Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Once he had made up his mind, Haruto headed to an open section of the harbor.

He reached down and removed a Poké Ball from his waist. Its shell was pitch-black with gold trim, a custom-made Luxury Heavy Ball he had specifically asked Professor Oak to create for Charizard.

It was designed to accommodate Charizard’s ever-growing size while also making the enormous Pokémon more comfortable inside.

Haruto gave the ball a light toss in his hand, pressed the button in the center, and threw it forward.

”Charizard, I choose you!”

Brilliant red light burst from the Poké Ball.

A wave of scorching air swept across the dock as Charizard materialized with a heavy thud.

By now, Charizard stood a full five meters tall. When its enormous wings spread, their span exceeded ten meters.

Powerful limbs ended in razor-sharp claws, while the flame at the tip of its tail burned fiercely.

”ROAR—!”

Charizard raised its head and unleashed a tremendous roar that shook the entire harbor.

The fishermen, merchants, and travelers on the docks had never seen anything remotely like it.

Faces immediately went pale.

For a brief moment, even the usual noise of the harbor vanished beneath that deafening roar.

Then everyone watched in astonishment as the gigantic creature lowered its head toward Haruto and affectionately nudged closer, a low rumble coming from its throat.

Haruto laughed and reached up to rub the hard but smooth scales on Charizard’s head before scratching beneath its jaw.

Charizard narrowed its eyes in obvious pleasure, the flame on its tail swaying as it leaned into the attention.

A newspaper reporter carrying a camera happened to witness the scene.

His eyes immediately lit up.

Without hesitation, he raised the camera and pressed the shutter.

Click.

The image captured Charizard lowering its massive head and affectionately nuzzling Haruto.

The reporter nearly trembled with excitement.

This was absolutely headline material.

A mysterious young man commanding an enormous dragonlike creature no one had ever seen before?

People would definitely want to know more.

Haruto heard the shutter but paid it no attention.

He patted Charizard on the neck, lightly pushed off the ground, and vaulted onto its broad back with ease.

”Charizard, let’s go.”

Haruto leaned forward and patted its shoulder.

”We’re heading for the Calm Belt. From there, we’ll enter the Grand Line.”

”ROAR—!”

Charizard answered with another powerful roar.

Then it beat its enormous wings.

A violent gust instantly swept across the docks, rattling nearby signs and even lifting loose pebbles from the ground.

With each beat of its wings, Charizard climbed higher.

Its speed increased rapidly as it flew toward the distant line where sea and sky met.

The people on the docks could only crane their necks and watch Haruto and Charizard shrink into the distance until they finally disappeared beyond the horizon.

The moment they were gone, the harbor erupted into chatter.

”What the hell was that thing? Some Devil Fruit ability?”

”I’ve never heard of an animal that looks like that! It was terrifying!”

”Who was that guy? He looked pretty young, but he can control a monster like that?”

”I saw him buying Log Poses and charts earlier! He must be heading for the Grand Line!”

Rumors spread immediately, though no one had the slightest idea who Haruto really was.

All he had done was add one more strange story to a town already overflowing with legends.

Loguetown stood near the outer edge of the East Blue, so the Calm Belt separating the four Blues from the Grand Line was not particularly far away.

Charizard flew at tremendous speed, remaining perfectly steady even with Haruto riding on its back.

High above the sea, islands and stretches of ocean raced past beneath them.

After roughly half a day, Haruto noticed the atmosphere beginning to change.

The sea breeze that had accompanied them all this time abruptly vanished.

The air became completely still.

The silence was almost unnatural.

Even the sound of waves disappeared.

Haruto knew immediately that he and Charizard had entered the Calm Belt.

Looking down, he saw an ocean as smooth as a polished sheet of deep-blue gemstone.

There were no waves.

No ripples.

Nothing at all.

It looked completely different from the restless sea only a short distance away.

Yet beneath that perfect calm lurked enormous danger.

Haruto’s sharp senses allowed him to catch sight of immense shadows occasionally gliding beneath the surface.

Some were hundreds of meters long.

Others stretched well over a kilometer.

Even through the seawater, the sheer pressure of their immense bodies was impossible to ignore.

Naturally, these were Sea Kings—the apex predators of this ocean.

And yet none of them paid the slightest attention to Charizard flying overhead.

They did not attack.

Most did not even bother looking up.

That was understandable.

Charizard might now stand five meters tall and measure nearly ten meters from head to tail, but to creatures measuring hundreds or thousands of meters in length, it was probably no more noteworthy than a flying ant was to a human.

