Luffy patted his belly in deep satisfaction, while Granny Maggie looked on, utterly stunned.
The dried fish and wheat cakes she had just brought out had been enough for three people, yet this straw-hatted boy had swept them all away in just a few mouthfuls, a few crumbs still clinging to the corner of his lips.
“Was that enough?
Should I go fetch you some more?” Granny Maggie collected herself, a kind smile spreading across her face.
“There’s more?
Then I’ll have another round!” Luffy’s eyes lit up, his voice brimming with delight.
Lucian sat across from him, his eyes carrying genuine bafflement.
He stared at Luffy’s perfectly flat stomach, completely unable to fathom how such a small space could hold so much food.
Soon, Granny Maggie brought out a large platter of grilled fish and two plates of wild vegetable pancakes, their aroma filling the table.
Luffy’s eyes grew even brighter as he snatched up a grilled fish and stuffed it straight into his mouth.
Lucian and Granny Maggie sat down as well and ate alongside him.
“Slow down, no one’s going to take it from you.” Granny Maggie ate very little herself, just tasting one of the wild vegetable pancakes before setting down her chopsticks.
She sat at the table, smiling as she watched Luffy wolf everything down.
When he choked on his food, she handed him a bowl of water with a laugh.
“By the looks of you, you must have come from very far away.”
Luffy swallowed the food in his mouth and said, his words still garbled, “I ran into a storm!
The boat got blown here and smashed up on the rocks.” His face fell for a moment, but a grin quickly reappeared.
“Doesn’t matter though—once it’s fixed, I can set out again.
I’m the man who’s gonna be King of the Pirates, after all!”
“King of the Pirates?
You’re a pirate?” Granny Maggie paused, a little taken aback.
“Yeah, I just set sail a few days ago!” Luffy stuffed the last bite of food into his mouth and beamed.
“I’m gonna find a crew, form a pirate crew, and then become the King of the Pirates!”
“Oh, no wonder you don’t seem anything like those vicious, cutthroat pirates.” Granny Maggie did not take his words too seriously, brushing it off as the spirited talk of a young man setting out on an adventure.
She smiled and shook her head.
Lucian chewed his grilled fish and listened.
He did not understand what “King of the Pirates” meant, but the blaze of light shining so dazzlingly bright in Luffy’s eyes unsettled his thoughts for a moment.
“Oh yeah, right,” Luffy said, brushing the crumbs from his hands and turning toward Lucian.
“What exactly is your ability?
That gray mist from before looked so cool!”
Lucian hesitated, not expecting the question to be directed at him.
He looked down at his hand and tried releasing a wisp of gray mist, letting it coil around his fingertip.
“Absorb…
gray mist,” he finally managed, forcing out just those three words.
“Absorb gray mist?” A question mark practically appeared over Luffy’s head.
“Don’t know.” Lucian shook his head and stretched out his hand again, his fingers gradually dissolving into swirling gray mist.
“Whoa!” Luffy shouted in amazement.
“That’s so cool!
Your fingers turned into mist?”
“Cool?” Lucian did not quite grasp the meaning of the word. Visit g.com for the full chapter.
“Look at mine!” Luffy tugged hard at the corners of his mouth, stretching his lips all the way to his ears.
“Cool,” Lucian replied, mimicking his words.
Granny Maggie watched on with wonder as the two boys played around with their “mysterious powers,” but she did not ask any questions.
Seeing that they had finished eating, she smiled and said to Luffy, “The old carpenter in the village has excellent skills.
Let Lucian take you to see him about fixing your boat.”
“Awesome!” Luffy sprang to his feet with a cheer.
Lucian stood up as well and glanced at the sun outside the window.
It was just past noon, so Uncle Barron should be at home.
“Let’s go,” he called to Luffy.
“Coming!” Luffy hurried after him.
The two of them crossed the village’s gravel paths and soon arrived at the old carpenter’s yard.
