Chapter 37: Everyone with a Dream is Remarkable!
"Huh?"
Ralph dragged the drowning little boy out of the water and placed him on the largest piece of wreckage from the ship.
Then, he reached out and pulled the limp Lufia up as well.
The small plank bore the weight of three people, its waterline sinking noticeably deeper as it bobbed uncertainly in the waves.
"Phew..."
Lufia lay sprawled on the plank, gasping for air.
The vitality of a rubber person seemed to have been drained the moment she touched seawater, but she recovered somewhat after climbing onto the plank.
She curiously glanced at the unconscious little boy beside her and asked, "Ralph, where did this kid come from? I didn't see him on the ship earlier."
Ralph had been vigilantly scanning the surrounding sea surface. Turning his gaze back, he replied helplessly:
"This kid was on that small boat all along. My dear captain, you were so busy searching for food with your head down—what else could you possibly see besides hidden snack corners?"
Just then, the little boy suddenly coughed several times, spitting out mouthfuls of salty seawater, and slowly regained consciousness.
The moment he opened his eyes and heard Ralph call him "kid," he bristled like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Struggling to sit up, he loudly declared:
"Who are you calling a kid?! I am the great and famous Pirate—Tobio!"
"Yeah, yeah, great Pirate, hello."
Ralph's reply was utterly perfunctory. From the moment he turned his gaze, it hadn't strayed from Lufia for even a second, as if his eyes were magnetically locked on her.
He even forgot to climb fully onto the plank, half of his body still submerged in the cool seawater.
Thanks to this Pirate world with relatively realistic physics, Ralph was now acutely aware of a detail never depicted in comics: how clothing, when soaked in seawater, faithfully clings to every curve of the body.
His gaze, with the focus of pure artistic appreciation, meticulously traced Lufia's drenched figure, which accentuated her youthful vitality and resilient, graceful form.
Noticing Ralph's unusually "intense" stare, Lufia blinked her large eyes and asked sincerely:
"Ralph... are... are you starving too?"
Ralph instinctively replied, "Not at all."
But Lufia wore an expression that said "Don't even try to fool me." Pointing at his eyes, she asserted firmly:
"Cut the nonsense! I know that look all too well! It's the 'ravenous' glare you get when you're starving and see food! It's all my fault for eating all the fish you worked so hard to catch! And those rice balls earlier—I didn't leave a single one for you..."
Her voice carried a faint hint of guilt.
Though the system didn't chime with a favorability increase prompt, and though the pangs of hunger were very real, the moment Ralph heard Lufia's words, he felt as if something had struck his heart. An indescribable sweetness surged from within, instantly washing away all fatigue and hunger.
Lufia, this girl who always cared only about filling her own stomach and was usually so oblivious—since when did she start worrying about whether others were hungry?
But she's concerned about me now!
She cares about me! Really!
Just as the two shared a moment—one with "appreciation and gratitude" in his eyes, the other with "concern and guilt" in hers—the atmosphere was subtle and warm, completely ignored...
"The Great Pirate" Tobio felt he had suffered unprecedented humiliation.
"Hey! You two! Don't look down on me!"
Tobio waved his small fists, shouting in frustration, "I really am the Great Pirate Tobio! I'm the man who will become the companion of the Great Gold Pirate Woonan!"
"Impressive, impressive."
Ralph remained soaking in the water, his gaze still glued to Lufia, his tone still carrying that infuriating dismissiveness. He couldn't even spare a sidelong glance for Tobio.
Lufia, however, was drawn to the title "Great Gold Pirate Woonan" and was about to inquire further when the stubborn young boy Tobio became determined to capture Ralph's attention.
"Is this guy... looking down on my dream?!" Tobio gritted his teeth, his small face flushed red with anger.
Sensing the tense atmosphere, Ralph had no choice but to divert some attention to handle this minor nuisance.
Firstly, Lufia was clearly intrigued by the story of the "Gold Pirate."
Secondly, and most importantly—in this world where "dreams" were held higher than the sky, especially in front of Lufia, showing excessive disdain for someone else's dream could very well cost him favorability points!
