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Day Four of Survival: I Am Now on My Way to Find My Teammates…
Garp ultimately stopped Wendy.
At first, Wendy had argued vehemently: “As long as I bring enough wooden planks, I can patch up my little boat! It won’t break!”
Looking at the circular raft that appeared to be no more than five meters in diameter, Garp felt it could at best be called a circular plank – calling it a boat would be an insult to actual boats.
Forget sailing the open seas – if it could navigate even a hundred meters, that would only be due to Wendy’s exceptional craftsmanship combined with the sheer luck of encountering perfectly calm weather.
Garp wisely prevented this suicidal attempt and offered a solution: “Stop this nonsense. If you really want to find Dragon… come with me for now.”
Wendy turned her head with a surprised look: “Huh? Uncle Garp, are you looking for Dragon too?”
“Though I’m not exactly looking for him… I know where he’ll be going.” Garp let out a long sigh. “Anyway, if you insist on going, temporarily follow my lead.”
Wendy agreed.
The main reason was that the Navy ship Garp commanded looked much more impressive than hers – its durability appeared exceptionally high just at first glance.
Wendy walked all over the Navy ship with an envious expression – she needed to map the area.
She appeared completely natural, but the other naval soldiers on board were all startled by her presence. Most of them stammered, not daring to speak to Wendy directly, only whispering among themselves after she passed by.
“Who was that young lady just now? So cute…”
“No idea, but she seems to be with Vice Admiral Garp.”
“Looking at her clothing and appearance, she seems like nobility we’ve seen before…”
“Impossible! Nobles would never be as polite as Miss Wendy!”
“Right! And she even cooked in the kitchen! Nobles would never cook for themselves!”
“Eh? Miss Wendy cooked?! Is tonight’s meal prepared by Miss Wendy?!”
“Ah, no, Miss Wendy kept everything she made for herself, didn’t leave any behind.”
Wendy didn’t know about their private whispers, or if she did, she wouldn’t care – she might even consider them just background NPCs adding atmosphere to the game.
After preparing food and ensuring she had sufficient supplies to avoid starving abruptly from suddenly being unable to find food, she sat swinging her legs while reading the letter Dragon had given her.
Dragon’s letter wasn’t long, but the wording was sincere and briefly explained the situation.
Wendy summarized it into two main points – first, an apology to her, stating his ambition to set sail to liberate all humanity, and explaining that he didn’t tell her because he felt she wasn’t suited to accompany him; second, instructions for her, indicating that her unique qualities might put her in danger if known by certain people, advising her to conceal them and avoid exposing herself easily before others.
Reading this, Wendy felt some regret but wasn’t particularly disheartened.
It was after Wendy finished reading the letter that Garp quietly approached.
He specifically observed Wendy’s expression first, and only after confirming her mood was normal did he clear his throat and ask: “What did Dragon tell you?”
“He said he’s setting sail with the mission of liberating all humanity, and couldn’t take me along.” Wendy’s tone carried some regret.
Garp continued watching her carefully: “You… aren’t angry?”
“Why would I be angry?” Wendy was puzzled, having clear self-awareness. “I am indeed relatively weak. Taking me along to explore the world would lower efficiency.”
Although she had Abigail as an overpowered area-of-effect attacker, Wendy herself was quite fragile. Moreover, Abigail could get injured too. If there were too many enemies or a high-damage single-target opponent, Wendy simply couldn’t win. In previous game versions, she could rely on positioning and exploiting mechanics, but in this holographic world, enemies wouldn’t wait for you to attack first.
She wasn’t worried in Windmill Village because the enemies in the starter village all had low combat power!
…Such clear thinking! What a sensible child!—This only made Garp feel increasingly displeased with his own son: “But in that case, he’ll probably not return home for a long time. Who knows when you’ll meet again…”
“That’s alright, isn’t it? We’ll eventually meet.” Wendy smiled. “The longer we’re apart, the wider the new world map he can share with me when we reunite.”
Garp: “…”
Garp clutched his chest, feeling deeply moved—what a wonderful girl! Even if just as a companion, that brat Dragon was getting lucky!
As for Wendy’s actual thoughts…
Well… I’ll gather some black feathers and papyrus later to make some map scrolls. When I meet Dragon again, he can sync his maps with me! The new areas my friend unlocks will become my maps too!—Wendy thought delightfully.
“But I still need to meet with Dragon to discuss something.” Wendy expressed some slight regret—although the Starvation Game System could add friends, it couldn’t send messages to companions.
Once they lost contact, it was truly lost contact. Only when two people were relatively close would a mini-map icon appear. Meeting again after separation really depended on some luck.
Garp agreed on this point: “Don’t worry, you’ll definitely meet… When the time comes, you can come with me to Loguetown.”
“Loguetown?” Wendy looked curious. “What kind of place is that? Why would Dragon definitely go there?”
If Garp had previously been hesitant and leaning toward not telling Wendy too much, after hearing her open-minded declaration about “sharing world maps,” he felt relieved, believing a child with such temperament didn’t need worrying about.
So Garp didn’t hold back, especially since this was already major news announced to the whole world. He replied in a somewhat solemn tone: “That’s the birthplace of Pirate King Roger… and he’s about to be publicly executed in Loguetown.”
Wendy had heard of the Pirate King.
