Two years later

Not long after, the sound of splashing sea water was heard outside the laboratory.

Surina and Meli came to the cave entrance and looked out, only to see a huge sea monster slowly approaching.

Its head is similar to that of an alpaca, its eyes are clear but reveal a hint of ignorant stupidity, and its lower body is a smooth and graceful fish tail.

"The only one here is the sea alpaca. Can we leave it to it?"

Surina muttered a few words to herself and blew the conch shell again.

The crisp sound echoed in the sea.

After waiting for a long time, another sea monster finally came over.

Its head is similar to that of a civet cat, its eyes are much more lively and it looks smart, and its lower body is also a beautiful fish tail.

The beaver cat swam to the cave entrance, bowed, and said, "Hello, Dr. Surina. I am Liyun."

"Hello, Liyun, I'd like to ask you to do me a favor."

"Of course, I'm honored to be of assistance."

Surina used her tentacles to push Merry in front of the beaver cat and the sea alpaca and said, "Merry, tell Tanuki the characteristics of the Straw Hat Pirates. They will pass the news to their partners in the ocean and ask everyone to help find clues."

"Great." Merry thought about it carefully and described it seriously, "We are looking for a pirate group called the Straw Hat Pirates. Their captain is called Luffy, who always wears a straw hat and is known as the Straw Hat Kid. On the pirate ship is a green-haired swordsman named Zoro. He always carries three swords and has a poor sense of direction..."

The beaver cat and the sea alpaca listened and nodded from time to time, seemingly taking note of every detail seriously.

"There's also the sniper Usopp, who likes to wear sniper scopes and a headscarf and is a big braggart... There's the navigator Nami, who's proficient in meteorology... There's the chef named Sanji, who has curly eyebrows and cooks delicious food... There's the talking reindeer Chopper..."

"The Straw Hat Pirates, Luffy, Zoro, Usopp... Okay, we've got it all down. We'll pass the information on to our companions."

"I believe there will be news soon."

“Thank you very much!”

"You're welcome."

The sea beasts passed the information to many different marine creatures, asking them to help find out the news.

However, Meli waited for a long time but still did not find any useful information, and he couldn't help feeling a little disappointed.

Under the guidance of Dr. Surina, Meli, Mia and Phil continue to improve their knowledge and abilities.

In addition to learning and training, Merry and his friends also often explore the seabed.

One day, Meli discovered a narrow crack in the seabed and immediately called Mia and Phil.

Phil's eyes lit up immediately: "Should we go to the other side of the crack and take a look?"

"But I don't know if there will be danger on the other side."

“Adventure is full of unknowns, which makes it more interesting.”

The three little fish hesitated for a while, but finally decided to take a risk.

They swam cautiously into the crack, and as they went deeper, the front gradually became brighter.

After Meli passed through the crack, the view suddenly opened up.

Although this place is also located in the deep sea, it is more lively and vibrant.

Colorful coral reefs thrive, forming a beautiful underwater garden.

Swimming past the coral reef, there is a seaweed patch that looks like a mysterious underwater forest.

Clusters of glass-like lotus petals bloomed on the seaweed, as thin as cicada wings, sparkling with a soft blue-green light.

They sway gently with the ocean current, and colorful bubbles float in the water, like an underwater wonderland, elegant and dreamy.

Meli was attracted by these gorgeous "seaweed flowers". She moved closer curiously and stretched out her tentacles.

Just as the tentacles were about to touch the "seaweed flower", those seemingly gorgeous petals fell from the seaweed and floated to the ground.

All that was left on the seaweed were tiny, bare, translucent sea slugs, which scared Meli.

The sea slugs took advantage of the moment when Meli was stunned, twisted their soft bodies, and took the opportunity to escape from the spot.

Merry's eyes widened as he stared at the sea slug's fleeing figure, feeling incredibly puzzled: "Seaweed Flower...how did it escape?"

"Haha, silly Meli, this is not some seaweed flower," Phil's voice came from behind, "This is a way for them to survive by cutting off their tails, and they taste delicious."

Phil and Mia were used to this scene. They swam forward, grabbed the petals that fell to the ground with their mouths, and began to chew them.

Seeing Merry stunned, Mia used her pectoral fins to pluck some petals and held them in front of Merry. "I saw in the book Dr. Surina gave me that humans have given this food a name, 'Gorgeous Leaf Sea Slug,' probably to praise its deliciousness. Come and try it too."

