“Are you really here for me?” Libo was a bit confused when she heard Gern was looking for her.
She tilted her head, her pink pupils flickering with doubt, while she thought to herself,
“If this person in front of me is really looking for me, then haven’t I misunderstood him?”
The pure-hearted Mink Tribe members were terrifyingly simple…
Thinking this, she circled Gern once. Her petite figure of 168cm looked especially tiny in front of 221cm Gern.
The long ears characteristic of a lop-eared rabbit gently swayed with her movements.
When Libo’s gaze fell on the Marine cape on Gern’s back, her brows furrowed slightly.
“I recognize the two characters on this cape. Pekoms, that little brat, told me about them…”
Libo pointed at the white cape, a hint of confusion in her voice, “It seems to be… Justice?”
It should be known that at this time, most of the Mink Tribe in Mokomo Dukedom were oblivious to the outside world, save for a few individuals.
This was also why Nekomamushi and Inuarashi ran off on an adventure and ended up drifting to Wano Country, almost getting caught and roasted.
“Want to know my identity?” Gern saw her reaction and a slight smile played on his lips.
“Mhm, mhm!” Libo nodded frantically.
“Watch closely!” Gern whispered, then suddenly hunched down, striking an exaggerated, chuunibyou pose.
He clenched his right fist and swung it like a Kamen Rider transforming, his Marine cape fluttering in the wind, and shouted,
“That’s right! I am the Hero of Justice—Gern!!”
At the same time, far away in Marineford, at the Marine School.
Zephyr, who had no mission and was currently lecturing new recruits, suddenly sneezed. He frowned and muttered with a gloomy expression,
“That bastard Gern, don’t think that catching two Great Pirates worth over a billion will make me approve of you finding some furry aide…”
…
Back to Mokomo Dukedom, Libo looked at Gern’s exaggerated pose.
“Hero of Justice, Gern?!!!” Her eyes suddenly lit up, and her lop ears stood straight up: “So amazing! So you’re not a carrot-stealing thief!?”
“That’s right.” Gern put away his pose, his face not red and his heart not pounding. He spread his hands, his tone relaxed.
“Besides, with my strength, do I really need to steal your carrots, Libo?”
Libo recalled their brief skirmish just now and realized she had indeed misunderstood him. She scratched her head sheepishly.
Then she quickly reverted to her lively personality, familiarly patting Gern’s arm.
“I didn’t realize I could make mistakes too!” she said with a giggle.
Then she suddenly jumped up and hugged Gern, rubbing her face against him furiously (a special greeting of the Mink Tribe), completely devoid of the previous hostility.
“But, since you’re a Hero of Justice, why did you come to Mokomo Dukedom?”
“Because…” Gern was about to explain his purpose for coming to Mokomo Dukedom when his stomach suddenly let out a loud protest— “Grrr!”
Libo’s ears instantly perked up, and her pink eyes widened: “Ah! You’re hungry?!”
“Cough, cough.” Gern coughed lightly, trying to hide his embarrassment: “I used up a lot of energy jumping all the way here…”
“So that’s it!” Libo blinked, then suddenly broke into a brilliant smile: “You should have said so earlier!” She grabbed Gern’s wrist and excitedly shook it.
“Let’s go! I’ll take you to eat something delicious! Consider it an apology for the misunderstanding just now!”
Gern didn’t expect Libo’s attitude to change so quickly and couldn’t help but chuckle: “Then I’ll gladly accept.”
However, just as he took a step, a crisp “snap” suddenly came from under his foot.
Gern looked down and saw that he had accidentally stepped on and broken a carrot half-buried in the dirt.
…
The air instantly froze.
Libo’s smile stiffened on her face, her gaze slowly moved down, finally fixating on the broken carrot.
“My… carrot…” Her voice trembled slightly, her lop ears slowly perked up, and the fur on her tail bristled.
