Chapter 95

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Late at night, most of the lights in Loguetown had gone out, but the first-floor restaurant of the Endless Dream, moored by the shore, remained brightly lit.

Considering Meowth's somewhat abrupt appearance might seem odd to Smoker and the other marines, Zyhark opted not to throw the loud and lively welcome party he had for previous newcomers, choosing instead to prepare a simple late-night snack.

Thus, the two—human and cat/pokemon—sat around the small dining table, their shadows elongated under the overhead lights.

"There must be super many treasures in the world of the Great Pirate Era, right meow?!" 

Having grasped the ferocity and dangers of the pirate world, Meowth showed little fear but was instead deeply intrigued by the legendary great treasures.

"If I can bring such a super treasure back to my original world, then Musashi and Kojiro wouldn't have to live as dishonorable thieves anymore, right?"

Meowth thought to himself, a smile appearing on his face adorned with whiskers on both sides.

It was holding a wine glass, skillfully swirling it before taking a sip.

The rich flavor of the wine flowed down its throat, relaxing its tense nerves from arriving in this new world.

—To welcome this adorable new member, Aqua had surprisingly decided to celebrate with a bottle of wine she had long cherished.

"Delicious, right? This is a premium wine that Makino gave me; it's really great!"

Aqua also raised her glass, savoring a sip with relish.

"Big treasures and such are still a bit too far off for us right now."

Seeing that Meowth's reaction was reasonably normal, Zyhark also relaxed.

Speaking of treasure maps, he suddenly remembered the Buggy Pirate Crew he had personally sent to jail.

He wondered if the incredibly lucky 'God' Buggy had managed to escape and whether he had set off with grand plans to "hunt for treasure" using the navy base map he had provided.

Zyhark actually wanted to see their astonished faces when those guys dug through the tunnel and found themselves in a navy base...

Zyhark smiled a bit sinisterly.

He also had a glass of wine in front of him.

Although Aqua treasured the wine gifted by Makino as dearly as her life, she wasn't stingy enough to hog it all and had poured a little for Zyhark and King as companions.

A bit of sharing, but not much.

"Meowth, your technological skills should be quite good, right? Could you create a high-lethality controllable robot?" Zyhark suddenly asked Meowth.

If he remembered correctly, most of Team Rocket's high-tech gadgets were developed and maintained by Meowth.

It didn't need to be on par with pacifists, but even just basic cannons and a steel body, if operated by King, who was proficient in control, could enhance his combat capabilities by many times!

After all, King had already demonstrated his talent for controlling cannon fire, so robots should be a quick learn for him!

Hearing this, Meowth put down the steamed flounder it was holding, thought briefly, and said nonchalantly, "As long as I have the appropriate tools and materials, there's no big problem, just need some time meow."

Seeing its confident demeanor, Zyhark was greatly reassured: "No problem, I'll take you to town for shopping tomorrow, don't worry about money."

Hearing the words 'money' and 'shopping', Aqua's ears perked up immediately, and she raised her hand high.

"Zyhark! I need money too, after all, even the Goddess of Water needs to buy things!"

"You could just say wine," Zyhark immediately exposed the goddess's well-known little scheme, "There's still plenty of wine left on the ship, no need to buy more."

"Bu—but there are other essential things!" Aqua's eyes darted around.

"Like what?"

"Like... like..."

Unable to think of anything else but wine, Aqua was stumped. 

"I don't care! I also caught a lot of bounty pirates, that money is originally mine!"

Unable to find a good excuse, she decided to be upfront and simply ask for it.

Hmm, quite the style of a foolish goddess.

Sure enough, her motherly affection for Meowth was just a façade!

Zyhark frowned and pondered for a while before reluctantly saying, "Fine, I'll give you one million."

Acting just like a heartless contractor settling wages with a worker.

"What? That's too little!"

Knowing the price levels in the pirate world, Aqua protested strongly.

"How about five hundred thousand?"

"Think carefully, one million doesn't seem that little actually."

Aqua unilaterally withdrew her strong protest, quickly choosing to bow to the harsh capitalist.

Zyhark's lips curled slightly: easy to handle!

In fact, considering Aqua's role in defeating the Krieg pirate crew, she definitely deserved more than sixty percent of the profits.

But giving too much could exceed her intellectual capacity to handle money wisely, and the excess would just flow back into the world in ways unimaginable.

Simply put, a waste!

"Maybe I'll buy a better bottle of wine for this foolish goddess tomorrow in town," Zyhark silently decided, proving his conscience was still very much intact compared to those ruthless contractors.

"By the way, Aqua, come here and stand still, I want to try punching you to test your physical defense."

Recalling how Meowth's Scratch attack had only left minor scratches on Aqua's face, Zyhark couldn't help wanting to test her actual resistance to injury.

After all, from her summoning to now, she seemed never to have sustained any serious injuries, even if her hiding in a restaurant corner crying was just due to simple fear of pain.

And the battles against the Kuro and Krieg pirate crews were even less worth mentioning as she was essentially picking up the leftovers!

"What?"

Aqua tilted her head, her hand covering her mouth as her eyes suddenly took on a strange look, "Zyhark, I didn't expect such a serious guy like you to be into this kind of strange play."

"Although I'm indeed highly charming and you just agreed to give me money, suddenly making such an impolite request, I too would be very distressed."

Meowth: "..."

King: "..."

"You, what the hell are you thinking about, I just want to test your physical defense!!"

Zyhark, stunned by the foolish goddess's bizarre thought process, his expression abruptly changed, and his teeth turned jagged.

(End of Chapter)