A Man Sets Sail for the Sea

It was nearly one in the afternoon.

Looking at the somewhat familiar cargo ship before him and the sailors moving in and out of it, Li Mingyuan could not help but sigh.

"So that's what this is about."

They said it would set sail the day after tomorrow, but he could not possibly just board at that time. He had to come observe the situation in advance. Still, Li Mingyuan had not expected the ship the captain spoke of to be the very cargo ship that had been robbed that morning.

He had deliberately gone around it because he did not want to get involved, yet now he had somehow ended up seeking it out himself.

This was probably what people meant by an ill-fated connection.

"Of all ships, it had to be this one..."

Unlike his cursory, uninterested glance that morning, Li Mingyuan now carefully examined the cargo ship in the distance.

Even with just a casual glance that morning, he had noticed that it was the largest cargo ship around. Looking at it more closely now, Li Mingyuan realized that it far exceeded the size of many nearby vessels.

Besides being a size larger than the surrounding cargo ships, this vessel had quite a few steel plates reinforcing it, and several gun ports were exposed along its sides. Clearly, a considerable number of cannons were prepared in the hold. Ordinary pirates probably would not find it easy to rob this cargo ship.

If there was any ship at the port near the village that might be qualified to travel along the route passing Arlong Park, then aside from this one, the others truly did not seem likely.

He just did not know what this ship intended to do at Arlong Park.

Hadn't they just lost their cargo?

Instead of thinking about how to deal with the aftermath, why were they setting sail again so soon?

"...Surely they weren't stupid enough to try making a deal with Arlong, that Fish-Man who treated humans as an inferior race, in hopes of making up their financial losses?"

"That shouldn't be likely."

Li Mingyuan shook his head with a laugh.

No matter how anxious they were, there should not be anyone that foolish.

He was probably overthinking it.

Arlong's deep-seated hatred for humans stood out even in the One Piece world, where everyone's emotions ran high. If a human wanted to trade with Arlong, they would at least need to have genuine interests tied to him, like Captain Nezumi from the Marine branch in the original story. Recklessly approaching him would most likely end with being torn to pieces.

But in that case, should he board the ship at all?

Thinking back to what had happened that morning, Li Mingyuan felt an ominous sense of trouble rising within him. His instincts told him nothing good would come of it.

At that moment, he continued observing the expressions of the crew aboard the ship.

Unlike that morning, the atmosphere on board was much more tense now. Every sailor seemed on edge, as if they would draw the greatswords on their backs at the slightest disturbance. Honestly, they looked rather intimidating.

According to the village chief, this cargo ship was simply recruiting manpower now, with strength taking priority.

It was a cargo ship, after all. Perhaps it intended to trade on islands near Arlong Park but feared being attacked by Fish-Men, so it wanted to increase its firepower? Or perhaps it had just been robbed, and the captain wanted more hands to strengthen the watch. That was not impossible either.

No matter what, though, this was different from what Li Mingyuan had initially expected: hitching a convenient ride and sailing leisurely in something close to a passenger's capacity. Once aboard, he might have to act as a hired fighter and do sailors' work as well.

"Forget it. I'll go up and ask about the situation first."

"If it really doesn't work out, I'll have no choice but to spend some money hiring a ship to take me to Arlong Park."

Li Mingyuan stopped overthinking.

He straightened the new outfit he had bought that day, doing his best to appear composed and unhurried, then walked toward the cargo ship.

As he approached the ship, Li Mingyuan saw quite a few people gathered nearby chatting. Some would occasionally stop sailors heading aboard to ask about the specifics of the recruitment.

Li Mingyuan listened casually for a while and felt that the terms were quite generous. For an ordinary seafaring job, this single voyage paid more than ten times the normal wage. It was a rare opportunity, and logically, plenty of people should have been tempted to board.

Yet according to Li Mingyuan's observations, most of the people around were only asking. Once the cargo ship mentioned that it might pass through waters near Arlong Park, many villagers immediately waved their hands repeatedly and retreated to the crowd of spectators without looking back.

