Overseas Travels (Please Bookmark and Recommend)

In the inner city of Pus Island, the rebels carried out the final cleanup under Emporio Ivankov's command, every face brimming with excitement and wild joy.

On the inner city's walls, the corpses had all been cleared away. Dragon and the other two still stood where they had been, unmoving. Nico Robin pursed her lips as she looked at Zhong Hao, her eyes flickering with emotions too complex to unravel.

At this point, a powerful reluctance to part suddenly rose within her. They had only known each other for four days; the peace and stability she had sought for so long were clearly within reach; she had already decided never to trust anyone again. Yet she still found herself unable to stop relying on him, just as she had once relied on Saul, who had risked his life to protect her.

Overcome by an impulse, Robin stepped forward, spread her arms, and pulled Zhong Hao tightly into her embrace. Biting her lip, she felt two streams of tears spill from her eyes.

Zhong Hao's body stiffened, and he instinctively began to struggle. He placed his hands on Robin's waist and tried to push himself away, but he simply could not. Robin was holding him far too tightly, and he did not dare use too much force for fear of hurting her.

Robin was over five feet seven, while Zhong Hao was barely four feet five. Even standing straight, his face only reached her chest and stomach. Held like this, he looked like a child in an adult's arms, leaving Zhong Hao terribly embarrassed—especially with someone watching nearby.

Dragon was a serious and steady man, nothing like Garp or Luffy. Seeing Zhong Hao's awkward state, he did not smirk or tease him. He merely stood quietly to the side and turned his body away.

"Hey, how much longer are you going to hold me? This is really embarrassing!" Zhong Hao said in a muffled voice, his face buried against Robin's flat, soft stomach.

Robin instantly snapped out of it and hurriedly released him. She wiped away her tears and took several deep breaths to calm herself before softly saying after a long while, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Robin is in your care. It's time for me to go too." Zhong Hao helplessly rubbed his face and turned to Dragon. He disliked farewells. Just as he had not said goodbye to Kurenai Yuhi, Ji Mei, and the others in the Naruto world, now that his purpose had been achieved, he might as well leave directly.

Dragon nodded, took out a Den Den Mushi with the same tattoo as his own on its face, and handed it to Zhong Hao. "Call me if you need anything."

After a pause, he asked unwillingly, "Are you really not joining the Revolutionary Army? With your ideals and personality, you definitely won't be able to stay in the Marines."

Zhong Hao waved a hand. "I know, which is why I'm only an external member, taking orders from no one. Teacher Garp is someone I cherish. I don't want to put him in a difficult position. Besides, who can say for certain what the future holds?"

After a brief pause, he advised, "The Revolutionary Army's strength and influence are still lacking. You shouldn't draw the World Government's attention yet. It would be better to lie low and build up your strength, secretly observe the nations of the world, and lay the groundwork. When the time is ripe, rise with the momentum."

Dragon was deeply disappointed by Zhong Hao's refusal. He pondered for a while, then seemed to think of something and suddenly broke into a grin. "I have a feeling that you'll definitely join the revolutionary cause someday."

Zhong Hao shrugged indifferently. "Sure, provided you can convince Teacher Garp. But if you go see him, you'll probably have to taste a round of his Love Fist first."

Then he said to Robin, "Even if you won't be fighting on the front lines, you can't stop training. The stronger you are, the faster you'll be able to run for your life."

Robin bit her bright red lips until they turned pale. Several times, she wanted to ask him to stay, but she did not know how to say it. Her usual calm intelligence had been thrown completely out the window.

"Then, until we meet again." Zhong Hao patted Robin's arm, nodded to Dragon, and gave a carefree smile before turning to leave.

Robin rushed forward two steps and shouted at his back, "When will we meet again?"

With his back still to her, Zhong Hao waved a hand and answered irrelevantly, "In five years at most, my name will resound throughout the world."

With that, he suddenly leaped into the air, vaulted down from the city wall, and crossed several rooftops outside the wall before vanishing from their sight.

Once he left, no one knew what year it would be before they met again.

Robin's legs gave out, and she dropped weakly to her knees. Covering her mouth, she wept as tears continuously spilled through her fingers. At that moment, she seemed to return to Ohara seven years ago, back to the flames. That day, she had watched helplessly as her mother was taken away; afterward, she had watched helplessly as Saul gave his life for her.

"Saul, I think I've found the companion you spoke of—the one willing to sincerely protect me."

Dragon also looked toward the place where Zhong Hao had disappeared and let out an almost imperceptible sigh. He deeply regretted failing to persuade Zhong Hao to join the revolution, but Zhong Hao's words had given him immense inspiration and a new direction.

