"It seems the opponent is not as simple as we imagined. They actually possess a swordsman on the level of a Vice Admiral Candidate." Garp raised his head, looking at the sea ahead and laughing.
"Hahahahaha." He immediately burst into uncontrollable laughter.
"Is this supposed to be a welcoming gift? I find you more and more interesting, Bogard, boys, hurry up and keep moving forward."
"Yes."
"Understood, Mr. Garp."
Due to the recent encounter, their warship had been forced to stop, but now, following Garp's words, they quickly rallied and immediately continued the pursuit...
"So that's how it is." After listening to Kuina's account, Lu Yue now understood the full story behind Kuina.
It was actually quite similar to what she had previously suspected.
But she knew the concept of parallel worlds, and she felt she might have transmigrated into one of the tens of thousands of Pirate Worlds.
Furthermore, the past was slightly different, but at least in the world she was currently in.
Kuina had not died from falling down the stairs; that reason was just Genzo deceiving Zoro.
As for the purpose, it was to allow Kuina to train on the high seas without any worries.
But the effect of this training, heh, if she hadn't appeared, Kuina might have remained stagnant, or perhaps even been killed not long ago.
Genzo's vision was still too limited. Of course, the main reason was that the imagination of the people in the Pirate World seemed restricted.
Take the matter of the Devil Fruit, for example. How many Devil Fruits, if obtained by a modern transmigrator like her, someone who has read countless comics, should have at least dozens of abilities developed, reaching the level of a true Divine Fruit.
But no matter what, Kuina had now become her crewmate, her first crewmate.
She had already been raised to the Vice Admiral Candidate realm through the rewards Lu Yue obtained from the mission, and she was a pure swordsman at the Vice Admiral Candidate realm.
"From now on, you are my first mate."
However, due to Lu Yue's suggestion, Kuina's position on the ship was essentially the same as Zoro's position in the Straw Hat Pirates; although she was a swordsman, she served as the first mate.
And just like Zoro, Kuina had accumulated a lot of experience over the years working in the East Blue Bounty Hunter world, enabling her to face all kinds of problems and people.
"Alright, no problem." Kuina agreed immediately.
She also believed that with her years of experience, she could handle this duty, and she knew this was a sign of trust and affirmation from Lu Yue, so she would not let Lu Yue down.
"What are your plans next, Captain?" Kuina asked.
"Well... do you know if we can reach a town by continuing in this direction?" Lu Yue asked with an embarrassed smile.
"What? Are you saying? We are currently just drifting aimlessly on the sea?" Kuina said, widening her eyes.
Her face was full of disbelief, as if telling Lu Yue that she must be joking.
"I'm not a Navigator, nor do I have a map or a Log Pose or anything. Before, I was actually similar to you, but I was constantly practicing hard on an uninhabited Desolate Island. I recently achieved great success, which is why I decided to set sail and fight for the goal I set long ago."
"I met you shortly after setting sail, and you know the rest. Right now, I planned to just leave it to chance and see if we could encounter a town. Do you know the way? If you do, we can lock onto a direction and move forward."
Lu Yue quickly explained, and then surprisingly, she directly passed the problem to Kuina.
"Well..., if we were still in the merchant ship's original location, it would be fine, but we've been out here for so long now, I don't know either," Kuina said with a wry smile upon hearing this.
She was right; if it had been earlier, she could have determined the direction, but now she truly couldn't.
"In that case, we can only continue like this for now. I plan that after arriving at a town, if possible, we should first change ships, resupply our materials, and then gather some intelligence, as we still need more partners to join us."
Lu Yue waved her hand, saying that it seemed they could only proceed this way for now, relying on luck and drifting with the wind. She had originally thought she could rely on Kuina a little.
"It seems there's no other choice." Kuina could only force a smile. Since Lu Yue had already stated a detailed plan, she decided to drop the matter.
At this moment, they still didn't know that the Navy was pursuing them from behind, and not just any ordinary Navy.
However, even if Lu Yue knew, she wouldn't worry, especially since Garp and Bogard were masters of pure swordsmanship, martial arts, and Haki.
Furthermore, Navy cannon fire was a physical attack and couldn't harm her at all, because she possessed the Void Body granted by the gliza template.
Even if there were energy attacks, she wasn't afraid, as she had two skills specifically designed for energy absorption and shielding.
Moreover, the Void Body could deflect all kinds of long-range abilities.
