On the Sea (Seeking Follow-ups!)

Noon, a certain sea area in the East Sea.

The azure sky merged with the deep sea surface; the sea breeze blew, stirring up waves on the blue waters, forming a magnificent panorama.

Two three-masted sailing ships raised their sails, cruising side by side within the azure painting.

One was the pirate ship of the Red-Haired Pirates, and the other was an ownerless vessel the Ganan Remnants had salvaged from the ruins of the Kingdom of Jacob's port.

After hearing that Yelena planned to relocate them from this island, they raised no objections.

All two hundred-plus members cooperated fully, boarding the sailing ship to follow the Red-Haired Pirates in search of a suitable place to settle.

"..."

"What?"

"You're only ten years old?!"

On the deck of the Red Force, an incredulous voice rang out, carried far by the sea breeze.

Louis slowly turned his head and casually replied, "Mm, that's right."

Around him, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates stared at Louis's two-meter height, the corners of their mouths twitching slightly.

"What kind of kid grows to two meters tall at ten?"

Even Shanks was momentarily stunned by the news, only letting out an awkward laugh after carefully studying Louis's somewhat rounded face.

"Haha..."

"I thought you were only a little younger than Yelena..."

Not far away, Yelena and Uta also shot Louis strange looks upon hearing this.

Yelena had just learned that Louis, far stronger than herself, was nearly five years her junior.

As for Uta, she hadn't expected Louis to be close to her own age, only a year or two apart.

Then Shanks couldn't help but complain, "You're only ten—why did they let you leave?"

"Didn't they send anyone to accompany you?"

At this, Louis shot Shanks a contemptuous look and said, "I came out to train and get stronger. If adults tagged along, wouldn't that just be a vacation?"

"..."

Shanks had no retort. Then, inwardly, he felt immensely relieved that he had tried to dissuade Louis from entering the New World.

Even if Louis's strength might barely allow him to survive in the New World, with a ten-year-old's mentality, who knew how he might end up corrupted.

A moment later, Shanks gave an awkward laugh and said, "In that case, while Yelena undergoes treatment these two years, you two can stay on our ship!"

Shanks wasn't trying to turn Louis into a good person; he only hoped Louis wouldn't come into contact with the world's cruelty too early and be twisted into a cold-blooded monster like Charlotte Linlin or Beast Kaido, who treated human lives like weeds.

If Louis were caught by those monsters in the New World at his age, they would mold him into whatever they wanted.

Therefore, Shanks planned to broaden Louis's worldview, let him form his own thoughts, and strengthen his mind and will.

That way, when he sailed the seas, he wouldn't be corrupted and become one of those scumbags who acted on pure desire.

However, upon hearing Shanks's words, Louis's expression changed.

"Two years?" He instinctively looked toward Hongou, who was processing various medicines off to the side.

At the same time, Yelena also wore a bewildered expression upon hearing this.

Seeing this, Hongou paused his work and said solemnly, "Mm, given Yelena's condition, surgery is no longer useful. We can only rely on conservative treatment with medicine, and we'll need your help during that time."

Louis glanced at Yelena upon hearing this, then pressed further, "Can you guarantee a full recovery?"

If not, Louis would have to make other plans and head to the Drum Kingdom to find that Dr. Kureha.

"Of course we can," Hongou said.

He explained that the conservative treatment was to ensure Yelena wouldn't be left with aftereffects or weaknesses.

Yelena breathed a sigh of relief at this; she didn't doubt Hongou's words.

She knew her own condition well—not long ago, she had been on the verge of death at any moment. Being curable was already fortunate, and a longer treatment period was reasonable.

But still...

"Sorry, this will take some time," Yelena said to Louis, her expression tinged with guilt.

Louis waved his hand and said, "It's no big deal, just a year or two."

Back in Bar, he had heard his tribesmen say the Lunarians planned to lie low in places like Sky Island or the Calm Belt for a hundred or two hundred years to recover their population before launching a counterattack.

A year or two was nothing Louis couldn't wait for.

Besides, it wasn't like he couldn't grow stronger in the East Sea—he'd just have fewer opportunities to gain experience fighting strong opponents.

Soon, Yelena seemed to think of something and asked Hongou, "Can I still train during the treatment?"

Hongou thought it over, then gave a conservative suggestion: "Hold off for the first half year. You can think about how to utilize your Devil Fruit ability."

"..."

Yelena's expression dimmed as she nodded helplessly. After boarding the sailboat, she had heard Shanks say that on the sea, there were many strong people, and without formidable strength, one couldn't survive on the ocean.

Even he himself couldn't claim to stand at the summit.

Because in the sea area near the world's end, many monsters with the destructive power of Natural Disasters lurked.

Those words left a deep impression on Yelena.

Her intuition was sharp; the seemingly kind and sunny Shanks gave her a crushing pressure like a mountain range—a strength she found impossible to match.

Something even stronger than Shanks...

Yelena simply couldn't imagine what kind of overwhelming power that would be.

So much so that a question arose in her heart: "Can beings like that... really be called human?"

That topic was quickly dropped.

Under the Red-Haired Pirates' rather novel atmosphere, the idle crew stirred up a commotion, urging Uta to sing a song to welcome Louis and Yelena.

"Uta, sing one!"

"It's been days since we heard Uta's voice!"

"Perfect for welcoming little brother Louis and Yelena!"

As they spoke, the energetic crew eagerly pushed wooden crates from all directions, starting to build a stage.

Their movements were so practiced that Louis was taken aback.

It was clear they'd done this many times.

Lucky Roo, round-bodied and dressed in green, took a bite from the large bone meat in his hand, then flashed a cheerful grin at the bewildered Yelena.

"Uta is the Red-Haired Pirates' finest musician!"

"Her singing is worth a hundred billion Berries!"

"..." Yelena still didn't understand; she didn't even know what a musician was.

In the first ten-plus years of her life, she'd never heard of such things.

Just then, Yasopp paused in pushing a crate and retorted irritably to Lucky Roo, "Idiot, how can Uta-chan's singing be measured in Berries!"

At that moment, Yelena, utterly lost, interrupted their actions, "Um..."

"What's a musician? What's singing?"

"..." The crew froze, exchanging glances.