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A Tale Of A Bubble II
🕑 Added 2022-11-26 13:16:05 +0000 UTC.................
Chapter 94: A Tale Of A Bubble II
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But not everyone could avoid him, especially as he made his way to a certain Cafe, a very special Cafe, one of his goals after getting enough information out of Vander.
It was a very colorful place, a massive structure looking absolutely exquisite, the Mermaid Café, a very famous restaurant residing in Coral Hill.
"Welcome to the Mermaid Café!!!" And it was certainly a Mermaid Cafe as they were welcome by a Mermaid, or Merfolk, one of the two major races that inhabit the sea.
Yovan traced his eyes around the Cafe, finding all of its employees to be Mermaids, and for a good reason.
The Mermaids were almost all gorgeous, and known for their stunning beauty, especially with their upper half being that of a human while the lower half is that of a fish or other undersea creature.
While the males, referred to as mermen, keep their tails intact their whole lives, the females', referred to as mermaids, tails split when they turn 30, allowing them to walk on land, thus how they can comfortably work in the Cafe.
"Yovan." He nodded at the gorgeous Mermaid with a smile, "Lead me to a nice table please."
"Shehehehe, very cute," The Mermaid giggled, seeming very cheerful. In contrast to most of the Fish-Man Island's inhabitants who were wary and fearful of him, the Mermaids weren't at all.
"I'm Seira, pleasure to meet you, and please follow me." Seira cheerfully said before taking the lead.
"Cute? I?" Yovan wanted to laugh at her ludicrous comment.
"Perhaps the depths damaged their brains? I think she meant handsome?" Kalifa corrected.
"I can hear you," Seira stated with a smile that was quickly slipping out of her face, anger trying to take place.
"Why are we here anyway? In a brothel with sluts all around? I honestly feel sexually harassed, by the fact that you'd chose prostitutes before me." Kalifa shamelessly said, not seeming embarrassed at all.
"This is not a Brothel. This is a Cafe, bitc... Miss." Seira was on the verge of blowing up. In fact, all the Mermaids that heard her words were staring at her with venom, and there were only Mermaid in the Cafe.
Not one Fish man was around, almost like someone was expecting Yovan to visit the Cafe.
"Oh? Do you want me to choose you?" Yovan asked with a wide mischievous grin.
"Perhaps I do, perhaps not. You won't know until you try." Kalifa wasn't backing off, and she was certainly not allowing the embarrassment she buried deep inside to stop her.
"I'm good." Yovan shrugged much to Kalifa's disbelief and Seira's happiness as the latter led him to the largest comfiest table in the entire Cafe, and took a seat right beside him, acting a bit too friendly.
Someone's chest was heaving up and down, taking deep breaths to calm herself down as she sat down on the opposite of him, "Are you by any chance impotent?" Kalifa dared to ask.
"I was at one point, but I'm very healthy now." Yovan shrugged, not offended at all as he picked up the restaurant Menu, and started looking through it.
"Hey, Seira, what do you recommend?" Yovan asked with curiosity.
"Mm, my favorite is Shellfish Meat! You'll love it, I'm sure!" She excitedly responded as she leaned even closer to him.
"No no, I would recommend a scallop sandwich! You'll like it even more!" A Sky blue-haired Mermaid suggested as she also sat next to him.
"Sea Fruits! Sea Fruits!! Order Sea Fruits!" A Navy-blue-haired Mermaid seemed way too excited and many times bolder as she took a seat on Yovan's lap.
"Ni-San! how about a Cake! We can all eat it together!" Yovan was a bit of a giant himself, so there was room for another Mermaid to settle on his lap, a pink-haired Mermaid.
"Hmm, might as well order everything on the menu and get it over with, Yahahaha!" Yovan couldn't help but burst out laughing, amused by their antics.
"Yay!!!"
"Yahoo!!"
The Mermaids weren't afraid of him at all. In fact, they seemed to love him as one of them asked, "Hiramera here is a dancer! Hiramera can give you a good good show!" She coyly referred to herself in third-person.
They were quite odd, but lovely as Yovan enjoyed himself thoroughly while Kalifa was eyeing the Mermaid with a dangerous look.
And they were certainly interested in hearing his Pirate stories, "Oh, right! I almost forgot about the lightning boy, I shall visit him in the future."
"Lightning boy?"
