Chapter 21: The Island Hiding Five Devil Fruits
Ralph and Luffy speaking in perfect unison gave Nami a momentary pause.
Ralph was internally screaming: That Zoro's sense of direction is so abysmal it defies all reason—he could get lost walking in a straight line! If he managed to find his way back to the ship on his own, it'd be nothing short of a miracle, a blessing from the heavens! Steal the ship? As if!
Luffy, on the other hand, operated on pure trust: Zoro promised me with his own words that he'd be my crewmate! He's a man who swore to become the world's greatest swordsman! A man with such dreams and determination would never do something as low as stealing a ship to run away! Absolutely impossible!
Seeing how adamant the two were, Nami sighed helplessly and threw up her hands. "Alright, alright, even if he didn't steal it. What do we do now? The ship's gone. Are we supposed to swim to the Grand Line?"
Ralph scanned the empty bay, rubbed his temples, and let out a deep sigh. "What else can we do? Borrow a ship, I guess!"
And so, just as the mayor had rallied the shaken townsfolk and was about to enthusiastically begin clearing the rubble and rebuilding their homes, he saw those three familiar figures—back again!
The atmosphere grew intensely awkward.
If you couldn't bear to part with the treasure, you could've just said so! We could've talked it out… What's with all this back-and-forth drama?
Even Ralph, who prided himself on having a thick skin honed by modern society, felt his cheeks burning with embarrassment. Steeling himself under the "concerned" gazes of the mayor and the townspeople, he mustered the courage to ask for a boat.
On the way to retrieve the borrowed vessel, Ralph and Nami practically hid their faces the entire time, wishing they could vanish into the ground. Only Luffy remained blissfully oblivious, looking around cheerfully with a bright smile, completely unbothered by the awkwardness.
The mayor, however, was remarkably understanding. As he led the way, he chuckled warmly and reassured them, "Don't worry about it! Young folks setting out to sea are bound to be a bit scatterbrained and stumble now and then. When I was your age, I did far more foolish things than this!"
This farewell was far less "grand" than the last.
As the saying goes, "The first burst of energy is the strongest; the second weakens; the third exhausts." Having come and gone so many times, that dashing aura of "brushing off their robes and vanishing without a trace" had long since dissipated, leaving only a thick sense of embarrassment.
The three of them—mainly Ralph and Nami—practically fled, sailing off from Orange Town's harbor in a small fishing boat borrowed from the town.
Back on the open sea, their next goal was clear: find the missing ship and Zoro, who was presumably on board.
Both Ralph and Luffy firmly believed in Zoro's character and unique traits—stealing the ship was out of the question. And with such a powerful swordsman on board, the likelihood of common Pirates seizing the ship from him was minuscule.
Thus, after eliminating all impossibilities, the remaining explanation, no matter how unbelievable, was most likely the truth—
The ship had drifted away on its own!
Relying on her top-tier Navigator intuition, Nami carefully recalled and analyzed the wind patterns, ocean currents, and tides around Orange Town during that period.
Her finger traced across the nautical chart, eventually settling on a general direction.
"Let's search that way!" Nami pointed southeast. "If the ship drifted on its own, it was probably carried by that current into those waters."
The small fishing boat adjusted its sails under her command and sailed toward the target sea area.
After sailing for some time, Nami, who was on lookout duty, suddenly raised her telescope and let out an excited cry: "Found it! Over there! Next to a small island!"
Ralph and Luffy quickly looked in that direction. Sure enough, near a lush, uninhabited island in the distance, the familiar pink-hued Alvida ship was tilted and stranded, apparently having run aground on a reef.
The three quickly maneuvered their small boat closer and scrambled aboard the large ship.
As soon as they stepped onto the deck, they discovered Zoro—snoring thunderously while clutching his three beloved swords, with rolling liquor bottles around him!
"Zoro! Wake up!" Luffy shook him vigorously.
Zoro groggily opened his eyes, let out a big yawn, and rubbed his sleepy eyes. When he saw the three of them, he actually showed a hint of dissatisfaction: "You... took so long? I've already taken several naps."
The three were so infuriated by his accusatory question they nearly fainted.
"We should be asking you!" Nami snapped, hands on her hips, her anger meter exploding. "We told you to watch the ship! Where's the ship?! How did you disappear along with it?!"
Zoro became somewhat more alert from the shouting, furrowing his brow as he tried to recall: "Watching the ship... was a bit boring... so I went to the storage room to get some drinks... Later, I felt a bit hot, so I pulled up the anchor to exercise... And then... I guess I fell asleep..."
Nami nearly fainted from anger after hearing this. Pointing at Zoro's nose, she yelled: "Idiot! Moron! Green-haired algae head! Not only did you abandon your post to drink, but you also raised the anchor without permission?! Without the anchor to secure it, of course the ship would drift with the wind and currents!! You're lucky you didn't sink to the bottom of the sea with the ship!"
