As someone from Blue Star who knew Bear Grylls's and Ed Stafford's teachings well, Lott had his own obsession with shelters. So the first thing he did whenever he reached an island was build one.
But for Lott, who possessed the Electromagnetic Fruit, putting up a shelter was fairly easy.
"Electromagnetism: Furnace."
Waves of electromagnetic radiation flowed from Lott's hands onto the gray bear, creating an environment around its body much like the inside of a microwave.
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.
The aroma of roasting meat wafted out.
"Looks pretty good."
Then he took some white powder from beside him and sprinkled it over the meat.
The white powder was salt Lott had extracted from seawater using electromagnetic force.
Lott casually tore off a bear paw and dug in.
"Premium ingredients often need only simple cooking."
He looked up at the sky. The setting sun pierced the clouds, spilling down strands of golden light. Seagulls searched for dinner in the sunset, too.
"A year has gone by in this world before I knew it. I wonder how far along the original story is."
Huh?!
What was that?
By now, Lott had no need to keep his Observation Haki active at all times, because he could constantly emit and receive the electromagnetic waves around him.
This let him sense danger even in his sleep.
Just now, he had picked up two electromagnetic signals moving rapidly toward his camp.
Observation Haki, activate!
*?*
Two people, and they're kids?
After so long, he had finally encountered living people. Lott would have gone crazy if he went any longer without meeting anyone.
He made no move.
Because he could sense that these two people posed no threat whatsoever. They were even a little weak.
When the two drew closer.
"Ace, that smells so good! Is someone roasting meat?" Lott heard one of them slurp after speaking.
"Luffy, can you stop thinking about food all day, every day?"
"Hehe, you're one to talk, Ace. Look at you! You're drooling."
"Shut up!"
"Look, he's mad. He's mad again."
Thump!
"Ow! So you hit people when you can't win an argument?"
"Luffy, we're almost there. Stop messing around."
Listening to the voices drawing closer, Lott glanced over.
For a One Piece fan, those two faces could hardly have been more familiar.
So it's these two little ones. Then this should be the island where they lived as kids.
Lott quietly considered this.
Over the past few months, he had focused entirely on developing his physique and using Haki and the Six Powers.
He had barely explored this island at all. It was perfectly normal that he knew nothing about it.
Just as Lott was thinking about the original story's progression, the two little figures appeared in his camp.
[Ding. Choice triggered: A: Defeat Luffy and Ace. Rewards: Zoan-type Mythical Zoan Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Peng, 10 million Beli, Senzu Beans ×10, Ordinary Brick ×1. B: Ignore Luffy and Ace. Rewards: Senzu Beans ×10, Wahaha AD Calcium Milk ×1 case. C: Grovel before Luffy and Ace. Reward: One "Lapdog of the Pirate World's Protagonist" title.]
Holy crap, has the system finally triggered a choice quest after a year of silence?
Of course I'm choosing A. No question!
"Hey! You over there, your roast meat smells amazing. Can... can I have a piece?"
Lott merely glanced over out of the corner of his eye. Sure enough, Luffy was still Luffy. When food was involved, even enemies could become friends.
Before Luffy had even finished speaking, his drool was almost dripping onto the ground.
Thump!
A freckle-faced boy in a yellow T-shirt beside him punched Luffy to the ground. The freckle-faced boy was clearly Ace.
Then he bowed to Lott. "Sorry. If Luffy's behavior just now offended you, I apologize."
"Hey! Ace, we didn't do anything wrong. Why do we have to apologize to that guy? Besides, he doesn't look much older than us." Luffy got up and adjusted the straw hat on his back, looking puzzled.
Lott did not look up. He simply ate his bear paw quietly without replying.
But every move the two made was under the surveillance of his Super Mantra.
A gust swept up the fallen leaves in front of them. There was nothing but silence.
Gulp.
Having spent so long surviving in the wild, Ace could clearly sense that Lott was no ordinary person.
Though he looked like nothing more than a handsome, harmless boy, his presence was as overwhelming as a ferocious beast's.
After sensing Lott's powerful presence, Luffy also dropped his carefree manner.
Just then, a dark cloud drifted over and blocked their sunlight, casting a shadow. For a moment, the atmosphere seemed to freeze.
"Hey, um... your roast meat smells really good. Can... can I have some?"
In the end, Luffy really could not resist the temptation of roast meat.
Lott frowned, looking deeply torn.
Seeing Lott's tightly furrowed brows, Luffy hurriedly said, "We don't have any money, but we'll pay you back with treasure later. We're not trying to eat for free."
After quite a while, Lott burst out laughing. "Hahaha! You're that brazen even though you have no money? Fine, go ahead and eat. It's so big I can't finish it by myself anyway."
The dark cloud drifted away, and sunlight shone on them once more. The atmosphere eased at that moment, too.
"Really? Om nom! You're a really good guy." Before Luffy had even finished speaking, he had already pounced on the gray bear and started gnawing.
Watching Luffy make himself right at home, Ace looked helpless, but still bowed to Lott. "Then thank you for your hospitality."
"Hey, your roast... meat is so... good. Mmph, you're way better at this than Ace."
Luffy's voice was somewhat muffled by the huge mouthful of meat.
"Hey, hey, hey! That's not what you said when you ate my roast meat." Ace punched Luffy on the head.
"Ow! I was wrong, okay?" Luffy rubbed his forehead, then went back to gnawing on the roast meat.
"Oh, right, what's your name? Your roast meat is so good." Luffy could not help praising it again.
"Isn't it polite to introduce yourself before asking someone else's name?" Lott tilted his head and looked at Luffy.
For some reason, he remembered the scene in the original story where Luffy and his group spoke with Crocus inside Laboon's stomach.
"My name's Lu-" "My name's Lott. I'm fourteen, and my blood type is AB..."
"Hey, you! I wasn't even finished, and you cut me off." Hearing Lott speak at the same time as him, Luffy was rather annoyed.
Seeing this, Ace hurriedly grabbed Luffy, who was about to fly off the handle.
"Hahaha, go on, go on." Amused, Lott gestured for Luffy to continue.
"My name's Luffy. I'm twelve, and I'm the man who's going to become the Pirate King. My favorite food is meat."
"My name's Ace. I'm two years older than Luffy, and I'm also aiming to become the Pirate King."
Both little ones had finished introducing themselves, and Lott did not intend to hide anything either.
"My name's Lott. I'm fourteen. I suppose you could call me an orphan. I was shipwrecked a few months ago and ended up stranded on this island." Lott did not intend to tell them the truth about having traveled through so many islands.
"Wow! You're an orphan too? We're both orphans!" Luffy looked rather pleasantly surprised, as though he had found someone like himself.
Faced with Luffy's enthusiasm, Lott smiled somewhat helplessly. Sure enough, this was the Luffy from the manga he had read. He could make friends with anyone.
"If there's one thing this world has no shortage of, it's orphans," Lott murmured softly. His head was tilted back, leaving his expression unreadable.
Before you continue