Less than two seconds after the video was posted, Helmeppo's phone suddenly rang.
"Huh? Someone commented so quickly?" Helmeppo picked up his phone in surprise, quickly opened TikTok, and saw a series of notifications pop up in the message bar:
Smoker commented on your video,
Smoker liked your video,
Smoker favorited your video,
Crocus liked your video,
Tashigi liked your video,
Usopp liked your video,
Sanji liked and favorited your video...
Helmeppo's eyes widened as he excitedly looked at Coby. "Coby, it seems you were right, does Captain Smoker have something going on with Captain Hina..."
"Hiss! Shut up!" Coby abruptly covered Helmeppo's mouth, his eyes filled with terror.
Is this something you can just casually talk about?
If it gets out, they'll both definitely be dead!
"Don't spread rumors. If this gets out because of you, we're both dead!" Coby warned in a low voice.
"Got it, got it." Helmeppo nodded hastily. Only then did Coby release his hand, cautiously looking around. After confirming no one was present, he relaxed. "So what do we do now?"
Coby said helplessly, "Don't post any more videos, otherwise... sooner or later we'll be expelled from the Marines."
Helmeppo was dejected. These past few days, he had found an unprecedented sense of belonging on TikTok. Suddenly being told not to post videos felt worse than death.
Just as he was about to give up completely, a pinned video suddenly popped up on TikTok.
"Hello, TikTok users, are you still troubled by not being able to produce high-quality videos?"
"Tonight at 7:30 PM, a TikTok producer will personally host a live stream to answer some questions about using TikTok online. Interested users are welcome to watch the live stream."
"At the same time, we will select some lucky viewers to connect with for live Q&A."
"Additionally, TikTok will be launching a powerful new feature!"
Helmeppo watched the video, his eyes growing brighter, as if he had discovered a new continent.
He suddenly grabbed Coby's hand and said excitedly, "Coby, I think we should watch this live stream! Once we learn, we'll be able to produce high-quality videos and definitely won't mess things up like today!"
"And there's a new feature coming out, I wonder what it will be, I'm really looking forward to it!" Helmeppo said with a look of longing.
Coby looked at him, sighed helplessly, but couldn't help but crack a smile. "Alright, let's go check it out then..."
Meanwhile,
Inside the Merry Go, Sanji was holed up in the kitchen, his eyes full of hearts, his fingers rapidly tapping on the screen, occasionally spurting a nosebleed or two.
"Beautiful, so beautiful!" he muttered excitedly. "There's actually such a daring female swordswoman, is that Miss Rebecca? Even her name sounds so lovely!"
Sanji's tapping speed was incredibly fast, making sparks fly from the screen. Luckily, the phone's quality was good, otherwise it would have exploded from being tapped so hard.
Just then, a message popped up in the background.
"Huh? A private message?" Sanji clicked open the message interface and found that it was a private message from Rebecca, whom he had just followed!
"Wow! It's a message from the beautiful Miss Rebecca! I'm so touched!" He clicked in without hesitation and saw the prompt: "You are now mutually following each other, you can chat."
After glancing at Rebecca's captivating profile picture, Sanji couldn't hold back any longer, and his nosebleed gushed out with a 'poof'.
"Woah!!!" he shouted excitedly. "Miss Rebecca actually followed me! I'm so touched!"
Sanji was so happy he felt like he was floating on clouds, with flowers everywhere, and countless beautiful women kindly calling his name and running towards him.
Suddenly, he sobered up, realizing he had to message Miss Rebecca now to strengthen their connection.
He hastily opened the private message, his fingers rapidly typing out a message: "Dearest Miss Rebecca, your beauty is like a spring breeze soothing my wounded heart. Would you accept a dinner invitation from Sanji the gentleman?"
After sending the message, Sanji sat aside, excitedly waiting for a reply, his mind filled with countless fantasies of dining with Rebecca.
However, after waiting for a long time, he received no reply.
"Miss Rebecca must be too busy," Sanji consoled himself.
He waited for a very long time again, but still no reply. His heart sank to rock bottom, and he became utterly dejected, losing even the desire to cook.
"Are gentlemen really so unpopular..." he thought dejectedly.
Just then, Usopp walked in, his stomach growling, his head drooping as he weakly called out, "Sanji, what's for dinner? We're starving."
A moment later, seeing that Sanji didn't answer, Usopp finally looked up and saw Sanji sprawled on the ground, looking as if he had a serious illness.
"Hiss! Sanji, what's wrong with you? You're not dying, are you?!" Usopp rushed over, shaking Sanji's arm, afraid that if he died, they would starve.
Sanji stared blankly at the kitchen ceiling, muttering, "Why? Why hasn't Miss Rebecca replied to my message yet?"
Usopp then looked at Sanji's phone, discovered the automated reply message, and was stunned.
"Sanji, is there a possibility... uh... I mean, maybe, perhaps that message was sent by a bot?" he cautiously prompted.
Sanji was stunned for a moment before he slowly lifted his head, then his entire being radiated an inexplicable brilliance, as if he had been reborn.
"Usopp, are you saying that Miss Rebecca isn't ignoring my message, but rather that she hasn't seen it at all? Meaning she still cares about me?!!"
"...Uh, you could interpret it that way," Usopp said against his better judgment, thinking that the other party might have mass-followed, but he didn't voice this, fearing it would discourage Sanji.
After receiving Usopp's confirmation, Sanji looked radiant, re-energized, and full of drive!
"Hahahaha, Usopp, tell me quickly what you all want for dinner!"
"...Something simple is fine, but make it quick. We still have to watch the TikTok producer's live stream at 7:30. If we're lucky, there might even be some online Q&A. We definitely can't miss it. I heard they're also releasing a new feature, it's definitely going to be awesome!" Usopp reminded him, clearly eager to watch the live stream.
"A new feature? It's definitely necessary to watch that, so let's save time and make something simple for dinner," Sanji said, standing up again and beginning to prepare dinner.