The delicacies of the heavens begin with obtaining gem meat.

Chapter 205 Water City, Watery Meat

On the Whitebeard Pirates' ship, Marco found Jiang Yan, scratched his head, and said with a wry smile.

"Mr. Jiang Yan, there's something I need to tell you."

Jiang Yan raised an eyebrow, signaling Marco to continue.

"We came to this Marineford War with the determination to die."

"In order to increase our strength, all the Devil Fruits whose abilities were previously confirmed have been distributed. As for the Devil Fruits whose specific abilities were unknown, they were all sold and exchanged for a large number of weapons to deal with this war."

"So—we can't give you the Devil Fruit reward that Dad promised you before, for the time being. We're really sorry."

After hearing this, Jiang Yan's face showed a hint of helplessness.

Before, most of the people who sent the dishes were after the Devil Fruits, but now they're telling him there's no reward?

Thinking about it carefully, it's understandable. The Marineford War was a huge gamble for the Whitebeard Pirates, and it's only natural that they would use up all the available resources during the war.

Seeing Jiang Yan's expression, Marco felt a little embarrassed and quickly added.

"Rest assured, Mr. Jiang Yan, the Whitebeard Pirates will never forget the debt of gratitude we owe you."

"Finding a Devil Fruit isn't too difficult for us, it just takes some time."

"My father has already said he's willing to pay ten Devil Fruits as a reward."

Hearing these words, Jiang Yan nodded in satisfaction.

"Alright, I'll wait a bit. I'll come to the New World to get it from you later."

Although he didn't receive the reward immediately, the Whitebeard Pirates' willingness to pay ten Devil Fruits far exceeded his expectations, so he figured waiting wouldn't hurt.

But there's no need to go to the New World now, since he hasn't even explored the first half of the Grand Line yet.

Marco breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing Jiang Yan's agreement.

"Thank you for your understanding, Mr. Jiang Yan. If there is anything we can help with, please don't hesitate to ask. We will definitely help if it is within our power."

Marco was indeed embarrassed that he couldn't deliver the promised reward, so he wanted to make amends.

Jiang Yan initially wanted to decline, but then something occurred to him, "Could you give me a few permanent coordinates for the first half of the Grand Line?"

Marco naturally had no objection to Jiang Yan's request and quickly sent over several permanent pointers.

Jiang Yan checked the islands that the permanent pointers were pointing to, and the only one he vaguely remembered was Water Seven.

This led Jiang Yan to decide that he would go to Water City next.

Before Jiang Yan left, Whitebeard specifically sought him out to express his gratitude.

Charizard's speed was quite good; a day later, the iconic Water 7 archetype appeared on the sea surface below.

The city skyline connected by waterways.

As the most famous shipbuilding city in the first half of the Grand Line, Water Seven is far more prosperous than many islands.

Charizard landed on the open ground of the port, immediately attracting the attention of many passersby. However, seeing Charizard's extremely intimidating appearance, no one dared to approach and speak to it.

Jiang Yan patted Charizard's neck, put it away, then released a Lapras before entering the city.

The boats crisscrossed the waterway, their laughter mingling with the sounds of tourists, creating a vibrant and lively atmosphere.

However, Jiang Yan wasn't interested in any of that. What he was most curious about now was the specialty food of the Seven Waters City: Watery Meat.

Following the faint aroma of meat, Jiang Yan quickly arrived at a meat shop called Shuishui.

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The large amount of meat soaking in water looks very appetizing.

Upon seeing Jiang Yan, the owner of Shuishui Meat Shop immediately came over enthusiastically.

"Guest, would you like some Watery Meat? It's absolutely the most authentic in all of Water Seven!"

"I'll take all of these juicy meats."

Jiang Yan spoke up decisively.

"I'll take them all! Please wait a moment!"

The owner of the Shuishui Meat Shop responded excitedly and turned around to lift all the Shuishui meat out of the water.

Jiang Yan gave the owner of the Shui Shui Meat Shop a piece of gold, took the Shui Shui Meat, and examined it in front of him.

The meat was so juicy and tender, it looked like you could squeeze water out of it. Jiang Yan swallowed and took another bite.

