Finally, living people!

After another two days at sea, there was still no land in sight, but another News Coo paid them a visit.

Xie Wen: ???

Did Morgans not accept dried fish as payment, so the News Coo from two days ago had come back to collect the balance?

"This one isn't the same bird as before," Sanji Meow said, folding his arms and giving Xie Wen a disdainful look, having guessed what he was thinking. "It smells a little different, meow."

"Oh..." Xie Wen understood.

So what was going on now? Had something big happened in just two days? Or did the World Economy News Paper simply publish that often?

"Coo-"

It really was a different bird. Even its call was different...

After landing on the mast, the News Coo immediately extended its wings and began gesturing at Xie Wen.

After a good deal of guesswork, Xie Wen finally understood why it had come-it had heard about the dried fish from the previous News Coo and had flown over specifically to ask for a couple to try. In exchange, it would lead Xie Wen to the nearest ship.

That was a worthwhile deal. After all, a News Coo that delivered papers all across the vast ocean surely had some special way of locating ships. Compared with heading for land that was an unknown distance away, with equally unknown conditions, catching a ride to an island inhabited by humans was clearly the better choice.

Even if the ship's destination wasn't suitable for Xie Wen and the cats, they could still ask about the surrounding waters first. At worst, they could get off early.

"Deal!" Xie Wen took out two dried fish and tossed them to the News Coo. "Once we find a ship, I'll give you three more."

"Coo!"

After swallowing the two dried fish, the News Coo became noticeably more enthusiastic. Rather than staying on the mast and pointing the way as it had originally intended, it flapped its wings a few times and flew ahead of the raft to lead them directly.

Xie Wen also took out the crude paddle he had made earlier and began rowing hard.

With the News Coo guiding them, a small black dot soon appeared on the sea ahead. Judging by the direction it was traveling... it seemed to be heading toward the place Klee Meow had pointed out earlier...

Oh well, meeting people sooner was a good thing too.

Feeling as though he had gotten a slightly poor deal, Xie Wen comforted himself.

"Klee, can you see what kind of ship it is?"

Xie Wen kept working the paddle as he called up to Klee Meow, who had climbed to the top of the mast.

"It's a big ship, meow~" Klee Meow offered that unhelpful observation, then added, "Klee doesn't see a pirate flag, meow."

It seemed their luck was pretty good... though with their current strength, even running into pirates wouldn't have given them much cause for fear.

As Xie Wen and the cats drew closer, the ship of unknown affiliation noticed them too.

Perhaps its crew thought Xie Wen's raft posed no threat, or perhaps they were simply being kind. Rather than continuing on their way, they turned the ship toward them.

"Thanks for your help."

Now certain they would be able to board, Xie Wen tossed the remaining three dried fish to the News Coo. It caught them, gave a "coo," then flapped its wings and flew away.

Before long, the large ship pulled up alongside Xie Wen's little raft, and a rope ladder was thrown down over the side.

"Come on up!"

A head poked out from above, calling down to Xie Wen and the cats.

"Let's go."

Xie Wen beckoned to his two cats, and Sanji Meow and Klee Meow expertly climbed onto him, each claiming one of his shoulders.

With both Palicoes aboard, Xie Wen had no intention of showing off. He simply climbed up the rope ladder.

"Who are you?"

The moment Xie Wen stepped onto the deck, a group of sailors armed with blades surrounded him, eyeing him and the two cats on his shoulders with wariness and curiosity.

Xie Wen saw nothing wrong with their reaction. In a world plagued by pirates, being wary of strangers was perfectly normal.

And to still choose to rescue someone under those circumstances... this ship's captain was a good man!

Having already labeled the captain he had yet to meet a good man, Xie Wen raised both hands and spun a half-true story. "I'm just an ordinary castaway. The ship I was on went down, and I spent a long time living on an uninhabited island. I only recently managed to get off it."

To avoid conflict as much as possible, Xie Wen had put his Fresh Blade, White Calm, into his Pocket Dimension Pouch as soon as he spotted the ship in the distance, so he looked completely harmless now.

The burly man who appeared to be the boatswain scrutinized Xie Wen. Apparently, the animal hide wrapped around him was convincing enough, because after a moment's consideration, the man raised a hand and signaled the other sailors to put away their weapons.

"You're lucky. Our boss is known throughout these waters for being a good man. Most other merchant ships probably wouldn't have let you aboard." A faint smile finally appeared on the burly man's face. He then turned his attention to the two cats on Xie Wen's shoulders. "Those two are members of the Mink Tribe, right? I've heard some old sailors mention them. Supposedly, they're a rare race even on the Grand Line."

"Maybe. I don't know either," Xie Wen continued with his half-true story. "I met them on the island where I was stranded. They call themselves Palicoes."

He had considered having the Palicoes pass themselves off as members of the Cat Mink Tribe, but he would be summoning more and more Palicoes in the future. Having one or two Cat Mink Tribe members around was nothing unusual, but having nothing but Cat Mink Tribe members following him would be too strange. Besides, there were some differences between Palicoes and the Cat Mink Tribe, so he had decided not to bother hiding it.

There were plenty of strange races in this world anyway. One more race of Palicoes was no big deal.

The burly man didn't dwell on it either, instead saying, "You must be hungry and thirsty after drifting at sea for so long. I'll take you to get something to eat."

"Uh... thank you."

That wasn't actually the case, but Xie Wen didn't refuse his kindness. With the two cats riding on his shoulders, he followed the man.

After eating some dry, hard bread, Xie Wen learned the basics of their situation from the burly man.

This was a merchant ship trading between several nearby islands. Its owner was named Cody, a merchant with something of a reputation in the area.

Although there was only one merchant ship here, Mr. Cody actually owned an entire fleet. Still, the real reason he was well known was what the burly man had mentioned earlier-he was one of those rare, genuinely good people.

The burly man wasn't the boatswain, as Xie Wen had guessed, but Cody's butler. His name was Bax.

Judging by his burly build and the weapon hanging at his waist, though, the butler probably doubled as a bodyguard.

Through some roundabout questions, Xie Wen also learned which sea they were in-the Blue of the West, better known as the West Blue.

Xie Wen didn't know much about the West Blue. He only remembered that it was Shanks's home sea, and the sea where Ohara was located...

I wonder whether the Buster Call has happened yet.

Xie Wen wondered to himself, though he wasn't particularly interested in Nico Robin.

While the protagonists of many fanfictions liked recruiting her, Xie Wen had no plans to become a pirate and no interest in the Poneglyphs. Besides, his cheat meant he had to travel all over the world with his cats. If he also brought along Nico Robin, who could translate ancient script...

That would practically be begging the World Government to keep an eye on me.

Xie Wen's reason for wanting to know whether Ohara had been destroyed by the Buster Call was simple. He remembered that Robin had been exactly eight years old at the time. Using that, he could work out her current age and roughly determine where he was in the timeline.

After all, knowing so much yet being left completely in the dark because he couldn't pin down the date was genuinely frustrating.