Just as they were about to reach the Blue Sea, the Octopus Hot Air Balloon suddenly deflated.
The ship, which had been descending steadily, lost its cushion in an instant and crashed violently onto the ocean's surface.
With that impact, the Wolf's Den, the pirate ship Ash had never liked, completed its short and rather pitiful mission.
It was never comparable to the Going Merry, nor had it been carefully maintained by a certain long nosed second hand shipwright. Its structure was old, its wood weakened, and under the shock of the fall, it finally gave up.
Fortunately, Youki remembered his promise. The moment the ship dropped, he reacted quickly and grabbed Thatch firmly, preventing the boy from being flung away.
The five of them hovered mid air.
"So what now?" Youki asked, glancing around at the endless ocean. "We don't even know where we are."
"No problem."
Ash pulled out the Log Pose set to Water Seven from his spatial storage and lifted it casually. "We can just spatial shift there."
"Spatial shift?"
Aside from the Kirk siblings, no one from Diwen Village had experienced Ash's teleportation ability firsthand. Curiosity immediately replaced frustration.
"It'll be quick," Ash said lightly.
At his signal, Kirk placed an arm around Saff's shoulder. Youki tightened his grip on Thatch. Ash rested his hands on Kirk and Youki.
"Let's go."
The wreckage of the Wolf's Den continued to drift on the waves. A sea breeze passed quietly.
The five figures vanished from mid air.
…
"Ugh…"
"Ugh…"
On a deserted island, Thatch was bent over, retching repeatedly.
Ash floated nearby, rubbing his chin with a faintly troubled expression. "I calculated everything except Thatch's tolerance for consecutive spatial shifts."
"You moved too fast," Youki complained, sitting on the ground and supporting his cheek with one hand. "Even I nearly lost it. Of course Thatch couldn't handle it."
"Saff is fine, but you two grown men…" Ash pouted, pointing at the Kirk siblings, who were already gathering wood to prepare a fire.
"Saff was specifically shielded with my spatial energy," Kirk replied coldly. "Naturally she's fine."
"Fair enough."
Ash shrugged. "We shouldn't be far from Water Seven. Let's eat and rest before we head over."
"How do you know?" Kirk asked.
Ash held up two Log Poses. "The Water Seven Log Pose points forward. The Long Ring Long Land one points behind. That's confirmation enough."
"When did you get the Long Ring Long Land Log Pose?" Kirk asked.
"Mont Blanc gave it to me," Ash replied casually, putting them away. "How long until dinner?"
"The fire just started," Kirk snapped. "All you think about is food."
"I offered to help."
"The fire you make has no proper wood scent. It's just energy. That ruins the flavor."
Kirk finally exploded. "And stop that exaggerated shrug. If you're bored, go catch something. Stop hovering here and nagging."
"Done."
Ash disappeared instantly.
A thousand meters out at sea, Ash was fishing when he heard Kirk's roar carried by spatial vibration.
"Give me the oil and seasonings!"
Ash twitched and immediately opened his storage space, sending firewood, rice, oil, salt, and seasonings directly back to the campsite.
Seeing ingredients appear out of thin air, Kirk took a deep breath.
"When we reach Water Seven," he said to Saff, "remind me to buy a storage item."
Saff smiled. "Alright, brother."
They had already tested such items back in Food City with Uncle Markel. Without spatial control, a storage ring was useless.
Meanwhile, Ash had no idea he was being discussed.
"That brat was reliable before," Kirk muttered while stir frying. "Recently, he feels more and more unrestrained."
"He's only thirteen," Saff replied gently. "Let him enjoy himself."
Youki, now recovered, joined in. "He's not unreliable. He's just relaxing more. At first, he was very polite."
Out at sea, Ash frowned.
"Too far from the Calm Belt. I can't sense any Sea Kings."
Then he paused.
"A pirate ship?"
A benign smile spread across his face.
Boom.
Boom.
Two cannonballs exploded into the sea ahead of him.
Ash almost laughed in disbelief.
He did not even need advanced perception to conclude there were no decent people aboard.
Moments later, on the deserted island's shore, Ash stood speechless.
Before him, three young men lay coughing and spitting seawater.
He had boarded the pirate ship confidently, declaring there were no good people on board.
Yet he had ended up rescuing three slaves.
Worse, when he was overwhelming the pirates above deck, these three had been scuttling the ship from below.
If I wanted it sunk, I could have done it with a single Thunderfire strike, Ash thought irritably. I actually needed that ship.
When he rushed into the lower cabin, seawater was already flooding in. The three nearly drowned after being dragged into a small whirlpool created by the sinking hull. Ash had intervened at the last second.
Now they lay on the sand, alive.
"Who are you?" Ash asked, impatience clear in his tone. "Why were you on that pirate ship, and why were you sinking it?"
The brown haired youth with curly hair spoke first. "We're from Raw Material Island. We were heading to Water Seven to become shipwrights."
"A pirate ship intercepted our passenger vessel near Spring Queen City," the round faced one added. "We were captured."
"Shipwrights?"
Ash looked them over skeptically. "With those arms? You might want to reconsider."
The freckled youth bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"
Ash stared silently.
The freckled one immediately deflated. "We were going to become apprentices, not full shipwrights."
Curly Hair nodded quickly. "We can repair ships decently. That's why the pirates kept us instead of selling us."
Round Face added, "The tools we used to sink the ship were hidden during repairs. We were trying to escape."
Ash slowly withdrew the faint lightning crackling around him.
"You should have said that sooner."
The three nodded nervously.
Ash crossed his arms. "Now let's discuss something important."
They froze.
"You sank my ship."
"Your ship?" they echoed.
"Wasn't it spoils of war?" Ash replied calmly. "Which makes it mine."
The three exchanged looks.
"Ah… yes. That makes sense."
Ash narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Why do I feel like you're mocking me?"
The three shook their heads violently.
On the surface, Ash looked amused.
But inwardly, he was already calculating.
If these three truly intended to go to Water Seven to become shipwright apprentices, then perhaps fate had delivered exactly what he needed.
After all, if he were to sail the world and eventually stand above even the so called gods of this era, then a proper ship would be essential.