Pirate: Starting with Refusing Red-Hair's Invitation

Walking through snow was slow enough without a wind that drove flakes into his face. Lin Mo couldn't be bothered to care whether Luo followed him, as long as he left him alone.

With Observation Haki, Lin Mo picked out several directions where reindeer herds had been active.

He found several herds, but Chopper was nowhere among them. As dusk approached, Lin Mo turned back toward Kokowitt Town.

Luo had followed him all day. He didn't know what Lin Mo was doing, but after watching him for so long, he could tell Lin Mo was looking for someone. No—not someone. A reindeer.

Before returning to the inn, Lin Mo stopped at a restaurant for a meal, then went to a convenience store and bought a large pile of food and drinks.

Only after reaching his room did he put it all into System Space.

For the next two months,

Lin Mo rose early every day to look for Chopper, returned at night, and stocked up on food.

After two months of steady effort, System Space was finally full...

Then one morning, just as he was heading out to look for Chopper again, several men carrying hunting rifles hurried down a nearby street toward the back of town.

"Did you hear? That Snowman showed up again."

"Snowman? You mean that blue-nosed monster that looks like a person?"

"Yeah, that monster! Ugh, it's disgusting. I heard it went to the next town a while back and got hurt by the people there. Its wounds must have healed, and now it's come for revenge."

"Huh? If it wants revenge, it should go after the people who hurt it in the next town. Why come here?"

The townspeople traded rumors in the street.

Lin Mo frowned slightly and headed straight toward the "monster" they were talking about.

He was certain it was Chopper, the one he had spent the past two months searching for.

As usual, Luo came out of the inn right on schedule.

He heard the townspeople talking, but before he could think it through,

he saw Lin Mo follow the armed men and immediately went after him.

Soon, Lin Mo and Luo reached a pine forest behind the town, one after the other.

The armed townsmen raised their rifles and aimed at the large figure hiding behind a pine tree.

"Damn you, get out of here!"

"Get lost, you big monster!"

"Go!"

The townsmen shouted angrily at Chopper behind the tree.

Chopper had used the Human-Human Fruit to take a half-human form. Fur still covered him from the chest up, and his nose was still blue.

Even from hundreds of meters away, with wind and snow obscuring the view, Lin Mo could clearly see the countless wounds on Chopper's body.

"So that's the Snowman they were talking about?" Luo said suddenly. "I've read about Snowmen. They're supposed to be vicious ape-like creatures, but this one doesn't look vicious at all. He doesn't even look like the descriptions. Could the townspeople have it wrong?"

Lin Mo turned to glance at him.

At that moment,

a gunshot rang out.

One of the armed townsmen had pulled the trigger at Chopper.

Chopper flinched and backed away two steps.

Lin Mo moved in a flash. In the blink of an eye, he appeared before Chopper, reached out, caught the flying bullet, and crushed it.

Drum Island: Better to Let Things Happen Naturally

Everyone froze when Lin Mo crushed the bullet.

It took them a long moment to react.

"Huh? Isn't that the kid who saved Old Xing's daughter? When did he get here?"

"He crushed a bullet? How is that possible? Can a normal person do that?"

"That's terrifying. Who is that kid? Even if he can crush bullets, why would he save the Snowman? Is he crazy...?"

Lin Mo ignored them and looked back at Chopper, who could barely stand because of his injuries.

He knew Chopper would survive a few shots from humans even if he did nothing, if events followed their usual course.

But when he saw Chopper's eyes, full of despair and a hurt deeper than any of his wounds,

Lin Mo couldn't help feeling sorry for him.

"Run," Lin Mo said quietly.

There was little emotion in his voice, but to Chopper, who had been bullied and hurt by both reindeer and humans since childhood, those words meant a great deal.

This human is different from the others.

That was what Chopper thought.

Then another gunshot rang out.

Someone had moved around to the side and tried to shoot Chopper.

Lin Mo raised his hand again, caught the bullet flying toward Chopper, and crushed it.

Startled, Chopper instinctively retreated two steps.

Lin Mo glanced back at him. "Run."

Without a word, Chopper turned and dashed into the pine forest.

At the same time, a system notification sounded in Lin Mo's mind.

Beep! Helped Chopper escape danger and earned his goodwill. Sign-in progress +20%. Current total progress: 50%. Reward: Fairy Sphere skill level +1. Current Fairy Sphere level: Lv2.

In an instant, Lin Mo felt his understanding of Fairy Sphere deepen.

He thought of how he had spent two months deliberately searching for Chopper without finding him.

And now Chopper had appeared on his own...

Apparently, the best way to complete these sign-in tasks was to let things happen naturally.

