25
Rebirth on the Second Day (20,000 More for Nutritional Solution) My Land…
Dragon felt there was nothing that needed explaining.
The main point was that he felt he didn’t understand many things himself, and the parts he did understand weren’t suitable to share with a third person. He wouldn’t even tell his own father Garp.
However, he did let others share the remaining two glasses of Vegetable Cocktail—he felt his condition had completely recovered, and drinking more would be somewhat wasteful of Wendy’s miraculous cooking skills.
Of course, before distributing them, he specifically asked Wendy, who had returned looking dejected after failing to find flower petals.
As long as there were sufficient ingredients, Wendy was quite generous about sharing food. Since the refrigerator wasn’t loaded with a permanent freshness mod, the preservation time for uneaten food was limited. Once it lost freshness, it would lose its original buff effects, so it was better to consume it rather than let it go to waste.
As soon as Dragon asked, she swiftly pulled out a bunch of Vegetable Cocktails from her backpack—exactly one glass for everyone in the meeting room.
A group of people stared at her backpack with astonished eyes, completely unable to figure out how she produced so many out of thin air.
Never mind that the small backpack looked like it couldn’t possibly hold that much… How could so many unsealed cocktails be placed inside the backpack without spilling?! How were they arranged inside the backpack?!
Everyone was quite curious about Wendy, and Wendy routinely greeted every stranger, engaged in a brief conversation, and immediately moved on to the next person when she found no special triggers.
Moreover, she showed no particular reaction or differential treatment toward the significant differences in everyone’s body sizes, or even the fact that they seemed to be different species—after all, in Starvation, playable characters included not just fish-men, but also plant-people, robots, spider-people, and demons.
However, precisely because fish-man was an option among the initial player characters, Wendy curiously reached out and poked the revolutionary army soldier fish-man Hatchan, confirming that he was a friendly unit who wouldn’t attack her before disregarding him.
Hatchan, who had always been accustomed to discrimination from humans, was somewhat flustered by this strange attitude and even cast a pleading look toward Dragon.
Dragon, watching from the side, wasn’t surprised and even showed a faint smile—he knew that Wendy made no racial distinctions.
Through this series of interactions, everyone’s impression of Wendy was that of a polite yet aloof good person.
And everyone could see that she had a very good relationship with their leader.
Only after filling her backpack with basic supplies and feeling prepared to set sail at any time without worry did Wendy finally have free time to sit down and recount her past in detail to Dragon.
The specific process involved Dragon asking questions and her answering, because if left to her own devices, she would condense it into a story summary under a hundred words.
Dragon was already familiar with this conversational pattern of hers and skillfully extracted her experiences from the years after they parted at Loguetown.
“So… you were taken away by Doflamingo and stayed with the Donquixote Family for a while. Later, because Doflamingo killed his brother who was a marine spy, you chose to die to escape?” Dragon attempted to summarize what she had just said.
“Mm. But the reason I chose to escape through death wasn’t just because he killed Corazon—it was because he wanted to kill me,” Wendy refuted with a serious expression.
Dragon mentally noted the name Donquixote Doflamingo, deciding to keep an eye on him later. And also… that naval spy named Vergo. Though it was likely he’d changed his name after infiltrating the navy.
He wasn’t aware of the matters related to the Op-Op Fruit and the Celestial Dragons involved in this incident. Even though he sensed there were hidden complexities in this event, he wouldn’t press for details.
Though if he had asked, Wendy wouldn’t have minded telling him—she’d even consider whether it might trigger new plotlines.
“My story’s finished, Dragon. What about you? You have so many companions now—have you achieved your ideal?” Wendy asked, wide-eyed and curious.
The question made Dragon pause momentarily. He gazed at Wendy for a moment, his typically stern face softening into a slight smile as he replied, “It’s still in progress.”
Afterward, Dragon briefly shared his experiences since they parted.
He kept it concise, merely mentioning how he’d gathered his current companions and what they were doing now. He didn’t elaborate on specifics or dwell on difficulties, simply reporting the outcomes matter-of-factly.
Wendy learned that Dragon had established an organization called the Revolutionary Army with his comrades, and he was its leader. As for what the Revolutionary Army did…
After listening, Wendy tilted her head, pondered for a moment, and summarized to herself: “So you’re basically fighting the Celestial Dragons?”
Dragon: “…That’s not entirely wrong.”
Though the goal was to overthrow tyranny and liberate the people, Wendy had simply stated one partial outcome.
“That’s a good thing! I support you!” Wendy declared, clenching her fist.
Simultaneously, she saw the system log a new plotline—[Revolutionary Army’s Growth ①].
So Dragon really is someone with important plotlines too…—Wendy felt quite satisfied with this new life’s starting conditions.
Not only did she have new mods, but her death had also unlocked a “Supernatural” skin—a rare short straight hairstyle with a white dress, perfect for cosplaying as a ghost.
And now she’d unlocked a new series of plotlines from Dragon…
“So, are you on friendly terms with the Navy?” Wendy blinked and asked.
Dragon wasn’t surprised by the question. He’d known from the beginning that Wendy lacked common knowledge about these matters and genuinely didn’t care much about political situations or factions—especially since his own father was in the Navy, and that Corazon from her story was also Navy… Well, even he himself had once been a Navy officer.
“Not at all,” Dragon said seriously. “The Navy’s existence forms the foundation of the World Government’s rule. While it’s true many naval officers protect civilians, punish crimes, and deter pirates, as long as the institution’s ownership remains unchanged, its existence continues to oppress the people—not to mention the numerous officials who abuse their power to exploit civilians. To put it plainly, we stand in opposition to the Navy.”
