Beach.
The Tailed Beast army slowly advanced along the mountain road on the outskirts. Seen from the distant highway, this group of giant beast tourists looked like moving mountain ranges.
Some people rolled down their car windows and stuck their phones out of the sunroof. Some even pulled their cars over onto the emergency lane just to take a photo.
"Mommy, look! A big fox!"
"That's the Commander's pet, don't be scared."
"Woof woof woof!"
"Shiro, don't bark. Here, turn into cotton candy… grab the little wee-wee~"
Ever since Makoto's Tailed Beasts had appeared in the real world, scenes like this had happened countless times.
After the graduation ceremony, Makoto had specifically called the media to broadcast a live explanation, so the public was no longer surprised by their existence.
About an hour later, the view suddenly opened up.
An endless expanse of blue spread out from the horizon, stretching from the skyline all the way to their eyes. White waves rhythmically lapped at the shore.
Hawaii.
"The ocean—!" Yotsuba raised both arms high from atop the Two-Tails, her ribbon blown back by the sea breeze.
"The ocean—!"Chika made the exact same motion at the exact same time.
Mrs. Yukinoshita, sitting on the back of the Three-Tails, watched the two cheering figures ahead and blinked. "Weren't they looking at the ocean every day back in the One Piece World? Why are they still this excited?"
"Maybe it's because in the Pirate World, they were ability users and couldn't go into the sea."
Sayuri squinted her eyes, the sea breeze blowing strands of her hair onto her cheek.
The several wives beside her nodded.
Tsuki, sitting with the MILF Group on the Three-Tails' back, listened to their conversation with great curiosity.
'Ability users? Pirates? What were they talking about?'
Leonora's hand reached over from the side and poked at the chest of Sayuri's kimono. She asked suspiciously, "Sayuri... did you pad this?"
Sayuri's face turned bright red. She tackled Leonora, grabbing her sister's cheeks with both hands and pulling them sideways. "I'll kill you!"
On the Six-Tails' back, Chika turned sideways and shouted back, "Toyomi-nee, did you book the hotel?"
Toyomi smiled slightly and shook her head. "No, we're going directly to my friend's scuba diving shop."
"Is she your classmate, Toyomi-nee?" Moeha poked her head out from behind Ryo.
Toyomi nodded. "She and Hana-chan are both my university classmates. But after Japan was destroyed, she dropped out and came to Hawaii, opened a scuba diving shop with her sister."
As she said this, Toyomi lowered her voice, a subtle heaviness creeping in. "Her father... died in that incident."
The atmosphere briefly became somber.
Everyone knew which incident Toyomi was talking about. Wasn't Ran's father, the former police officer, severely injured in that accident, eventually leading to a series of tragedies?
They had been lucky. All of them had been at the Totsuki Academy's festival and escaped that disaster.
After officially reaching the coast, Ryo and the others took off the Poké Balls. Seven beams of red light shot out, withdrawing the seven Tailed Beasts back into their balls.
Toyomi clapped her hands and walked to the front of the group. "Everyone, follow me."
Led by her, they walked along the coastline for less than five minutes when a scuba diving equipment shop appeared in view.
"Grand Blue..." Beam read aloud, craning his neck.
"Impressive, impressive. You can actually read foreign languages now," Yu said mockingly.
"Do you want to die?!!"
Marina stood beside Makoto, noticing his gaze linger on the sign for two seconds, his expression somewhat strange.
"What's wrong, Makoto?"
"Nothing." Makoto withdrew his gaze. "I just hope I don't see anything disgusting."
The women looked curious, not understanding what he meant.
"What's that noise?"
Just then, Nami perked up her ears and listened sideways.
From inside the shop came faint, noisy sounds: Men's yelling, slamming of tables, and the chant of rock-paper-scissors.
"Rock-paper-scissors—!"
"Rock-paper-scissors—!"
"It sounds like they're playing rock-paper-scissors," Saeko said.
"A rock-paper-scissors game?" Chika clapped her hands enthusiastically. "I like that too! Let's play together tonight!"
The other women's faces flushed slightly. Because the rule for the 'rock-paper-scissors game' Chika was talking about was that every time you lost, you took off one piece of clothing. It was a kind of erotic game they usually only played with Makoto when doing that sort of thing.
Makoto suddenly spoke up. "You all wait for me here."
"Eh? Why?" Fujiwara Chika pouted.
Makoto didn't answer her. He pushed open the shop door and walked inside.
Yu, Beam, Four Gay Bros, Ace, and the other male members followed close behind.
Kiri was stunned. In the blink of an eye, he was the only male left in the group.
He could only steel himself and follow.
Then they saw a scene they would never forget.
The air inside the shop was thick with the stench of alcohol and men's sweat.
A group of muscular men were gathered in the center of the shop, each wearing nothing but a pair of underwear. No, some didn't even have underwear.
Just as Makoto's group entered, someone had just lost at rock-paper-scissors. Amidst the jeers of the others, he unashamedly pulled off his last remaining pair of underwear.
Kiri felt like his eyes were ruined.
Makoto was expressionless. He had mentally prepared himself, but it was still an eyesore.
The group of muscular brothers heard the door and all turned their heads to look.
More than a dozen pairs of eyes met those of Makoto and his group.
Silence for two seconds.
Then—
"Wah! Customers have arrived!"
The group of muscular men instantly swarmed over, their faces sporting the same smiles as the Colossal Titan, as enthusiastic as if welcoming a long-lost family member.
"Do you want to join our oolong tea tasting event?"
The leader, a buzz-cut man, raised the bottle in his hand.
Seeing the '96%' label on the bottle, Kiri's eyelids twitched ten times.
'Is that really oolong tea?!'
The buzz-cut man was clearly drunk. His eyes were blurry, and he didn't immediately recognize who Makoto was.
