When Diancie heard Umeumi Keiko's words, her originally shy face instantly went blank, as if struck by lightning. Following that, she understood everything, as if suddenly enlightened.
That's right. To her trainer and master, Luna, in this world, she was a partner from another realm, whereas the person before her belonged to the local partners' camp.
She knows nothing about my past, especially not my experiences in the Pokémon World.
What I need to do is keep things hidden from her. However, judging by her words, it seems Master Luna has already made some arrangements and fabricated some white lies.
Because she is clearly from the Pokémon World, the only Mythical pokémon capable of evolution, Diancie the Diamond Princess, ruler of the Mineral Kingdom, and an anomaly of Carbink.
She is definitely not part of the Diamond Spirit Tribe from the One Piece World.
At the same time, however, she clearly understood what she needed to do next.
She must immediately and relentlessly go with the subordinate before her to find Luna. Even though the sea was now shrouded in night, the cold wind howled, making the ocean look deep and dark, as if the entire expanse was a demon ready to devour everything.
"Um? Are you listening?" Umeumi Keiko asked, her face full of confusion. She couldn't help but blink her beautiful, dazzling, gem-like eyes.
"Oh, ah, I am listening. I apologize, I was a bit shy. Hello, Umeumi Keiko, my name is Diancie. I am the Princess and ruler—essentially the Queen—of the Diamond Spirit Tribe, the race that dwells underground. My kingdom is now running smoothly, and I have trustworthy ministers, so many things do not require my personal attention. Of course, I constantly monitor external developments, and I happened to hear about Luna. She is a dear friend from my past, and I am now going to assist her in realizing her dreams and embarking on this journey with her."
Diancie was quite startled, but she quickly recovered, speaking at a rapid pace. This served as both an explanation and a way to gloss over the truth.
At least to Umeumi Keiko, the story sounded completely believable.
She immediately smiled and said, "I see. Please guide me in the future, Your Highness Princess Diancie."
She almost burst out laughing. The person before her truly was an adorable little thing, beautiful and captivating. She nearly treated Diancie like a doll and wanted to hug her, but she immediately restrained herself. After all, this little Diamond Princess was still her superior.
"Please guide me as well. Right, I know the direction; I know where to go. But it looks like we need a ship now."
Diancie said immediately, and with that, their discussion formally moved to the main topic.
"Yes, that's right. We should definitely do that—go find Lady Luna immediately. But right now, we don't seem to have the materials needed to build a small boat here."
"Oh, right, I was suddenly resurrected. How did Miss Diancie suddenly appear here?"
Umeumi Keiko, who found no flaws in Diancie's words, knew they had entered the main topic and immediately became fully alert. However, she quickly looked around and realized with alarm that this was merely a Deserted Island. As far as the eye could see, there was only rock and sand. Where were they supposed to find the materials to build a small boat?
But soon, Umeumi Keiko noticed a new issue: she seemed to have appeared here only after being resurrected. Although she was full of suspicion, not understanding why her resurrection location wasn't Wano Country, she absolutely would not ask about it, even when she met Luna. After all, she had been deceased for nearly eighty years, and Wano Country no longer had a place for her, a dead woman; it was better to be resurrected outside.
But now her question was: she was resurrected, so how did Diancie appear?
"Oh my, I am from the Diamond Spirit Tribe, which lives underground. Isn't it perfectly normal for me to emerge from the ground, just like a bamboo shoot breaking through the soil?"
"And that huge pink gem when I appeared earlier? You can fully regard it as a magical vehicle that helped me drill out of the ground."
Diancie, who had nearly been startled, quickly offered an explanation.
Even if her appearance wasn't exactly like that, she certainly could act that way: first using the Diamond Storm skill to wrap herself in a pink gem, and then using the Dig skill to freely travel between the surface and underground.
"Oh, I see, I understand now. It's just a shame we still don't have materials for a boat."
Umeumi Keiko, suddenly enlightened, instantly understood. Yes, the other party came from the deep underground, the mysterious Diamond Spirit Tribe. For them to appear here now, wouldn't drilling in and out of the ground be as easy as routine business for them?
But returning to the main point, they still lacked the materials needed to build a small boat to leave this place.
"Materials? Ms. Umeumi Keiko, I'll call you that. If it's diamond, can it float on the sea as a vehicle if shaped like a boat?"
Hearing this question, Diancie immediately decided to use her specialty, but she still wanted to ask this beautiful, experienced older woman.
Because, according to her memory, this person seemed to have been unmarried her entire life... and the appearance before her was her youthful self. According to memory, she was a 90-year-old woman before she died.
However, whether comparing human and pokémon ages, or even just according to the humans of this world, by slightly abbreviating the address, she felt it was more appropriate to call her 'Ms.'
And then there was the final, most important question: Could a boat made of diamond be used as a vehicle?
"Ah, stones of ordinary shape naturally sink in the sea, even diamonds. However, as long as it's shaped like a boat, so that the buoyancy is greater than its gravity, floating won't be a problem. But it would likely need to be quite large. If it really is diamond, we would need a small boat with an internal space of at least ten meters long, three meters wide, and one meter high to carry us out. But surely there isn't a diamond that big, is there?"
"Oh, right, calling me that is fine."
Umeumi Keiko was momentarily baffled by Diancie's question. She had spent many years in business and handled countless matters, but this kind of question was a first. However, she quickly thought about it and replied. She also didn't object to Diancie calling her 'Ms.' After all, given her original age, Diancie, this adorable superior before her, could have directly called her 'Grandma.'
"You can just call me Miss Diancie. I am still very young—only about 16 in human years—and my intelligence is geared toward that stage of human development. But this is fine, right? Hehehehe, just watch me. This is child's play for me."
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