Clearly, with Kisame's brain, there was no way he could figure this out.
Since he couldn't figure it out, why not just go ask?
With that thought, he ordered his summoned sea creatures to steer the ship toward the reef.
"A ship! A ship! Old man, there's a ship!"
Meanwhile, on the reef, a blonde-haired boy, thin as a skeleton with hair like dry straw, widened his eyes in shock. Scrambling to his feet, he rushed toward the tall figure standing not far away.
"A ship?"
At the boy's exclamation, the statue-like figure finally moved, revealing a face as gaunt as a skull, with two distinct golden braided mustaches sticking out at the sides.
The man's withered muscles clung tightly to his bones. He opened his dry, cracked lips, barely able to move them, as if he lacked even the strength to speak.
"It's real this time! We're not going to die!" The blonde-haired boy reached the man's side, his voice trembling with relief as tears welled up in his eyes.
But then, all of a sudden, the boy's expression changed to one of sheer terror.
"No way… No way! Sharks! There are sharks coming!"
Hearing the boy's panicked cries, the man seemed to regain a bit of strength. With great effort, he turned his head to look behind him.
"What the—?!"
The man's eyes widened in disbelief as he gazed out at the distant sea. If starvation wasn't making him hallucinate, then what he was seeing was beyond reason.
Since when did sharks become sailors?
Right before their astonished eyes, four massive blue sharks were pulling a large sea vessel toward the reef.
Bathed in sunlight, a tall figure appeared at the ship's railing, gazing down at the two castaways.
"Survivors?"
After a long pause, the deep voice from the ship finally spoke.
"Yes! Yes! Please, I beg you—save us!"
The moment that deep voice rang out, the blonde-haired boy fell to his knees with a loud thud, paying no heed to the jagged rocks scraping his legs or the sharp edges splitting his forehead open.
"Hsss…"
Kisame, standing at the railing, sucked in a breath at the sight of the boy repeatedly bowing his head in desperation.
Beside him, Revy's eyes filled with sympathy.
"Stop that already! Hurry up and get on board!"
Hearing Revy's words, Kisame instinctively frowned but said nothing.
The scene before him was indeed tragic—something worth pitying. But in the ninja world, he had seen far worse.
Compared to the blood-soaked brutality of the Hidden Mist's training in his youth, this was nothing.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
Hearing Revy's offer, the blonde-haired boy cried as he helped the skeletal, golden-mustached man to his feet.
However, to Kisame's surprise, the man did not stand immediately. Instead, he lifted his head, his slightly cloudy eyes locking onto Kisame's from below.
"Heh… interesting!"
The moment their gazes met, Kisame instantly understood what the man was thinking. A grin slowly spread across his face, revealing a mouth full of sharp, shark-like teeth.
"Since she says you can come aboard, then get on."
With that, Kisame turned away from the railing and walked to a chair on the deck, sitting down lazily.
He had saved them, sure—but whether they lived or died from here on out was none of his concern.
Revy was the one who had saved them, so Kisame had no intention of getting involved. Or rather, instead of calling it indifference, it was more like a test for the newcomers.
Watching Kisame turn away and head back to the deck, his face clearly saying "stay away," Revy smirked and used her slim frame to set up a makeshift gangplank.
"Heh, a cripple, huh?"
As the two shipwreck survivors boarded, Kisame dismissed his summoned creatures. However, as he glanced over, he noticed that the man was missing a lower leg. He let out a mocking chuckle.
But deep inside, he couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration.
A cripple, surviving in a place like this with a kid? They must have been stranded for quite a while…
And that leg…
If his eyes weren't deceiving him, the bone on that reef earlier was a bare white tibia.
A real tough bastard.
That thought made Kisame take a second, longer look at the man.
Having more people on board should have been a good thing. But that wasn't quite how things turned out.
The two newcomers—both skin and bones—collapsed from exhaustion as soon as they got on the ship.
Revy, much to her own dismay, ended up playing nurse for the two patients.
She wasn't exactly experienced, but thankfully, the ship was well-stocked with supplies, including a full range of emergency medical kits.
Under Revy's rather dubious care, the two of them managed to cling to life.
Unfortunately, the ship got lost. Again.
They drifted at sea for five days. By then, the blonde-haired brat had regained some of his energy, and the cripple finally looked somewhat human again.
To repay their rescuers, the two of them temporarily took on the role of cooks.
At first, after tasting the food the little brat made, Kisame wanted to throw them overboard. But since they hadn't found land yet, they had no choice but to tolerate it.
Then, once the cripple was back on his feet, Kisame had another taste of their cooking. This time, without a moment's hesitation, he made a decision—regardless of their opinions, they were staying.
After all, with no land in sight, it wasn't like they could escape anyway.
---
One day, as Kisame sat on the deck, poring over the Edo Tensei Technique, the blonde-haired brat suddenly ran up to him.
"Uncle Fish, some of the supplies in the storage room are infested with bugs. A lot of the food is spoiled too."
"How long has it been since we last made port?"
Kisame closed the scroll and thought for a moment.
"Hmm… it's been a while."
The brat frowned. "I don't think I've seen land since I got on this ship."
"What??"
On the other side of the deck, the crippled man, who had been whittling his prosthetic leg with a small knife, suddenly froze.
"What's wrong, Zeff?" Kisame raised an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, now that I think about it, we really haven't seen land, huh?" Revy added casually.
"You… You two…"
Zeff pointed his wooden leg at Kisame and Revy in utter disbelief. "You've just been blindly drifting around the Grand Line this whole time?!"
Revy tilted her head with a smug grin.
"Hehehe… nope! We started off in the West Blue, planning to go to Reverse Mountain. But we couldn't find it, ended up in the Calm Belt, and then just sorta… wound up here!"
Zeff's jaw nearly hit the floor.
What the hell?!
---
How Did These Two Even Survive?
Zeff, who had originally planned to turn over a new leaf and start fresh, suddenly felt like he'd boarded a pirate ship in the worst possible way.
This is a damn scam!
Ever since he got on this ship, he had assumed the two of them knew a thing or two about navigation.
But now… clearly, he'd been overthinking it!
"I… sigh…"
Zeff wanted to say something, but in the end, he just shook his head and let out a long sigh. He strapped his crude prosthetic leg onto his stump and stomped it against the deck twice, making a clicking sound.
"Forget it. Guess we'll just leave it to fate. My Eternal Pose was lost in the shipwreck."
"Heh, that shouldn't be a problem, right?"
"Even if we run out of food, we can always catch fish," Revy said with a carefree smile.
"You idiots… I have no idea how you two are still alive!"
Zeff looked furious, glaring at them like they were hopeless cases.
"Food isn't the problem. The real issue is that we're almost out of fresh water!"
"Right now, our only hope is to run into a weak pirate crew or find land. If we're lucky, we can at least resupply."
Hearing this, Revy smirked.
"Resupply? Well, I guess that means we'll have to rob some pirates!"
"Huh? Why?" Sanji, who had been silent until now, asked curiously.
Revy let out a casual laugh. "Hahaha… because we don't have any money."
"(ω)!Nani!!"
What kind of group is this?!
Even Sanji, despite being just a kid, was completely shocked.
Just who the hell are these two?
Wait… was this ship stolen too?!
(End of Chapter)