Chapter 5

After Eden and Luffy set sail on the small fishing boat, his initial excitement quickly turned into calmness, followed by extreme boredom.

Yes, boredom.

For twenty days, Eden stayed on the small fishing boat, facing the endless sea. They hadn't encountered any other ships or islands. Besides Luffy, he hadn't seen anyone else.

Eden, unlike Luffy, had some basic navigational knowledge, and for the first few days of their voyage, he could still determine their direction.

However, after a few days, Eden couldn't figure out which direction the wind-driven boat was heading.

Initially, Eden thought about rowing, but Luffy told him it wasn't necessary. They should let the boat drift with the current, and they would eventually come across an island.

Eden thought about it and realized Luffy made a lot of sense. They had indeed set out hastily, without even the most basic navigational tools like a compass, relying solely on their enthusiasm.

The village chief had prepared the small fishing boat for them, similar to the one Eden used before, but this one was well-stocked with food and water.

Even though Luffy had a huge appetite, there was enough to last them for a while.

Thanks to this, Eden didn't need to fish and had plenty of time to relax on the small boat.

To Eden's surprise, there was also a large treasure chest on the boat, filled with dazzling gold, enough to blind someone.

When Luffy saw the treasure chest, his eyes lit up, saying he wanted to exchange the gold for a giant bronze statue of himself.

Eden was speechless at Luffy's idea of trading gold for a bronze statue.

The boat was small, but it had plenty of space for the two of them. However, after spending a long time in such a limited space with nothing to do, it became maddening.

Having never experienced long-distance sailing, Eden was now truly feeling the loneliness and monotony of the voyage.

He found it hard to believe that someone as active as Luffy had managed to endure such solitude while sailing alone in the past.

After enduring several days of this, Eden decided to keep himself busy by training intensely on the boat. He trained day and night, pushing himself to exhaustion, sleeping deeply each night, and continuing the next day.

For sixteen days, besides taking care of daily necessities, Eden devoted all his time to rigorous physical training.

To prevent Luffy from disturbing him, Eden gave him a task: to rock the boat as much as possible without capsizing it.

The reason for this was that Eden found training in a constantly rocking boat more effective than on stable ground.

"Alright, watch my fishing net whirlpool!" Luffy excitedly took the fishing net Eden gave him, dipped it into the sea, and started spinning rapidly on the edge of the boat.

As Luffy spun faster and faster, the fishing net in the water moved at an increasing speed.

Before long, the dozens of barrels of food that Luffy had thrown into the sea earlier were caught in the fishing net.

The heavy barrels increased the resistance in the water, and as Luffy's spinning speed increased, a small whirlpool formed around the boat.

The boat rocked violently in the whirlpool, which was exactly what Eden wanted for his training.

Eden recalled how Luffy had asked if he was putting the food barrels in the sea to sunbathe when he started throwing them overboard. It had amused Eden greatly.

When Luffy saw the barrels starting to sink, he had wanted to jump in and retrieve them, making Eden speechless.

This guy would risk his life for food.

Eden handed the fishing net to Luffy to retrieve the barrels.

As expected, Luffy eagerly retrieved the barrels, especially since they contained his favorite meat.

This was why Eden had thrown the barrels into the sea—to keep Luffy busy and prevent him from disturbing his training, while also creating the perfect training environment for himself.

Every day, Eden threw dozens of food barrels into the sea, and Luffy used the net to retrieve them.

To Eden's dismay, Luffy seemed to enjoy this game. By the tenth day at sea, Luffy was throwing the barrels into the sea himself, playing the fishing net game and helping Eden create small whirlpools for his training.

After sixteen days of intense training, Eden felt his body becoming stronger and more muscular. His strength had increased significantly, allowing him to throw dozens of barrels into the sea without breaking a sweat.

Despite the muscle soreness and fatigue after each day's training, Eden woke up the next day and continued his high-intensity regimen.

Starting with seventy push-ups, three hundred frog jumps, and an hour and a half of horse stance each day, Eden had doubled his training intensity in just two weeks, adapting to this grueling regimen.

During this period, Eden had been so exhausted he could barely eat, and Luffy had to force-feed him meat, nearly choking him in the process.

Luffy watched Eden train with determination, sweating profusely and soaking his clothes. Sometimes, he would laugh at Eden's effort.

For these sixteen days, as long as Eden trained, Luffy played the fishing net game.

This, however, affected their sailing speed. The man-made whirlpools that enhanced Eden's training also slowed the boat's progress.

Without anyone steering the boat, it drifted with the wind. Ironically, their sailing speed at night, when they were both asleep, was faster than during the day.

In the first few days at sea, Eden had worried about what abilities he might have gained from eating the Devil Fruit. But no matter how much he experimented, he couldn't figure it out, so he focused all his energy on training instead.

"Alright, that's enough for today."

Seeing Eden sitting exhausted on the boat, breathing heavily, Luffy enthusiastically declared it was time to pull up the fishing net with the barrels.

But just as Luffy lifted the net filled with barrels, a giant fish suddenly leaped out of the sea and swallowed the net, barrels and all.

With a splash, the fish dived back into the sea and vanished.

Luffy stared dumbfounded at the broken net in his hand, and Eden, sitting on the deck, was equally stunned.

"Hey, give me back my meat! I'm the man who will become the Pirate King. If you steal from me, you better be prepared!" Luffy shouted, stomping his foot on the boat's edge.

But the sea remained calm, the fish long gone, despite Luffy's shouting.

Eden dragged his exhausted body to Luffy's side, intending to say a few words, but seeing Luffy's serious expression, his usual carefree demeanor gone, with a determined glint in his eyes, Eden felt a chill.

"Can you catch that fish that just stole our food?" Luffy asked, his eyes fixed on the sea. "We're pirates. We can't just let our stuff get stolen and do nothing, even if it's just a fish. I'll give it my all!"

Eden felt embarrassed hearing Luffy's words. Your last remark is the key point. The earlier part was just a prelude.

The barrels of meat had been eaten by the fish, and there wasn't much left on the boat. With Luffy's appetite, it would last only another four or five days. As Eden was about to respond, he saw something flying out of the sea.

Looking closely, it was the same fish that had stolen their food, now diving back into the sea, waving its blue tail and making a sound similar to human laughter, as if mocking them.

"Ah! It's taunting us! I will beat it up!" Luffy, being the simple-minded person he was, quickly got riled up and wanted to fight the fish.

"That's a Guffaw Fish. They can produce a laugh similar to humans. This is the first time I've seen one," Eden said thoughtfully, stroking his chin.

Eden had read about Guffaw Fish in a marine book while learning fishing techniques.

Adult Guffaw Fish are blue, scaleless, and fifteen to twenty meters long. Their gills can produce human-like laughter, and they love to tease fishermen, causing much trouble for them.

"I can probably catch it, but it will take some effort."

The Eden from twenty days ago wouldn't have had the confidence to say that. Having just finished his training, his clothes were soaked with sweat. He shook his slightly sore arms, and droplets of water flew from his sleeves, indicating how much he had sweated during training.

"Then hurry up. I've never eaten this fish before. If it's tasty, I'll forgive it," Luffy said, making Eden feel awkward. You've already planned to eat it. What's the point of forgiving it?

"It's just a fish. Does it not know we're on a pirate ship? Maybe it mistook us for fishermen because we don't have a pirate flag," Eden said, finding two spare fishing nets on the boat.

He chuckled to himself, thinking: My first opponent at sea is non-human. This ocean is indeed full of surprises.