Chapter 356: Zou – A Man Like a God

Following the direction pointed out by the cheetah Mink, Takumi walked for about half an hour and found a large orchard filled with giant fruits hanging from the trees.

Without a second thought, he leaped onto a tree loaded with enormous kiwis.

The climate in the New World was vastly different from other sea regions. Given the unique environment of Zou, it wasn't unusual to see fruits from different seasons growing together.

Looking at a single kiwi fruit with a diameter of over a meter, Takumi unsheathed his Kitetsu and casually peeled off half of the skin, along with a good chunk of the fruit.

He cut a slice of the fruit and bit into it. It tasted sweet and sour—quite pleasant.

In no time, Takumi finished the kiwi. He then swung Kitetsu through the orchard, slicing the oversized fruits from the trees. Before they could hit the ground, he waved his hand, storing all of them into his system space.

He had tested it before—food placed in the system space never spoiled, no matter how long it was stored. This gave him peace of mind to stock up on fruits without worrying about them going bad.

Since it was free, there was no reason not to take advantage of it. These fruits could serve as emergency rations.

Just as Takumi stored the last giant apple into his system space, a small figure appeared.

A petite Mink girl with golden short hair, long bunny ears, and a fluffy tail hopped through the branches toward him with a basket in hand. Her name was Carrot. She looked about ten years old, with a curious and innocent expression.

Carrot had sensed Takumi's scent long before she saw him. It had been a long time since she had seen a human, so her curiosity outweighed any wariness.

However, when she noticed that all the fruits in the orchard were gone, she froze in shock.

"Huh? Where are all the fruits? They're gone!" Carrot looked at Takumi in surprise. "You didn't eat them all, did you? But you don't look like someone who could eat that much…"

Takumi didn't feel like answering her and was about to leave when a loud buzzing sound suddenly surrounded them.

Carrot's playful demeanor instantly shifted to seriousness. She dropped her basket and prepared for battle.

A swarm of large, bee-like creatures, each the size of a human fist, flew toward them aggressively.

"They're Sky Flyers!" Carrot warned, her face tense. "They're giant bloodsucking bugs. You humans with less fur are particularly vulnerable. They can drain all your blood in an instant, leaving you dead! I don't know how you got past the Musketeer Squad to reach this place, but you'd better be careful!"

As she spoke, Carrot put on a pair of gloves with sharp claws and charged at the swarm. Despite being only ten years old, she showed no fear. Lightning crackled around her claws as she slashed at the bugs, injuring several of them.

But there were just too many of them. Her stamina couldn't keep up, and she soon found herself overwhelmed. Normally, when she encountered Sky Flyers in the forest, she would either run away or call for help from nearby Musketeer Squad members.

This time, she didn't leave right away because Takumi was still there.

In her eyes, humans—who she considered a kind of furless Mink—were likely weaker than Minks. If she left him there, he would surely die.

"I can't hold them off much longer! Run!" Carrot shouted at Takumi.

Takumi, however, calmly placed his hand on Kitetsu's hilt.

As soon as the swarm of Sky Flyers lunged at him, he executed a simple draw-and-slash. In an instant, every bug around him was sliced in half and fell to the ground.

Despite the obvious difference in strength, the bugs showed no fear. For every wave that fell, another surged forward, relentlessly attacking without hesitation.

Carrot was too busy fighting off the bugs to notice what Takumi had done. Exhausted and ready to run, she found herself trapped when reinforcements from the bug swarm blocked her escape route.

Her face paled. "I'm in trouble," she muttered.

Just as she thought it was all over, a series of thunderclaps echoed above her.

In a flash, bolts of lightning rained down from the sky, striking the swarm and electrocuting every single bug at once.

Carrot, unsure of what had just happened, looked up in confusion.

A tall man surrounded by crackling electricity descended from the sky like a god, his face full of arrogance and disdain.

"What's wrong with you? You can't even handle a few bugs?" Enel said as he landed. Ignoring Carrot, he walked toward Takumi, complaining, "Seriously, I leave for a bit, and you let some bugs bully you. Tell me—did you let this happen on purpose?"

Takumi: "…"

"Don't give me that," Kaku's voice came from a nearby tree branch. "Those bugs just showed up. The captain didn't even have time to get serious before you barged in, and now you're acting like you did him a favor."

"Shut up, long nose!" Enel glared at Kaku. "You didn't do anything but watch, so you have no right to talk!"

Kaku smirked. "Did you even give me a chance to step in? By the time I got here, the bugs were already fried."

"Hah! Blame yourself for being slow. Don't blame me," Enel sneered.

Takumi rolled his eyes at their bickering and turned to leave. As he did, he noticed Carrot staring at Enel with wide eyes, her expression shifting from confusion to awe.

Enel noticed Takumi leaving and was about to ask where he was going when he caught Carrot staring at him.

"Huh? A rabbit girl?" Enel squinted at her bunny ears and said with irritation, "Hey, bunny brat, what's with that look? If you don't want to die, get lost!"

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