As soon as the juicy meat entered his mouth, Jiang Yan immediately understood what "fresh, tender, and juicy" meant.

The meat is incredibly smooth and tender, like jelly sloshing around in your mouth.

With a gentle touch of the teeth, the juices from the meat burst forth. The meat is so tender that it hardly needs any chewing, and it carries a rich meaty aroma with a hint of sea salt.

"This is really delicious."

Jiang Yan couldn't help but exclaim in admiration. After finishing the second bite in a few bites, he moved on to the second one.

Jiang Yan quickly ate all the watery meat he had bought.

Jiang Yan called over the owner of Shui Shui Meat Shop, who was about to close up shop, and asked while wiping his mouth.

"Boss, what kind of meat is this 'juicy' pork? How can it be so tender and juicy?"

Upon hearing Jiang Yan's question, the owner of Shuishui Meat Shop smiled proudly and replied.

"Sir, you've come to the right person! Our 'Watery Meat' uses sea pig meat that's only found in the waters surrounding our Water Seven!"

"This type of sea pig lives its entire life in the water and never comes ashore, which is why its meat is so tender and juicy!"

"Away from our sea, you simply can't raise these sea pigs anywhere else, and naturally you wouldn't be able to eat their juicy meat!"

"You know, even the chefs from the food court secretly come here to buy our 'watery meat' to eat."

Jiang Yan nodded knowingly and continued to ask.

"Boss, do you know where I can buy live sea hogs?"

Jiang Yan considered this watery meat to be a very good ingredient, so he wanted to raise some.

The owner of Shuishui Meat Shop was taken aback for a moment, then said.

"Live sea pigs? You'll have to go to the seafood market at the port to find them. There are fishing boats there that specialize in catching sea pigs."

"However, live sea pigs are not easy to raise. They die easily if they leave the waters of our area, and the flavor of the meat will be greatly reduced."

Jiang Yan smiled, not minding it, but still thanked him.

"Thanks for the reminder, boss."

With his destination in mind, Jiang Yan immediately boarded the dragon and headed towards the seafood market at the port.

The owner of Shuishui Meat Shop watched Jiang Yan leave without trying to persuade him further. At this moment, he noticed the dragon beneath Jiang Yan and was somewhat bewildered.

"Huh? Is this Blue?"

This was the first time he had ever seen Blue like this.

Scratching his head, the owner of Shuishui Meat Shop continued tidying up his stall.

Riding in the dragon boat, Jiang Yan quickly arrived at the seafood market.

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The seafood market was bustling with activity, displaying a dazzling array of freshly caught seafood.

After making a few inquiries, Jiang Yan found a stall selling sea pigs. Several plump sea pigs with smooth skin were swimming slowly in the water tanks on the stall, looking quite adorable.

Jiang Yan negotiated a price with the stall owner and bought all the sea pigs on the stall, as well as a lot of seaweed specifically for feeding them.

Jiang Yan then simply put all the sea pigs and seaweed into the Food Restaurant.

During his visit to the seafood market, he collected some seawater and created a small pond, which could be used to raise sea pigs.

After placing the sea pigs into the pool and watching them swim slowly inside, Jiang Yan nodded in satisfaction. From now on, he could enjoy the freshest sea pig meat whenever he wanted.

Jiang Yan's behavior did attract the attention of many people, but no one paid much attention to it.

After resolving the issue with the sea pigs, Jiang Yan continued to stroll around the City of Seven Waters.

During his journey, he came across a sea salt shop, and Jiang Yan then remembered that the sea salt in Water City was a highly concentrated sea salt left behind by a massive tsunami.

After entering the store and chatting briefly with the owner of the sea salt shop, Jiang Yan took a tiny bit of sea salt and placed it on the tip of his tongue.

The first sensation is not a harsh saltiness, but a very gentle salty-fresh taste with a hint of mineral astringency. The saltiness is moderate, and the aftertaste is long-lasting, completely different from ordinary sea salt.

This type of salt is excellent for marinating meat, grilling meat, making soup, or enhancing flavor, as it can maximize the natural umami taste of the ingredients.

So Jiang Yan simply bought a large quantity of this high-concentration sea salt.

For a chef, good salt is still very important.