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Day Three of Survival: We Will Always Be Together! (Catch…)
It was no wonder Garp’s voice trembled as he spoke—the scene he had just witnessed was overwhelmingly heartwarming, a word that logically shouldn’t be associated with his rebellious son.
Dragon fell silent for a moment upon hearing the question before replying in a steady tone, “Companions.”
Garp stared at the wreath of flowers adorning his son’s head, his expression full of disbelief.
While Wendy was outside gathering ingredients, Garp was busy arguing with his son.
“How did you get along so well with Wendy?” Garp’s tone held genuine confusion—after all, his son seemed like the type to scare little girls to tears.
Dragon could understand his father’s meaning: “Wendy is very brave.”
She was, after all, a girl who routinely kept company with her sister’s spirit, ventured out alone, and could take on a group of pirates single-handedly with a spear. Even when warned to be careful, she would simply reply, “It’s fine, Abigail handles area attacks,” and continue doing as she pleased.
Moreover… there was still a beating heart stored in his backpack.
If one were to dig deeper, he was the one who had been frightened by her.
Taking the opportunity, Dragon asked in return, “Father, do you know anything about Wendy’s background?”
“Huh? Isn’t she just a lone little girl?” Garp replied carelessly, already heading to open the refrigerator. He was surprised to find it filled with meatballs. “Did Wendy make all these? She’s quite impressive… and they taste good too…”
Dragon stopped him, saying, “Wendy likes the meatballs. You can have the meat soup over there—it’s more filling.”
He called them Wendy’s favorite because she often ate the meatballs herself and gave him the meat soup, claiming that she wasn’t hungry enough to make the soup worthwhile or something along those lines.
But Dragon wasn’t picky, and after trying it, he found that the meat soup was indeed more satiating—almost twice as filling as the meatballs.
Garp wasn’t picky either, and since the meat soup tasted just fine, he took it out and started eating immediately. Between bites, he asked, “You and Wendy get along really well. Are you still planning to wander around? Isn’t it about time you came back and rejoined the Marines?”
“I’m not going back,” Dragon flatly refused the most important part of the question, then corrected his father’s misunderstanding, “And like I said before, Wendy and I are just companions.”
Seeing that his son’s expression showed no hint of deception, Garp felt a weight lift from his heart—not that he thought his son wasn’t good enough or disapproved of them as a couple… It was mainly because he knew his son’s views on the Celestial Dragons and nobles, and Wendy clearly didn’t seem like an ordinary commoner. She resembled a runaway child.
Even in a world without Romeo and Juliet, Garp, as a seasoned and respected Marine, understood that a union under such conflicting circumstances would not end well.
The conversation between father and son didn’t last long, as Wendy returned with more meat.
After tasting the delicious meat soup, Garp grew quite curious about Wendy and moved closer to observe her cooking method. He watched as Wendy first placed a piece of oddly colored, purple-glowing meat into the large pot, added three brightly colored mushrooms, gave it a couple of stirs, and then covered the pot with a lid.
Garp, who was far from refined in his lifestyle—even downright rough—was stunned by her cooking approach. He recognized that both the meat and mushrooms were poisonous!
Garp decided to speak up: “Wendy, those ingredients you just used are toxic…”
“Huh? I know that. Monster meat and mushrooms can’t be eaten raw. But it’s fine once they’re cooked!” Wendy flashed a big smile as the large pot beside her began bubbling with the sound of boiling.
…Since when does cooking eliminate toxicity?!
Garp turned to his son with a shocked expression. Dragon wasn’t idly watching either—he was helping Wendy move boxes.
Wendy circled around him, praising enthusiastically: “Having Dragon around really makes things easier! I can’t move boxes and have to dismantle and rebuild them, but only Dragon can actually relocate these!”
Garp: “…”
He could move ten of those shabby boxes in one go! And Dragon could do it too, so why move them one by one?! With all this enthusiasm, are you really just companions?!
Garp was shocked. Garp was confused.
During this interlude, the bubbling pot finally quieted down.
Wendy went over and lifted the lid, revealing three enormous meatballs inside. Their color looked completely normal, showing no signs of toxicity.
Garp stared in disbelief—what kind of principle was this?
