Rescued

"Great!" Gato cheered involuntarily, clenching his fist and pumping it once.

News Coo flew high in the sky, making ships easy to spot. That was also why all news at sea was sold by these birds.

As long as the News Coo was willing to give him a ride, he should be able to find people soon.

To conserve strength, he had not used his oars since leaving the waters around that island. He had merely drifted along with the currents, but now they could finally come in handy again.

As for sails, Gato had to admit he really did not know how to make one without cloth. He only had a pair of underwear left—how much fabric could that possibly provide? There were no banana leaves or anything like that on the island either. Otherwise, even if he could not make a sail, he could at least have used them for shade.

He had only overlooked it because he had not seen any broad leaves. Yes, that was it. If he had seen them, he definitely would have remembered.

Just like that, he happily shifted the blame onto that island.

Before long, the News Coo guiding him from above descended again. It pointed in a direction with its wing, signaling for Gato to follow.

Did this mean the News Coo had found its target? Was he finally about to escape his Robinson Crusoe existence?

After wasting so long in a primitive forest, Gato was delighted at the chance to return to the human world. Whether the people he met next were kind or evil, he looked forward to it all the same.

He had not felt much before, but after surviving alone on a deserted island for over a month, he felt like he was about to lose his mind.

So even though he knew he would soon see living people again, this short journey still felt unbearably long.

But no matter how long a journey was, it had an end. Gato soon spotted a strangely shaped ship, its hull seemingly fashioned into the shape of a fish.

This unique ship felt strangely familiar to Gato, as though he had seen it in a previous life before his previous one. The memory was already hazy, but there was no pirate flag flying on it, so it should not be dangerous.

Even if there had been a pirate flag, Gato would not have been too worried. Even in the pirate world, where martial strength reigned supreme, there were not that many truly powerful people.

Besides, he had not encountered any particularly extreme weather since arriving here. Most likely, he was in the mild Four Blues rather than the dangerous Grand Line or the even more perilous New World.

Among pirates of the Four Blues, a bounty of ten or twenty million was already enough to make someone a big shot. Aside from a few exceptions, forty or fifty million was basically the ceiling.

Judging by the performance of those pirates with bounties of forty or fifty million in the anime, Gato did not think any of them could threaten his life.

With Gato rowing, he quickly drew close to the large ship. Only upon approaching did he realize just how huge it was. His raft was already quite large, but compared to this ship, it was nothing more than a tiny speck.

By then, the News Coo had long since finished selling its newspapers on the ship and returned to Gato, seemingly to collect its payment.

"Wait a moment."

Now that Gato no longer needed to conserve his strength, he rose with a laugh and dove into the sea in a graceful leap. Before long, he caught a fish and came back up.

"Here, catch!"

The News Coo caught the fish Gato tossed it in one bite and flew off contentedly.

Gato watched the News Coo fly into the sky, then gave the raft that had carried him one last look.

"Haha, thanks for taking care of me all this way."

Gato slowly began gathering strength in his legs.

"Well then, farewell, haha—"

Like a cannonball fired from a barrel, Gato leaped toward the deck of the large ship.

Gato did not use chakra to cushion his landing. That would definitely damage someone else's ship, and that would be far too unfriendly. After all, he was asking them for help. With a dull thud, he rolled several times across the deck before coming to a stop.

There was actually a large door at the bottom of the ship, but he did not know whether barging in would make the ship's owners see him as an enemy. After thinking it over, he had chosen to come up onto the deck instead.

The people inside the ship seemed to have heard the strange noise outside and came out one after another to investigate.

The bedraggled Gato had only just gotten to his feet when he saw several people in chef uniforms approaching.

"Uh... are you a customer? This isn't somewhere a customer should be." A man whose body was covered in explosive-looking muscles spoke. His chef uniform looked utterly out of place on him.

"Gahaha—could there really be such a coincidence in this world?"

Gato now remembered where this was: the sea restaurant, Baratie. It was a very interesting restaurant. Many of its chefs, even its head chef, had once been pirates, though they had changed careers now.

Though these chefs had once been pirates, their food was highly acclaimed throughout the East Blue.

"Running into a group of chefs when I'm starving—this is just too wonderful."

"So the customer is here to dine? Come, this way, please. This way, please."

The greasy-faced man who looked like Popeye suddenly put on a fawning expression, sincerely inviting Gato in.

As though stimulated by the sight, Gato's stomach began growling. He was not embarrassed in the slightest as he said bluntly, "Yeah, I want to eat. But... I don't have any money."

The man's expression slowly froze. Like he had changed faces, he instantly replaced it with a ferocious glare. "No money? Baratie doesn't welcome paupers. Get the hell out of here."

Zeff, the head chef here, was also among the group. Hearing such shameless words, he was left speechless and could not help remarking, "Hey, hey, you've got no money and you actually said it that directly?"

The muscular man grabbed Gato by the shoulder, seemingly intending to throw him into the sea. He exerted himself fiercely, only to find that Gato did not budge in the slightest, as though he were trying to move a towering stone statue.

Gato watched him smilingly as he tried several times without success, then shoved him away, sending him stumbling back several meters.

"Popeye" immediately flew into a rage. "So you really are here to cause trouble! We chefs of the sea aren't people you can look down on!"

Gato put on a frightened expression. "Eh? Hey, wait a second. I'm not here to fight, and I'm definitely not here to cause trouble."

The man immediately stopped upon hearing that. After staring blankly for a moment, he continued, "Then what are you here for?"

At this point, Gato no longer looked at him. Instead, he turned to the man wearing the tallest chef's hat among them—Zeff.

"You can tell, can't you? I have more than just brute strength. I want to trade my labor for food here, and then go with you to the nearest supply point."

Although Baratie, as a restaurant, had a natural geographical advantage, it was impossible for them to obtain all their ingredients from the sea. Staples, fresh water, vegetables—these all had to be replenished on land.

"Tch, another one? So many of them. Another brat looking to work here?"

Zeff stroked his stiff, upright beard.