Wendy understood—so this world was basically divided among the Navy, Revolutionary Army, and pirates in a three-way standoff? Indeed, triangles are the most stable shape!
It seems she’s already spent time with the pirate faction, and with Dragon in the revolutionary army camp, it’s time to check out the marine faction next!
“Though Uncle Garp might get angry,” Wendy said bluntly.
“That’s beyond my concern,” Dragon replied, completely dismissing any consideration for his father.
Wendy nodded understandingly. After all, when Dragon ran away from home before, Uncle Garp had been furious but powerless to stop him.
“So, do you want me to stay here?” Wendy asked curiously. “Doflamingo mentioned before that I’m quite valuable.”
…I really need to investigate this guy properly later. It feels like he might have used Wendy for some shady deeds.
While thinking this, Dragon spoke frankly: “Wendy, your Devil Fruit ability is unique. As support personnel, you could indeed help us greatly… but precisely because of that, I won’t ask you to stay. We’re gathered here by shared ideals, but you don’t possess the same aspirations and motivations as us. I can’t use our friendship to bind you to our cause.”
After saying this, Dragon specifically added: “This applies to finding new companions in the future too. Don’t agree to use your abilities just because it doesn’t matter to you – only do things because you genuinely want to do them.”
Actually, I just see it as equivalent exchange – they provide materials, I unlock technologies and craft items… Wendy silently rebutted in her heart.
But she didn’t voice her disagreement. Instead, she excitedly… directly crafted a Cartography Table on the spot and placed it with a thud: “I understand! More importantly, we made a promise – you need to share the worlds you’ve visited with me!”
Truth be told, she had wanted Dragon’s maps since their first meeting, but hadn’t found any gold to make the Cartography Table back then, forcing her to wait until now.
Even though the gold ultimately came from Dragon himself.
Dragon hadn’t expected her to change topics so abruptly. Looking at her, he sighed helplessly but resignedly began drawing maps for her.
At this step, he witnessed the marvel of this Cartography Table. Wendy simply gave him paper and pen, and as he stood beside the table she made and casually sketched a few lines, the pen disappeared.
Wendy took the map from his hands, unfolded it for a glance, and the map vanished from her grasp. She cheerfully told him: “You’ve been to so many places, Dragon! My map has expanded tremendously!”
…So visiting places enables sharing? What kind of Devil Fruit did Wendy actually eat?
Dragon grew curious again about what Wendy called the “Don’t Starve Fruit.”
“Dragon, would you like my map?” Wendy asked considerately.
Dragon initially intended to refuse, but his curiosity about how the map sharing worked made him swallow his words. “Alright, thank you,” he replied.
Wendy quickly crafted her own map at the Cartography Table and handed it to him.
Examining it, Dragon was astonished by the map’s detail. However, the map didn’t disappear in his hands… It seemed to be a special skill only Wendy could use?
Dragon glanced at Wendy, who had taken out a hammer from her backpack and was dismantling the Cartography Table to recover materials, then continued studying the map. That’s when he discovered a particularly notable location.
…Mary Geoise? The Celestial Dragons’ residence? Why does Wendy’s map include this area… She did say she only forms maps of places she’s visited…
Dragon looked up in astonishment. Wendy had already put away her hammer and was collecting the scattered materials over there. Noticing his gaze, she turned her head and gave him a completely unaware, puzzled look.
“…It’s nothing,” Dragon replied.
But in his heart, he began to form a vague speculation about Wendy’s origins.
Originally, both he and his father Garp had guessed she might be from a noble family… but now it seemed she might be from an even higher status? He didn’t know whether she had left that group due to her own personality issues, or if some incident had occurred… Perhaps it was related to her sister’s death as well.
Moreover, this could also explain why Wendy sometimes seemed to have a peculiar sense of detachment when looking at and interacting with people other than the companions she had chosen.
However, regardless of Wendy’s previous identity, the Wendy in his perception wouldn’t change because of this. She remained his friend.
…Well, although this friend could be a bit strange at times.—Watching as Wendy, curious about him staring at the map for so long, began testing her hammer on his house, Dragon silently added this thought in his mind.
Seeing that Wendy seemed completely unaware of what consequences might arise from giving Mary Geoise’s detailed address to him, the revolutionary army leader… Well, he shouldn’t ask too many questions either.
Knowing that Wendy supported his ideals was enough.
Dragon put away the map and stopped Wendy from demolishing his house before asking, “Wendy, what are your plans after this?”
“Hmm… I want to visit Uncle Garp,” Wendy thought for a moment before asking, “Do you have any messages you want me to bring him, Dragon?”
“Nothing really… Ah, wait!” Just as Dragon was about to add something, he saw Wendy, who had put away her hammer, stand there thinking for a moment before suddenly pulling out a heart and handing it to him, her face pale as she said, “This is…”
…What is this, a repeat performance! And since when was pulling out hearts so easy?!
“I know! I’ll take care of it like before! But next time you do something like this, warn me first!”
No matter how many times it happens, he’d never get used to this kind of scene!
Author’s Note: Dragon is truly emotionally stable and genuinely good.
The first companion you get in the starter village is really reliable [doge]
PS: This update is still an extra chapter. After considering everyone’s feedback, the daily regular updates will be postponed to 9 PM from now on. So there won’t be any update at midnight tonight, everyone don’t wait up!
There will be an extra chapter at 9 AM tomorrow! Currently, there are still two extra chapters remaining – one for reaching 30,000 nutrient solutions and one for a deep-water torpedo. From now on, regular updates will be at 9 PM, with extra chapters at 9 AM. This way everyone will have something to read before bed and after waking up!