"Yeah, a lightning boy. He was watching me as the Ship started falling downwards, breaching through the clouds!" Yovan nodded with reminiscence.
"And then! And then!?"
"And then, I could see it..." Yovan ominously said.
"See what?" Seira asked with her hands on her heart, feeling it beating so fast.
"I could see Jaya, the Island that no longer exists, and I could see them!" Yovan slowly added, building tension.
"Them?"
"Emperors of the Underworlds and even World Government agents!! Yahahaha!"
"HAH!" The Mermaids couldn't help but gasp, "And then!?"
"And then the Fall Massacre took place for a meteor in a boat's clothing loved land, and land it vyed, but all it tasted was darkness and flames, ones of beauty and grace... God, I suck at making poems, better stick to my paintings." Yovan puffed his cheeks in annoyance.
"Aya? AHHH, so cute!"
"Ahhhh, I'm in love!"
"Ahn, my heart!"
"Aww, the poem was lovely!"
"Em, it was!"
"Stop it, you're gonna make me blush, Yahahahaha." Yovan laughed as he enjoyed the lovely atmosphere, the dancing of the attractive Mermaids, and the food... It was all lovely.
However, Kalifa sensed something different as she narrowed her eyes. Yovan's behavior wasn't strange. He was strange that way, and he's certainly very spontaneous in most things.
In fact, he was much more relaxed since the reunion. That she noted. It was as if a load was taken off his shoulder, and he didn't seem to be working as hard. At least, that's what she thinks.
What was strange was the Cafe itself. There were no other customers which wasn't that strange considering the Fishmen were avoiding them.
What was strange was the fact that there were no signs of any Fishmen having been here at all, and Kalifa could sense a lot throughout the Cafe.
She didn't waste her time while Yovan was away. She learned and trained a lot, and she awakened her Observation Haki.
So she couldn't help but eye the food, almost feeling something sinister within. She kept her face straight as she surveyed the Mermaids' expressions and behavior through her Observation Haki.
'They're genuine?' Kalifa concluded. They must have no idea of what's happening, 'So is it the presence I sense deep in the Cafe?'
Her focus returned to Yovan, trying to see any trace of knowledge about what was happening, or why he brought her here, but he seemed clueless.
So without hesitation, Kalifa stood up, lightly jumping only to take a seat on Yovan's lap, quite shamelessly one might say as she pushed the other Mermaids away.
"Heyy!"
"Bitc... I mean, miss, please be careful!"
Kalifa totally ignored them as she looked at Yovan, holding his chin to look directly into his eyes, "I know my Captain better than anyone. He's too kind to say no even when he's getting sexually harassed, and he would've certainly allowed himself to be treated even more badly, so badly... I will protect you."
"W-were we doing a bad thing?" The sky blue-haired lady murmured, her eyes tearing up.
"Ah? Really?"
"No! That bit... Miss is just jealous!"
"Yahahahaha," Yovan laughed loudly, finding it hard to stop with how amused he was as he started to ruffle Kalifa's silky blonde hair, "Hah, Kalifa, you're just too lovely, but you don't have to be so protective of me. I only do the things I want to do."
Kalifa looked directly into his eyes, blinking twice before nodding with a smile, but not leaving his lap. In fact, she made sure to take up the entirety of space on his lap, making herself very comfortable.
Her message must've reached him, yet he ate the food, eating as much as his belly could handle, and he can handle a lot.
All the while, the Mermaids didn't eat with him, they just danced or sang for him, and they only stopped when they noticed something strange happening with Yovan.
"Huh? Very interesting." He murmured, "It just hurts a bit."
They were surprised to see dark blue veins very apparent throughout his body as if his veins were on the brink of popping off.
He looked sick and weird, and his state seemed to be getting worse by the second much to the Mermaids' dismay until it didn't anymore.
He returned to normal in less than a minute, releasing a breath of black smoke, "It's still somewhat incomplete, huh?"
The food was poisoned, almost all of it. The poison was special, capable of killing even a monster like him. Yovan was able to detect the poison but he took it anyway, all to see the extent of Survival's instinct.
[Armament Haki (Hardening. Imbuement. Survival's Instinct): 1812/∞]
It was a technique he developed himself, one that should technically ensure his survival through various methods, but it wasn't entirely successful in stopping the poison, so he had to use Life Return.
"I would like to meet the lady of the Cafe," Yovan stated with an amused smile, the atmosphere around him changing entirely.
