Multiverse Gourmet Hunter

Haruto took out Charizard’s Poké Ball and released it.

Then he placed a serving of Amber-Glazed Smoked Sea King Leg with Fresh Fruit in front of Charizard.

After all, Charizard had done most of the traveling today. It had more than earned a proper meal.

"Roar!"

The sight of the dish immediately drew a pleased rumble from Charizard.

Glossy amber-red sauce coated the enormous cut of meat, while the tender pink interior showed clear streaks of muscle and fat. Bright pieces of fruit added color around the plate, and the smoky aroma of roasted meat blended with the clean sweetness of fresh fruit.

Charizard was already drooling.

Haruto laughed at the sight.

"Go ahead. Dig in."

He did the same, grabbing the exposed bone and bringing the meat to his mouth before taking a large bite.

The outer skin had developed a faint crispness from the roasting, while the meat underneath was unbelievably tender.

Gelatin from the connective tissue practically melted on his tongue, releasing an intense meaty richness.

The natural sweetness of the Sea King flesh gradually emerged as he chewed. Every fiber had absorbed the juices and rendered fat, giving the meat a deep, satisfying flavor.

The amber sauce brought just enough acidity, sweetness, and saltiness to cut through the richness without overwhelming it.

Coated in the sauce, the meat tasted even fuller.

A bite of crisp, sweet Applin fruit immediately refreshed his palate.

The juicy Wiki Berries and clean sweetness of the Pecha Berries lightened the finish even further, making every mouthful alternate naturally between rich and refreshing.

"Roar!"

Charizard looked completely blissful.

As far as it was concerned, all that flying had been absolutely worth it.

After dinner, Haruto rested for the night inside the Gourmet Restaurant.

The following morning, once the sun had risen, he released Charizard and resumed the journey.

Unfortunately, an entire day of flying still failed to get them out of the Calm Belt.

They did encounter one island along the way, but it was completely barren. There was no sign of life anywhere, and none of Haruto’s Log Poses responded to it.

Haruto could only sigh.

Trying to navigate entirely by flying with Charizard was turning out to be far less reliable than he had expected.

At this rate, there was no telling when they would find an inhabited island.

For all he knew, they might even end up circling back toward the East Blue.

Still, for the moment, Charizard remained his only practical option.

By the third day, however, when they still had not managed to leave the Calm Belt, Haruto finally began losing patience.

He rested his chin on one hand and thought for quite a while before an idea suddenly came to him.

If he could not determine the right direction, then he might as well use random teleportation and gamble on where he ended up.

If one teleport failed, he could simply try again.

Eventually he was bound to land near an inhabited island.

That was still better than flying blindly across an endless ocean.

Having made up his mind, Haruto recalled Charizard and summoned one of his small wooden boats.

He crouched on the deck, Nen gathering around his fingertips as he began carefully carving a magical array into the flat wooden boards.

The array would assist the teleportation spell.

It still could not give him an exact destination, but it would at least let him roughly control the direction and distance.

Complicated runes spread across the deck one after another.

Before long, the supporting teleportation array was complete.

Haruto began quietly chanting.

The magical array lit up.

At the instant its glow reached its brightest point, Haruto’s body and the space around him distorted together.

Then he vanished.

The little wooden boat remained behind, drifting silently on the empty sea.

...

The familiar sensation of teleportation lasted barely half a second before Haruto suddenly felt the surrounding space tremble.

Then everything went wrong.

His entire world seemed to flip upside down.

It felt as though an invisible hand had grabbed his internal organs, squeezed them violently, and then flung them in every direction.

A piercing ringing filled his ears.

The warped lights of the teleportation passage shattered before his eyes.

When Haruto finally saw normal daylight again, he found himself high in the air.

And falling.

He forcibly suppressed the nausea churning in his stomach, deeply confused.

He had used random teleportation several times before.

Nothing like this had ever happened.

There was no time to figure it out now.

Haruto immediately drew a Poké Ball, pressed the button, and aimed below himself.

Red light burst through the air.

With a tremendous roar, Charizard materialized directly beneath him.

Its broad back caught Haruto cleanly as he fell.

Charizard turned its head and let out a questioning rumble, clearly wondering what had just happened.

Haruto patted its neck reassuringly.

Then he looked down.

His eyes immediately lit up.

There was an entire island below them.

Countless buildings covered its surface.

An inhabited island.

Haruto’s mood instantly improved.

"Not bad."

