325 Carrot

A jovial atmosphere quickly formed inside the mink settlement. Law's reunion with his crew was very sweet, especially seeing Law try to act cool when he was clearly super relieved and happy to see them again.

Cabernet was busying herself with the mink children, flying them about at a moderate speed, which might as well be super sonic to the little gremlins. Merry entertained those that were waiting for a turn to fly, allowing them to play rodeo with her.

Franky was similarly popular with the children who were only just introduced with the concept of a cyborg and were absolutely enthralled.

Brook created an ambience with his musical skills, something that he discovered helped to keep the canine minks off of him temporarily.

Jinbe was quite the attraction to the minks too, fishmen being a much rarer sight than even humans for their people. The air of a warrior that he gave off only amplified this interest, with minks being a warrior people who fought to protect their home from the youngest child to the oldest grandparent.

Cherry decided to partake in a tasting of the local alcohols with Pedro without letting it get her drunk. It was during this time that she was approached by an excitable white rabbit girl with a blonde bob cut.

"Are you the one who saved big brother Pedro and the others~?!" she asked, speaking quickly and barely containing herself.

Pedro answered before Cherry could, "She's the one, yes."

The rabbit girl practically tackled Cherry with a big "Garchuuuu~!"

"Why is this bunny child clinging to me now?" Cherry asked, shifting her ear away from the rabbit girl's chomping teeth.

"I'm not a child?! I'm 16 years old!" the rabbit girl was aggrieved.

"My apologies." Cherry said seriously. "Why is this bunny baby clinging to me now?"

The girl puffed up her cheek and stamped her foot adorably, before embarrassingly realizing how only proved Cherry right.

"I thought you want the women to garchuu you? What's wrong with Carrot?" Pedro raised an eyebrow.

"I like mature women." Cherry said straightforwardly. It was technically the truth and much easier than explaining that Carrot really was practically a baby in her 600+ year old eyes. Even Robin was a youthful flower who had still yet to fully bloom in her view.

"Garchuu isn't a romantic act, just so you know," Pedro said, mildly amused. He'd been on his own adventures out into the world, so he had a better understanding of the cultural differences between minks and humans.

Carrot's garchuu had opened the floodgates though. A number of lady minks came to give their own, since if Cherry was going to get in trouble for it as their instincts told them, it was already past the point of no return.

Cherry was satisfied after cuddling with a few dozen mink women, nodding in satisfaction like a perverted old man.

"We should trade clothes!" Carrot said, seeming eager.

Cherry looked at her incredulously. "Our sense of style isn't very similar…"

"It's a sign of friendship! See, look, Wanda and your friend also switched!" Carrot explained excitedly. "I'll go get my good clothes from home! I'll be back soon!"

Sure enough, Nami had switched into a different outfit and Wanda wore Nami's jeans and bikini top.The dress Nami was wearing was… revealing; far more so than Cherry would accept for herself in a public setting.

Cherry looked to Pedro as if asking for help.

"Don't involve me in women's business." Pedro denied her silent plea.

Cherry pouted at him, before gaining a more serious expression. "So what were Kaido's people doing here? I assume it was one of his top subordinates who came here if they were able to subdue an entire country."

Pedro mirrored her serious turn of attitude. "It was a man called Jack who came here. He claimed that there was a 'samurai' in this country, but no one here has met anyone like what they described. Zou very rarely gets visited by outsiders and none go unnoticed, so we would know if someone of that description came here."

Pedro's face contorted in rage and his voice got a bit louder. "Jack didn't like that answer though. He decided that any answer other than what he wanted to hear was unacceptable! He and his minions waged war against us! We fought well against him for five days and nights, but our kings were unable to defeat Jack himself and put an end to the farce! Jack lost his patience, and on the sixth day he released that deadly gas upon us! Then he tortured our kings, asking the same question over and over! "Where is the samurai?""

His raised voice had garnered the attention of everyone, the surroundings becoming deathly silent and gloomy as the minks shared in Pedro's disgust, frustration, and anger.

Pedro got some control over the volume of his voice, but everyone could still hear him nonetheless. "However, there has never been a 'samurai' here, so the only answer we could give him was the same we gave him at the start."

At this point, the Straw Hats were looking a bit pale. How would the minks react if the three samurai in their entourage showed up now, knowing what they went through in the last week?

Their welcome would almost certainly be worn thin at the very least.

Cherry was the exception as she smiled instead, leaning forward to rest her chin in her hand. "I like you people. I happen to be the best blacksmith you'll ever meet, and it would be my honor to smith new weapons for you; better weapons. Weapons that are sharper, sturdier, and conduct your electric abilities much more naturally. If Jack were to ever return, you will not lose a second time. I guarantee it."

She spoke with such genuine sincerity, admiration, and confidence that the minks couldn't muster any doubt in their hearts.

"Why is everyone so quiet all of the sudden?" Carrot asked as she trotted over with a dress and some gold accessories in hand.

Notably, the dress was even skimpier than the one Nami was wearing, but Cherry took it without complaint. If it was a show of friendship with these most valiant and noble people, she would suffer any humiliation let alone wear a simple dress that just left a bit too little to the imagination than she preferred.

It still irked her a little bit to see that her normally somewhat loose robes were just a tad tight around Carrot's bust, whilst she was forced to show off her modest figure in a little red dress of a similar style to Nami's. Her annoyance melted away as Carrot flapped her arms with the large sleeves childishly as she laughed.

"Show me to the forge! We won't be here forever, so I need to get to work immediately!" Cherry declared, shifting into a professional mindset to bury her shame.

The minks were happy to oblige. They weren't sure if her claims held any weight, but as one of their saviors they were willing to let her try at least. Who knows, maybe they really could defeat Jack if he showed his face again. Then, they would be ready and able to avenge their shameful defeat.