Old Acquaintances (2)

During a battle, Zoro met two other bounty hunters, Johnny and Yosaku. These two admired Zoro's strength and willingly treated Zoro as their older brother. Zoro couldn't refuse them, so he had no choice but to let them have their way.

They traveled together for a long time before parting ways. Although they eventually separated, they maintained a strong bond. Yosaku and Johnny were very sentimental, so Zoro genuinely considered them friends.

He originally thought they wouldn't have time to meet again, after all, he was about to go to the Grand Line, Grand Line was a battlefield for the strong. Those two weren't very strong, so he felt the chances of them going were slim.

He never expected that they would have another chance to meet, especially on his own ship.

"Brother Zoro, why... why are you on this ship?!" Johnny looked at Zoro and asked incredulously.

"Oh, I've decided to become a pirate. This ship will be our pirate ship." Zoro grinned and said, "I'm going to venture into the Grand Line. That's my paradise!"

"I see, Zoro is truly amazing!" Johnny nodded slightly and said.

"Hey, where's Yosaku? Aren't you two best partners? Why are you here while he's nowhere to be found!" Zoro jumped down the stairs onto the deck, quickly went to Johnny's side, helped Johnny up, and asked.

"Brother Zoro, Yosaku..." Johnny's eyes started to water when he heard this, and he couldn't stop the tears from flowing.

"Could he be dead... dead?" Zoro asked tentatively, his face grim. He genuinely considered Yosaku a friend and truly didn't want anything to happen to Yosaku.

Upon hearing this, Johnny immediately shook his head and said, "No, Yosaku is acting strangely. He was fine a quarter of an hour ago, but the next moment he turned pale, foamed at the mouth, and couldn't control himself. I tried everything I could, but I couldn't save him."

"Where is he?" Zoro breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that Yosaku was still alive. As long as he was alive, there must be a way to save him.

"Down there?" Johnny pointed to the right side of the Going Merry. Zoro helped Johnny to the ship's side and looked around. Sure enough, they found a small boat with a person lying on it. Although his face was pale and emaciated, Zoro recognized him at a glance as Yosaku.

Yosaku's attire was similar to Johnny's; he also carried a curved knife at his waist and had the word "thief" tattooed on his face. The two were partners, specializing in hunting pirates. That's why they had the word "pirate" tattooed on their faces.

"Luffy, hurry up and get Yosaku onto the Going Merry!" Zoro shouted to Luffy, who was standing to the side. He was too busy supporting Johnny to do it himself, so he had to Luffy take over.

Luffy didn't object. This man was Zoro's friend, so he naturally wanted to help him. Besides, he had just helped Johnny, so he felt a little guilty. He stretched out his hands, grabbed Yosaku's shoulders, and lifted Yosaku up onto the deck.

"What should we do now?" Luffy asked.

Zoro examined it carefully, his brow furrowed, unsure of what to do, as he had never encountered this situation before.

Just when everyone was at a loss, Nami was drawing a nautical chart in her room, put down her work, opened the door, and walked out of her room. She glanced at the deck and saw Yosaku looking distressed. She observed him closely, and a smile appeared on her lips.

She slowly walked down the stairs and came to Yosaku.

She pushed Zoro and Luffy aside, knelt down, gave Yosaku a quick check-up, and said, "He's fine, he just needs to eat some fruits and vegetables."

"Oh, what illness does he have?" Zoro asked curiously upon hearing this.

"He has scurvy. It's common among sailors due to long periods at sea and an unbalanced diet. However, anyone with a modicum of common sense wouldn't get it. They got it because they weren't careful," Nami said. "Luffy, go ask Ren Fang for some oranges; she has plenty on her ship."

"Oh, I see." Straw Hat Luffy nodded slightly upon hearing this, and then immediately went to Fanxin's ship. He found Ren Fang and explained his purpose. Ren Fang did not stop him and told him to go and get it himself.

Straw Hat Luffy, without any hesitation, carried a basket of oranges back to the Going Merry. Then, together with Usopp, he peeled the oranges, pried open Yosaku's mouth, and poured the orange juice into Yosaku's mouth.

After eating a dozen or so oranges, Yosaku's pale complexion improved slightly, presumably having some effect. However, Yosaku remained lying down, not yet waking up, and would likely need some rest to recover.

Johnny saw that Yosaku's complexion had improved, and a huge weight was lifted from his heart. He looked at Nami and said gratefully, "Big Sister Nami, thanks to you this time, otherwise, Yosaku might be dead."

"Don't call me that. I'm not even as old as you. Don't make me sound old," Nami said, frowning. She was very unhappy with the title of "big sister" because she was only eighteen, while the two of them were already in their twenties.

"I don't care, you saved us, so you're our leader," Johnny said stubbornly.

Nami touched her forehead, somewhat helpless. Then, she gave up arguing with Johnny, because Johnny was very stubborn, and changing his mind wouldn't be easy.

"Luffy, now you know why Fanxin asked you to find a cook! A cook can provide nutrition for the crew, so they won't get seaborne illnesses. We're still in the East Blue, but if we get to the Grand Line, things will be really troublesome," Nami said, watching Luffy sitting to the side, eating oranges with gusto.

Fanxin and the others will leave sooner or later, and once they leave, there will be no cook on the ship. Right now, Ren Fang is cooking for them, so they don't need to worry about malnutrition. However, if there's no cook on their ship, that would be a real problem.

She specifically told Luffy so he would take it seriously and find a chef as soon as possible, because they weren't sure when Fanxin and the others would leave.

