Luffy looked at Lucian, his expression growing anxious.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he suddenly caught a flash of silver beneath the surface of the sea.
Several fish were flicking their tails and leaping out of the water.
His eyes lit up instantly, and he smacked his palm with a loud clap.
“I’ll go catch you some fish!”
The words had barely left his mouth before the guy had already plunged into the sea with a splash.
“Catch fish?” A bit of clarity returned to Lucian’s muddled mind.
It did seem like a solution, so he propped up his weak, trembling body and inched his way to the side of the boat to see how Luffy planned to pull it off.
But the moment he poked his head out, he saw Luffy thrashing around in the water like a turtle flipped onto its shell, his arms and legs flailing wildly as his head bobbed up and down on the surface, kicking up a spray of white foam.
“Luffy!” Lucian’s heart seized, his voice shaking.
“Glub…
glub…” Luffy in the water was blowing bubbles, and in the midst of his panic, he still managed to shout, “F-Forgot I can’t swim…”
The suddenness of the situation shocked Lucian so hard his entire body jolted, his muddled mind snapping into razor-sharp clarity.
In a fluster, he grabbed the oar and rowed frantically toward the spot where Luffy was splashing, the oar slapping wildly against the water and spraying seawater all over his face.
But by the time he drew close, he realized Luffy’s movements had already slowed.
His arms and legs hung limp, and his head was sinking inch by inch, about to slip beneath the water at any moment.
“Luffy!” Lucian’s heart leaped into his throat.
There was no room to think of anything else—he threw himself into the sea with a splash.
Yet the instant he hit the water, an inexplicable wave of weakness swept over his entire body.
His limbs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead, without a shred of strength to draw on.
‘What’s going on…’ Panic gripped Lucian.
He could only flail his arms uselessly, unable even to keep himself afloat.
His body sank downward, utterly beyond his control.
Soon, neither he nor Luffy had any strength left to struggle.
The two of them dropped like stones, sinking straight toward the dark, silent depths of the sea.
Their little boat had long since been carried away by the current and was nowhere in sight.
On the empty, endless sea, only their two sinking figures remained.
Were they going to die here?
The frigid seawater rushed eagerly into his mouth, the salty, bitter sting burning Lucian’s throat raw.
Just as his consciousness began to fade, a massive fishing net suddenly came crashing down over his head, wrapping him and Luffy up tightly together.
“Captain!
This net’s got something heavy in it!
Gotta be a big fish!”
An excited voice came from above, tinged with delight.
That was the last thing Lucian heard before he lost consciousness.
He had no idea how much time had passed.
“Brue, are they still not awake?” A rough, gravelly voice crawled into Lucian’s ears.
“Soon,” another male voice, slightly gentler, replied.
Lucian’s eyelids twitched, and with great effort, he opened his eyes.
What met his gaze was the swaying wooden ceiling of a ship’s cabin, and beneath him, what seemed to be a soft bed.
He then realized there were two men standing beside him, looking down at him.
Luffy!
Something suddenly struck him, and he struggled to turn his head, searching frantically around.
At last, on another simple wooden cot beside him, he spotted Luffy with his eyes closed.
Thank goodness…
Lucian’s tense shoulders sagged in relief, and he let out a long, deep breath.
Only then did it belatedly dawn on him that his stomach, which had been empty for so long, no longer ached.
That scorching, hollow sensation had vanished without a trace.
Somewhat taken aback, he lifted his eyes toward the two men before him.
“Kid, you’re awake?” The man on the left, burly with a thick, full beard, spoke up.
His voice was that same rough one from before.
“I’m the captain of this ship.
Never thought casting a net for fish would haul up two people instead.”
He gestured to the man beside him, who wore gold-rimmed spectacles and a white coat.
“This is our ship’s doctor.
He just took a look at you—you’ve recovered fairly well.
The kid in the straw hat is in a bit worse shape, but he should be waking up soon too.”