Gern sensed trouble and quickly lifted his foot: “Sorry, I didn’t mean to…”
“You dared to step on my carrot!!!” Libo’s voice suddenly rose, with an angry tremor.
The next second, her figure transformed into a white lightning bolt, pouncing fiercely on Gern!
“Wait! I can explain…” Gern hadn’t finished speaking when he was directly tackled to the ground by Libo.
…..
On the way to New Moon Village.
“That was too fake.” Gern touched his neck, his Adam’s apple bobbing slightly, and swallowed, muttering to himself,
“Did my Observation Haki and elementalization just fail? Damn it, I almost got solo-killed by a rabbit!”
Recalling the moment Libo bristled and pounced, he still felt a lingering fear.
If he hadn’t thought quickly and used his vibration ability to make all the carrots in the entire carrot patch “jump” out,
He probably would have a few more hickeys on his neck right now.
“Hey, what are you spacing out for?” Libo’s voice pulled him back to reality.
She hopped and turned around, tilting her head to look at Gern, her long lop ears swaying gently with her movements.
A brilliant smile was on her face, as if the previous rage had never happened.
Gern looked at her like this and couldn’t help but laugh: “Your Mink Tribe’s tempers really come and go quickly.”
“Of course!” Libo proudly lifted her chin, hands on her hips, “We are all the most straightforward!!”
Saying that, she patted Gern’s arm and said enthusiastically: “Alright, what happened just now is in the past.
I’ll take you to the village and let you taste the best food!”
“Okay, okay, okay!” Gern nodded, ready to follow, but Libo suddenly leaned in again, blinking her big eyes, and asked curiously,
“Oh, right, how did you make all the carrots in the ground jump out by themselves just now?”
“Well…” Gern smiled mysteriously, raised his hand, and a faint vibration particle condensed on his fingertip, “This is my ability; I can control vibrations.”
“Wow!” Libo’s ears instantly perked up, her eyes sparkling, “So they were vibrated out by you?”
“More or less.” Gern shrugged, “I just made the soil vibrate slightly, and the carrots loosened themselves.”
Libo nodded thoughtfully, then leaned in closer, a sly smile on her face: “So if I bite you again next time, can you still make the carrots jump out by themselves?”
Gern: “…”
This rabbit’s thoughts jumped faster than her actions.
“Libo, I think we can establish a more peaceful way of getting along.” Gern tried to guide her.
“For example, you can tell me directly what you want, instead of biting people.”
“Hmm…” Libo tilted her head and thought for a moment, then grinned, “Alright! Then right now I want you to teach me that ability to make carrots jump out!”
Gern raised an eyebrow: “You want to learn vibration ability?”
“Yes!” Libo nodded excitedly, “That way, harvesting carrots won’t be so troublesome in the future!”
Gern looked at her expectant eyes and couldn’t help but smile.
The Mink Tribe’s simplicity and directness were indeed irresistible.
“I can, but…” He deliberately dragged out his tone, “You have to take me to the village first, and let me eat my fill before we talk.”
“Deal!” Libo cheered, grabbed Gern’s hand, and dragged him forward, “Hurry, hurry! There’s so much delicious food in the village!”
Libo giggled, skipping and hopping ahead to lead the way, her long lop ears gently swaying with her movements.
The two walked along the forest path, the surrounding trees gradually thinning, replaced by an open farmland.
Libo pointed to the distant village and said excitedly: “Look! That’s New Moon Village!”
Gern followed the direction she pointed, and saw a village composed of stone and wooden buildings nestled there.
Smoke curled upwards, and faint sounds of joyful laughter and singing could be heard.
“Let’s go!” Libo grabbed Gern’s wrist and dragged him forward.
Gern stumbled a few steps as she pulled him, and a smile unconsciously spread across his lips as he looked at the lively rabbit-eared girl in front of him.
Perhaps, this trip to Mokomo Dukedom would be much more interesting than he had imagined.