Meli was indeed a little hungry. She rolled up a petal with her tentacles and put it into her mouth. A sweet taste spread in her mouth.

Wow! It’s really delicious!

A satisfied smile appeared on the little octopus's face, and his eyes curved into crescents.

"Crunch, crunch..." Phil continued chewing, with some petal crunch stuck to the corner of his mouth. His words were a little unclear. "Is it delicious?"

Meli nodded happily, and all eight tentacles moved out together, gathered the petals scattered on the ground, and began to feast on them.

“Crunch, crunch…”

Even the small fish nearby came over and joined in this delicious feast.

————————

Before I knew it, two years had passed.

Meli grew from a small octopus the size of a palm to an octopus the size of a football.

Under Surina's guidance, Meli learned how to speak human language.

However, human writing is too complicated. It has only learned to use simple numbers and simple words, and it is still far from being able to understand human books.

In addition to human language, Merry also learned various survival and fighting skills of the octopus family.

Merry waved his tentacles, stirring up the surrounding sea water. Under his control, a current of water wrapped around the tentacles.

Then, it waved its tentacles violently, and water immediately spurted out, hitting the distant reef.

In an instant, gravel splashed everywhere and the sea surged.

A satisfied smile appeared on the round pink octopus's face.

Hehehe~~~ Meli continued to wave his tentacles, with a confident light flashing in his eyes: Now it is no longer the little octopus that can only be bullied by others when it encounters danger!

"Merry-chan~~" a gentle and elegant voice came.

Meli turned around and saw that it was Mia.

The growth cycle of butterfly fish is different from that of octopus. Mia is now an adult, with more beautiful patterns on her body, and the whole fish has become much more mature and stable.

Mia: "Dr. Surina is looking for you."

"Okay, I'll be right there. Is Dr. Surina in the lab or the library?"

As Meli spoke, he released all the water from his tentacles, and the reefs in the distance were instantly shattered.

"She's in the library." Mia looked at Merry and praised, "You're becoming more and more proficient in water control."

"Hehe." A shy smile appeared on Meli's face, and its tentacles danced in the water uncontrollably. "Compared to Dr. Surina, I'm still far behind."

Mia encouraged: "You train so hard, you will definitely become stronger and stronger like Dr. Surina in the future."

"There are too many dangers in the sea. I also hope that one day I can be as powerful as Dr. Surina."

"You can do it."

......

Merry and Mia came to the underwater library.

It was noon, and the sunlight refracted through the sea, illuminating the octopus mermaid squatting in the middle.

Su Rina just sat there quietly, emitting a powerful magnetic field invisibly, as if everything around her was under her control.

Unlike other mermaids, Surina loves to wrap her upper body tightly, revealing only a cold and delicate face. Her pupils are blue in color, as deep as the deep sea with waves hidden in it, mysterious and awe-inspiring.

However, she was currently looking intently at the bubble book in her hands, and the scholarly gentleness of her demeanor somewhat weakened her sharp demeanor.

Meli marveled inwardly: No matter how many times he saw it, he still felt that Dr. Surina was so handsome! He really hoped that one day he could grow up to be so outstanding!

Meli swam forward, "Dr. Su Rina, you're looking for me?"

"Yes."

Su Rina closed the bubble book in her hand, waved her other two tentacles, and a stream of water floated out of the library.

The beaver cats and sea alpacas that were resting not far from the library quickly swam in after sensing the current.

Meili's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the familiar figure: "Liyun and Tuoqiang are back. Is there any new news?"

Su Rina nodded. "That's right. The beaver cats brought back good news, and I think they should tell you in person."

Tanuki walked up to the excited Merry, his eyes filled with helplessness. "The Straw Hat Pirates you were looking for really gave us a hard time finding them."

In the past two years, the news brought back by the sea beasts was always scattered and ambiguous, which made Meli full of expectations and disappointed again and again.

But this time, Meli felt something different from Liyun's tone, and his hope was rekindled.

Merry swam forward, waved his tentacles, and gently pressed on Liyun and Tuoqiang's shoulders, massaging them tenderly: "You both worked hard."

Tuo Qiang raised his head blankly, his eyes honest and innocent: "It's not hard. We are all friends."

"You idiot." Li Yun pawed Tuo Qiang unhappily.

Although we don't expect anything in return for helping, we should always get some recognition for our hard work.

After scolding Tuo Qiang, it turned around and continued to say to Meili, "According to the latest news from our friends, a sea beast saw the person you are looking for in the Sabaody Archipelago."