Dragon, having finished moving the boxes, came over to explain: “Wendy only needs one portion of meat and three portions of vegetables or fruits to make meatballs. Her ability allows her to produce identical meatballs regardless of what meat or produce she uses, as long as the portions are equal.”
Garp: “…Oh.”
Though he didn’t really understand, asking for clarification now would make him seem foolish… Well, anyway, did that mean the toxic ingredients became safe after cooking?—Garp suddenly felt he had achieved some enlightenment.
Then, the next day, Garp ended up growing mushrooms on his head after mistakenly eating poisonous mushrooms. And these mushrooms would multiply whenever plucked.
Dragon found himself quite busy—restraining his father who was hallucinating and acting wild from the mushroom poisoning, while simultaneously pulling back Wendy who was delighted to see the mushrooms on Garp’s head and wanted to harvest them for cooking.
Wendy expressed regret: “Why can’t we pick them? This way we could quickly gather a bunch of mushrooms without worrying about vegetable shortages.”
“…” Dragon remained silent for a long moment before finally saying, “Having Devil Fruit powers doesn’t mean you have to become a devil.”
Wendy: “?”
Wendy didn’t take her companion’s advice seriously, but Uncle Garp had been kind to her—he was the first friendly sentient NPC she’d encountered in this world, and she didn’t want anything bad to happen to him. She specially made a sanity-restoring flower crown and placed it on Garp’s head, genuinely wishing there were bananas available here—banana jelly and banana milkshakes were such convenient sanity-restoring foods! They were her favorite dishes too, far more practical than flower crowns!
Fortunately, Garp was thick-skinned and tough, so the mushroom’s toxicity was nothing to him, and he quickly recovered.
After recovering, Garp deeply realized that Wendy must be a Godly Chef—no matter how stale or poisonous the ingredients were, she could turn them into equally delicious food! And each portion was perfectly consistent!
But as he watched Dragon already helping Wendy fence off the cultivated land behind the house, he found himself viewing his son through tinted glasses once again.
This peaceful life didn’t last long before it was abruptly interrupted—Garp received a call from Marine Headquarters stating that Pirate King Roger had turned himself in.
Garp’s expression turned grave, sensing an impending storm.
Then, when he searched around and found his son missing, his face grew even more somber—that troublemaker had sneaked off again! He even left a letter for Garp to pass to Wendy! He must have eavesdropped on the call and sensed something! Just knew he couldn’t stay put!
After cursing his son eight hundred times in his heart, Garp resignedly decided to carry out the task.
Of course, before handing over the letter, he made sure to ask: “Wendy… what do you think of Dragon?”
Wendy blinked: “Dragon is the companion I’ve chosen!”
Hmm… so it really is just companionship.—Garp secretly breathed a sigh of relief and asked again: “So if Dragon were to leave you…”
“That won’t happen.” Wendy interrupted him, her tone matter-of-fact. “We’ll always be together!”
After all, they were already teammates! How could they possibly split up!
…Wait a minute! Does Dragon even know about this!—Garp now felt that if Dragon were in front of him, he’d definitely give his son a good thrashing. But since he wasn’t around, Garp steeled himself and delivered the message: “Well, the thing is, Dragon has probably already set sail…”
“Eh? He’s already left?” Wendy shot to her feet, her face full of disbelief. “He moves way too fast!”
In Wendy’s mind, the concept of leaving without saying goodbye didn’t exist. To her, Dragon setting sail = her little buddy setting sail = her companion going ahead to scout the map.
According to the usual process, since their home was established and supplies were stocked, the next step should indeed be venturing out to explore the map and find new resources. She’d just been slacking off and hadn’t taken that step yet.
Upon learning that her companion had already set out, Wendy immediately sprang into action: “Then I should head out too!”
Garp stared dumbfounded as the golden-haired girl, whom he expected to be heartbroken and despondent, completely skipped that stage and began packing her bags, slinging her backpack over her shoulder, and dashing toward the shore… then hopping onto a raft that looked like it could be capsized by a single wave, appearing desperately eager to set sail.
“…Wait! Hold on a second! Don’t be so hasty! Even if you go now, you won’t catch up to Dragon! And you’ll die sailing out like that! Oh right, I have a letter from Dragon for you! Read it first! What if he’s not even worth chasing after!”
Author’s note:
Time to change maps! [Sunglasses]