Stranded on a Deserted Island

"Ah, you're awake."

A black-haired girl came over carrying two coconuts.

Seeing Lin Qi awake, she tossed the coconuts aside and ran over.

"I've never seen anyone like you. You were unconscious for a whole month without eating, yet you're still alive."

"If you hadn't still been breathing, I would've thought you were dead."

Even stranded on a deserted island, the girl's lovely face could not be concealed.

"Wait, what did you say? I was unconscious for a month? What date is it today?"

The girl thought for a moment. "If I remember correctly, it should be mid-August."

"Mid-August..."

Lin Qi did the math. It had only been early June when he set out to sea.

Did that mean he had drifted at sea for a month and a half, then lain unconscious on land for another month?

How had he even survived...

Even Lin Qi found it unbelievable.

"Have some water first. Your mouth looks terribly dry."

The girl thought Lin Qi had remembered something painful. She cracked open a coconut and held it to his lips.

"Thank you."

Lin Qi drank deeply, the coconut juice flowing through his mouth and into his stomach.

"Delicious. Can I have a few more?" he asked, still wanting more.

"Sure. There are plenty of coconuts on this deserted island."

As she spoke, the girl opened several more coconuts for Lin Qi.

With his fluids replenished, warmth gradually returned to his body, and he began slowly recovering.

"Ha... I'm saved. Thank you so much. And you are?"

"Ro...ty. Just call me Roty," the girl said.

Lin Qi nodded. "My name is Lin Qi. You said this is a deserted island. How did you get here?"

Roty pointed at a small pile of broken planks on the rocks by the shore. "A shipwreck, of course. My ship is gone."

"Fair enough. Miss Shipwreck Survivor, let me ask one last question. Why did you tie me up?"

"Because..."

Roty had only gotten halfway through her answer when a tiger more than five meters tall emerged from the forest.

Roty scrambled up the coconut tree in an instant, using both hands and feet.

"Blue and white stripes..." Lin Qi muttered as he looked up.

The tiger strolled over to Lin Qi with practiced ease, clearly not for the first time.

It suddenly opened its bloody jaws wide, bit down on Lin Qi's leg, and began grinding its teeth.

"Get lost. I'm not a chew toy." Lin Qi kicked it away.

"Wooo..."

The tiger's teeth shattered across the ground, and it slunk off with its tail between its legs.

Then lions, wild boars, leopards, and other fierce beasts emerged from the forest.

Unable to bite through Lin Qi, they simply used him to grind their teeth, while taking the chance to taste some meat.

"So you were afraid the beasts would drag me away. Thanks."

Lin Qi flexed both arms and broke free from his bindings, then punched a wild boar in front of him to death.

Seeing how fierce he was, the beasts scattered at once.

"Come down and eat some meat. Stop spacing out."

Lin Qi called to the girl at the top of the tree.

"Okay, okay." The girl slid down the trunk and praised him.

"You're amazing. You killed a six- or seven-meter-long wild boar with one punch."

"That's nothing. I've fought bigger ones."

"Don't just stand there. Come give me a hand. We're having roasted meat."

"Roasted meat!" The girl's eyes lit up.

On a wild deserted island, a lone man and a lone woman worked together.

An hour later, the two finally got to eat fragrant roasted boar meat.

The girl ate elegantly, but not slowly. Pieces of boar meat vanished from her hands one after another, leaving her mouth glistening with grease.

"Mmm... it's so good."

"To be honest, I've been eating nothing but coconuts for a month. The sight of one makes me want to throw up now."

The delicious food nearly made the girl cry.

"Eat as much as you want. No need to be polite."

"Mhm, mhm. You're such a good person." The girl nodded vigorously.

Lin Qi ate in huge mouthfuls. With his energy replenished, his injuries healed at a visible rate.

The girl's little mouth fell open. "A-amazing."

"Haha, I'm a Zoan Devil Fruit Ability User. This is normal."

"Devil Fruit..." The girl seemed to have heard of them before and did not ask further.

Lin Qi looked at the leaf skirt around his lower body and suddenly said, "You put this skirt on me, didn't you? That must have been hard for you."

"Id-idiot, don't say things like that." The girl blushed.

Lin Qi's reminder made her recall that ugly thing she had already managed to forget.

"Didn't you ever think about leaving during this past month?" Lin Qi asked.

"Of course I did, but this place is so remote. Not a single ship passed by in a month."

"Besides, what would happen to you if I left?"

The girl suddenly choked, pounding her full chest with a tiny fist as it heaved violently.

Lin Qi looked away. "How about I take you with me?"

"Stop bragging. I admit you're strong, but you don't know how to build a ship," the girl said skeptically.

"Who needs a ship? I can fly. Wait until I finish eating."

An entire seven-meter-long wild boar went into Lin Qi's stomach, and his injuries fully recovered.

As long as a Mythical Zoan had sufficient energy, recovery was practically instantaneous.

"Come on, climb onto my back. I'll take you away."

The girl looked at Lin Qi with her watery eyes, as if asking: Are you serious?

"What are you thinking about? Hurry up."

After hesitating briefly, the girl slowly climbed onto Lin Qi's back.

"So soft."

It felt to Lin Qi as though he were carrying a warm, soft piece of jade, with two large, soft masses pressed against his back.

The girl's pretty face reddened, and she raised a hand to cover her chest.

"Hold on to me with your hands. If you fall later, I'm not responsible."

"O-okay."

The girl lowered her hand from her chest again.

Suddenly, a black halo burning with flames appeared behind Lin Qi's back.

Carrying Roty, he floated into the air as though gravity did not exist.

This was also what Lin Qi had discovered upon waking: the halo seemed to have changed somehow.

It could fly.

"Wow, you really can fly. That's amazing."

Roty stared in shock at the ground growing farther and farther away. Then she suddenly became afraid and hugged Lin Qi tightly, not daring to let go.

So big, so soft!

Lin Qi thought.

He hadn't expected the girl to be so well-endowed.

Two days later.

On the boundless sea.

Lin Qi and the girl came across a small town.

"Looks like we got lucky."

Lin Qi shifted the girl on his back.

Without a Log Pose, finding signs of civilization in the vast sea was incredibly difficult.

With bad luck, they might not encounter anyone for months.

"Mhm. You've worked hard these past few days."

Perhaps because she had slept on Lin Qi's back for two days, the girl had felt protected for the first time in her life.

Her attitude toward Lin Qi had become much closer than before.

To avoid frightening the town's residents, the two landed some distance away and walked into town.

Fortunately, Lin Qi had spare clothes in his Storage Ring, so they did not have to run around naked.

"All right, Roty. I brought you somewhere safe. We're even now."

Roty anxiously grabbed Lin Qi's hand. "Are you abandoning me too?"

"?"

Lin Qi looked at the beautiful girl. Was she trying to latch onto him?

The girl knew very well that if she did not want to be abandoned, she had to show that she had value.

As if she had made up her mind, she suddenly grabbed Lin Qi and pulled him in a certain direction. "Come with me."