With this in mind, Ralph pushed himself up by the edges of the wooden plank, smoothly flipping onto it and finally freeing his entire body from the seawater.
He shook the water droplets from his hair, turned to face Tobio, and adopted an extremely solemn expression.
"Mr. Tobio," Ralph began, his tone sincere, "you've misunderstood. You thought I was being dismissive earlier, but that wasn't the case. I genuinely think you—"
He paused, extended a thumb, and made a classic thumbs-up gesture from another world.
"—are really impressive!"
Initially taken aback by the serious tone and the peculiar gesture, Tobio felt slightly mollified.
But Ralph's subsequent performance left him utterly dumbfounded.
While maintaining the thumbs-up, Ralph began rhythmically swaying his body, repeating in a strange, melodic tune:
"Really impressive! Really, really, really, really—really impressive!"
He even improvised a simple yet catchy swaying dance, looking exactly like one of those brainwashing advertisements or short videos from his previous life.
Indeed, Ralph had tapped into Shanks' joy.
Teasing children was truly amusing!
This sudden performance, completely at odds with the pirate aesthetic, was something Ralph had done casually to humor the child, but it elicited starkly contrasting reactions.
Tobio was so furious his hair nearly stood on end. Pointing at Ralph, he yelled, "You! You're still making fun of me! Treating me like a three-year-old!"
On the other hand, Lufia's eyes instantly sparkled like brilliant stars!
"Wow! Ralph! I never knew you could sing and dance! Having you join my pirate crew was definitely the most, most, most correct decision I've ever made! Hee hee hee!"
[Ding! Lufia is delighted and amused by your unexpected comedic talent, finding you even more interesting and versatile. Favorability +5%]
[Current Favorability: 95%]
Only five percent left!
The system's notification sounded like heavenly music!
Ralph's mind suddenly cleared as well!
So that's how it could be done!
He had finally found his niche on the ship when it came to comedy!
Occasionally throwing in phrases this world didn't have!
However, despite his joy, Ralph glanced at Tobio—the "Great Pirate" who was so furious he seemed about to explode on the spot, even genuinely considering whether to jump into the sea in protest—and felt he needed to seriously placate him.
"Ahem."
Ralph cleared his throat, put away his goofy expression, and looked sincerely at Tobio. "Although my way of expressing it might be a bit... unique, I genuinely believe that having dreams in itself is truly remarkable!"
At that moment, Tobio finally saw pure sincerity and recognition in Ralph's eyes.
If Ralph hadn't immediately followed up by passionately humming that melodic lyric in his tone-deaf but utterly committed voice, the placating effect might have been much better—
"The sea welcomes you, having dreams makes everyone extraordinary~ With courage, miracles will happen~"
Hearing Ralph actually sing such a "beautiful" melody, Lufia got excited again and made an on-the-spot decision:
"Decided! Ralph, from now on, you'll be our ship's musician!"
Ralph didn't dare accept that position casually and quickly waved his hands. "I really can't do that! Besides humming randomly, I don't know how to play any instruments at all!"
Tobio finally couldn't take it anymore—this was completely disregarding him as a person!
Clutching his head in despair, he shouted:
"Are you guys even pirates?"! What kind of pirates suddenly start singing and dancing while talking?! There's no dignity at all!!"
Ralph patted his shoulder and said in a "you're still too young" tone:
"Little bro, you just haven't seen enough pirates! Real great pirates are all like this!"
To be fair, after that singing and dancing performance, combined with the physical exhaustion from being in the sea for so long, Ralph's stomach betrayed him with an unmistakable "gurgle."
He was genuinely hungry.
Almost at the same time, Lufia's top-tier foodie radar picked up on something, her small nose sniffing vigorously:
"Huh? Something smells amazing!!"
Their eyes met, and they instantly reached a consensus.
Grabbing two relatively flat broken wooden planks nearby to use as paddles, they started rowing with all their might!
Driven by these two superhuman forces, the small, broken plank carrying three people actually cut through the waves like a miniature speedboat, racing across the sea!