Compared with that little bit of money, Arlong's deterrence was clearly stronger.

"Maybe it's because this island is close to a Marine base? Or because the island's economy is decent and merchant ships frequently come and go? News about wanted criminals seems to spread quite widely around here. That was true for mountain bandit Dick, and it's true for Arlong as well."

Li Mingyuan thought to himself.

If that was the case, then things seemed simple enough.

After lightly clearing his throat, Li Mingyuan strode toward the sailors.

"Excuse me, I heard you're short on manpower?"

Having been constantly questioned by people around him, the sailor looked somewhat irritated. Without turning around, he said, "This route passes through Arlong Park. If you're scared, don't bother asking about the pay."

"That doesn't matter. I wouldn't mind even if there were no payment."

"I just want to ask... your route really does pass through Arlong Park, right?"

A calm voice came from behind the sailor.

"Hm?"

Sensing that something was off, the sailor suddenly turned around and looked behind him.

There stood a man with his hands in his pockets, emanating an entirely different kind of presence.

He wore a dark coat with a tall collar, its long hem fluttering constantly in the sea breeze. He had black trousers on his lower body and exquisitely crafted leather boots on his feet. Beneath his open coat, besides a white shirt, there was an extremely eye-catching silver necklace around his neck. Hanging below it was a hollow silver badge with a strange leaf-like emblem.

One glance was enough to feel a pressure entirely unlike that of everyone else.

The sailor instinctively shuddered.

Looking into the man's deep yet calm eyes, he realized this was not a situation he could handle. He needed to call the captain.

"Uh, um!"

The sailor stiffened his neck and forced out a stammering smile. "I-I'll go report this to the captain first and come right back. Could you wait here for a moment?"

"Fine. Just be quick."

"Yes!!"

At Li Mingyuan's calm reply, the sailor instantly straightened up and shouted his response. Then, as though granted a pardon, he turned and sprinted wildly toward the deck.

Even from the shore, Li Mingyuan could hear the sailor urgently calling for the captain aboard the ship.

Li Mingyuan stood quietly on the shore with both hands in his pockets, without the slightest trace of impatience on his face. He merely watched the blue waves in the distant sea and listened to the sailors murmuring nearby, finding it somewhat noisy.

Compared to these overly alarmed sailors, some of the villagers on shore seemed to recognize the face they had drunk with. Even though he had changed into a more comfortable outfit, they would still occasionally smile and wave at him.

All he could say was that clothes made the man.

These sailors had clearly passed him by that morning, yet they seemed not to have retained any impression of him. Now that he had merely changed out of his faded old clothes, they treated him like a completely different person.

"Though this outfit was deliberately put together, too."

Li Mingyuan looked down at his clothes.

After breakfast that morning, he had wandered the streets for quite a while. Besides replenishing tools and supplies he might need at sea, he had also tidied his hair and clothes.

Although he was not particularly concerned with appearances, Li Mingyuan considered that he might meet Nami later, so he still wanted to tidy himself up a little. At the very least, he wanted to leave her with a good impression, and it would make inviting her to join his crew easier.

Besides, constantly dressing in rags was not really acceptable.

Now that he had cleaned himself up, he was more comfortable in what he wore. Why not?

Thus, after Li Mingyuan waited absentmindedly for around two minutes, he heard several sets of footsteps coming from the gangplank connecting the ship to the port. One was especially heavy, as though its owner were carrying an extra barbell while walking.

Li Mingyuan turned back and saw the muscular man he had spotted while peeking that morning walking toward him.

"Here he comes."

Li Mingyuan's gaze discreetly swept over the muscular man before him.

Compared with the other crew members, this muscular man was practically a little giant.

He was probably around two and a half meters tall, more than a head taller than those around him, and his body was covered in muscle. Though he was nowhere near the terrifying size of mountain bandit Dick, whom Li Mingyuan had killed in an instant not long ago, the difference was still enormous compared to Li Mingyuan's mere one-meter-eighty-five height. Beside him, Li Mingyuan looked almost like a dwarf.

