"Take it and deal with it." Tabito tossed the burly wild boar with upturned tusks onto the sand in front of the two girls, speaking as succinctly as ever.
Nami stared at the blood-soaked boar, then at the completely empty beach. Summoning her courage, she asked in a small voice, "Um… Tabito-sama, dealing with it is fine, but… where's the pot? The knife? And something to start a fire…"
Carina also forced herself to chime in, squeezing out a sweet smile. "Exactly, Tabito-sama. Even the best cook can't make a meal without ingredients—or tools. You see…" Her gaze flicked meaningfully toward the two bulging treasure bundles on the tiger corpse puppet's back.
Tabito: "..."
He fell silent for a rare moment.
These past few hundred years of cultivation (especially the period when he had to hide everywhere as a demonic cultivator), plus the half month after transmigrating where he'd lived like a beast at sea, had made him almost forget what "normal cooking" even required. Before, when he was hungry, he'd just grab a fish, skewer it on a branch, coax a weak flame into being with a wisp of true qi, roast it until it was half-done, and tear into it. Seasoning? If he had coarse salt, that was already luxurious.
Faced with the girls' hopeful-but-daring-not-to-say-it looks, Tabito turned around and walked over to the pile of treasure. After a round of clattering rummaging, he came back holding something.
It was a heavy, lavishly shaped, densely engraved… solid-gold soup pot. Judging by the style, it was probably loot Mad Treasure had stolen from some noble or merchant ship.
Nami and Carina stared at the "cookware" that could blind you with its shine, their expressions stiffening.
Cooking with a gold pot? This was, without question, the most extravagant—and most absurd—piece of kitchen equipment they'd ever seen in their "professional careers."
"Use this." Tabito set the gold pot down, then fished out a few gem-inlaid daggers from the treasure pile (good enough for a table knife and a cooking knife). He also produced a tightly sealed small box. When he opened it, it revealed all kinds of spices and seasonings—something Mad Treasure had prepared for indulging himself, and that was now their bargain prize.
With tools and seasonings in hand, Nami's talent immediately showed. She bled the boar, skinned it, and butchered it with practiced efficiency. Carina helped gather dry wood, then used the fire starter Tabito provided to get a flame going. Soon, the gold pot was set over the fire. Alternating lean and fatty chunks of pork sizzled in the pot, and Nami skillfully worked with the limited seasonings. Before long, an irresistible, rich aroma of meat spread through the air.
Tabito took a bite of the simmered pork and a flicker of surprise crossed his eyes.
The meat was tender, the broth thick and savory, the seasoning perfectly balanced—nothing like the half-raw roasted fish he'd been gnawing on.
Only then did a relevant detail crawl out from a dusty corner of memory: right—the orange-haired little thieving cat had a real knack for cooking. In her original path of fate, her skill was second only to that love-struck cook.
"Tastes good." He offered a rare, clipped approval.
Hearing that, Nami secretly let out a breath, a small spark of pride appearing on her face. Carina's smile turned even sweeter as she eagerly picked out the best pieces of meat and placed them in front of Tabito.
After a full meal, Tabito tossed the sleeping bags he'd looted from Mad Treasure's ship to the two girls. He himself leaned back against the tiger corpse puppet's warm, thick fur and closed his eyes to regulate his breathing.
There was a faint air of death clinging to the corpse puppet, but its fur kept him far warmer than any sleeping bag—and it was soft enough, too.
At daybreak the next morning, with the sky still barely light, Tabito got up and started working. He directed several humanoid corpse puppets to use whatever wood and sailcloth could still be salvaged from the wreck of the Shark Emeralda, then combined it with the island's tough vines. After spending most of the day, they crudely—but sturdily (most importantly: it wouldn't fear collisions)—refashioned it into a slightly larger small sailboat, big enough to carry three people and part of their supplies.
Riding the tiger corpse puppet was flexible and fast, but it really wasn't convenient for Nami to observe weather and stars or to identify headings. Having a real boat was necessary.
"Let's go. Hopefully we can reach a village or town today." Tabito loaded the treasure bundles, water barrels, food crates, and other supplies onto the small boat, then spoke to Nami and Carina.