The yard was piled high with half-dried timber, wood shavings blanketing the ground like scattered snowflakes.
Barron was squinting as he smoothed a boat plank, the hiss of his plane gliding over the wood filling the air.
“Uncle Barron,” Lucian called out.
The old carpenter looked up.
Spotting the unfamiliar young man behind Lucian, he set down his plane and wiped his hands.
“Ah, Lucian.
Who’s this?”
“His boat…
broken,” Lucian said, pointing at Luffy, then gesturing toward the other end of the island.
“Over there.
Tidal flats.”
Luffy immediately rushed forward, supplementing with animated gestures.
“The hull’s got several huge cracks!
The sail’s torn up too!
Can you fix it?”
The old carpenter furrowed his brow and stroked his beard.
“These old bones aren’t up for long treks anymore.” He called toward the inner room.
“Tom!
Come out here!”
A sturdy young man came running out at the call, his arms dusted with wood shavings—the old carpenter’s son.
“Dad, what’s up?”
“Go with Lucian and have a look at the boat,” the old carpenter instructed.
“Check how deep the cracks are and whether we’ll need to replace any of the timber.”
“Right-o.” Tom grabbed the toolbox from the corner and headed out.
Lucian took the lead, guiding them forward while Luffy bounced along beside him, chattering nonstop at Tom.
“The hull’s cracked in a bunch of places, the sail’s torn up like rags…” Tom nodded from time to time, occasionally lowering his head to mull over how best to patch it all up.
When they reached the barren tidal flats, the little wooden boat beside the reef stood out all the more clearly under the sunlight.
The cracks in its bottom were as long as fingers, the sail hung from the mast like shredded cloth, and even one of the wooden oars was snapped in half.
Tom crouched down and rapped on the hull planks, then felt along the cracks, his brow gradually furrowing.
“These fissures aren’t shallow.
The sail will need to be re-stitched too.
Lucky the mast isn’t broken, or it’d be even more trouble.”
“Can you fix it?” Luffy asked anxiously.
“It’s doable,” Tom said, rising to his feet and dusting off his hands.
“But it’ll take some work—three days at least.
I’ll do some basic patching here for now, then we’ll tow it over to the seaside dock.
Easier to work on it there.”
“Awesome!” Luffy jumped into the air on the spot.
“Thank you!
Once the boat’s fixed, I’ll treat you to a barbecue!”
Tom was amused into laughter.
“Let’s get it fixed first, then we’ll talk.”
Lucian looked at the wrecked boat, then at the ecstatic Luffy, and a thought drifted into his mind—these three days might just be a good deal livelier than the past several months had been.
“I’m heading back.” Seeing that his part was done, he glanced at Luffy, who was now fixated on watching Tom work on the boat, and turned to walk back.
“Wait for me!” Luffy caught up in a few quick steps, then fell into stride right behind him, matching him step for step.
“Why follow me?” Lucian turned his head, his expression genuinely puzzled.
“Aren’t we friends?
I’ve got nowhere else to go for the next three days—can I stick with you?” Luffy adjusted his straw hat and looked at him with a broad grin.
“Friends?” A face full of question marks, yet Lucian still nodded, agreeing to let him stay.
When they got back to Granny Maggie’s house, the old woman was mending fishing nets under the eaves.
Sunlight filtered through her graying hair, scattering tiny flecks of light across the ground.
“You’re back?” Granny Maggie looked up with a smile, her gaze pausing briefly on Luffy.
“Mm.
Friend.
Staying over.” Lucian gave a short reply and pointed at Luffy.
“My boat’s going to take three days to fix—can I stay here for a few days?” Luffy scratched his head and posed the question to Granny Maggie.
“Of course you can.
It’s not often Lucian has a friend over.” Granny Maggie smiled kindly.
“Awesome!
Thank you, Granny!
Not only did you make me delicious food, you’re letting me stay here too!” Luffy hurried to thank her.
“Think nothing of it.” Granny Maggie gave a smiling wave of her hand.