"Ah, I understand. The next goal is to find a chef for the sea." Luffy nodded in response. As he spoke, his eyes were fixed on the oranges, and it was unclear whether he was listening or not, which Nami a real headache. She found it very difficult to talk to Luffy; even a simple thing required a very clear explanation for him to understand.

Nami shook her head, said nothing more, and went back to her room. She was going to continue working on her sea chart.

Johnny moved his partner Yosaku to the room to rest, while he himself returned to the deck to catch up with Zoro. He hadn't seen Zoro in a long time and was ready to have a good chat with Zoro.

"Oh, right, Johnny, why did you destroy our ship for no reason?" Zoro asked, looking at the damaged handrails and railings, somewhat puzzled.

"Brother Zoro, I didn't mean to destroy this ship."

Johnny for a moment, then said helplessly, "After Yosaku's accident, I tried many methods, but all to no avail. In desperation, I had to find land to temporarily dock the ship so Yosaku could rest ashore. But, who would have thought that just as I carried Yosaku ashore, a cannonball came flying over and blew up a very tall and large mound behind us, breaking it in half. The upper part of the mound collapsed directly. If I hadn't been quick-witted, Yosaku would have been crushed to death there."

"I looked around and didn't find any other ships, only this one, and I also saw that the cannons were pointed directly at me. So, I concluded that it was the people on this ship who were firing. So, I quietly carried Yosaku onto the ship, then approached your ship, and after boarding, I attacked your ship. Yosaku is my partner, how could I watch him be killed? So, hehe... that's how it happened."

"Brother Zoro, I'm so sorry. If I had known this was your ship, I... I would never have done this."

He genuinely didn't know. If he had known it was Zoro's ship, even if he was furious, he would never have been so rude, because Zoro was his best friend.

"Heh, never mind, it's just a misunderstanding." Zoro chuckled, not taking it to heart. Then, he grabbed Luffy and Usopp by the ears and said fiercely, "You two caused this mess. You'd better go and fix the stair railing and handrail, understand? Otherwise, I'll definitely beat you up."

The earlier cannonballs were fired by Luffy and Usopp out of boredom. Luffy fired several shots but missed the mound, while Usopp did hit it. Therefore, they bear the greatest responsibility for this incident; they have an undeniable responsibility for the destruction of the handrail and railing.

Seeing Zoro's fierce expression, Usopp was so frightened that he immediately went to get his tools and materials. He dared not provoke Zoro, Zoro strength was no less than that of Straw Hat Luffy. In his eyes, both Straw Hat Luffy and Zoro were monsters, beyond his ability to deal with.

Although Luffy wasn't afraid of Zoro, he was indeed at fault in this matter. Therefore, he didn't object and obediently went with Usopp to repair the railings and handrails.

Zoro and Johnny chatted on the deck for a long time. Because they had been separated for a long time and had both experienced a lot, they had endless things to talk about.

They didn't end their conversation until Ren Fang called everyone to lunch.

The whole group went to eat on Fanxin's boat.

"Hey, isn't there still one person? I heard two more friends came, so I made two extra portions. Let's invite him to come and eat together!" Ren Fang glanced around and noticed that one person was missing, asking in confusion.

Although Ren Fang didn't personally come out to check what was happening on the Going Merry, with the Little Black Cat around, it wouldn't be difficult for her to find out if she wanted to.

"Oh, he has scurvy and is very weak. He's resting. I'll take it to him myself later," Johnny said.

"Scurvy? That's a disease of seafarers! Hey, Luffy, you'd better hurry and find a cook. We might have to leave at any time. If you don't have a cook, your crew will be in trouble." Ren Fang looked at Luffy and said.

She warned Luffy because they might be separated from the Straw Hat halfway through their journey, since Fanxin had already lost his physical body and transformed into a soul.

Fanxin cannot live in a soul state indefinitely; it would be very inconvenient. Therefore, Fanxin will find a suitable physical body at some point. This means they won't be able to travel with the Straw Hat. Without them, Straw Hat Luffy and his crew will be without a cook.

At sea, running out of food is a terrible thing. And malnutrition is no small matter. At that point, let alone going on adventures, whether the Straw Hat Pirates could even survive would be an open question.

"Okay, I understand. My next goal is to find a chef." Straw Hat Luffy nodded and said, "When are you guys planning to leave?"

"I don't know either. We'll have to wait until Fanxin wakes up to confirm. But I don't think we'll be traveling together for too long. He doesn't have a physical body, so he needs to find one first," Ren Fang said.

"I see. Then we really should hurry up." Zoro ate a piece of meat, chewed a few times, and said, "Let's look for a restaurant along the way. They should have chefs; we can invite them aboard when the time comes."

"Hmm, that's a good method." Nami nodded slightly upon hearing this, finding it feasible.

"A restaurant? I do know one," Johnny suddenly said.

Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Johnny. Feeling embarrassed by the stares, he coughed a few times and said, "Hehe, I've been there before. It's not far from the Grand Line, Baratie Johnny. The food there is delicious, I'm not kidding!"

Upon hearing this, Luffy's eyes lit up, and his mouth opened wide enough to fit a dozen eggs. He had no aversion to food; he loved to go wherever there was delicious food. Now that there was good food at Baratie Restaurant, he naturally wouldn't let it pass him by.

"Alright, let's head straight for the Baratie Sea Restaurant." Straw Hat Luffy immediately announced the course.

Everyone nodded, but it didn't mean anything.

Johnny then looked at Zoro, smiled mysteriously, and said, "Brother Zoro, I heard that the man you're looking for appeared there. If you go there and are lucky, you might be able to see him."

Upon hearing this, Zoro involuntarily dropped the spoon in his hand. He stared intently at Johnny and exclaimed excitedly, "Johnny, are you sure you're not lying to me?"