Right now, her mastery and progression of the gliza template were still incomplete, but once they increased, especially upon entering the third evolutionary form, which was the Ultimate Form, nothing in this world would be able to threaten her.
Because Gliza was simply that dominating; its very existence was a bug.
"Hmm? Hahaha, Kuina, look ahead quickly."
But suddenly, Lu Yue's eyes first froze, and then she immediately burst into laughter, pointing forward.
"This... it seems our luck is truly good." Kuina looked in the direction she was pointing, she was startled for a moment, and then she immediately laughed out loud, saying.
At this moment, in front of the two girls, right in the direction their pirate ship was sailing, they could already see an island town slowly rising from the horizon.
This was great; they had just decided to rely on luck, and now a town appeared before them so quickly.
So they truly were lucky; it felt like heaven was favoring them.
"Hahaha, I'll take the helm, Kuina, the sails are yours. There's a port over there, let's dock the ship."
"Okay, haha, we are so lucky."
After a bout of playful laughter, the two girls immediately began maneuvering the ship, and under their joint control, the pirate ship smoothly docked at the port.
"Ah, pirates."
"Why are there pirates?"
"They aren't here to burn, kill, and pillage, are they?"
"Help! I don't want to die yet."
But seeing the arrival of the pirate ship terrified the residents who were at the port.
Some people were so frightened that they were kneeling on the ground in fear.
But soon, they were stunned, because they saw two girls jump off the ship, and no one else followed. To them, the two girls didn't look like pirates.
"What exactly is going on?"
"You ask me? Who should I ask?"
These people instantly became confused.
"Everyone, don't worry, we have no ill intentions. This ship isn't ours either. We will leave after gathering some supplies," Lu Yue immediately stepped forward and said with a smile. She was not the kind of malicious pirate.
Freedom, adventure, and battle were the pirate life and career she pursued.
"Oh, I see."
"This young lady doesn't look like she's lying."
"Yeah, these two girls don't look like bad people either."
"Everyone relax, they are just ordinary tourists."
Hearing these words, the residents suddenly realized the truth, and their initial tension eased. It was fine as long as they weren't lawless pirates, and they quickly dispersed.
Kuina and Lu Yue immediately walked into the town. Through some inquiries, they learned that this was Hunter Town, considered a decent town in the East Blue.
Of course, the most important thing was that the supplies here were relatively complete, making it a good place for procurement.
The two immediately began purchasing supplies, such as clothing, food, water, maps, and compasses.
Kuina had originally wanted to buy a whetstone, but after hearing Lu Yue say that the demon blade thousand blades didn't need one at all, and that every battle and slaughter was the best chance to sharpen it, she gave up on the idea.
She dropped the idea.
Soon, the two split up. Kuina went to the town's shipyard to buy a slightly smaller ship.
After all, Lu Yue knew that if they went to a certain place, they should be able to exchange for a good ship, one that should at least be no worse than the going merry.
So this current ship was only temporary. Furthermore, they didn't spend much money on supplies, as they were only buying enough for the two of them.
It was enough to last them ten days at sea.
As for Lu Yue, although she told Kuina she was going to gather intelligence, she actually just wanted to wander around the town for a while. After all, she was a shut-in in her previous life, and now that her physique and strength had improved so much, she naturally wanted to enjoy shopping.
If nothing else, she could check for omissions and see if there were any supplies they hadn't bought.
The two girls quickly separated. Kuina didn't suspect anything and had no idea that her Captain was simply indulging her playful side. Otherwise, if she knew, she might draw her sword in anger.
After all, Kuina was still unaware of Lu Yue's true abilities, so it was genuinely possible that she might do something like that.
Lu Yue wandered along the main street. Due to her beauty and good figure, she immediately attracted the attention of many people around her, though they were merely taking a look, simply gazing at a beautiful woman.
Lu Yue could also tell that the residents of this town had a high happiness index. They were likely rarely harassed by pirates and there was little crime. The fact that there was no Navy branch stationed here was the best proof.
That's right, this town had no Navy presence, which they had confirmed earlier by asking the residents.
"Hmm, what is that?" But suddenly, Lu Yue's gaze was drawn to a hat shop, or more accurately, to a hat placed on one of the shelves inside.
It was a pink hat that looked very warm and charming, and it had a small white rabbit head decoration on top, adding a touch of cuteness and childlike innocence.
Upon seeing the hat, Lu Yue's eyes immediately lit up. She walked right up and said, "Owner, I'll take this hat."