Chapter 93: The Bipoth Hunter Trio 2

Ten cooks sweated profusely as they tended to ten large cooking pots, the source of the rich, delicious aroma wafting through the air.

"Great Hunter Fia! We've found the enemy's kitchen!" Gabo the Dog-Man exclaimed, drool practically pouring from his mouth.

Fia's eyes sparkled with cunning. "Perfect! If we destroy their kitchen, the enemies will starve! And starving enemies will be no match for the best Hunter Trio on Bipoth Island!"

Gabo and Limu nodded eagerly in agreement.

"Attack! Take them out!" Fia commanded. Gabo and Limu immediately darted forward. Their movements were surprisingly swift; the ten cooks were knocked unconscious before they even had a chance to cry out for help.

The self-proclaimed best Hunter Trio on Bipoth Island gathered around the large pots of food, all three drooling uncontrollably.

Gabo couldn't hold back any longer, grabbing handfuls of food and stuffing his face greedily. Fia and Limu quickly dove into the culinary battlefield alongside him.

"Ooh, hot!" "Mmm, so yummy!"

Ten minutes later, Fia was the first to reach her limit. Patting her small, rounded belly, she lay sprawled on the ground, a blissful, satisfied smile on her face.

"That was so delicious! Fia has never eaten anything this yummy before!"

Gabo and Limu nodded vigorously in agreement, their mouths still working furiously as they grabbed massive chunks of meat and wolfed them down.

Soon, the unusual quiet from the kitchen area attracted the attention of other crewmates nearby. They discovered the trio amidst the plundered food, and soon a large crowd of Bege's men had gathered, surrounding them.

"What's going on over there?" Bege asked from his resting spot, noticing the crewmates assembling in the distance.

"Don't know. I'll go take a look," Moria replied, shaking his head as he got up and headed towards the commotion.

Not long after, Moria returned. He casually held Fia aloft by the back of her animal-skin tunic, while several crewmates dragged the captured Gabo and Limu behind him. They stopped before Bege.

"These three knocked out the cooks while they were preparing food and were caught stuffing themselves in the kitchen," Moria explained, placing Fia back on the ground. "Also, those dozen or so crewmates who went missing earlier? It might be related to them."

Fia immediately puffed out her chest, gripping her short wooden spear 'fiercely' and making a couple of tentative jabs towards Moria while letting out strange growling sounds. Her attempt at looking ferocious, however, only made everyone present break into smiles.

"I am the fiercest Great Hunter on Bipoth Island!" Fia declared loudly, clearly annoyed by their amusement and deliberately trying to appear intimidating. Just then, her watermelon hat slipped down again, covering her eyes. She fumbled frantically to push it back into place, and her flustered movements and expression only made the onlookers laugh harder.

Bege chuckled as well. Fia was clearly just an ordinary, albeit spirited, little girl. His gaze, however, lingered on Gabo and Limu. They were different. Knocking out ten cooks so silently required considerable skill; they weren't just average islanders.

"Were you three responsible for my missing men? Where are they now?" Bege directed his question to Fia.

Fia stuck her nose in the air, puffing out her chest defiantly. "That's right! I knocked them out!" she announced proudly. "And then my Limu and Gabo ate them! If you know what's good for you, leave Bipoth Island right now! Otherwise, Limu and Gabo will eat every last one of you too!" She finished by making a clumsy tiger-eating gesture that held absolutely no menace.

"Limu and Gabo?" Bege asked, amused.

Fia pointed dramatically at the captured Dog-Man and Monkey-Man. "Them! Gabo, the greedy Dog King who loves to eat people, and Limu, the Beating King who loves to beat people up for Gabo to eat!"

Gabo and Limu dutifully tried to make ferocious faces to match Fia's description, but Bege could clearly see a hint of pathetic grievance in both their expressions.

Bege's expression darkened, a malicious smile spreading across his face. The sudden shift frightened Fia, causing her to back up a couple of steps, holding her little wooden spear even higher.

"Well then," Bege said coldly, "since Limu and Gabo ate my men, a life for a life seems fair. Let's just throw Limu and Gabo into the sea and feed them to the fish." At his subtle signal, several crewmates grabbed the struggling pair and started dragging them towards the shore.

"Fia! Help us! I can't swim!" "Me neither! We didn't kill your men! They're just knocked out, honest!"

Gabo and Limu completely panicked, struggling violently and bursting into loud, terrified tears.

Fia was scared too, trembling as she waved her spear weakly towards Bege again. "L-let Limu and Gabo go!" she stammered. "They didn't eat anyone! I just… I just locked your men up!"

Bege smiled faintly and waved his hand, signaling his men to bring the terrified Dog-Man and Monkey-Man back.