Haruto, meanwhile, stared at the enormous shadows below with increasingly bright eyes.

Ideas were already forming in his head.

He patted Charizard’s neck.

”Charizard, take us lower.”

A smile appeared on Haruto’s face.

”It’s time to harvest some ingredients.”

Charizard answered with a low rumble and partially folded its wings.

Its enormous body descended rapidly toward the ocean.

Once they reached an appropriate altitude, Haruto pulled out Charizard’s Poké Ball and recalled it.

The moment Charizard disappeared into red light, Haruto began falling toward the sea.

Just before he hit the water, his core tightened and his legs began striking downward through the air in rapid succession.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Each kick produced a dull sonic burst.

Using the explosive force generated by those rapid steps, Haruto forcibly arrested his fall and remained suspended in the air for a brief moment.

Of course, maintaining himself in midair purely through physical force was not sustainable.

Haruto had already planned for that.

With a thought, a small wooden boat appeared directly beneath him.

He had purchased it earlier and kept more than a dozen identical vessels stored inside the Gourmet Restaurant.

Haruto lightly tapped down with one foot and landed on the deck.

The little boat sank slightly beneath his weight before quickly stabilizing.

Standing aboard, Haruto looked down into the water and rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

”Now... how do I lure the Sea Kings up here?”

His mind rapidly ran through several possibilities.

Diving into the ocean to hunt them directly?

He rejected that immediately.

Even ignoring the pressure at greater depths, there was no telling how many Sea Kings were lurking below.

If he were surrounded underwater, he could probably escape, but it would be far more trouble than necessary.

The ideal method was to make the Sea Kings come to the surface on their own.

After a moment, Haruto had an idea.

He extended his right hand over the side of the boat.

Dense Nen flowed around his palm like a layer of liquid.

Then Haruto abruptly swung his arm downward.

Boom—!

His palm struck the surface of the sea with a deafening blast.

A wave several meters high erupted around the boat as the force of the impact slammed deep into the water like a giant hammer.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

The little wooden boat rocked violently amid the churning waves, but fortunately remained upright.

In the unnaturally quiet Calm Belt, the repeated vibrations were as conspicuous as a bonfire in the middle of the night.

There was no chance the Sea Kings would fail to notice.

Before long, the previously calm ocean began to churn violently.

It looked as though a volcano were preparing to erupt beneath the surface.

Huge dark shapes slowly rose from below.

One.

Two.

Five...

Before long, twenty or thirty enormous Sea Kings had surrounded the area.

Even the smallest exceeded a hundred meters in length.

Their massive fins and tails stirred towering waves, while rows of pale fangs gleamed beneath the sunlight.

Haruto’s tiny wooden boat had somehow ended up resting on the broad, flattened head of an eel-like Sea King more than five hundred meters long.

Its body was thicker than the largest ancient trees, its slick blue-black skin covered in tightly packed scales.

A pair of vertical pupils swept coldly across the surrounding water, clearly searching for whatever had caused the disturbance.

It had yet to notice the tiny human standing on its head.

Haruto’s eyes grew brighter as he looked around at the assembled Sea Kings.

He examined them one after another, almost like a chef walking through a market and selecting premium ingredients.

Species.

Body size.

Muscle structure.

Even through layers of hide and flesh, Haruto found himself estimating the texture and flavor of the meat inside.

It did not take long for several targets to stand out.

The eel-like Sea King beneath his feet was naturally his first choice.

At more than five hundred meters long, its flesh had to be firm and springy, while the fatty layer along its belly was probably rich and luxurious.

Definitely top-quality material.

Then there was the Sea King a short distance away that resembled an enormous manta ray and measured over three hundred meters from end to end.

Its broad pectoral fins were surely loaded with gelatinous collagen.

Used to make a rich broth, they would be incredible.

Another creature was only a little over a hundred meters long, deep-ocean blue from head to toe and shaped like an absurdly oversized frog.

Frog legs were already renowned for their tender, juicy meat.

At that scale...

Haruto could already imagine the possibilities.

Then there was the sleek Sea King resembling a prehistoric shark.

Those enormous fins looked promising.

And the gigantic armored lobster-like Sea King nearby...

Just imagining the natural sweetness of that much fresh lobster meat made Haruto’s mouth water.

The longer he looked, the more satisfied he became.

A smile gradually spread across his face.

Every Sea King around him looked like premium produce.

As far as Haruto was concerned, the words delicious ingredient might as well have been written across every one of them.