Half an hour later.
The brilliant sunlight spread across the sea, plating a layer of golden glow on a sailboat.
"Mmm~~ So full!" Luffy lay on the deck in a 'big' shape, his belly protruding, a look of satisfaction on his face.
He squinted his eyes, looking up at the slowly moving blue sky and white clouds, letting the warm sea breeze caress his cheeks and stir his quietly rippling thoughts.
His thoughts drifted back a few days.
After setting sail from Windmill Village, where he had grown up since childhood, he encountered a whirlpool he had never seen before. He had no choice but to hide in a wooden barrel and drift on the sea to survive, spending several days.
The first person he saw the moment he burst out of the barrel was Koby.
Unfortunately, after knowing Koby for less than a day, he ran into the person he least wanted to see his grandfather, Garp.
Fortunately, he finally managed to escape from his grandfather's grasp, sailing the small boat he had snatched from Alvida overnight, hurriedly departing Shells Town.
Then... he encountered another whirlpool.
He once again climbed into a wooden barrel.
This time, however, his luck seemed much better.
In less than a day, he was discovered, and by two people he had decided to recruit as crewmates!
"Hey, after you're full, all you do is lie there. You don't even bother to pick up the bird feathers on the ground. That woman said to collect them to sell."
A hurried and muffled voice came from beside him.
The speaker was Zoro, who was engrossed in his daily workout, repeatedly lifting heavy barbells with his arms, sweat trickling down his muscular physique.
"What bird feathers?"
In a moment, Luffy's belly had visibly deflated.
He sat up with a flip, his face full of curiosity.
"Of course, the pink bird feathers on the ground. She said these feathers might be very valuable." Zoro replied without looking up, continuing his workout.
These feathers naturally came from the pink monster that had almost carried Luffy away earlier.
After Silas shot it down with an arrow, it became a lavish roasted meat feast for the three of them. Most of it went into Luffy's stomach, and now only scattered feathers remained on the deck.
"Oh..." Luffy lowered his head, picked up a soft pink feather from the deck, and examined it closely.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up:
"If we sell these, can we buy a big ship?"
"How could that be? They're just bird feathers. Even if they're rare, they're worth at most a few tens of thousands of Berries."
"How much is a few tens of thousands of Berries?"
"Anyway, it's not enough for one of your meals." Zoro switched hands, lifting the barbell, a look of anticipation flashing in his eyes. "However, it could buy a few good bottles of sake."
Inside the ship's cabin.
The Blue-haired girl lay quietly on the bed, one hand gently propping her chin, the other holding a book, reading silently.
She appeared to be fully absorbed in the pages.
But in reality, her ears were secretly catching every word of the conversation coming from the deck, and her lips curled into a subtle, almost imperceptible smile.
"The relationship between these two seems to be getting better and better."
Compared to their initial antagonism, Zoro's attitude towards Luffy had visibly improved a lot.
However, compared to the original story, it was still quite a bit off at this point.
Their true mutual recognition still needed a catalyst.
"Help"
"Save us!"
Suddenly, several shrill and panicked cries for help broke the tranquility of the sea.
This is... After hearing these cries for help, a corresponding plot from the original story immediately appeared in her mind.
Silas's lips unconsciously curved into a slight smile.
She closed the book in her hand, rose calmly, and with a long-awaited shallow smile, slowly walked out of the cabin.
Finally, it connected with the original plot!
"Hey, Zoro, did you hear someone shouting for help?"
"It sounds like it..."
"Hey, over there, there are three guys in the water!" Luffy searched for the sound for a while, quickly pinpointed the location of the callers, and immediately said:
"Let's pull them up!"
"Wait." Zoro, however, reached out and stopped him.
He narrowed his eyes, carefully scrutinizing the three figures struggling in the water.
A moment later, he snorted coldly and said, "Look closely, these three guys... they're pirates."
It is well known that the greatest danger on this sea is pirates.
Even though he himself was now a pirate, it did not prevent him from holding a long-standing prejudice against pirates these guys, nine out of ten, were despicable villains and scum.
"Isn't that even more interesting?"
However, after hearing this, Luffy's eyes instead showed excitement. He immediately stretched out a gomu arm and pulled the three up.
The moment Silas walked out of the cabin, she happened to see this scene, coming face to face with the three rescued pirates.
As expected, she saw three pairs of greedy, lustful, and malicious eyes.
Regarding this.
Silas said she was already used to it; almost every one of these sexually repressed pirates had this expression after seeing her.
"Yo, Silas, you're out!" Luffy, seeing his only currently recognized crewmate, flashed an astonishingly wide smile,
"Look, I saved three interesting guys."
"Interesting? But they look like pirates, Luffy." Silas walked to Luffy and Zoro's side, maintaining a two-meter distance from the three pirates.
"Not just 'like,' they are pirates. The smell on these guys can't fool me." Zoro corrected, giving the three a cold glance.
He had noticed the dishonest gazes of those three guys.
After spitting out several mouthfuls of seawater, the three drowning pirates finally recovered. Then, they almost simultaneously drew their blades and said in a threatening tone:
"That's right, we are subordinates of Clown Buggy!"
"If you're smart, stop the ship. Your ship is ours, and... that woman behind you belongs to us too!"
The three men's gazes swept past Luffy and Zoro, greedily staring at Silas.
This was a top-notch woman; if they offered her to Lord Buggy, they would surely be heavily rewarded!
"I told you, saving them would have this consequence." Zoro shook his head, picked up a blade placed at the corner of the ship, and slowly approached the three pirates.
"You want to steal my crewmate? Have you guys asked for my opinion?!" Luffy clenched his fists, walking towards the three with a furious expression.
Silas was his only crewmate right now; these guys actually wanted to steal her!
Immediately after, screams echoed throughout the entire sea area.
"Hahahaha so it's the legendary Pirate Hunter Mr. and frost arrow Ms.... We're sorry, we were too arrogant just now."
"This is truly a big misunderstanding. If we had known it was you, we wouldn't have dared to be so presumptuous just now, hahahaha... Please don't hit us anymore..."
"Please spare us! We won't dare to do it again!"