"You two," Bege instructed a couple of his crewmates, gesturing towards Gabo and Limu, "take them and bring my captured men back here. The girl stays here as a hostage." The crewmates immediately hauled Gabo and Limu away.

Left alone, Fia's eyes darted around nervously. She deliberately pulled her watermelon hat down low over her eyes and tried to sidle away slowly, moving sideways like a little crab trying to make an escape.

"Hey! Who grabbed me?! Let go! I'm Fia, the Great Hunter of Bipoth Island!"

One of Bege's female crew members had scooped Fia up into her arms and planted a big, loud kiss on her cheek. Fia struggled indignantly until the woman put her back down.

Fia pushed her watermelon hat back up, glaring furiously at the woman.

"Little cutie, you're all sweaty from running around. Want a cola?" the female crewmate asked, holding out a chilled bottle with a friendly smile.

Fia eyed the woman suspiciously, then her gaze fell upon the familiar dark, fizzy liquid in the bottle. Her eyes instantly lit up. "Black fizzy water!" she gasped. "Fia drank this once last year! It was super yummy!"

She remembered finding a crate washed up on the beach with Gabo and Limu last year, filled with bottles of this wonderful "black fizzy water." They had finished the entire crate in just three days. Since then, they had spent countless days hoping to find more washed ashore, but without luck. It had been over a year since she'd tasted it. Seeing the bubbling dark liquid again, Fia snatched the bottle eagerly and began gulping it down.

Drinking ice-cold cola in the hot weather was pure bliss. Fia took a huge swig, then let out a long, contented sigh. "Ahhhhhh!" She quickly drained the rest of the bottle.

"Hee hee hee hee…" Bege watched Fia's obvious delight with amusement, chuckling as he took a swig of his own alcoholic drink.

Fia now looked expectantly up at the female crewmate, all previous hostility forgotten. She blinked her big eyes rapidly, clearly sending a signal for more.

The female crewmate laughed warmly and handed her another bottle.

Fia grabbed it quickly, hugging the bottle happily to her chest. This time, she sipped it slowly, taking tiny mouthfuls, savoring each drop with an expression of pure enjoyment.

Several other female crew members, apparently charmed by the little girl, gathered around, bringing plates of leftover food from the table and offering them to Fia. She was initially wary, but the food smelled and looked far too delicious to resist, and she soon began nibbling. Before long, though, she patted her stomach with a regretful sigh – she was still too full from raiding the kitchen earlier.

A short while later, the crewmates returned with Gabo, Limu, and the dozen missing members of Bege's crew. Aside from some bumps and bruises, none of them were seriously injured.

Gabo and Limu immediately spotted the cola bottle in Fia's hands, their eyes lighting up like lanterns. They struggled against their captors, trying to run towards her. Bege gave a subtle nod, and his men released them.

"Fia! Is that the black fizzy water?!" Gabo stared wide-eyed at the bottle clutched in Fia's arms, his long pink tongue darting out to lick the condensation off the side. A goofy, satisfied smile spread across his dog face.

"Idiot Gabo! That's disgusting!" Fia scolded, playfully punching him on the head.

"Fia, we want black fizzy water too!" Gabo whined pitifully. Limu nodded eagerly beside him.

Fia looked down at her precious cola bottle with reluctance. As much as she loved the drink, her two friends were more important. She carefully opened the bottle and poured a small amount into cups for each of them.

"Drink slowly!" she instructed sternly, especially eyeing Gabo. "Don't gulp it all down at once, or you won't get any more!"

The trio sat together on the ground, sipping their cola contentedly, taking tiny, deliberate sips that looked utterly comical.

"Hee hee hee hee! There's plenty of cola here! Drink up, drink as much as you want!" Bege laughed heartily, casually tossing a whole crate of cola bottles near them.

Gabo instantly gulped down the rest of his cup and, with astonishing speed, dragged the entire crate over to their little group.

Bege watched the Dog-Man with narrowed, smiling eyes. 'With speed like that, no wonder they could take down my men,' he thought, already calculating the best way to uncover their origins.

The trio's eyes curved into happy crescents. Limu also finished his cup in one go and grabbed a fresh bottle from the crate. Fia quickly drained the rest of her current bottle, then grabbed another one from the crate to hug protectively. Suddenly, her eyes drooped, and she slumped over, falling fast asleep right there on the ground, soft snores immediately starting.

Gabo and Limu let out huge yawns almost simultaneously, then lay down on either side of the sleeping Fia, also falling asleep instantly.

Bege stared at the peacefully sleeping trio, momentarily speechless. Damn, he thought, slightly bewildered. They fall asleep incredibly fast.

"The sun's too strong here. They can't sleep out in the open," one of the female crewmates remarked, gently picking up the sleeping Fia and placing her carefully on a nearby lounge chair under some shade. Other crewmates casually dragged the snoring Gabo and Limu into a cooler spot nearby.