldn't control their tempers… hadn't they noticed the bruise on Kaido's face that still hadn't faded?
But!
If the matter involved emotions, he couldn't resort to brute force.
He couldn't just punch Gion, could he?
A young woman liked him, he rejected her, and for all these years after, she hadn't overstepped.
And now, without a word, he goes and gets married, to two women at that.
This… well, he was in the wrong here.
At that moment, Naruto even felt like running away with Garp.
But he didn't know that the men of the Monkey Family had another surprise in store for him.