Straw Hat, Straw Hat

Xia Nuo had originally planned to leave Shimotsuki Village after breakfast and set off for the final stop of his wool-gathering trip: Goa Kingdom.

Unfortunately, everyone was reluctant to see him leave and insisted on keeping him for one more night.

Before bed, a large group gathered around the brazier on the tatami in the main hall for a relaxed late-night chat.

During it, Zoro and Sanji, the two little rascals, secretly drank some rice wine and were given another thorough beating by Zeff, adding a few more lively notes to the atmosphere.

Xia Nuo got slightly tipsy, and once the mood struck him, he chatted with everyone about all sorts of things.

That was how everyone learned about Cocoyasi Village. They learned that he had two adorable younger sisters, and that the orange grove in his hometown was beautiful, producing large, sweet, juicy citrus fruit with a refreshing taste.

Xia Nuo had considered it as well.

To be safe, should he simply invite Zeff or Koshiro to stay in Cocoyasi Village for a few months after spring arrived the following year?

If he did that, dealing with the Arlong Pirates would be a piece of cake.

But after thinking it over, he ultimately kept quiet.

He had yet to obtain the Straw Hat, yet the points on his person were already approaching ten thousand.

In other words, he could basically pick whatever items and Secret Manuals he wanted from the system's trading market from then on.

Under those circumstances, if a year of arduous training still left him unable to deal with the Arlong Pirates, how would he be any different from a piece of trash?

He might as well forget about setting out to sea and simply use Masamune to slit his own throat.

The next day arrived in the blink of an eye.

Kuina, Zeff, Sanji, Zoro... A group of people reluctantly saw Xia Nuo off to the dock, including Junichi, who had been nowhere to be seen since early the previous morning.

It was only then that Xia Nuo learned the truth.

Ever since returning to Shimotsuki Village, that boy had seemed possessed, training himself desperately.

He had trained from five in the morning until midnight, not even finding time to eat lunch. The intensity was far more frightening than Zoro's.

Xia Nuo could not help taking a second look at him.

In his view,

Junichi's talent for swordsmanship was inferior to Zoro's, and far inferior to Kuina's.

But talent had never been the only factor determining a person's limits.

As long as one put in far more effort and sweat than others, the result would often never disappoint.

After all, going from being utterly helpless to becoming the next generation's naval hero only took two years.

"Why do you keep looking at me, Boss?"

Junichi was busy helping Zoro carry supplies onto the ship. Feeling Xia Nuo's gaze, he raised his head in confusion and glanced at him.

"I'm a little worried about you." Xia Nuo spoke half-jokingly. "I'm really afraid you'll set out to sea directly in a few months. Then I'll have to figure out a way to collect your corpse."

Had his resolve been seen through?

Junichi pressed his lips together.

Then he suddenly raised his head and grinned. "What? That joke isn't funny. Boss, don't worry. I'm not some idiot who gets carried away by hot blood. I won't do anything stupid without sufficient confidence."

"No, what are you two talking about? Are you playing a guessing game? Listening to you is giving me a headache."

Zoro looked from one to the other, his face full of bewilderment.

"You don't have a headache from listening. You really have a headache."

Xia Nuo glared irritably at Moss Head.

That guy had just been beaten by Zeff the previous night, and this morning he had sparred with Kuina only to get beaten until his head was covered in lumps. The swelling still had not gone down.

Now he was standing here letting the sea wind blow on him. It would have been strange if his head did not hurt.

He turned back to Junichi.

"Anyway, as long as you know what you're doing. Don't forget that you're not alone. No matter where you go in the future, you'll still have all these companions who can fight alongside you."

After earnestly reminding him, Xia Nuo waved a distant farewell to the others on the shore. At last, he pressed a button, starting the ship and sending it sailing toward the horizon.

This small boat, secretly equipped with advanced technology, was something he had borrowed for the time being.

It only took two days to travel from Shimotsuki Village to the nearest large island, and Zeff planned to head there the next day to purchase ingredients.

Therefore, once he arrived, Xia Nuo only needed to dock the boat at the pier and leave it there.

He could calmly transfer to a passenger ship in the town and head for Goa Kingdom.

Zeff would naturally bring the boat back to Shimotsuki Village afterward.

Six days later.

Deep in the Colbo Mountains, Goa Kingdom.

In the dense forest, Xia Nuo quickly climbed to the top of a towering tree in a few strides and gazed out at the endless mountain forests surrounding him.

After staring blankly for a while, he rubbed his temples with a pained expression.

"This really was a miscalculation..."

He had successfully arrived within Goa Kingdom the morning before last.

Yet more than fifty hours had passed, and he was still wandering around in circles in these mountains.

It was not that he had caught Zoro's sense of direction—or rather, lack thereof.

The Colbo Mountains were simply far more vast than he had anticipated...

In this life, he had grown up in Cocoyasi Village from childhood. The entire area around the island was tiny, which had completely accustomed him to the feeling of compact landmasses.

Only after arriving in Goa Kingdom, one of the better-known major nations in the East Blue, did he once again experience what it felt like to stand at a height and still be unable to see the horizon.

"It would be great if Luffy were still in Foosha Village." Xia Nuo sighed.

Luffy had still been in Foosha Village at this time a year ago.

But then the incident with Shanks happened. After learning about it, Garp had hurriedly transferred him to Colbo Mountain and handed him over to the bandit Dadan to raise.

That was how Luffy came to meet Ace and Sabo, encounter the Sapphire Pirates, and establish the ASL Brotherhood...

After calculating carefully,

Sabo should have been taken to the Revolutionary Army headquarters by Dragon a few months ago. That meant only the two brothers, Luffy and Ace, remained in the mountains.

Xia Nuo felt that the luck he had after setting out to sea had seemingly already been spent on encountering the King of the Near Sea and Zeff.

Relying on himself alone, finding the two brats in these vast mountains was indeed somewhat difficult.

But it should not have been possible for him to search day and night for more than fifty hours without finding anything at all, right?

Those two troublemakers could never sit still. Being practically left to roam free in these mountains, they caused a ruckus everywhere every day. He should at least have found some traces of their activities.

"Sigh."

After several nights of poor sleep, his entire body ached. Xia Nuo simply leaned against the tree trunk and sat down high above the ground, then took several pieces of bread from his backpack and began chewing them dry.

He had stuffed himself full in a small town outside the mountains before entering, but even so, he had nearly run out of his provisions.

If he failed to find them today, he might have to hunt a wild beast in the mountains and roast it. He had not brought any seasoning, so the taste would certainly not be pleasant.

After finishing the bread and barely padding his stomach, Xia Nuo took a Straw Hat from his backpack and spun it a few times against the wind with his index finger.

It looked ordinary and somewhat aged. The brim, woven from wheat straw, had begun to loosen, while the vivid red ribbon had faded into a dull, old date-red.

When he held it close to his nose, he could still smell a greasy hint of hair oil.

He had bought it from a farmer in the small town before entering the mountains, paying two hundred Beli for it. He was waiting to use it to swap places with Luffy's Straw Hat as soon as he got his hands on the real thing.

In fact, there were plenty of shops in town, and similar Straw Hats were easy to buy.

The reason he had insisted on buying this secondhand one with a distinctive smell was simply that all the hats sold in those shops were too new.

Luffy was indeed a thick-headed idiot, but if his beloved Straw Hat suddenly became brand-new and spotless, he would probably notice it at a glance.

This move was all about how the details determined success or failure.

Xia Nuo was even thinking that when he encountered Luffy again in the future, he might be able to harvest another wave of points.

So it would be best not to let the truth about the genuine Straw Hat being swapped out come to light just yet.