Chapter 31: Straw Hat, Straw Hat
Originally, Shane had planned to leave Shimotsuki Village right after breakfast and set off for the final stop on his wool-fleecing journey: the Goa Kingdom.
However, no one wanted him to leave, and they insisted on him staying for one more night.
That evening, before bed, a large group of them gathered around the hearth in the main hall, chatting by the fire in a relaxed and leisurely atmosphere. During this time, the two little ones, Zoro and Sanji, snuck some rice wine, got caught, and were soundly beaten by Zeff, adding a bit of cheerful energy to the air.
Shane, slightly tipsy, got into high spirits and talked a lot with everyone.
They learned about Cocoyasi Village, that he had two cute younger sisters, and that his hometown's orange grove was beautiful, producing large, sweet, and juicy citrus fruits.
Shane also considered it. To be on the safe side, should he wait until next spring and then invite Zeff or Koshiro to stay in Cocoyasi Village for a few months? That way, dealing with the Arlong Pirates would be a piece of cake.
But after some thought, he ultimately didn't say it out loud.
He hadn't even gotten the Straw Hat yet, and his points had already exceeded ten thousand. It was safe to say that he could basically pick and choose from the various items and manuals in the system's Trading Market from now on. In that case, if he still couldn't deal with the Arlong Pirates after a year of hard training, what was the difference between him and a useless bum? He might as well just forget about setting out to sea and slit his own throat with the Masamune.
The next day.
Kuina, Zeff, Sanji, Zoro... a group of people reluctantly saw Shane off at the pier, including Junichi, who had been missing since early yesterday morning.
It was only then that Shane learned that ever since this kid had returned to Shimotsuki Village, he had been training desperately like a man possessed. From five in the morning until midnight, he didn't even stop for lunch. His intensity was even more terrifying than Zoro's.
This made Shane look at him with a bit of surprise.
In his opinion, Junichi's talent for swordsmanship was not as good as Zoro's, and far from Kuina's. But talent was never the only factor that determined a person's upper limit. As long as one put in far more effort and sweat than others, the results would often never disappoint.
After all, going from being too weak to even truss a chicken to becoming a hero of the new generation of Marines only took two years.
"Why do you keep staring at me, Boss?"
Junichi was busy helping Zoro move supplies onto the boat. Sensing Shane's gaze, he couldn't help but look up at him in confusion.
"I'm a little worried about you," Shane said half-jokingly. "I'm really afraid that in a few months, you'll just set out to sea on your own, and I'll have to find a way to come collect your corpse."
Did he see through my determination?
Junichi pursed his lips. He suddenly looked up and grinned. "What's that? That's not a very funny joke. Don't worry, Boss. I'm not some hot-headed idiot. I won't do anything stupid without being absolutely sure."
"Wait, what are you guys talking about? Are you speaking in riddles? It's giving me a headache," Zoro said, looking from one to the other with a bewildered expression.
"It's not that you're getting a headache, it's that your head actually hurts," Shane said, glaring at the moss-head.
This guy had just been beaten by Zeff last night, and this morning he was beaten up again by Kuina during their spar. The red bumps on his head still hadn't faded. Now he was out here in the sea breeze; it'd be a miracle if his head didn't hurt.
He turned back to Junichi.
"Anyway, as long as you know what you're doing. Don't forget that you're not alone. No matter where you go in the future, you'll still have so many comrades to fight alongside."
After giving his earnest advice, Shane waved goodbye to the others on the shore, finally pressed the button, and started the boat, heading towards the horizon.
This small boat with its hidden black-tech engine was a temporary loan. It only took two days to get from Shimotsuki Village to the nearest large island, and Zeff was planning to go to that island tomorrow to buy ingredients. So, once Shane arrived, he just needed to dock the boat at the pier and leave it. He could then peacefully take a passenger ship from that town to the Goa Kingdom. Zeff would naturally bring the boat back to Shimotsuki Village.
Six days later.
In the depths of the Goa Kingdom, on Mt. Colubo.
In the dense forest, Shane quickly climbed to the top of a towering tree in a few steps, gazing at the vast, endless mountain forest around him.
After a long moment of confusion, he rubbed his temples with a headache.
"This was a real miscalculation..."
He had successfully arrived in the Goa Kingdom the morning before last. However, a full fifty-plus hours had passed, and he was still stuck wandering in this mountain range.
It wasn't that he had caught Zoro's "gets lost" disease. It was that Mt. Colubo was far, far more vast than he had anticipated...
Having grown up in Cocoyasi Village, where all the surrounding islands were small, he had become completely accustomed to the miniature landmasses. Coming to the Goa Kingdom, he finally re-experienced what it was like to be unable to see the horizon from a high place...
"It would be great if Luffy were still in Foosha Village," Shane sighed.
A year ago, Luffy was still in Foosha Village. But then the incident with Shanks happened, and when Garp found out, he quickly moved him to Mt. Colubo and entrusted him to the mountain bandit Dadan to raise. That was what led to him meeting Ace and Sabo, encountering the Bluejam Pirates, forming the ASL brotherhood, and all that...
Thinking about it carefully, Sabo should have already been taken to the Revolutionary Army headquarters by Dragon a few months ago, leaving only the two brothers, Luffy and Ace, in the mountains.
Shane felt that his luck on this trip had probably been used up when he ran into the Lord of the Coast and Zeff. Trying to find these two little rascals in this vast mountain range by himself was indeed a bit difficult. But it shouldn't be so hard that after searching day and night for over fifty hours, he still had nothing to show for it, right?
Those two troublemakers couldn't sit still. Being semi-free-range in these mountains, they were always making a fuss everywhere. He should have been able to find some trace of their activities.
"Sigh."
After several nights of poor sleep, his whole body ached. Shane simply leaned against the tree trunk high up, sat down, and took out a few pieces of bread from his backpack to chew on dryly.
He had filled his stomach in a small town outside the mountains before entering, but even so, his portable rations were almost gone. If he couldn't find them today, he might have to hunt some wild animals in the mountains and roast them. He didn't have any seasonings with him, so he imagined the taste wouldn't be very good.
After finishing the bread, which barely filled his stomach, Shane took out a straw hat from his backpack and spun it on his index finger in the wind.
—It looked ordinary, a bit old. The brim, woven from straw, was a little loose, and the bright red ribbon had faded to a dull, dark crimson. If you brought it close to your nose, you could still smell a greasy, oily scent.
He had bought it for two hundred Belli from a farmer in the small town before entering the mountains, just waiting to get Luffy's straw hat so he could pull a switcheroo.
In fact, there were many shops in the city, and similar straw hats were easy to buy. The reason he insisted on buying this smelly, second-hand one was simply because the ones sold in the shops were all too new.
Luffy was a simple-minded idiot, yes, but if his beloved straw hat suddenly became brand new and clean, he would probably be able to tell at a glance.
This move, this move was called "details determine success."
Shane was even thinking that if he ran into Luffy again in the future, he might be able to harvest another wave of points. So, it was best if the fact that the genuine straw hat had been swapped out wasn't revealed just yet.