Chapter 137

Chapter 137: Hair or Tail?

"Thanks to the chaos caused by Hodie, I wonder how he's doing," Vander Decken thought of his partner.

Fishman A said, "That guy couldn't kill Queen Otohime, maybe he's already done for."

"That's a shame. I was planning to send him an invitation for the wedding," Vander Decken regretted, it's not often he has someone to invite.

Fishman B said, "Blame his incompetence for not being able to take down Queen Otohime. It almost messed up Captain's plan."

"No doubt the Captain is resourceful to get close to Princess Shirahoshi in such a situation!" Fishman A chimed in.

"Haha, I managed to squeeze into the crowd after all the chaos and touched a strand of Princess Shirahoshi's hair," Vander Decken said with seriousness, wearing gloves to avoid contact with others.

His subordinates complimented him, and Vander Decken said self-indulgently, "After she reads the love letter, Princess Shirahoshi must have fallen in love with me."

Fishman B pointed out the flaw, "But Captain, Princess Shirahoshi probably doesn't even know you, right?"

"Huh?" Vander Decken was puzzled. It seemed Princess Shirahoshi had never seen his handsome face, even if she knew his name, she wouldn't recognize him.

"Well, that won't do. In that case, I'll send her another photo," Vander Decken said, finding a photo he thought was handsome and tossed it out.

...

At night, a photo flew into the Ryugu Palace and stuck to Tom's tail.

Tom, half-asleep, felt someone pat his butt, woke up with a start, and saw something on his butt.

Tom tore off the photo and glanced at it before casually tossing it away. He yawned and snuggled back into Adrian's blanket.

Adrian tightened his grip on the pillow in his sleep and turned over.

"So, I told you people not to sleep with pets."

The next morning, Adrian skillfully picked up Tom, shook him to return him to his original state.

Tom was getting used to it. It didn't hurt or itch, so he didn't mind.

"Hey, what's this?" Adrian saw a photo on the floor when he got up.

It depicted someone with four legs, two hands, green overalls with suspenders, a yellow cape and a small hat. The person had a hunched back, messy hair, and posed in what they thought was a cool manner.

"Is this Vander Decken? Where did this photo come from?" Tom shook his head, indicating he didn't know.

Tom genuinely didn't know. Yesterday, when they were discussing Devil Fruits, he was more concerned about the grilled fish he left outside. Now, he probably thought the wind blew it in.

He didn't consider that there was no wind inside the Ryugu Palace.

"Never mind, I'll use this for Neptune's wanted poster."

Adrian realized something was off. There shouldn't be a photo of Vander Decken in the Ryugu Palace. Could it be that he tossed it in here? But why did it end up in his room? Puzzled, he wanted to confirm if Vander Decken mistakenly touched someone else yesterday.

Tom thought for a moment, then nodded and shook his head, indicating that someone strange might have touched him, but he couldn't remember.

"Okay, let's just tell the others about this." Adrian gave up. Tom was occasionally unreliable, sometimes not even noticing when his tail was cut off, let alone a mere touch.

...

"What? He marked a cat, not Princess Shirahoshi?" Neptune's face lit up with joy at first but quickly realized it wasn't appropriate. "Ahem, but the love letter and the photo were clearly meant for Princess Shirahoshi. Left Minister, make copies of the photo and issue a nationwide wanted poster for him!"

The Left Minister complied, while the Right Minister said, "Your Majesty, yesterday's search yielded no clues. Even with the photo today... he might have already escaped Fishman Island."

"We can only do this for now. Also, send patrol teams outside the island to search." Neptune had no other choice; if the guy hid in some remote corner of the sea, they'd never find him.

Today, Queen Otohime wasn't present due to concerns that Vander Decken might send dangerous items. Neptune asked her to hide temporarily in the Hard-Shell Tower.

It was the strongest structure in the Ryugu Palace, even Neptune couldn't break it—don't underestimate Neptune; with a body the size of a giant, he was already powerful. Besides, he was proficient in Fishman Karate.

He appeared weak in the earlier parts of the story because he was getting old.

Now that they knew Princess Shirahoshi wasn't the target, she could come out and play.

After arranging the search, Neptune approached Tom with a smile, "Little cat, um, I mean, Mr. Tom, is there anything you'd like to eat? I'll immediately instruct the kitchen to prepare... Oh, by the way, did Princess Shirahoshi accompany you to catch fish yesterday? From now on, you're free to catch any fish in the Ryugu Palace. Do you want me to help you catch a whale?"

This was the person who saved Princess Shirahoshi; they had to repay him. Also, yesterday, Miss Artoria helped Princess Otohime block a bullet; she saved their lives. Neptune felt like he owed more and more favors to others.

Adrian backed away two steps while holding Tom. Was it really necessary for Neptune to get so close? And Uncle Neptune, you look like you're serving Tom's last meal this way!

Tom didn't mind at all. He rubbed his hands together, imagining various dishes like steamed or braised fish. Drool dripped from his mouth.

"No problem!" Neptune waved his large hand and summoned a servant. "Prepare these dishes immediately."

After a few seconds, Neptune fell into contemplation. Why could he understand Mr. Tom's thoughts? And in such detail! Did he gain an even stronger form of Observation Haki than Otohime's?