With that thought, Lin Mo gave up on following Chopper. He turned, walked past the townspeople, and headed back into town.

"Hey, kid! Do you realize what you just did?"

"You let the Snowman escape! Do you know how dangerous it is? That monster does nothing but harm people!"

"Exactly! You shouldn't have saved it. If you're so strong, why didn't you help us kill it?"

The armed townsmen surrounded Lin Mo with complaints as he passed.

He walked on without a word, with no intention of answering them.

Luo, however, couldn't hold back. "Are you even sure he was a Snowman? Has he hurt any of you? Has he done anything wrong?"

Luo's questions left them stumped.

After a brief silence, the townspeople resumed their indignant complaints.

"He hasn't hurt us yet. Do we have to wait until that monster attacks before we do something?"

"That's right! Even if it isn't a Snowman, it's still some freak that's neither human nor ghost! Monsters have no humanity. Even if we don't kill it, we can't let it into town!"

Luo hadn't expected them to be so prejudiced against someone who clearly wasn't a Snowman.

He clenched his teeth. "Have you ever spoken to him? Do you know anything about him? Do you actually know what he wants, or whether he'd hurt you?"

"What's there to discuss with a monster? Kid, you must be crazy..."

"We don't have time to get to know a monster. Give it a chance to come near us, and it might kill us on the spot."

"Exactly! That monster's clever enough to act pitiful and try to win our sympathy. Hmph. Does it think we'd fall for such a cheap trick? What a joke."

"You're the joke!" Luo was furious. He knew nothing he said would change their minds about Chopper.

And that made him feel especially foolish for standing here arguing with people so narrow-minded and stubborn.

Luo had nothing more to say to them. He turned and hurried after Lin Mo.

From the moment Lin Mo had blocked the bullet for Chopper, Luo had guessed that the little "monster," who wasn't a Snowman at all, was probably the one Lin Mo had been searching for these past two months.

At first, Luo hadn't understood why Lin Mo let them talk about Chopper like that without saying a word in his defense.

Now he did.

There was no point wasting breath arguing with people who knew nothing. Better to stay silent.

No matter how much he said, the outcome wouldn't change.

At least, that was what Luo assumed.

In truth, Lin Mo simply didn't feel like talking.

Afterward, word that Lin Mo could crush bullets with his bare hands spread throughout Kokowitt Town.

Lin Mo himself left Kokowitt Town and headed for the Small Town near the docks.

It had been a long time since he'd visited a tavern. Since he had time today, he might as well have a good drink.

After walking for over half an hour,

Lin Mo reached the only town on Drum Island with a tavern.

The moment he stepped inside,

the drinkers laughed at him, just as they had the first time he entered the taverns in Foosha Village and Shimotsuki Village.

"Huh? What's a little kid doing here? This is a tavern, you know. You're in the wrong place, kid. The convenience store next door sells juice! Hahaha..."

"Look, he's got two swords and a gourd at his waist. Is that a Wine Gourd, or is it full of juice? Hahaha."

"Kid, you don't belong here. Go home! Hahaha."

Lin Mo ignored their mockery and walked to the U-shaped bar. He climbed onto a stool with practiced ease and, before the Tavern Owner could join in and tell him to go home, pulled out a handful of Beli and set it on the counter.

The Tavern Owner paused.

"One glass of your best wine," Lin Mo said flatly.

"Uh, sure." The Tavern Owner quickly collected the Beli. As far as he was concerned, anyone with money was a customer, adult or child.

He soon brought Lin Mo a glass of bubbling wine.

Lin Mo had just taken a sip when Luo caught up.

"Knew you'd come for a drink." Luo sat down beside him and stared at him. "You look even younger than me. How can you drink so much?"

Lin Mo ignored him and kept drinking.

He finished the glass and pulled out another handful of Beli to order a second.

Just then, someone shoved the tavern door open.

A man in a dark blue coat rushed in. "Something's happened in Kokowitt Town!"

Drum Island: Right and Wrong, and Debts Repaid

"What happened? What's going on in Kokowitt Town?"

"Tell us, Genzo!"

"Don't tell me Wapol's Guard is stirring up trouble again. They've already driven almost every doctor off the island except the twenty under Wapol's control. What more does he want?"

Everyone began talking at once.

Genzo, the messenger, struggled to catch his breath. "It was the Royal Guard, all right. But they weren't there to arrest a doctor. They were after a kid!"

"Huh? A kid? What kid?"

"What's Wapol up to now? Has he come up with another awful decree?"

"There hasn't been a new decree. I heard he's been looking for a kid who can crush bullets with his bare hands," Genzo continued. "Word just came out of Kokowitt Town that a kid crushed several bullets to save the Snowman. The Royal Guard heard the rumor and went straight there."