Chapter 45: Hunting the Baron of the Stomach?!

Chapter 45: Hunting the Baron of the Stomach?!

Finding himself in an unfamiliar environment and suddenly hearing a voice, Smoker instinctively wore a guarded expression.

Turning around, he realized the speaker was Trezen, and his expression instantly relaxed.

"Trezen?"

Smoker was just about to ask why Trezen was here when he recalled what the other had said moments ago.

"You said 'I've arrived'... Does that mean you reached this forest as early as last night?"

Trezen walked over to Smoker's side and explained casually, "To be precise, after landing on the island yesterday, I headed straight for its center. It's a personal habit. Then I discovered this forest overflowing with the temptation of food—well, that's what I'm calling it for now."

"The Temptation Forest?"

Smoker glanced around, his eyes sweeping over the ubiquitous, readily available delicacies scattered everywhere in the Temptation Forest, and then he nodded in deep agreement.

"This is indeed a place that can easily corrupt one's willpower."

"Not just human willpower..."

Trezen shared his intel voluntarily, revealing to Smoker that the Boin Islands were actually a single, colossal living organism.

Smoker's expression immediately turned to one of shock and horror.

"You're saying this island is a living creature?!"

Trezen nodded. "That's right! The very center of the Boin Islands is a gigantic feeding mouth! And that massive earthquake yesterday evening was nothing less than the Boin Islands taking a bite!"

"That's just..." Smoker wore an incredulous expression.

"It's no big deal," Trezen shook his head. "It's just a living island. I've heard there are massive goldfish out on the open sea that feed exclusively on islands!"

"You mean 'Island-Eating Goldfish'?"

The shock on Smoker's face subsided slightly, replaced by a look of yearning and even a hint of slight excitement.

"I've heard stories about those giant monsters too—the kind that can swallow an entire island in a single bite..."

Trezen took it in stride.

Compared to himself, Smoker was a true native of the Grand Line, so it was only natural for him to know a few monster legends.

After a brief conversation, sensing the atmosphere was just right, Trezen intended to proactively issue a challenge for a duel.

This Grade D bait that had delivered itself right to his doorstep—Trezen wanted to stuff it into his pocket as soon as possible!

"Sm—"

"Trezen!" Smoker shouted abruptly.

"Do you think we'll ever be able to hunt an Island-Eating Goldfish in the future?"

An Island-Eating Goldfish?

An ultra-large sea monster of that size should easily be worth a Grade A bait, right?

At the very least, it had to be a Grade B bait...

Trezen quickly calculated an equivalent formula in his mind while casually replying,

"Who can say for sure what the future holds? But I certainly won't let such a super-sized fish slip away!"

Smoker nodded. He had heard that Trezen had a personal hobby of "killing fish."

After all, marines like Trezen who spent months holed up in the galley, diligently and tirelessly slaying fish, were exceedingly rare.

"The future is indeed unpredictable," Smoker said softly.

"We can't guarantee whether we'll ever encounter an Island-Eating Goldfish, but isn't this Boin Island right in front of us?"

Trezen widened his eyes slightly. "You want to kill this island?!"

Smoker replied calmly, "Don't tell me you don't want to!"

"Of course I want to!" Trezen retorted irritably.

"But a marine must keep his feet on the ground!

"With the Boin Islands being this massive, do either you or I have a way to 'defeat' it? Let alone 'harm' it!

"No matter what, the Boin Islands are still an island! Do you possess 'island-destroying' strength?"

Smoker fell silent. He hadn't thought that far ahead with this question.

Yet, to "slay" an island...

Smoker mentally reviewed his repertoire of abilities: the Smoke-Smoke Fruit, the Six Powers, marksmanship, staff techniques...

His previous remark had indeed been a near-fantastical proposal.

And it was completely impossible to succeed!

In truth, Trezen also categorized the Baron of the Stomach within his hunting range, but that was a plan for the future.

Trezen was a very pragmatic and rational person.

