"Naomi..."
"I'm here, Captain."
"You think..."
"Mhm."
"We might have taken a wrong turn again?"
"Really? But we followed the map."
"That's what I thought."
Karin flew down from Naomi's head, then used her beak to pick up the somewhat abstract map, flipping it 180 degrees.
"..."
The only person on board with higher education, Kalifa, could only feel deep speechlessness.
Really, she should have borrowed an Eternal Pose from Chinjao and the others earlier.
Relying on a map with no written descriptions, plus three half-baked navigators, trying to cross the New World back to the Grand Line was indeed difficult.
Especially since the helm wasn't in her hands most of the time.
Kalifa instinctively wanted to adjust her glasses, but her glasses had long been lost in some sea, with no replacement yet.
Fortunately, she wasn't actually nearsighted.
—And some people on the seas inexplicably trained until they took off their nearsighted glasses.
Right.
"So, where are we now?"
Faced with the Captain's question, Naomi couldn't answer, only silently putting away the map.
"Kalifa, note this down. When we reach the next island, we must get an Eternal Pose."
"Yes, Captain."
Kalifa beside her took out a notebook, recording Karin's order.
The reborn Emeralda hadn't started its steam engine, instead unfurling its sails, drifting aimlessly on the sea with no definite direction.
If not for looking at the map upside down, they should have reached the Red Line by now.
"How much food is left on the ship?"
"If it's just the three of us... it should last about thirty days."
Getting the answer from Kalifa, Karin nodded in satisfaction.
'Good, at least not all bad news.'
Because the crew size drastically reduced, consumption on the ship greatly decreased.
Actually, food wasn't the key issue, as both Karin and Naomi could catch fish in the sea.
The key was fresh water.
Even Mythical Zoan users couldn't do without fresh water.
"Wait here. I'll fly up and see where the nearest island is."
Knowing waiting wasn't a solution, Karin flew into the sky after saying this, disappearing in the blink of an eye.
—A bird the size of a palm was hard to see with ordinary eyesight.
With the power to control wind, Karin felt little resistance reaching high altitude.
"Gah?"
The sound came from a News Coo carrying a bag.
This gull-like bird possessed intelligence far surpassing other birds. After unified training by Morgans, it could even bargain with pirates.
Perhaps because they were both birds.
The News Coo's 'gah gah' sounds naturally transformed into understandable language in Karin's ears.
"Strange golden bird, what are you doing here?"
Besides News Coos with dedicated 'routes', ordinary seabirds rarely flew to this altitude.
It must be said, Karin's looks were quite impressive whether in human or bird eyes.
Even across species, the News Coo instinctively felt goodwill toward Karin's current transformed appearance, even willing to pause its work to 'chat' with this beautiful lady.
"Huh?"
This was the first time Karin discovered she could understand animal speech, feeling somewhat novel.
But she quickly remembered her task and directly asked,
"Hey, do you know where the nearest island with human inhabitants is?"
"Gah gah! (It... talks!)"
Clearly, a bird that could speak human language surprised the News Coo greatly.
It flapped its wings, trying to get closer to examine Karin's appearance.
"Don't mess around."
Karin obviously wasn't used to the News Coo's actions, directly dodging.
But she clearly underestimated how attractive her current form was to other birds.
"Gah… Gah gah—"
The News Coo made a series of strange calls, even flying some odd patterns mid-air.
Then it took out some Berry from the bag around its neck, wanting to give them to Karin.
Humans liked these shiny things the most, they were its most precious possessions.
Of course, birds didn't have flexible fingers, so it could only attempt beak-to-beak transfer.
This was a courtship behavior. Such behavior wasn't unusual among beasts, but for Karin, whose mind was still human, it felt somewhat presumptuous.
What was it like to get confessed to by a bird?
Honestly, Karin felt somewhat bewildered.
Whoosh—
A sudden gale sent the News Coo tumbling several times mid-air, barely stabilizing itself.
Thankfully, Karin remembered in time it was just an ordinary bird, not intending to actually attack.
Otherwise, that single gust would have been enough to send it crashing.
However, Karin clearly had no intention of chatting with a News Coo that long.
Her figure suddenly expanded mid-air, turning into a giant eagle with over ten meters wingspan in the blink of an eye.
"Gah..."
After seeing the colossal creature before it, the News Coo immediately made meaningless sounds, losing its ability to think.
It wanted to faint, but a chain quietly wrapped around its body, suspending it mid-air.
Then, the News Coo saw those golden eyes, as large as its bird head, shimmering with light.
"Little one, can you tell me now?"
After wasting a bit of time, Karin finally learned about the nearby sea conditions from it.
The nearest place was about a hundred nautical miles northwest. There was an island with many signs of human habitation.
According to the News Coo's description, many large ships were docked there, many flying Jolly Rogers.
Clearly, it was an island infested with pirates.
But Karin obviously didn't care about that.
Where there were people was fine, regardless of origin.
If they were acquaintances, then borrow an Eternal Pose.
If not acquaintances… even better, they wouldn't even need to spend money.
On this point, Karin and Naruto indeed had some differences in perspective.
Swish—
The two on the Emeralda looked up, seeing their Captain, who had just gone up, fly back down.
Not only that, she even brought a 'tag-along'.
The News Coo, frightened by sensing a trace of Garuda's aura, had weak wings and couldn't fly.
Considering it had helped despite being somewhat rude, Karin chose to bring it along temporarily.
At least couldn't let it fall into the sea and drown.
"Captain... is this dinner you caught?"
Kalifa said something that terrified the bird with a straight face.
If Karin nodded, she'd decisively go boil water and start cooking.
"Huh?"
"Oh, it. Don't mind it. It'll fly away on its own when it regains strength."
Karin paused slightly when saying this.
Because she really didn't want to tell her crew she had just been confessed to by a bird.
Little did she know, this action truly saved the News Coo's life.
Otherwise, if Kalifa and Naomi found out, this News Coo would at least become braised bird meat.
"Now for serious business."
Saying so, Karin casually placed the limp News Coo on the deck, then shrunk back down and flew onto Naomi's head.
"Change course now. Target, northwest. Full speed ahead!"
"Ooh!"
Naomi didn't feel her neck bearing any burden from having a bird on her head, obediently adjusting the ship's direction as the Captain ordered.
Seeing this, Kalifa said nothing, silently entering the engine room below deck, starting the steam engine.