Jerry stood on Tom's hand, baring his big teeth as he shyly extended a small hand to Lynch, clearly eager for recognition.
"Hello, Jerry," Lynch said warmly, shaking the tiny hand. "From today on, we're family."
As a gesture of goodwill, Lynch pulled out the cheese he had prepared in advance and handed it to Jerry.
Jerry's eyes lit up as he hugged the cheese tightly, laughing with pure joy. He nearly jumped up to kiss Lynch in gratitude.
Finally, Jerry thought, he had been acknowledged by a human.
Jerry laughed heartily, and Tom chuckled along with him.
Suddenly, as if remembering something, Jerry reached into his tail fur and pulled out a fingertip-sized firecracker, offering it to Lynch with a proud expression.
"Is this for me? Thank you," Lynch said, gently patting Jerry's small head before taking the tiny firecracker between two fingers.
At that moment, the sound of the system rang in Lynch's ears.
[Ding! Detected that Host received Jerry's gift: Taffy's small firecracker.]
[Taifei's Small Firecracker: Don't be fooled by its small size—it's pure concentrated power, capable of blowing up a three-story villa.]
Lynch: "..."
Firecrackers or nuclear bombs?
He held the tiny firecracker, about the size of his fingertip, and carefully placed it into the system space. It would be set off on the warship.
...
The royal capital was still far away. Before reaching it, the team made one last stop in West Blue to resupply.
It was much easier to restock supplies on familiar ground.
When news spread that the legendary King of West Blue had arrived on the island, people immediately stopped whatever they were doing and gathered in droves to meet Lynch.
"Is that Lynch-sama? He's so handsome!"
"He looks so young. He's probably around the same age as my brother."
"I wish I could be his woman."
"Silly girl, just go to sleep. You can have him in your dreams."
"I hate it, why won't you let people fantasize?"
Two young girls who couldn't squeeze into the crowd climbed onto the roof, watching Lynch from a distance, whispering to each other with flushed cheeks.
"Lynch-sama~ I'll have a monkey for you!!!" A sweet voice suddenly called out from the crowd.
The crowd burst into laughter. "Hahahahahaha."
"Who is this girl? She's speaking her mind!"
"Go on, go on, everyone here wants to marry Lynch-sama." The crowd joked, enjoying the moment
The sea's children are bold in love and hate, but few girls are as "tough" as she was. Eventually, her father pulled her away with a flushed face.
A large group of merchants on the island insisted on offering supplies to the army for free. It was then that Lynch realized how high his reputation had risen among the people.
"Lynch-sama, please accept this. It's just a small token of our gratitude."
"Yes, Lynch-sama. We're old and frail, and we can't fight in your battles, but this is all we can offer. Please accept it."
"Because of you, we now live without worry."
"Before you came, we not only suffered under the kingdom's exploitation, but we also feared pirate attacks every day. My second son was killed by pirates."
"Thanks to the farming technology you introduced, no one on the island will go hungry now."
Lynch smiled warmly. "I'll accept your gifts, but you must also accept the payment. The West Blue army will never take anything for free."
Lynch, the first emperor, did his best to recall the wise rulers of history, trying to imitate the sages and become a good monarch.
He thought back to the ways he had won people's hearts, like kindly shaking hands with the elders on the island and chatting about everyday matters.
But his conversations made the group of elderly people cry, something Lynch had never expected. Perhaps they were remembering the hardships of the past.
He wiped his sweat in secret—being a king was harder than he thought.
"Lynch-sama! Lynch-sama!" An elderly woman suddenly pushed through the crowd and stopped in front of him, panting for breath.
"Don't worry. Take your time and tell me what's wrong," Lynch said gently.
"Lynch-sama, the chickens on our island are lost!" The woman said, looking up at him with a serious expression.
Lynch: "???"
Why would she come to him about lost chickens?
"How are you sure the chickens are lost?" Lynch asked patiently.
"Because we found a trail of cat footprints near the chicken coop. There are no cats on our island! The cats from outside must have stolen our chickens."
'Cat footprints? It must be Tom's fault,' Lynch thought, recalling how Tom had disappeared as soon as the ship docked. He pulled out one hundred thousand Baileys from his pocket.
"I'm sorry, ma'am. Maybe the cat on our ship accidentally took your chickens. This is compensation."
One hundred thousand Baileys was enough to buy 30 large roosters.
But the woman shook her head and pushed the money back. "I don't want the money. If you can, please help us find the chickens."
"These aren't just any chickens. They're very large. The cat probably hasn't eaten them yet. We won't know for sure for a while."
"Not an ordinary chicken?" Lynch frowned slightly.
"Yes," the aunt nodded eagerly, pulling a basketball from behind her back and slowly explaining, "You associate basketball with chicken."
"Basketball... and chicken?" Lynch's frown deepened, puzzled by what the woman was trying to say.
"Oh!" Seeing that Lynch still didn't understand, the aunt stamped her foot in frustration. "It's a chicken that can play basketball! It's the mascot of our island!"
"Many tourists come just to watch it play basketball. Now that it's gone, what should we do?"
Lynch finally understood. "Mascot."
"Don't worry," he said reassuringly, "I'll make sure someone helps find the chickens on the island."
"It's not just any chicken, it's a chicken that can play basketball!" the aunt corrected.
"Yes, yes, a basketball-playing chicken," Lynch replied with a smile.
Jerry, standing on Lynch's shoulders, was quickly caught by him. "I have a task for you. Find Tom and rescue the chicken from him."
"Jiji!" Jerry saluted with a military salute and vanished from Lynch's hand.
Meanwhile, by the seaside...
"Meow meow meow~ meow meow meow~ meow meow meow meow~"
Tom, wrapped in a white napkin, was washing the knife and fork he had brought with him on the beach, humming a cheerful tune.
Translated: Grilled chicken wings, my favorite~
Not far away, a large rooster in overalls was tied up and thrown to the ground, a basketball resting quietly next to it.
"Kick-kick! Kick-kick!"
When the big rooster saw Tom licking the corners of his mouth and approaching with firewood in his arms, it struggled wildly and screamed in fear.
If translated, it would say: Oops~ What are you doing?
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TO BE CONTINUED
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