Luffy, being more easygoing, patted Nami's shoulder to comfort her: "Alright, alright, Nami, don't be so angry! We found both the people and the ship, isn't that good enough?"
"It's not that simple!" Nami rushed to check the bottom of the ship and indeed found a problem. "The hull is cracked from hitting the reef! It's slowly leaking! Without repairs, this ship can't sail anymore!"
"Ah? What do we do then?" Luffy also realized the severity of the situation.
Amid the gloomy atmosphere, Ralph slowly raised his hand.
"↑...-ASH."
Thanks to the favorability bonus from the Foosha Village residents, he had acquired many basic skills, one of which was beginner ship repair.
If he could repair small fishing boats, he should be able to fix larger ships too, right?
Even though it was just beginner level, it was still slightly better than Usopp, who would join the crew later.
Instantly, three pairs of eyes focused intently on him.
Nami widened her eyes, her tone disbelieving: "You? Besides being cunning, ruthless, and running fast in fights, you can also repair ships?"
Zoro also cast a surprised glance, nodding as he succinctly commented: "Tch, what a reliable man."
Luffy's reaction was the most direct. Her eyes instantly sparkled like stars as she rushed over, grabbing Ralph's arm and shaking it vigorously: "Wow! Ralph! You're amazing! You can even repair ships! I don't know what we'd do without you!"
This wave of praise, especially the unreserved and dependent admiration from Luffy, made Ralph feel thoroughly invigorated, as if the fatigue of recent days had been swept away. The corners of his mouth lifted uncontrollably, impossible to suppress.
[System Notification: Luffy deeply relies on and appreciates your displayed versatility and reliability. Favorability +5%.]
Immediately after, two more notification sounds followed:
[Ding! Having shared adventures with Nami, your relationship has eased and established initial trust. Relationship level: Friend. Obtainable reward: Navigation skill level increase (cannot exceed Nami's current level).]
[Ding! Having fought alongside Zoro and demonstrated responsibility, your relationship has solidified. Relationship level: Friend. Obtainable reward: Swordsmanship level increase (cannot exceed Zoro's current level).]
"Hmm..."
Ralph's heart stirred.
Lufia's favorability was steadily increasing—that was normal. But Nami and Zoro's rewards...
Level increases?
He immediately focused his mind, carefully studying the system's detailed explanation of such rewards.
He already knew that through personal training, he could indeed improve his skill levels.
So, if he first relied on his own efforts to push a certain skill to a bottleneck, then used the "level increase" reward from Nami or Zoro at a critical moment, wouldn't he instantly break through and experience a surge in power?
But the description clearly stated limitations: the upper limit of such improvements could not exceed the current skill level of the reward provider (Nami/Zoro).
Nami's navigation skills were top-notch in the East Blue and even worldwide—what she mainly lacked was specialized experience in the Grand Line.
This meant that no matter how hard Ralph studied navigation, whenever he claimed Nami's reward, he could improve, because he didn't believe he could surpass the upper limit of Nami's navigation skills.
As for Zoro's swordsmanship, it fell under "combat-type" skills.
The more advanced such abilities became, the harder they were to improve, but their power grew exponentially.
Ralph could absolutely rely on his own training to improve his swordsmanship now, then wait until Zoro grew into a world-class master swordsman in the future to claim this reward—the improvement would be astounding!
Of course, if his own swordsmanship talent was exceptional and he could catch up to or even surpass Zoro through his own efforts later on, then this reward could be used when he needed a burst of power.
Most crucially, the claiming method was very user-friendly!
Apart from Luffy's favorability rewards which could be claimed multiple times, it seemed he could only claim other characters' favorability rewards once, but he could choose to "temporarily not claim" and accumulate them.
When friendship deepened again and triggered new rewards, it appeared that previously accumulated rewards could be merged or offer better options?
So why wait? Definitely save them for a big payoff later!
Ralph knew the future adventures would be long and perilous—he and these companions would have plenty of opportunities to strengthen their bonds!
Thinking of this, Ralph felt his entire body fill with motivation!
"Alright! No time to waste, let's get the ship onto the island first. I'll handle the repairs!" Ralph rolled up his sleeves and directed.
The four of them worked together, expending considerable effort, and finally managed to drag the stranded, leaking large ship onto the beach of the uninhabited island.
Ralph stayed alone by the ship, studying the damaged hull and his limited tools, preparing to use his [Beginner Ship Repair] skill.
Meanwhile, Luffy, Nami, and Zoro ventured into the island's forest together, both to explore the surroundings and to search for any collectible supplies.
Ralph had only just immersed himself in his work when he heard a chaotic commotion deep in the forest, accompanied by a distinct gunshot!
"Trouble!" Ralph's heart tightened. He immediately set down his tools and without hesitation activated Soru, his figure darting toward the forest like lightning!
When he followed the noise and burst into a forest clearing, he spotted a strange old man whose body was stuck inside a treasure chest.
This island... I remember now!
Someone had speculated through intelligence that this island was hiding... five Devil Fruits?!