Chapter 33 Den Den Mushi
The idea of making Tom a star like Brooke flashed through my mind, but it would be better not to do so before I can't afford to eat, and Tom may not like it.
The next two days were nothing more than exercise, lottery, and store opening.
Tom's reputation was spread by the first two groups of guests. Some people just treated it as a strange story, while others believed it immediately because the sea was so vast that anything could happen.
So many people came to see Tom, and the pub business showed signs of getting better and better. Tom earned a lot of snacks every day by playing the piano.
Customers who often came to the tavern to join in the fun gradually developed the habit of bringing some snacks with them to give to Tom, and they would always order more wine to take care of business.
It’s not that no one noticed Altria’s beauty, it’s just that she looked too young so not many people came over to talk to her.
That afternoon, Zhang Da also locked the door of the tavern, rode his bubble bike, and took Tom and Altria out.
This bubble car was bought for 10,000 Baileys and used for purchasing.
Unlike the single-person bubble car that requires you to ride inside a bubble, this one has the mechanical part installed on top of a donut-shaped bubble, with a cargo box at the back.
This type of car is probably equivalent to Da Zhou’s small tricycle in the kitchen team among bubble cars.
In fact, if a man rides a bicycle and a woman sits on the back seat, this feeling can usually be described as first love.
But if the man rides a tricycle and the woman sits in the bed, this scene is usually an old man taking an old woman out for a walk.
Today, Grandpa Zhang is going to take 15-year-old Grandma Altria and their pet cat out to buy some things, including food and... Den Den Mushi.
When handing over the tavern, Old Bob introduced Zhang Da to the wine merchant Gragas and left his Den Den Mushi number, but Zhang Da never bought a Den Den Mushi.
The bar's original Den Den Mushi was taken away by Bob, not because the Den Den Mushi were expensive but because he didn't want to change his number.
The appearance of Den Den Mushi is similar to that of a snail, and some are big and some are small. After being captured from the wild, they can be used by equipping them with special equipment. The Den Den Mushi themselves seem to be happy to be captured by humans, because that means they will have no worries about food and clothing.
The three of them picked and chose and finally chose a blue ordinary Den Den Mushi and three baby Den Den Mushi, which was equivalent to buying a landline phone and three mobile phones.
After purchasing the ingredients, Zhang Da also rode back on his bike.
Altria and Tom were curiously poking the Den Den Mushi and the baby Den Den Mushi from behind, and after waking them up, they fed them with some vegetable leaves.
They sleep most of the time and usually only wake up to talk or eat.
"We're lucky this time. We can buy sea king meat, but the price is a bit expensive." Zhang Da also said, "Does Tom know how to cook sea kings?"
Sea Kings are relatively common in the Grand Line, but there are not many fishermen capable of catching them, so they are not often available for sale.
Sea beasts and sea kings are not the same concept. If you want to distinguish them, mammals in the ocean are usually called sea beasts, while non-mammals that are close to fish and amphibians are sea kings.
For example, the manatee Moo of the Arlong Pirates can only be considered a sea beast, while the King of the Sea that bit off Shanks' arm is a sea king.
Compared with sea beasts, sea kings are usually more ferocious, stronger, more difficult to capture, and of course more expensive.
Tom was still recalling the recipe, but Altria spoke first: "This is the meat cut from the fish-shaped sea king. You can consider stewing, frying, deep-frying, etc. If you want to stew it, the side dishes you need are..."
"Stop, stop, stop. Why do you know so much?" Zhang Da couldn't help but ask as he listened to her listing the side dishes and condiments one by one.
“Don’t you know either? We read the same newspaper every day, and there’s an introduction in the food column of a certain issue.” Altria criticized confidently, “Tatsuya, you said you wanted to learn about this world through newspapers and collect necessary information, but it seems you haven’t done enough.”
Zhang Daye: “…”
Did I show you the newspaper to let you read this? No wonder you consume snacks so quickly every time you read the newspaper, it turns out you are reading the food section!
Sooner or later, our pub will be bankrupted by you!
After returning to the pub, I put all the ingredients into the refrigerator and placed the Den Den Mushi on the bar. 0210 was written on its back, which was its number. The Den Den Mushi numbers were very random, with some having several digits.
Zhang Da also picked up the phone and dialed Gulagas' number 4396.
"Plu pulu pulu... Kacha."
The Den Den Mushi in front of Zhang Daye grew a big orange beard, its eyes changed shape, and a deep, uncle-like voice came out of its mouth: "I'm Gragas, who are you?"
The three people who were using Den Den Mushi for the first time all looked at its changes curiously, and Tom even reached out to pull its beard in a sly manner.
It's not pulled, the beard seems to be just a light and shadow effect produced in a special way.
"Hello, Uncle Gragas, this is Tatsuya's tavern." Zhang Tatsuya was curious whether the Den Den Mushi on the other end had also changed into his appearance. "I need to order a batch of wine. The types and quantities should be the same as before. It would be best if it can be delivered today."
The bearded Den Den Mushi was silent for a while, then revealed an expression of sudden enlightenment. Except for Tom, it was the first time to see such a rich expression on an animal's face:
"It's 'Running Tatsuya' brother! The delivery address is still the same as Old Bob's tavern, right?"
"Yes, 59GR Baker Street 221B. The address has not changed."
"No problem, I'll deliver it before five."
"Thank you very much."
"Kaka." The Den Den Mushi made a hanging sound, closed its eyes and fell into a deep sleep, and the big beard on its face slowly disappeared.
"What a magical creature." Artoria put her hands on the table, only the upper half of her face was exposed, and she looked at the Den Den Mushi at eye level.
Zhang Da also suspected that she was being cute and joked, "It is indeed magical, but I don't know if it tastes good."
There was a flash of intention in Altria's eyes, and the Den Den Mushi was awakened from its dream with a terrified expression. It wanted to escape but didn't dare to move.
"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, I was just joking." Zhang Da also touched the shell of the Den Den Mushi to comfort it, "Let's study how to eat the meat of sea kings."
Altria was a little disappointed, but immediately looked through the newspaper with anticipation and showed Tom the page that introduced the cooking methods of sea kings.
Tom also took out four cookbooks and looked through the specific dishes, his mouth watering.
The main reason is that as a cat, he has some preference for fish food, and he wants to try this "big fish" even more.
Zhang Da didn't care about the two foodies and planned to complete today's training plan before Gragas came.
