Survivor

Before dawn the next day, when a few stars still twinkled in the sky, two figures appeared outside the dojo.

They were Locke and Carmen, who were about to leave.

Locke disliked the sorrow of farewells, so he had set out with Carmen before daybreak.

He had already said goodbye to everyone he needed to the day before. Looking back at the place where he had lived for nearly four years—

Locke turned to Carmen beside him and said, "Let's go!"

Carmen nodded and followed Locke toward the harbor.

The ship that had come to pick up Locke and Carmen was already waiting at the harbor. What the two of them did not notice was that, after they turned and left, two figures appeared at the dojo entrance.

By the faint candlelight, the two figures could be seen clearly: Koushirou and Zoro. They watched as Locke gradually disappeared down the mountain path.

Only after the two were completely out of sight did Zoro whisper, "When we meet again, I'll definitely defeat you."

"If you want to defeat him, you still have a long way to go."

"I know! I'll work hard."

Let us speak of another matter.

By then, Locke and Carmen had arrived at the harbor. The ship that had come for Locke was still the merchant vessel that had brought them there.

After boarding, John gave Locke a big bear hug, then patted his shoulder. "Not bad, kid. Haven't seen you in years, and you've gotten sturdier."

Locke smiled politely. "Uncle John, you're still as spirited as ever!"

"Hahahaha! No, no, your uncle is old now!"

"How could that be? You're so young that if you stood beside me, anyone who didn't know better would think you were my older brother!"

"Hahaha! You really know how to talk, kid."

"I'm only telling the truth."

"Alright, alright, enough talk. I need to make arrangements for departure. You two can stay in the same room as before, so I won't show you there." After saying that, John turned and began giving orders to the sailors nearby.

After John left, Locke handed his luggage to Carmen and asked her to put it in their room, while he went to the deck.

He knelt in the direction of Shimotsuki Village and kowtowed three times. As he did, a song slowly began playing from within a ball of purple light on his shoulder.

"Ding! Ding! Dong! Dong! Dong! Dong! Ding! Ding..."

Amid the beautiful music, the merchant ship gradually sailed away from Shimotsuki Village. Only when the island could no longer be seen did Locke rise from the deck.

Locke did not know where this merchant ship was headed. He only knew it would pass by Chrisby Island along the way, where he and Carmen would disembark.

Locke had planned this journey like this: first, he and Carmen would return to Chrisby Island and buy a ship. Then they would officially set sail, find companions in the East Blue who could accompany them to the New World, and even if they could not find them all, they at least had to find a navigator before entering the Grand Line. Otherwise, with only Locke and Carmen—two people who knew nothing about sailing—their odds of surviving on the Grand Line were practically zero.

As the moon rose and set, time passed quickly on the endless sea. Thirty days had already passed since they left Shimotsuki Village. Locke trained constantly aboard the ship and occasionally played a few songs for Carmen.

"Uncle John said we'll arrive in a few more days." Locke and Carmen were standing together on the deck, leaning against the railing.

"So soon? Didn't it take us forty-five days to get to Shimotsuki Village last time?"

"Uncle John said we took a different route this time."

"Really? That's wonderful! When we get back, I'll make that stiff old man taste my cooking. I'll make him so shocked his beard falls off!"

"Ha! Ha! Ha! Let's do it." Hearing Carmen's words, Locke laughed happily.

Come to think of it, Locke really did miss the old steward. After all, he had been the first person Locke met after arriving in this world. If not for him, Locke had just transmigrated here, knew nothing, and had no cheat ability. He might not even have survived two episodes in this world.

The two continued sunbathing on the deck while chatting about the interesting things that had happened on Chrisby Island.

Suddenly, the sailor in the crow's nest shouted, "Unknown black object approaching rapidly from the front left!"

The sudden shout interrupted Locke and Carmen's conversation. Locke hurriedly looked in the direction the sailor had indicated and saw that there was indeed a black object moving toward them across the sea. However, it was too far away to tell what it was.

As time slowly passed, the black shadow gradually drew closer. Only then did Locke see what it was.

It was actually a crude bamboo raft with a person on it. The reason it kept drawing closer was entirely because that person was rowing with all his strength.

Once they saw that it was a person, the sailors relaxed their guard. John then ordered them to lower a rescue boat and bring the person aboard.

Most of this world was covered by ocean, with only scattered islands floating across the sea. The largest stretch of land was called the Red Line, where the world's nobles, the Celestial Dragons, lived—a bunch of useless trash. Therefore, when people sailing at sea encountered someone stranded on the ocean, they would generally rescue them. Not for any particular reason, but because no one could guarantee that they would not suffer a shipwreck someday. If they survived, they too would need someone else's rescue.

The person on the raft was soon brought aboard. He was as skinny as a dried corpse, and his clothes were nothing but tattered strips of cloth. By the time they rescued him, he could no longer even speak.

Thinking about how the raft had caught up just now, the man must have been driven by his instinct to survive, using the last shred of his strength to row after the merchant ship. It had not been easy for him.

After coming aboard, the man immediately fainted. The sailors fed him some drinking water with a little salt added to it. Only after seeing that his breathing had stabilized did they confirm that his life had been saved.

Whether because his vitality was exceptionally tenacious or his constitution was extraordinary, he woke up not long after boarding the ship.

Seeing that he had awakened, the ship's doctor quickly examined him. Afterward, even the doctor was surprised. The man had no major problems; he was simply starving.

After watching the man finish the food the sailors brought him, John appeared before him and asked about his background. Upholding the traditional virtue of his previous life, Locke naturally crowded in to watch.

Once the man had recovered somewhat, he slowly began telling them about his origins.