A Blind Man Came Aboard

[Ding, congratulations, Host, your mission has been completed!]

[Mission Four: Invite an ultra-top-tier powerhouse to join the Seventeenth Division!]

[Current Progress: Former Marine Admiral Zephyr has joined!]

[Reward Obtained: 30 bait!]

...

[Ding, congratulations, Host, your mission has been completed!]

[Mission Five: Increase the Seventeenth Division's membership to 100!!]

[Current Progress: Seventeenth Division members: 213!]

[Reward Obtained: 30 bait!]

Lin Yan swore.

He had only approached Zephyr because he wanted to invite him to join his pirate crew.

And yet?

Mission Three was complete.

Mission Four was complete.

Now, all these trainees had joined the Seventeenth Division.

Even Mission Five had wrapped up perfectly!

It truly proved that saying.

When luck came.

Nothing could stop it!

When he had first set sail.

Lin Yan had been alone, with nothing but himself.

Yet when he returned.

He came back loaded with gains.

As Lin Yan began the return voyage.

"Am I finally going to meet Whitebeard?"

Zephyr stood on the deck, the sea breeze tossing his purple hair as he murmured softly.

Back in the old era.

Zephyr and Whitebeard had been enemies.

They each served their own side.

They had even fought fiercely for honor.

Yet those very bitter rivals.

Had now, under the turning wheels of history, come together once more in such a peculiar way.

It really was strange.

Likewise.

Zephyr increasingly wanted to see it.

The utterly stunned look Whitebeard would have when he saw him later.

"I can't believe I have such a nasty sense of humor!"

Zephyr smiled brilliantly.

Just then.

"Crash!"

Their ship seemed to have struck something.

The entire vessel jolted violently.

"What happened?"

"Why is the deck shaking so badly?"

"Did we hit a reef?"

"Come on, let's find out!"

The many trainees who had been returning to the Whitebeard Pirates.

All came out onto the deck.

Wanting to get to the bottom of it.

Very soon.

They discovered the cause.

A very small boat had collided with their fleet.

Clearly.

It was a maritime traffic accident.

The person aboard the little boat gave an apologetic smile. "I'm terribly sorry. I nodded off for a moment and didn't realize I'd hit your ship!"

"It's fine!"

Zephyr did not take it to heart. It was only a minor bump from a maritime accident.

Nothing serious.

Suddenly.

The trainees beside Zephyr noticed something was wrong.

After all.

Where were they?

They were in the New World, the latter half of the Grand Line!

Even the first half of the Grand Line was known as an exceptionally dangerous sea.

Yet.

The New World was even harsher.

Without a professional navigator.

Crossing the waters of the New World was harder than climbing to heaven.

And yet.

This man before them.

Sat primly on a tiny boat, leaning on a cane, and had somehow appeared in the seas of the New World.

How big was that tiny boat?

It was only four or five meters long and barely wide enough for two people.

One big wave could flatten it.

How much courage did that take?

Didn't he know that one careless mistake could doom him beyond redemption?

"You went to sea on that tiny boat?"

One of the trainees asked.

"Is there a problem?"

The man with the cane stood up on the tiny boat. His eyes remained shut as he "looked" toward Lin Yan's fleet.

"This sea is dangerous. Wherever you're headed, how about we give you a ride?"

Out of kindness, the trainees spoke to the man leaning on his cane.

Because of the collision.

The tiny boat had suffered some slight damage, and seawater had begun to seep in.

Without a doubt.

The tiny boat was no longer suitable for travel.

"May I?"

The man with the cane asked.

"Of course, but first, we need to ask the division commander!"

The trainee replied.

In Lin Yan's room.

He leaned back in his chair, reading [Jin Ping Mei: Middle Volume] with great relish.

Suddenly.

Soft footsteps sounded outside the door.

His sharp senses immediately detected that someone had arrived.

Lin Yan hurriedly put Little Mei Mei away.

Then he sat upright.

Ain pushed open the door.

She entered Lin Yan's room.

Only to find Lin Yan cultivating inside.

"What dedication!"

"He's already so strong..."

Look at him. He was already so powerful, yet he still seized every moment to cultivate.

What right did they have to slack off?

"Is something the matter?"

Lin Yan slightly opened his eyes and spoke to Ain as she entered.

"Captain, it's like this..."

Ain briefly explained what had happened.

They were only taking someone aboard for part of the journey.

It was no major matter.

"Let him come aboard!"

Lin Yan said.

"Alright!"

Ain did not dare disturb Lin Yan's cultivation any longer and quickly withdrew.

Meanwhile.

The man with the cane boarded the Seventeenth Division's fleet.

The moment he came aboard.

Everyone on the ship, including Ain.

Was utterly stunned.

"Y-you..."

"You're blind???"

The many crew members pointed at the man with the cane, their mouths hanging open in shock.

What the hell.

Had the world gone mad?

A blind man with a cane had crossed the vast ocean on a tiny boat.

Where had he gotten the nerve?

Upon learning this.

Even Zephyr gave him a sidelong glance.

Between his brows.

There was a faint trace of confusion.

"How embarrassing, how embarrassing!"

"Fortunately, I met kind people, didn't I?"

The blind man walked over to Zephyr and the trainees with his cane, smiling as he spoke.

"This..."

The trainees could not help but marvel. The world truly was full of wonders; even blind people dared to sail the seas now.

"Where is your captain?"

The blind man asked.

"Our captain is cultivating!"

Ain recalled Lin Yan, who had been cultivating earlier.

"Cultivating? He truly is diligent!"

"Since that's the case, I won't disturb your captain. Still, thank you very much for being willing to give me a ride!"

The blind man thanked them all gratefully.

Night arrived quickly.

After an entire day.

Lin Yan had finally finished reading Little Mei Mei.

Reading it all in one go.

That rush.

It was unbelievable!

"Captain, cultivation is important, but you need to balance work and rest too. Take care of your health!"

"I saved dinner for you, I'll go get it!"

Just as he stepped out, Lin Yan ran into Ain, who had thoughtfully set aside a portion of dinner specifically for him.

Not long after.

The meal was brought into Lin Yan's room.

It was piping hot.

One could tell.

Ain put a lot of heart into this sort of thing.

In the past, Lin Yan basically just rushed through his meals.

Ever since Ain arrived.

His life had become much more comfortable from then on!

He finally came to realize.

The importance of having a woman by his side!

"That's right, someone came aboard the ship earlier, didn't they?"

Lin Yan asked while replenishing his food.

"Captain, it'll probably floor you when I say this, but it was a blind man!"

Recalling her initial shock, Ain replied to Lin Yan.

"A blind man?"

Hearing those two words, Lin Yan paused for a moment.

Right after that, he raised his head slightly.

Just like everyone else would think.

This was the New World, after all.

A blind man heading out to sea on a single lonely boat.

Wasn't that just too absurd!

However.

Lin Yan thought a step further than the others.

A blind man who dared to venture out to sea in such a manner.

Could only lead to two possible outcomes.

First.

Seeking death.

Second.

This blind man.

Was definitely not simple.

Listening to Ain's description, Lin Yan caught the keywords: a blind man holding a cane...

By some coincidence.

A figure unconsciously popped into Lin Yan's mind, a familiar figure.

"Where is he?"

Lin Yan couldn't even bother eating anymore as he pressed for answers.