Setting Sail, the Law of "It Smells So Good"

"Rosin, stop fooling around."

The mayor stepped in to stop them.

"I want to go to sea! I want to go on adventures!" Rosin shouted tearfully.

"You're still so young. Talk about it when you grow up."

Just as Rosin threw his tantrum, Lin Nuo appeared on the deck again.

He had taken off the patient's gown and changed into a loose short-sleeved shirt and trousers.

Lin Nuo then leaped down from the deck, landing lightly in front of Rosin.

Rosin looked up at him, his eyes filled with admiration and longing.

"Lin Nuo, I want to go adventuring with you! You're so strong, you'll definitely be able to protect me! I'll work hard and help too!"

Lin Nuo crouched down and said seriously, "Rosin, a real adventure isn't following someone who looks strong to sightsee."

"What I'm doing now isn't an adventure. It's survival and battle. The enemies I face are far beyond what you can imagine."

He reached out and rested a hand on Rosin's shoulder.

"If you truly yearn for the sea, then the first thing you need to do is learn to choose your own direction."

Rosin froze. He could feel the expectation and solemnity in Lin Nuo's words.

Lin Nuo stood and placed the neatly folded patient's gown in Rosin's hands.

"Return these clothes to the clinic for me. Tell them I will repay the debt of saving my life someday."

Rosin took the clothes, sniffing.

"Hmph, you only return them after wearing them until they're all torn up and sweaty. Who'd want them?"

The childish complaint made the surrounding adults unable to suppress their laughter.

"Lin Nuo, the Marines are getting closer," Alice reminded him from the ship.

"They're here!"

With a spread of his wings, Lin Nuo easily flew back onto the deck of the White Shell.

Standing by the rail, he vigorously waved at everyone on the dock who was seeing them off.

"Raise the anchor! Hoist the sails!"

The mooring ropes were cut, and the anchor was hauled up.

The White Shell, an old ship that had lain dormant for many years, slowly began to sail away from its familiar harbor.

Bepo patted Rosin on the shoulder.

The two boys stood side by side, watching the sail disappear into the distance.

On the other side of the dock.

The guards were busily tying Hans and his men up with sturdy ropes.

Hans hung his head in despair, muttering without pause.

"It's over... it's over... sigh..."

Just then, a pale figure appeared beside him.

Moria crouched down and stared at Hans, his voice low and restrained.

"The Shadow-Shadow Fruit... is the deal still on...?"

Hans raised his swollen eyelids.

Upon seeing Moria, he made an expression even uglier than crying and said regretfully, "A deal? Deal my ass!"

"I never should've gotten greedy over that thing! Now my men are gone, my ship's burned, and I'm about to be thrown into a Marine prison..."

"Whoever wants that damn fruit can have it! It's all because of it..."

He kept ranting on and on, completely failing to notice Moria's increasingly grim expression.

At that moment, several town guards spotted Moria and immediately surrounded him.

One of them pointed at him. "This kid seemed to be with Hans's group earlier!"

"Tie him up too!"

Several guards stepped forward to seize Moria.

Moria's gaze sharpened, and his body tensed as he prepared to resist.

"Stop!" The captain of the guard strode over and shouted at his men.

He glanced at Moria and spoke to the guards.

"The mayor gave orders. This boy named Moria is not to be handed over to the Marines. Let him leave freely."

"Let him go? Captain, why?" one of his subordinates asked in confusion.

The captain shook his head. "I don't know either."

"But the mayor specifically instructed us to do so. Just follow the order."

Moria, who had been ready to fight to the death, froze.

Let him go free? Why?

His gaze instinctively shifted toward the harbor entrance.

That white two-masted sailing ship had already traveled some distance away.

At that moment, the words Lin Nuo had said on the skiff not long ago suddenly echoed clearly in his ears:

"My ship, the White Shell, will leave today..."

"The choice is in your hands..."

Moria watched the White Shell sail farther and farther away.

He then looked at Hans and his group, tied up like bundles beside him, before turning his gaze toward the vast, boundless sea leading into the unknown.

"Ah—! Damn it!"

He suddenly let out a low roar, burst through the guards beside him while they were still stunned, and sprinted toward the edge of the dock.

Under everyone's astonished gazes.

He vaulted over the piled-up clutter, charged through the crowd, reached the very end of the dock, and leaped without hesitation.

On the White Shell, Lin Nuo and Alice were working together to adjust the angles of the rigging.

As she pulled on a rope, Alice smiled. "I didn't expect the little things I learned while messing around on a ship with Rocks would actually come in handy now."

Lin Nuo was about to answer when Teach's voice came from beside the rail.

"Uncle Lin Nuo... there's someone in the water, swimming toward us."

"Should we wait for him?"

Without turning around, Lin Nuo kept working, a slight curve appearing at the corner of his lips.

"Reef the sails a little and slow down. There's no need to stop specifically for him."

The answer left Teach looking puzzled.

If Lin Nuo was willing to let him board, why not simply stop and wait?

What was the point of making him swim in the seawater a little longer?

Lin Nuo seemed to see the question in his eyes.

He turned around and said something even more baffling.

"Some things, no matter how hard you rack your brain on land, you just can't understand."

"But after floundering around in the sea and swallowing a couple mouthfuls of water, you might suddenly get it."

"For example, getting on a ship and catching up to one are two different things."