“Thank you…” Lucian’s cracked, parched lips moved, his voice hoarse as if scraped with sandpaper, yet the gratitude in it was genuine.
“Don’t mention it.
My name is Dikara, captain of this merchant ship,” the bearded captain introduced himself, then looked at Lucian.
“When we pulled you two aboard, you were terribly weak, so I had Brue feed you some liquid nourishment.”
“Ah—am I dead?”
Before Lucian could thank them again, the wooden cot beside him suddenly creaked.
Luffy shot upright and frantically patted himself all over, and upon discovering he was completely unharmed, he promptly broke into a wide grin.
“I’m so lucky!”
He turned his head and saw Lucian sitting up as well.
His eyes lit up, and he waved his hand in greeting. The source of this chapter is g.com.
“Yo, Lucian!”
“This kid’s got quite a lot of spirit—surprising he woke up so fast,” the ship’s doctor Brue remarked with a chuckle, pushing up his glasses.
“My straw hat!” Luffy suddenly smacked his head and cried out in alarm, looking around frantically.
“It’s right here,” Dikara said, pointing to the wooden cabinet beside Lucian.
“Ah, thanks!” Luffy’s arm stretched out with a whoosh and hooked the straw hat with perfect accuracy, pulling it back and planting it neatly on his head in one fluid motion.
“Wh-What is that?!” Both Dikara and Brue stared wide-eyed, their faces full of shock.
“Oh, it’s a Devil Fruit ability,” Luffy said with a cheeky grin, tugging at the corner of his own mouth and stretching it out like rubber.
“See~”
“What an incredible power,” Brue murmured, adjusting his glasses, his eyes brimming with wonder.
“I think I’ve heard legends about that at sea—something about people who eat Devil Fruits gaining special abilities…” Dikara stroked his beard thoughtfully.
“Hey, Mister, where’s this merchant ship of yours headed?” Luffy asked, swinging his legs.
“We’re on our way to the Oykot Kingdom,” Dikara replied, then paused and asked with curiosity, “Speaking of which, what were you two kids doing in the middle of the sea?”
“We were starving, so I wanted to jump in and catch some fish.
Then I forgot I couldn’t swim and—plop—I fell right in,” Luffy explained, gesturing with his hands.
“Are you an idiot?!” Brue could not help but blurt out.
Lucian, at the side, had breathed a sigh of relief seeing Luffy awake.
Seeing that they were deep in lively conversation, he did not interrupt, simply leaning back against the bed and watching them quietly.
Dikara happened to glance his way and immediately let out a startled yelp, recoiling half a step and clutching his chest.
“Kid…
the way you stare at people is way too creepy!”
Lucian, sitting still and silent, was indeed unnerving.
At that moment, he resembled a gloomy specter—his half-damp hair plastered against his deathly pale cheeks, his skin washed of all color, and his hollow eyes fixed in an unblinking stare at the people chatting away.
“Sorry.” Though Lucian did not quite understand why the captain had been so startled, he still lowered his head politely.
“Hahaha, that’s just how Lucian is—don’t mind him!” Luffy waved his hand breezily.
“What do you two plan to do now?” Captain Dikara awkwardly shifted his gaze and turned to ask Luffy.
“Mister, can you give us a small boat?” Luffy asked, as direct as ever.
“Luffy, money…” Lucian suddenly recalled Granny Maggie telling him that you could not just ask people for things—you had to pay.
He quickly whispered the reminder.
“Oh, right!” Luffy smacked his head and reached into his dripping wet pockets, rummaging for ages before pulling out a crumpled, seawater-dampened 500-berry note.
“Our boat drifted away with all our stuff on it.
This is all we have left.”
Lucian hurriedly searched himself as well and dug out a single 100-berry coin, also damp with sea moisture, from the depths of his pocket.
Together with Luffy, he held it out before Dikara.
The two of them fixed their eyes on the captain, their gazes brimming with hopeful anticipation.