Chapter 117: Wall Penguin
They walked for a few hours until they arrived in the Ice Mountain.
"WE HAVE ARRIVED!!!" Luffy raised both of his hands since he was excited.
"YEAH, CENTURY SOUP!!!" Toriko was also excited.
"Is food the only thing that they are thinking about?" Haru said.
"Ah, that's a good one, Haru," Komatsu said.
Haru looked at him, "Are you not tired?"
"I'm fine, thank you for your help," Komatsu knew that his journey would be hard without him around.
"Don't worry too much, I can't wait for you to cook the Freezer Bison," Haru said.
Komatsu nodded, "Yes, don't worry."
"Hey, let's go!!!" Luffy called everyone.
"Yes!!!"
They were walking entering the Ice Mountain.
"Ah, Haru, you don't need to use your skills anymore," Toriko said.
"Yeah," Haru said and ended his magic. He could still feel warm even without his magic in this place.
"Why is it still warm?" Tsunade asked.
"Because there is no wind here, thanks to the methane hydrate currently being released, the air is cycling more rapidly than normal and making it warmer," Haru explained.
"That's right," Toriko nodded at his explanation.
"I see, so ice hell is pretty much a death trap right now, I can't believe that we're here," Komatsu said.
"If we didn't come now, we'd miss the thawing of the Century Soup," Toriko said.
"It's true, it's still very cold that even the Dragon Tundra is frozen," Komatsu said.
Toriko, who was smiling, suddenly changed his expression, "You mean the Tundra Dragon? That dragon wouldn't even shiver under that temperature."
"Huh?"
"They were killed first and then they were frozen by the wind," Toriko said.
"What? Is there someone who killed it? Who?" Komatsu was startled and added, "Tundra Dragon has a capture 50 level, who on earth can kill it?"
Toriko didn't answer him and only thought with silence.
"WOW, THIS ICE IS VERY BEAUTIFUL!!!" Luffy was shouting.
Toriko smiled and said, "Don't think too much about it, more importantly, this is a rare chance for us to see the beauty of this place."
"A - ah, yes!!!" Komatsu said.
They stopped in the middle of their journey to take a rest.
Komatsu was cooking the Freezer Bison that they had caught before.
Haru was immersing himself in the feeling of his practice earlier. However, he stopped since it was hard to do that because the scenery inside this Ice Mountain was just too breathtaking and made his attention wander.
The ice crystal is just clear and shiny at the same time making them similar to diamonds. There is also an aurora which is similar to a beautiful curtain that is covering the sky.
Haru was drinking coffee while looking at it.
"Haru, what are you drinking?" Tsunade asked.
"Coffee, do you want to try it?" Haru asked.
"Let me try," Tsunade took his glasses and sipped it slowly, even though it was a bit bitter but it had a strange charm that made it very delicious. She licked her lips to clean the coffee in her mouth, "It's good."
"Don't drink it all," Haru said.
"Then make me one," Tsunade said.
"Ask Komatsu, he is very good," Haru said and asked, "Komatsu, can you make a coffee for her?"
"Sure," Komatsu replied with a smile.
They were resting inside the Ice Mountain, they knew that they would become a competitor after they had gone to rest.
"This is your coffee," Komatsu said.
"Thank you," Tsunade sipped the coffee slowly.
Luffy and Toriko were eating the bison that they had caught together. Their appetite was so great that they had eaten all of the bison. Luckily, they had also hunted another monster such as Silver Grizzly along the way.
Tsunade was drinking a coffee, "Who should we invite?"
"Hmm, let's wait for a while, there is still a lot of time," Haru said.
Tsunade nodded in response.
Komatsu who was cooking suddenly felt something on his back. He turned and susprised, "W - what is this?"
"Chee! Chee! Chee!"
There was a cute penguin with light pink fur with darker fur on its stomach.
"Oh, isn't that a wall penguin?" Toriko said with surprise.
"It's very cute," Luffy said while eating food.
"Ah, are you hungry?" Komatsu asked.
"Chee!"
"I will give you something," Komatsu said and gave it some meat.
"Chee! Chee!"
The wall penguin was very happy and ate it with a smile.
Haru smiled at this penguin and took a picture of it since it was very cute.
Tsunade and Luffy also did the same and took its picture.
"Chee!"
The wall penguin seemed quite shy when they were taking its picture.
Haru took something from his storage and gave it to the penguin, "You can eat this fish."
"Chee!"
The wall penguin seemed nervous but walked toward him since it was tempted by his food. It walked toward him and ate it slowly.
"Is it good?" Haru asked.
"Chee!" It nodded and smiled at him.
"What a cutie!" Tsunade caressed its head slowly.
The wall penguin ate the fish and went back to Komatsu. It looked quite sticky to him and loved to be with him.
"H - hey, don't peck me," Komatsu had a helpless expression on his face.
"Isn't he like you, Komatsu?" Haru said.
"Is it? Really?" Komatsu looked pretty happy and caressed it slowly.
"Why is my pet a slug?" Tsunade complained since it wasn't cute.
"Chopper is cuter," Luffy said and didn't want to lose.
"Chopper?" Match asked.
"He is a cute raccoon dog and my partner," Luffy said. He wanted to show them his picture but he didn't have it on his phone.
Komatsu who was petting the wall penguin looked at everyone and asked, "Can I ask everyone a question?"
"Sure," Luffy said.
"Why are you all after this Century Soup? Is there any reason for it?" Komatsu asked. His question sounded very pure and only because of curiosity.
Haru felt strange when Komatsu's sound was very pure in his mind. He was wondering whether Komatsu was only living to cook in his life later, 'Should I help him to hook up with someone?' He thought anyone would be okay as long as it wasn't male.