Before long, a small boat emitting warm light and rich food aromas came into view—it turned out to be a snack boat specializing in oden!
Ralph was truly starving. Pulling Lufia along, he climbed onto the snack boat, plopped down in front of the stall, and without even asking about the price or origin, picked up a steaming skewer of oden and started eating.
Lufia, who was always in a "ravenous ghost" state no matter the time or place, immediately joined the food scavenging.
The two focused intently on devouring their meal, eating with such relish that they completely missed the touching "grandparent-grandchild reunion" drama unfolding beside them.
The story was actually quite simple:
Tobio was the grandson of the oden stall owner, an old man named Ganzo.
But Tobio refused to inherit his grandfather's Oden business, yearning only for the sea and idolizing the legendary golden Pirate Woonan, dreaming of becoming his companion.
Due to their conflicting ideals, Tobio repeatedly ran away from home, only to be captured by the Pirate Eldoraggo recently and forced to steal treasures for them.
Now, through a series of coincidences, he managed to escape with the "help" of Lufia and Ralph, ultimately reuniting with his grandfather before this Oden stall boat carrying the flavor of their family.
At first glance, the story sounds touching, but in the world of Pirates, similar tales about dreams are everywhere.
Isn't there a living example right before our eyes?
The girl Lufia's grandfather is the naval hero Garp, who had wanted to raise her into an outstanding marine since childhood.
And what happened?
Lufia was "bewitched" by a red-haired "delinquent youth" Shanks, resolutely embarking on the path of no return to become the Pirate King.
Hearing too many similar stories, even the most moving plots can't help but feel somewhat numbing.
At least to Ralph at this moment, the bowl of Oden before him was more flavorful than any story.
He carefully bit into a piece of daikon radish soaked in broth—the radish was stewed to extreme tenderness and richness, almost melting in his mouth, its sweet freshness instantly blooming on his tongue.
Next was an exceptionally springy fish ball, its inherent deliciousness perfectly blending with the rich broth the moment he bit into it.
Then there was the fried tofu saturated with soup... Each ingredient seemed to perform a harmonious symphony in his mouth.
The wonderful flavor made Ralph even afraid to open his mouth casually, fearing this ultimate enjoyment might escape from between his lips.
Only after completely swallowing the food in his mouth did he and Lufia beside him simultaneously let out a heartfelt shout:
"So delicious!!!"
Coming to this world was totally worth it!
Ralph sighed inwardly.
Not only were there living, interesting companions with distinct personalities, thrilling adventures full of unknowns, but he could even taste such soul-stirring delicious food!
Lufia was even more unreserved, giving Uncle Ganzo a thumbs-up with her mouth full of food, announcing indistinctly:
"Uncle! Your Oden is the most delicious in the world!"
Ralph was more cautious—although among all the food he'd tasted, this bowl of Oden could be called top-tier, he wouldn't easily declare it the "world's best."
Besides, he didn't know if there was actually a "Kanto" region in this Pirate King world, so why was it called Oden?
However, in Wano Country of the New World, there really was someone called Kouzuki Oden...
A sudden, small goal beyond his system tasks began sprouting in his heart:
If given the chance, he must bring Uncle Ganzo's Oden to Wano Country for comparison!
Only after comparing could he confirm whether it truly was the world's best!
Moreover, since Lufia approved of this delicious food, wouldn't learning to make it also increase her favorability!
Just as Ralph was setting new conquest plans for himself, the grandfather and grandson beside him predictably started arguing again.
Tobio waved his arms excitedly:
"Grandpa, you're just an old stubborn! What's the use of making Oden so well? There are no customers in the shop at all! I don't want to end up like you, stuck in this boring..."
"Wasting time on such matters, my dream is to become a great pirate like Woonan—renowned across the seas, possessing countless treasures and legendary tales!"
Uncle Ganzo wore an expression full of helplessness and concern.
Ralph finished the last piece of chikuwa, wiped his mouth contentedly, then turned to Tobio with a serious look, enunciating each word clearly:
"Tobio."
"Who told you that creating the world's best oden doesn't count as a dream?"
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