The tiger corpse puppet's job changed from "mount" to "tow beast." A thick rope was tied to it, with the other end fastened to the bow. It stepped across the surface of the water, easily dragging the sailboat forward through the waves. Nami stood at the front, watching the compass on her wrist and carefully combining it with the clouds, wind direction, and currents to guide them.
"Port fifteen degrees! Avoid that patch of undercurrent!"
"Careful—clouds are gathering ahead. There might be some light rain, but it shouldn't be a problem."
Nami issued commands with full concentration. Standing there on the bow, her small figure carried the poise of a professional navigator. Watching her, Tabito felt even more certain about his decision to "bind" this navigator to his side.
Sailing was dull and long. For three or four days straight, all they could see was endless blue ocean. Fortunately, Mad Treasure's ship had been stocked well—fresh water, hardtack, jerky, even some canned fruit. With the occasional catch of fresh fish, they didn't go hungry. Still, being stuck on a cramped boat for so long was hard on two girls like Nami and Carina.
Finally, on the afternoon of the fourth day, a black speck appeared on the horizon. As they drew closer, it gradually resolved into the outline of an island—and the shapes of town buildings.
"An island! We made it!" Carina pointed excitedly ahead. After days of being tossed around at sea, she missed solid land more than ever.
With the tiger corpse puppet towing, the small boat soon approached the island and ran aground on a quiet stretch of beach. Stepping onto land again at last, Carina couldn't help stretching and rubbing her aching lower back. "Finally… If I kept rocking around on that boat, my bones were going to shake loose."
Nami, however, frowned slightly. She looked toward the town not far away—a place that seemed fairly large—and murmured in confusion, "Something's off… It's still early, so why does the town look like… there's barely any sign of people? I can't even see ships going in and out of the port."
Tabito had already taken in the island's situation.
His eyesight far exceeded that of ordinary people. He could clearly see, high above the central square, a pirate flag snapping in the breeze—marked with an eye-catching red-nosed skull.
"Maybe it's been occupied by Pirates," he said evenly, while his mind rapidly searched through memory. A red-nosed skull… it rang a bell. It seemed like an early Pirate crew that had been fairly active, but the details were already blurred after hundreds of years.
"Let's go. We'll check the town first and replenish some fresh supplies." Tabito headed toward the town without hesitation. Nami and Carina exchanged a glance. Uneasy as they were, they quickly followed.
The moment they stepped into town, a bleak, ruined atmosphere hit them in the face. The streets were empty. Houses on both sides had their doors and windows shut tight. Many shop signs hung crookedly—or had fallen to the ground entirely. More shocking, a lot of building walls bore obvious scorch marks and damage, and the streets were pocked with craters, clearly the aftermath of cannon fire. The whole town was terrifyingly quiet, with only the wind wailing through the empty streets.
They walked a short distance down the main road before spotting an elderly man with a head of white hair, curled up in the shadows by the door of a half-collapsed general store.
Hearing footsteps, the old man looked up in fear. When he saw the three of them (and, behind them, the silent tiger corpse puppet—though Tabito had kept it waiting in the shadows at a distance), he flinched. After confirming they weren't dressed like Pirates, he relaxed a little, but his eyes were still full of wariness and exhaustion.
"Y-you… are you outsiders?" the old man rasped.
"Passing through. We want to buy supplies," Tabito replied.
The old man shook his head bitterly. "Buy? There's no one left in town, and the shops have been emptied long ago… I'm the mayor here—Boodle." He sighed, then began to explain in broken fragments: "Many years ago, our original town was destroyed by Pirates. I and the people who survived fled here. We started from nothing and built this Orange Town… We finally got it to look like something, and life had just started to feel hopeful…"
His eyes dimmed. "But then… Pirates set their sights on us again. It was the Buggy Pirates… They occupied the place, took everything valuable, and forced everyone to leave… Now only this old man is left. I couldn't bear to leave my home, so I stayed behind in secret…"
Buggy Pirates?
Tabito's brow lifted slightly. The name pulled up a few clearer shards of memory—a red-nosed clown captain who'd eaten some bizarre fruit, with a ridiculous personality… yet cruel?
Tabito looked toward the pirate flag flying over the town center, then back at the ruined streets and the despairing old man.
Inside, there were no ripples—only a calm, faint calculation.
A new source of souls seemed to be right in front of him.
The only question was: how much "nourishment" could the Buggy Pirates provide?
(End of Chapter)
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