Just as he planned to secretly build up his strength for a few years before going after Kaido and Big Mom.

The Baron of the Stomach belonged to a target that the current Trezen was utterly powerless to resolve.

Unless his [Fishing] ability could bring him some major surprise, such as hooking something like a Tsar Bomba out of the dimensional sea!

Unfortunately, the Goddess of Fortune had always been terribly stingy...

Trezen's quantity of high-grade bait was also severely lacking and could not be wasted.

Shaking his head, Trezen stopped pondering this ethereal goal.

Rather than considering how to hunt the Baron of the Stomach, it was far better to consider how to defeat Smoker and harvest a Grade D bait.

"Come on! Smoker, let's have a fight first!"

...

[You have defeated an elite marine with a comprehensive rating of Grade D!]

Months ago, Trezen had already been able to defeat Smoker through various means.

Now, with his vastly improved strength, defeating Smoker was even less of a challenge.

He quickly harvested this Grade D bait that had delivered itself to him, converting it into his personal storage.

"One Grade D bait acquired!"

Trezen tossed the unconscious Smoker next to a piece of roasted-meat-shaped rock.

"But this is still far from enough!

"There's no telling when Vergo and Pacifista-in-training Sentomaru might leave the outer Bandit Forest and enter the inner Temptation Forest. I still need to actively go out and hunt!"

There were practically no dangers in the Temptation Forest, and since Smoker was a Smoke-Smoke Fruit user, he couldn't be harmed by ordinary means.

Trezen felt completely at ease leaving the fellow in the Temptation Forest as he took the initiative to head out toward the outer Bandit Forest.

While continuously culling Grade E beasts in the Bandit Forest, Trezen also used his multi-layered sensory abilities, attempting to track down the whereabouts of Vergo and Sentomaru across the vast island.

His hunting yield for the afternoon was lower than the morning's, netting just over twenty Grade E baits.

After all, no matter how large the Bandit Forest was, the number of high-grade predators within it was limited.

The only reason Trezen had been able to slaughter so many Grade E creatures at once was because these "reserved rations" were accumulated by the Baron of the Stomach over a long period.

It was foreseeable that in the days to come, the rate at which Trezen accumulated bait would only decrease, not increase.

"Good thing I'm not actually relying solely on these animals of the Boin Islands to get by."

Trezen concluded his hunting activities for the day and returned to the Temptation Forest.

"Those three Grade D marines are the real bulk of the contributors!"

"Vergo, Sentomaru, get into my bowl!"

The Temptation Forest remained a dreamlike kingdom of food.

After a day's transition, more low-level beasts from the Bandit Forest had been lured here, eating their fill and growing plump and round.

Compared to yesterday, the overall density of plump creatures in the Temptation Forest was noticeably lower.

From this, it could be deduced that the feeding frequency of the Baron of the Stomach probably wasn't just once a day.

When Trezen returned to the Temptation Forest, Smoker had already disappeared, likely off to set up his own temporary shelter.

Trezen didn't mind the Smoker's departure; after all, the man couldn't walk out of the Boin Islands anyway.

Returning to his treehouse, he enjoyed dinner, washed up, and went to sleep.

Over the next few days, Trezen shuttled back and forth between the Temptation Forest and the Bandit Forest, harvesting Grade E beasts while continually "challenging" Smoker to accumulate a large amount of bait.

On the third day of arriving at the Boin Islands, Vergo reached the Temptation Forest and was beaten up by Trezen.

On the fifth day of arriving at the Boin Islands, Sentomaru barged into the Temptation Forest and was beaten up by Trezen.

Eating, sleeping, beating marines, slaying beasts.

Through the selfless contributions of Smoker, Vergo, Sentomaru, and a massive number of creatures from the Bandit Forest, Trezen continuously accumulated his bait reserves and finally gathered several Grade C baits.

Today.

The weather was fine, with clear skies and a gentle breeze.

The waters were calm and the mountains mild—perfect for fishing.