He reached out to put his arm around Makoto's shoulder, the reek of alcohol on his breath, laughing: "Don't be shy, join us..."
Makoto frowned. Neither in his past life nor this one did he have any interest in alcohol.
Bang.
A gunshot rang out.
A bloody hole appeared in the center of the buzz-cut man's forehead.
His body froze in place, his expression still holding a tipsy smile.
Then he fell straight back, hitting the floor with a dull thud.
The air inside the shop instantly froze.
Yu's arm had already transformed into a machine gun, its barrel smoking.
"What the hell is this?"
Yu in Gun Devil form looked displeased. "Don't act so familiar with Senpai."
The alcohol instantly wore off for the others.
One muscular man rubbed his eyes. The bottle slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. His lips trembled a few times before he finally squeezed out the words: "It's Commander Nishikawa... and Ishigami Yu!"
The blonde, burly man knelt on the ground, his trembling hands reaching for the buzz-cut man's carotid artery. There was no pulse.
"Shinji! Shinji! Wake up! D-don't scare me!"
Makoto recognized him now.
Kotobuki Ryuujirou, the main culprit in the original Grand Blue story who had dragged the protagonist duo into the diving club.
Now, his tears and snot were mixed together, smeared all over Shinji's face.
The sound of hurried footsteps came from the stairs.
"What happened? What happened?"
A mature woman with chestnut-colored long hair ran down from the second floor. She appeared to be around 25, her features soft and delicate. She wore a light-colored home long dress.
When she saw the body with the hole in its forehead on the ground, her steps faltered. She covered her mouth with both hands, her eyes wide open.
Kotegawa Nanaka, the owner and face of this shop.
"Nanaka, what's wrong?"
Another person walked down the stairs. This time, it was a woman with short, deep purple hair and a hot figure.
Her expression went from confusion to shock to fear. After about half a minute, she finally reacted. She rushed over and crouched beside Tokita Shinji, trembling as she reached for his breath.
Hamasaki Azusa, Nanaka's best friend.
"H-how... Tokki..." Azusa's voice caught in her throat. "Who did this?"
"Me." Yu was expressionless.
Azusa looked up, following the sound. She saw the machine gun that hadn't yet turned back, and the residual gunpowder residue around its barrel. Looking further up, Azusa's pupils contracted sharply.
"Com-Commander..."
Nanaka reacted faster than Azusa. She hurriedly bowed to Makoto, bending at a steep angle. Her long hair fell from her shoulders, covering half her face.
It was obvious that her back was trembling slightly, but she still managed to remain calm.
Makoto looked at Tokita's corpse on the ground, his eyes showing no emotional fluctuation.
Honestly, he had enjoyed watching this anime in his past life. But that was from a god's-eye perspective. If he personally put himself in the protagonist's shoes... Makoto still wanted to stay away from these weirdos.
Like Trevor in GTA V. You watch him from the third person and find him amusing. If you actually knew someone like that in real life, you'd better keep your distance.
Makoto glanced at Azusa, who was weeping uncontrollably. This girl seemed to be bisexual. She had feelings for both Nanaka and the fallen Tokita. Double-dipping.
Good heavens!
One could only say that every character in this anime had their own special skills.
Makoto withdrew his gaze. "Sorry. This guy Ishigami got a bit excited."
Then, he gestured to Four Gay Bros. "Clean this up."
Four figures stepped out from behind Makoto.
The Teddy Devil's muscles bulged beneath his clothes, transforming into a mid-sized Devil with a physique comparable to Bartholomew Kuma.
The other three also transformed into Devils simultaneously. Four giant shadows projected onto the shop's ceiling, almost bursting the small room apart.
The Teddy Devil reached his hand towards Tokita's corpse, lifted him from the ground, and then... brought him towards his mouth.
"Wait! Please wait!"
Azusa lunged forward. "We'll handle it! We'll handle it!"
Kotobuki also lunged forward. Both of them grabbed Tokita's foot and pulled back frantically.
"No, no, no, no!"
Nanaka waved her hands frantically.
"No need to trouble yourselves, Commander! We'll take care of it!"
Makoto looked at the Teddy Devil.
The Teddy Devil's mouth stopped in mid-air. His fingers let go. Tokita's corpse slipped from his grasp, hitting the floor with a 'thud'.
Makoto's gaze fell on Azusa.
"Do you want revenge?"
Makoto tilted his head towards Yu. "You can try if you want."
Upon hearing this, Nanaka, Azusa, and all the members of the diving club were dumbfounded.
"Of course, Ishigami would fight back, though," Makoto added.
Yu looked coldly at Azusa. "I'll give you three moves."
Azusa was completely stunned.
'Get revenge on Ishigami Yu? Me? Me?'
Nanaka quickly stepped in to mediate: "Commander and Ishigami-sama are joking! Th-this is all just a misunderstanding!"
As she spoke, Nanaka frantically waved her hand at the male university students in the diving club. "E-everyone, disperse..."
Nanaka had long been used to the diving club's members coming to the shop three days a week to drink, party, and generally make a mess.
They were regular customers... as long as they were happy, it was fine. Every time they started taking off their clothes, she would take her sister and best friend and hide upstairs.
But she decided right now that tomorrow she would post a 'No Alcohol' notice on the shop door.
From outside the door came Toyomi's voice. "Commander, may we come in now?"
Hearing this voice, Nanaka was first slightly startled, then understood everything completely.
Fujiwara Toyomi... her younger sister's classmate. Back when she and her younger sister had come to Hawaii to start their business, Toyomi had sponsored them with a sum of money. It had been a lifesaver for them after their father had just died.
"Let's go. We can't stay at this shop." Makoto turned around, his back to Nanaka and the others. "Sorry for the intrusion."