At the same time.

While Li Mingyuan was sizing up the muscular man, the muscular man was sizing up Li Mingyuan as well, though he made it more obvious.

"Nothing special on the surface... but there's a sharp aura about him."

"Is this guy a pirate? Or a Marine? Why does he suddenly want to ride my ship?"

The muscular man hesitated inwardly.

But just as he was wavering, his eyes accidentally met Li Mingyuan's.

In an instant, his entire body shook!

After obtaining the Mangekyō Sharingan, Li Mingyuan's appearance had not only been enhanced by the Uchiha Clan bloodline. More importantly, chakra, a power refined from a mixture of spiritual and physical energy, elevated one's bearing in every aspect.

With the Uchiha Clan's uniquely cold chakra, even without activating his Sharingan, a single glance from his eyes could make wild beasts tremble.

"...According to the sailor's report, you don't need payment? You don't mind passing through Arlong Park either?"

The muscular man stared at Li Mingyuan and asked in a deep voice, "Then what do you want by boarding my ship?"

"Just consider it hiring a free bodyguard."

"Coincidentally, I also want to pass through an island near Arlong Park. But as you can see, nobody really dares to go near Arlong Park, so I've been looking for a ship that could take me along the way."

Li Mingyuan said, "What do you think? I don't think that's a bad thing, is it?"

"A bodyguard."

The muscular man frowned deeply as he studied Li Mingyuan.

After a moment, as though he had thought it through, he gave Li Mingyuan a slight nod.

"Fine. In that case, I have no reason to refuse."

"I'll cover your regular meals. You'll eat whatever the crew eats, and normally you can stay in your cabin. But if my ship encounters pirates or any other trouble, you must act."

The muscular man spoke seriously. "On this sea, this ship before us is our only support. Even if you wanted to flee in the middle of a fight, there would be nowhere to run. If the ship sinks, you die too. Remember that well."

"We set sail the morning after tomorrow."

"If you change your mind and don't come by then, the ship will leave directly. That's all."

With that, the muscular man said no more.

After giving a few instructions to the sailor beside him, he turned and headed back up the gangplank onto the ship.

No one noticed.

Not long after the muscular man turned away, a thin layer of sweat had already appeared on his forehead.

They had only spoken briefly, yet Li Mingyuan made him feel as if he were sharing a room with a volcano about to erupt. That inexplicably powerful sense of danger made his scalp go numb.

After listening to the muscular man's instructions, Li Mingyuan felt there was no problem.

As he thought that the matter was probably settled, he secretly let out a breath and gradually calmed the chakra refined within his body.

"That went unexpectedly smoothly."

Watching the captain's retreating back, Li Mingyuan thought with some relief, I thought there would be more complications.

Since he had seen the captain yelling and losing emotional control that morning, and because of his stereotype of the One Piece world's reckless brutes who acted without thinking, he had prepared himself to fight at the first disagreement. Yet entirely contrary to his expectations, the muscular man had been surprisingly easy to talk to.

Well, perhaps it was also because the captain had gotten a fighter for free without having to pay him.

Even if Li Mingyuan's origins were unknown, the captain had still pinched his nose and accepted him aboard.

In any case, regardless of what the captain was thinking, Li Mingyuan was immensely grateful that a ship could now take him toward Arlong Park. According to his original plan, he might have needed to spend his own money to hitch a ride on another ship.

There was nothing more to say now. Successfully resolving the matter of the ship meant he was not far from reaching Arlong Park.

Li Mingyuan strolled along the harbor, his back to the still-noisy cargo ship, gradually moving away from the crowd.

In a relaxed and pleasant mood, Li Mingyuan finally stopped near the beach.

He gazed out at the sea before him.

"With this, my voyage is officially beginning."

A faint smile touched his lips as he murmured to himself.

Leaving this place was the first true step of his journey.

A man set sail for the sea.

In a world called One Piece, was there anything more romantic than that?