He had only used random teleportation once, yet he had somehow appeared right beside civilization.

That excitement lasted only until he got a better look at the island.

Then the smile froze on his face.

Something was very wrong.

This was no ordinary island.

The entire place had been transformed into a colossal military fortress.

At its center stood a massive stronghold that rivaled a mountain in scale. Towering blue-gray stone walls rose toward the sky, surrounded by layer after layer of fortified towers and military structures.

At the very top, an enormous flag snapped in the sea breeze.

The unmistakable seagull insignia made Haruto’s expression change immediately.

The Marines.

Closer to the shoreline lay an enormous crescent-shaped plaza.

It was packed shoulder to shoulder with Marines wearing white coats.

The formation stretched so far that Haruto could not see the end of it.

There had to be at least a hundred thousand troops below.

Even from several hundred meters in the air, the killing intent and tension radiating from the assembled forces were unmistakable.

Behind them stood several enormous figures.

Giant Marines.

Haruto stared.

"This... This is Marine Headquarters?"

"Marineford?!"

Disbelief filled his voice as he immediately turned his attention toward the surrounding sea.

Dozens of pirate ships were positioned across the outer waters, their dark cannon barrels aimed toward the harbor.

Inside the crescent-shaped bay itself floated four enormous ships.

Each had a bow shaped like the head of a gigantic whale, their designs broad, powerful, and unmistakable.

And every one of them flew the flag of the Whitebeard Pirates.

Haruto’s eyes widened.

"This is right before the Summit War starts!"

Standing on Charizard’s back, Haruto looked down at the battlefield poised on the brink of war, his expression becoming increasingly complicated.

Only moments ago, he had been congratulating himself on getting lucky enough to teleport near an inhabited island.

Now he understood.

This was not good luck.

He had thrown himself straight into the most dangerous place imaginable.

The Summit War.

One of the largest and bloodiest conflicts of the entire Great Pirate Era.

One hundred thousand elite Marines.

The three Admirals.

The Seven Warlords of the Sea.

All facing Whitebeard, one of the Four Emperors, along with the full might of the Whitebeard Pirates and their allied crews from the New World.

Haruto had only used a random teleportation spell.

How the hell had that somehow dropped him into a battlefield of this scale?

He drew a deep breath and forced himself to settle down.

Then his gaze shifted farther toward the horizon.

The previously calm ocean was beginning to rise.

Two enormous walls of water were rapidly forming on either side of Marineford, climbing higher and higher until they seemed capable of blotting out the sky.

The pressure of the approaching tsunamis rolled across the sea.

Even the air seemed to tremble.

Haruto stared at them for a moment before realization struck.

Maybe Marineford had never been his intended destination.

Most likely, Whitebeard had just activated the power of the Tremor-Tremor Fruit, and the resulting distortion in space had interfered with Haruto’s teleportation.

Instead of reaching his intended destination, he had been forcibly knocked out of transit and dumped here.

It was entirely possible.

Random teleportation magic was extremely sensitive to disturbances in space.

Even minor spatial turbulence could shift the destination or interrupt the spell midway.

And Whitebeard’s Tremor-Tremor Fruit was explicitly capable of shaking the very air and space itself.

If anything could disrupt his teleportation, that certainly qualified.

Once Haruto reached that conclusion, the unease on his face gradually gave way to excitement.

However he had ended up here, the fact remained that he was here.

And if fate had dropped him directly into the middle of the Summit War, there was no way he was simply going to sit back and watch from a distance.

Just being able to witness the battle that would reshape the balance of the entire world was already enough to get his blood pumping.

More than that...

Haruto was beginning to consider intervening.

Ace’s death had always felt like a terrible waste.

So had Whitebeard’s final stand.

Now that Haruto was physically present at Marineford, he actually had the opportunity to change that tragic outcome.

Of course, sentiment was not the only reason he was tempted to act.

There was something in it for him too.

If he helped save Ace, the Whitebeard Pirates would owe him an enormous favor.

Asking them for a few Devil Fruits afterward as payment would hardly be unreasonable, would it?

Devil Fruits were tremendously valuable.

He could give them to people, experiment with turning them into actual cuisine, or trade them for rare ingredients elsewhere.

And compared to wandering the seas searching for Devil Fruits himself—and potentially fighting other people over them—getting them directly from the Whitebeard Pirates would be much easier.

There was only one condition.

He had to make sure he did not get himself killed first.

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