Dawn broke, and a new day arrived.
A procurement ship drifted on the ocean surface, and Tang An stood at the bow, studying a navigational chart.
Several islands, villages, and towns were marked on it, such as Goatia Island, Shells Town, Orange Town, Cocoyasi Village, Syrop Village, and Shimotsuki Village...
Looking at the marked locations, some of Tang An's vague memories became clear.
If he remembered correctly, Nami was in Cocoyasi Village, while Zoro was in Shimotsuki Village.
The direction Tang An was heading right now was Cocoyasi Village.
Compared to Zoro, Nami was easier to approach.
He just didn't know whether Arlong had already taken over Cocoyasi Village by now; if he had, there might be some unexpected complications.
He would just have to play it by ear when the time came.
After setting the course, Tang An began his daily training.
His Shave technique had already reached the level of 8 times, and Tang An wanted to push through in one go to reach 9 times.
When a person is fully engrossed in something, time always seems to pass quickly.
Before he knew it, dusk descended, and the new day was about to come to an end.
After finishing his training, taking a shower, and changing into elastic boxer briefs, Tang An whipped up some food.
Lately, Tang An's appetite had opened up tremendously, and his food intake had become superhuman.
This was a good sign.
After all, strong individuals in the world of pirates generally had astonishing appetites, which indicated that Tang An was making progress every single day.
After resting for a little while, Tang An threw himself back into training.
There was nothing else to do besides training anyway.
That Ma movie had already been watched a hundred and eighty times over the past half-month, back and forth, leaving zero freshness.
At around midnight, Tang An dragged his exhausted body into dreamland.
Even before sleeping, he didn't lower his guard; he propped a cabinet door against the cabin door as an early warning system.
One had to remember that the open sea was dangerous, and one could encounter pirates at any moment.
He roughly calculated the time; he could possibly reach Cocoyasi Village early tomorrow morning.
However, fortune is fickle. The originally brilliant and bright sky suddenly rolled in with dark clouds, and a torrential downpour struck right out of nowhere.
The entire procurement ship swayed precariously like a leaf amidst the thunder and lightning.
Tang An didn't know how long he had slept, but it definitely hadn't exceeded two hours.
Even though the East Blue was not the Grand Line or the New World, the weather on the ocean was bizarre and unpredictable, and he could run into his current situation at any time.
He hurriedly rushed to the bow to steady the ship. Thumb-sized raindrops pattered down, hitting his body like bullets.
Tang An felt a sense of panic, feeling as though he might be buried in the ocean at any second.
Back then, how had Luffy managed to drift around in just a barrel?
Could this be the halo of the Child of Destiny?
With his heart in his throat the entire time, he had no idea how long had passed. When the sky turned a dim grey, the storm gradually subsided.
Tang An sat on the deck, panting heavily. Several times, he had come close to using Random Transmigration.
The procurement ship was already battered and starting to leak.
The most critical issue was that Tang An had lost his bearings now; even with the chart, he had no idea where he was.
With the procurement ship on the verge of sinking at any moment, compounded by being lost, troubles came one after another.
"Is it really time to use Random Transmigration?"
Tang An roughly estimated that the procurement ship could only hold out for another hour. If not for him plugging the holes at the bottom of the ship, they would already be at the bottom of the sea.
Unless absolutely forced to, Tang An did not want to use Random Transmigration.
Looking out at the boundless ocean where there was nothing but water, Tang An's heart sank.
The only piece of good news was that the procurement ship was still drifting, and perhaps within this hour, he might encounter other ships or an island.
Even though the probability of that was extremely slim.
Time ticked away second by second. If there truly was no other way in the end, Tang An would have no choice left except to use Random Transmigration.
"Heaven is not forsaking me!"
Just as the procurement ship could hold on no longer, Tang An caught sight of an island.
This was unquestionably an oasis in the desert. Tang An hugged a wooden barrel and swam toward the distant island.
After swimming for about half an hour, Tang An lay sprawled out on the sandy beach, panting heavily.
After resting for a bit and allowing his stamina to recover somewhat, Tang An began to move.
"My luck isn't bad."
Climbing up a small hillside, a winding path snaked through the forest. Clearly, this was not an uninhabited island.
Following the trail for about ten minutes, Tang An discovered a dojo, and further off in the distance lay a village.
Descending the mountain to reach the dojo, upon hearing the sounds of training coming from the courtyard, Tang An's expression turned rather peculiar.
When he saw the green-haired kid biting down on a wooden sword and training frantically, Tang An truly didn't know what to say.
He had actually arrived at Shimotsuki Village.
Green hair, a wooden sword gripped in his teeth, and wooden swords in both hands--wasn't that obvious enough?
Roronoa Zoro.
A storm had actually brought him right to Shimotsuki Village.
"Who are you looking for?!"
A delicate young girl wearing a kimono, around eleven years old, holding a wooden sword, spotted Tang An.
Looking at this young girl, Tang An guessed who she was.
Koushirou's daughter, the person Zoro had always wanted to surpass since childhood--Kuina.
She hadn't died yet?
Though it was probably close.
"Oh! Hello, I was originally heading to the Goa Kingdom on business, but I ran into a storm last night and got separated from my companions. After waking up, I found myself on this island, and I followed that trail right here."
Tang An pointed toward the path on the back mountain.
"Is that so!"
Kuina looked at Tang An, who looked travel-worn and somewhat disheveled. He certainly looked like someone who had suffered a shipwreck, and it was true that it had rained last night.
"Could you give me a glass of water?"
Tang An licked his lips; his mouth was genuinely feeling a bit dry and parched.
"Please come with me!"
Kuina was very kind-hearted. She led Tang An into the courtyard and toward the dojo.
"Please wait a moment."
"Alright."
Sitting on the veranda of the dojo, Tang An watched Kuina walk away, and then looked at Zoro, who was frantically training not far away, deep in thought.
He was originally supposed to head to Cocoyasi Village, but plans couldn't keep up with changes.
Since he had already seen Zoro, there was no reason to leave without poking him a bit.
He needed to think of a way.
An idea struck.
A flash of inspiration crossed Tang An's mind. He pulled open the light screen, took out the Sunflower Manual, and swiftly tore off the page bearing the words: "To practice this divine art, one must first castrate oneself."
Whether this would succeed depended entirely on this.
He had originally thought this Sunflower Manual was useless, but looking at it now, it still had value.
"Unimpeded reading in any world."
This was the description of the Sunflower Manual.
Simply put, it meant anyone could understand it, even if the writing systems were completely different.
"Please have some water."
At that moment, Kuina walked over carrying a bowl of water.
"Thank you."
Tang An placed the Sunflower Manual on the floor, while the torn-off page was put back into his cheat's storage.
This trashy cheat came with its own storage space, though whatever it stored had to be something generated by the cheat itself.
Kuina looked at the book with a hint of astonishment.
Because she hadn't seen Tang An carrying anything with him earlier.
"Pardon me, is the master of this dojo in?"
After finishing the water, Tang An felt much more refreshed.
"Do you need something?"
"I'd like to ask the master to give me a boat, and I'll trade this swordsmanship manual for it."
Tang An picked up the Sunflower Manual.
"The Sunflower Manual?"
Kuina was certain she didn't recognize those four characters, yet somehow she could read them inexplicably.
"Yes. I heard this was authored by a great swordsman, but I can't understand it. Since this is a dojo, the master must be a swordsman, and I believe he'll find it helpful."
Tang An spouted utter nonsense without even blinking his eyes.