The next morning, Robin woke up early and started her day's work.
She made a stone axe and hoe from wood and stone. Although they were a bit brittle, they were functional for chopping.
Next, she used reeds from the swamp to build a thatched hut.
However, it didn't turn out well. That night, a torrential downpour extinguished her outdoor stove and, in the latter half of the night, washed away the thatched hut.
So, for the next two days, Robin changed her approach.
Instead of building by the shore, she went into the forest, far from the coast, cleared a space, and began constructing a house.
She built a large stove, about seventy centimeters high above the ground, with a sizable pit beneath it. Then, she started building a mud house around the stove.
Robin used her strength to push over trees deep in the forest and brought back nine of them.
Four tree trunks, each about as thick as a bowl, were deeply embedded in the ground around the perimeter, with a taller tree erected in the very center.
Outside the eight surrounding logs, walls were constructed from mud bricks. The east side faced the coast, and a doorway was left on the south side of the wall. The north wall was built tightly around the stove, flush against it, with an opening in the wall connecting to one of the stove's two fire outlets. This opening was raised slightly above the surrounding ground to allow smoke to escape.
Additionally, small openings were left on the upper parts of the left and right walls to maintain air circulation.
Then, both the outside and inside of the mud brick walls were plastered with two layers of wet mud mixed with reeds.
Under the heat of the stove, the mud bricks and wet mud were dried separately, becoming very solid.
Next, Robin made roof tiles. Using two stones of different sizes, one flat and the other slightly curved, she first made thin mud bricks on the flat stone. She then placed these on the curved stone, pressing them to create an arc, forming roof tiles.
Robin then set up a slanted frame above the wooden structure and covered it with the mud tiles, creating a sloped roof.
When it rained, the water would flow down.
Using her Devil Fruit abilities, Robin finished the mud house in just two days. It could withstand wind and rain, and was capable of handling heavy downpours. The surrounding trees also helped to buffer the sea breeze.
With that, basic shelter was no longer an issue.
"That's about it."
Robin sat by the shore, finishing her explanation of what she had been doing to Xia Qiu.
"Mhm, mhm."
Xia Qiu nodded. He couldn't see where she had built the house because of the trees.
But he was very impressed by what she had accomplished. It would be difficult to do so much alone on a deserted island.
Robin looked at Xia Qiu and asked with a smile, "Can you understand what I'm explaining?"
"Mhm, mhm."
Xia Qiu nodded again.
Robin suddenly asked, "Do you know nouns like stove, mud brick, reed, wet mud, house, and roof, as well as verbs like clear, flatten, push down, embed, press, cover, and erect?"
Xia Qiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded again.
"Going deeper, do you know animals like bears, deer, and rabbits?" Robin asked again. Seeing Xia Qiu nod, she continued, "Can you understand verbs like slap, lift, like, study, and fly?"
Robin broke down these words and asked again. After receiving an answer, she slightly swayed her crossed legs, a thoughtful expression on her face. She then said, "These words aren't particularly profound, but some of them cover a vast range of knowledge. As a fish, you can only externally receive nouns, and you can't perform verbs yourself. So, if you want to understand, someone must have taught you these nouns and verbs.
This leads to two possibilities. One is long-term instruction, imparting the meaning of each word to you. This would require regular, scheduled knowledge infusion over an extended period. Considering your basic math skills, this period could even exceed five years. The second possibility is that you lived in human society for a long time, witnessed these things, and learned them through daily life. However, you live in the water, and your inability to come ashore makes this unlikely."
Robin looked at Xia Qiu and asked, "So, has someone been teaching you language and words for a long time?"
"That's right."
Xia Qiu thought about it and realized she was correct, so he nodded heavily.
Robin looked at Xia Qiu and said, "Then this person couldn't have just randomly encountered you, realized you were intelligent, and started teaching you. It must have been someone specifically nurturing you. Because many of the words involved, they couldn't demonstrate to you. In fact, for ordinary people, they wouldn't even try to get a fish to do these things. Therefore, you must have received concentrated, long-term instruction. Considering that your intelligence is quite extraordinary, it seems you didn't gain intelligence by chance but were nurtured and taught for a long time. It seems, barring any unforeseen circumstances, you must have come from a laboratory or research institution. Am I correct?"
Xia Qiu's mouth fell open. According to his own thoughts, this was the only logical conclusion.
And it was a good explanation, so Xia Qiu admitted it.
"So that's how it is."
Robin said with some emotion, "Someone is actually researching how to give creatures intelligence. Besides you, are there any other intelligent creatures?"
"No," Xia Qiu replied.
"Only you?"
Robin nodded. After confirming Xia Qiu's identity, she began to ask him more questions.
For example, about climate, history, physics, biology, interpersonal relationships, literature, and some questions about morality and thought.
"I have a relative understanding of weather and biology, know very little about history but grasp some historical trends. I also possess basic physics knowledge, have my own values, can think, and can distinguish between good and evil."
Robin said softly, "Your grasp of some knowledge exceeds that of most adults, and you have sufficiently mature thoughts. Apart from the limitations of your physical form, you are essentially no different from a human."
Saying this, Robin looked at Xia Qiu and said, "If you weren't a fish, I would truly think you were a person."
"Because I have a human soul,"
Xia Qiu shook his head.
Robin smiled and said, "Anyway, I can't leave the island right now, so from now on, I will teach you some knowledge and tell you about the history and culture of this world. Are you willing?"
"Yes, I am willing."
Xia Qiu quickly nodded. He knew very little about this world and hoped to learn more about it.
As for Robin, she was likely one of the most learned people in this world. Not only was she a historian and linguist, but even if her other knowledge wasn't as specialized, her life experiences, observations, and breadth of knowledge were all extremely rich.
She was probably the most suitable person to help him understand this world.
Robin looked at Xia Qiu and said with a smile, "But you have to grant me one condition."
A condition? What condition?
It wouldn't be to shorten the agreed-upon time, would it?
Well, if she asked, he'd be willing to shorten it by three months. If it were half a year, he could reluctantly agree.
Xia Qiu looked at Robin curiously. Robin smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't make demands about the time."
"Then what condition do you have?" Xia Qiu asked, a little confused.
"I want you to help me bring a ship," Robin said slowly.
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