Having been in Windmill Village for so long, initially talking with various villagers, and with Windmill Village being a frequent port call for pirates, the title Pirate King naturally came up often in conversations.
The Pirate King was named Gol D. Roger, who conquered the Grand Line. Among pirates, he was known as the man possessing the greatest wealth and treasure, someone everyone aspired to become.
Even Wendy admired him. Though she wanted to become his companion, because in her eyes the Pirate King was someone who had unlocked the entire map collection. Becoming his companion would grant her the complete world map, instantly advancing her exploration progress by 80%—essentially the must-have partner for speedrun mode.
After completing his journey, the Pirate King Roger had vanished without a trace… No one expected his reappearance to be for a public execution by the Marines.
Wendy was curious, but Garp refused to take her to see Roger, so she had no choice but to stay put quietly.
There was no helping it—Roger was now a major criminal. It was one thing for Garp, a Vice Admiral specifically requested by Roger, to visit him, but Wendy, an unrelated member, couldn’t just be brought along casually.
The Marines still had their discipline to uphold.
While Garp was working, Wendy wandered around on her own. When she reached restricted areas and was stopped, she obediently refrained from trespassing. In her mind, those were simply zones not yet open for exploration.
It wasn’t that she had high morals and wouldn’t trespass—she took one look at the two guards standing over two meters tall, then at her own small frame and the blazing sun outside… and decisively decided to come back another day.
After all, she had already unlocked the map and could see the routes.
Once she had explored all the accessible areas, she even pulled out a fishing rod and started fishing at the dock—time to unlock a new recipe! Fish could be used to make fish steak!
Unlike meatballs and meat soup, which mainly restored satiety, fish steak could restore extra health. One serving of fish steak restored 40 HP. Considering her total health was only 150 points, just four servings would fully restore her health, even overflowing!
While Wendy was quietly fishing and reeling in a good catch, someone approached her.
Wendy just glanced sideways at him—a curly-haired man nearly three meters tall. He looked younger than Garp but older than Dragon.
He even had to bend down to look at her: “Where did you come from, little girl?”
Wendy glanced at his Marine uniform and answered obediently, “I came with Uncle Garp.”
“Garp, huh…” He showed a hint of understanding and sat down beside her. “So where is Vice Admiral Garp now?”
“Uncle Garp went to deal with Pirate King Roger’s matter.”
“I see… What do you think about this?”
So talkative… Is he an NPC with story dialogue?—Wendy reeled in another fish, glanced at him, and answered honestly, “It’s a bit of a shame.”
Her response seemed to surprise him, and he turned to look at her: “Hmm?”
“I originally wanted to invite Roger to be my companion,” Wendy said, showing genuine regret.
“Why? Do you want to be a pirate too?”
“No. I just think this world is too big, and exploring it is troublesome. I thought if Roger became my companion, I could see the world map all at once.”
The visitor looked away and nodded: “I see… That really is a shame.”
“It’s alright. Even if I got the world map, I’d still want to travel everywhere and see what this world has to offer. Exploring without someone else’s map would be more fun anyway.” As she spoke, Wendy nodded to herself in agreement.
After all, in sandbox games, uncovering the map is part of the fun.
Her words made the visitor look at her again: “How open-minded… But aren’t you afraid of encountering danger?”
“I’m scared, so I need teammates.” Wendy put another fish into her bag as she replied, “I’m actually on my way to find my teammates right now.”
“You sound like you’d make an excellent adventurer…” the visitor remarked with admiration. After a moment of silence, he stood up. “My name is Kuzan.”
“I’m Wendy.” Wendy looked up at him, thought for a moment, then took some fresh fish meat from her bag and handed it to him. “This is a greeting gift.”
Kuzan stared at the fish meat being offered to him and couldn’t help falling into silence.
As a Navy Vice Admiral, he had initially just found it curious to see a young girl fishing calmly in Navy territory, so he came to investigate… Later, watching her fish with incredible speed and somehow making the caught fish disappear, he realized this girl who came with Garp had her own special qualities.
Since she came with Garp and posed no threat, having satisfied his curiosity, he hadn’t planned to disturb her fishing… But now another big question emerged: When were these fish killed? Could this little girl’s ability be to kill fish out of thin air?
Kuzan didn’t refuse the girl’s kindness and accepted the fish meat. “Thank you… but why has it become fish meat?”
Wendy blinked her big eyes, looking utterly innocent: “Because each slot in the inventory can only hold one fish, but if you kill the fish and turn it into fish meat, you can stack them.”
Kuzan: “…” He didn’t understand at all, but felt it would be inappropriate to ask further.
After Kuzan silently took the fish meat and left, Garp returned with a deeply furrowed brow.
Wendy put away her fishing rod and walked over. She had initially wanted to talk about the new person she met, but seeing his expression immediately shifted her attention: “What’s wrong? Uncle Garp, did something happen?”
“Ah, Wendy…” Garp looked at her, hesitated as if wanting to say something, but ultimately shook his head. “It’s nothing… After you visit Dragon in Loguetown, are you planning to go with him?”
Author’s Note:
I still really love eating fish steak. In summer, after working in the fields, going to the pond to fish and instantly getting 99 – it’s absolutely exhilarating! [shy]
Of course, if we’re talking about farming gameplay, then dragon fruit pie is the way to go for health regeneration – also super satisfying.