Besides, it was not as if he had gained nothing.

He looked at Robin, who was kneeling on the ground and crying, and the corners of his mouth lifted into a faint smile. Robin joining them was an enormous surprise, and as for Zhong Hao, there might still be a chance in the future. It would depend on whether the World Government could "help" set him up with a good assist.

Out at sea, Zhong Hao lay atop Genghu's furry head, his hands behind his head as his thoughts drifted. He stared blankly at the starry sky until drowsiness gradually overtook him and he slowly fell asleep.

As if sensing it, Genghu paused, slowed and steadied his body, then continued swimming into the distance.

The next morning, harsh sunlight poured down. Zhong Hao rubbed his eyes, raised his left hand to shade them, and opened his eyes to a narrow slit.

After a while, once he had adjusted to the light, he opened his eyes fully, stretched, and asked, "Where are we? Did you swim all night?"

Genghu let out a low roar.

Zhong Hao patted its head. "You've worked hard. Rest here for a while." With that, he took a thick circular wooden platform fifty meters in diameter from his space and set it floating on the sea for Genghu to rest on.

He, meanwhile, gripped his blade and jumped into the sea, diving toward the depths.

As he descended, he hunted every large creature he encountered along the way and stored them in his space.

There was about a year left before he returned to the Naruto world. He planned to bring back as much meat as possible, both as rations for himself and as a benefit for his family and friends.

The meat in this world contained enormous amounts of biological energy. The immense deficit in his body from when he had first arrived had now been completely replenished, with even a little left over. With abundant energy, his body grew quickly, and as his body grew, his strength rapidly increased as well. It could also improve the height that had always displeased him.

Ji Mei and the other two had no talent for chakra, so they could only train in taijutsu and swordsmanship. Previously, without enough nutrition to replenish themselves, their strength had improved slowly, and they had been much weaker than children their age who possessed chakra. But now, with this meat nourishing them, after a few more years of training, they might not necessarily be inferior to ninjas.

And there was Kurenai Yuhi. As a ninja, she inevitably had to extract chakra for battle.

As far as Zhong Hao understood, chakra was formed by combining spiritual energy with cellular energy. Once cellular energy was excessively extracted, it caused side effects such as cellular atrophy, physical decline, shortened lifespan, and accelerated aging.

Although medical ninjas had developed specialized medicines that could compensate for this to a certain extent, their effects were far inferior to pure biological energy. Moreover, the various herbs needed to make those medicines had demanding growing conditions and were scarce in number. Every dose was a precious strategic resource, supplied only to high-level ninjas.

Although the Naruto world had many powerful people due to the existence of chakra, in terms of natural resources, compared to the One Piece world, it was simply a desert wasteland. The two were not comparable at all.

It was easy to foresee that when Zhong Hao brought Sea Kings dozens or even hundreds of meters long to the Naruto world, it would definitely cause a sensation and spark madness. A common man was innocent, but possessing a treasure was a crime. Once Zhong Hao controlled such strategic resources, he would never again know peace. He and his family and friends would all become targets for the major powers to capture.

Therefore, he had to be extra careful. He absolutely could not let outsiders find out.

Of course, that suited his personality as well. He liked to hide good things away. He had never denied being stingy; aside from family and friends, no one else could dream of gaining anything from him.

In the ocean, Zhong Hao hunted all the way. Nothing longer than two meters escaped his grasp, including two small Sea Kings fifty meters long, all of which he stored in his space.

His space had now grown to two hundred thousand cubic meters, and it continued expanding wildly as his strength increased. Thus, he had never worried about running out of room.

The space had not fully evolved yet and contained no concept of time, remaining eternally frozen. Therefore, it could not hold living creatures. But it was exceptionally effective at preserving food.

By the time he returned to the floating platform on the surface, it was already noon. Genghu was still asleep. Zhong Hao took out a custom-made giant barbecue set from his space, skewered an enormous piece of meat over the grill, and ate as he roasted it. After grilling a huge piece of meat for Genghu as well, he jumped back into the sea once more.

When he returned to the surface three hours later, Genghu had already eaten the meat left for it. Zhong Hao put away the floating platform, and man and tiger casually picked a direction and set off.

They continued like this, traveling and hunting during the day and sleeping at night, until they finally came across an island on the afternoon of the fourth day.

From the sea, Zhong Hao looked into the distance and saw four columns of black smoke billowing from the island. He frowned slightly, stood up, and said grimly, "Something may have happened on that island. Genghu, let's pick up the pace."

Genghu: "Awoo~~"