Chapter 2: The Path of Seeking Food

"Steal?"

Although he had just eaten a Devil Fruit, Rosinante's stomach was burning with a sensation of hunger, as if it was demanding to continue "eating." At the same time, his mouth kept salivating, but there was no food left, so all he could do was swallow repeatedly.

"It's not that simple."

In response to Rosinante's suggestion, Doflamingo frowned and shook his head.

"To reach the kitchen, where the food is, we need to pass through the crew's sleeping quarters and the cabin of the boatswain. We also need to obtain the head chef's key."

"The head chef and the boatswain sleep in the same room. It's too dangerous to steal from them!"

Ever since their Celestial Dragon identities had been exposed, Doflamingo and Rosinante had been living in constant hiding and evading. They were no longer ignorant children but had become skilled individuals in stealing, pickpocketing, robbing, and killing.

If they hadn't adapted to this lifestyle, they would have long been dead at the hands of the angry mob!

Therefore, while "working" on this ship, Doflamingo had quietly memorized the ship's structure and the relationships between the crew members. The kitchen, especially for the two of them, was of utmost importance.

Without food, they would starve!

"Don't worry, I'm not foolish enough to walk boldly to the kitchen."

Rosinante waved his hand.

He had eaten the "Hush-Hush Fruit," not the "Invisibility Fruit."

It would be extremely difficult to traverse more than half of the ship to reach the kitchen and steal food. With the strength of an ordinary child, it would be no different from seeking death.

This was an "armed merchant ship," after all.

When facing pirates, it was a merchant ship. When faced with a distressed merchant ship, there was no harm in playing the role of a "pirate"!

Just because there wasn't a Jolly Roger flag, did that mean they couldn't plunder?

It was now the year 1474 in the Sea Calendar. Although Roger had yet to utter his world-famous line, "My treasure? If you want it, you can have it!", the chaos at sea was no less than in the future.

If they were discovered, Rosinante and Doflamingo might not even have the chance to jump off the ship. They would be killed on the spot and fed to the sharks!

"What if we climb outside the ship?"

The kitchen, where the food was stored, was located in the back half of the ship, below the captain's quarters.

Meanwhile, Rosinante and Doflamingo were in the central and lowest level of the ship, originally used to house poultry and pigs and as a cramped cabin for decomposing food. It was now sold to the two of them by the "generous" captain!

"If we climb out through the gunports, hook onto the starboard side, and swing over—"

Driven by hunger, Rosinante's brain worked at high speed. His nails drew a rough "sketch" on the floor, and Doflamingo pushed his sunglasses and started adding details to this audacious plan.

"We can steal the grappling hooks from the storage room; there won't be anyone guarding it..."

"Although I haven't been close to the kitchen, I noticed that the windows at the back of the ship would frequently open, with the smell of cooking oil wafting out..."

The so-called "scraping" referred to cleaning the ship's hull from barnacles, oysters, algae, and other marine organisms. It was a dirty and exhausting job, and naturally, the sailors assigned it to Doflamingo, their free labor.

The intense hunger, an experience Rosinante had never felt before, burned his rationality. He couldn't afford to think about dreams or the future. First and foremost, he needed to satisfy his hunger.

Doflamingo had no objections, as he had no concept of "good" or "bad" in his thinking. He had only the determination to survive and a viciousness that demanded an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

"Rosinante, you..."

But Doflamingo couldn't help but feel amazed by his brother's recent actions.

"You've changed."

"People always change. Let's get started."

Silently, the two children emerged from the lowest level of the ship's hold. Instead of attempting to pass through the crew's hammock-laden area, they arrived at the cold gunports.

As the ropes were pulled, the wooden gun doors that would usually creak open silently swung wide. The narrow gun doors were insufficient for an adult to pass through, but they were just right for two children who had spent their lives struggling with hunger.

"Give me the grappling hook."

Using gestures to communicate, Rosinante motioned for Doflamingo to hand him the grappling hook attached to the rope. With half his body sticking out of the gunport, Rosinante took the grappling hook and rotated it a few times.

Awkwardly, he realized that he had no skill in throwing it accurately.

He felt a tap on his back, and Doflamingo, wearing his sunglasses, took over the grappling hook, his expression saying, "Let me do it."

Cough, cough. Practice was indeed the sole criterion for testing truth.

Making way, as Doflamingo threw the grappling hook, Rosinante used his Hush-Hush Fruit power to eliminate the sound—the whirring of the grappling hook spinning and the noise it made when it caught onto the starboard side.

"It's my turn to swing across."

Tying another rope around his waist and holding a small knife in his mouth, Rosinante signaled Doflamingo, who was worried about him.

Having just eaten the Hush-Hush Fruit, the "quiet space" he could create was limited, so Rosinante had to take matters into his own hands.

In reality, their actions were extremely dangerous. One wrong move could cause them to fall into the water like a weight, and at any moment, they could be discovered by the sailors, leaving them with no chance of survival.

However, the burning sensation of hunger, as well as Doflamingo's tightly cinched belt, which was only as wide as a bowl, forced Rosinante, who had just crossed over, to take this daring risk.

Hoo...

Gripping the rope tightly with ten fingers, he pushed off with his first step, swinging toward the back of the ship amidst the sea breeze.

Bang!

Under the influence of the Hush-Hush Fruit's power, he glided in a long arc without making a single sound, only to crash into the back of the ship. Rosinante didn't make a sound.

Before he could feel any pain, half of his body lost all feeling. Then, the area where he had collided with the ship's wall went from numb to hot, and finally, a severe pain radiated in all directions!

Kikikiki...

His ten fingers clung tightly to the rope, his feet instinctively coiled around it, and he clenched his teeth tightly. It took several seconds... perhaps several minutes before Rosinante caught his breath.

The rope around his waist trembled slightly. Rosinante smiled and reassured Doflamingo, who had poked his head out of the gunport, that he was fine. He removed the knife from his mouth and forcefully inserted it into the ship's hull, then gradually moved toward the nearby window.

This wasn't a performance; he couldn't successfully swing to the kitchen window in one go.

—The knife was used as a tool for climbing slowly.

The freezing cold wind of the North Sea sent shivers down Rosinante's spine, and his thin clothes gave him goosebumps layer by layer.

Coupled with the ship's sturdy structure, Rosinante found climbing extremely difficult. If it had been a few hours earlier, he would never have believed that he would dare to engage in such an "extreme sport."

But now, he had to give it his all to survive!

Fortunately, despite his battered body, Rosinante was just a malnourished child with surprising resilience. Combined with his will to survive, he finally managed to maneuver himself to the kitchen window.

Climbing onto the windowsill, Rosinante used the small knife to pry open the window. When he tumbled into the kitchen, he felt like his body no longer belonged to him. Besides the rise and fall of his chest, he couldn't move a single finger!

After a while, Rosinante managed to get up and untie the rope from his waist. After securely tying it inside the kitchen, he poked his head out and gave Doflamingo, who was guarding the gunport, a thumbs-up sign.

Unlike Rosinante, who had a difficult time "clearing the path," Doflamingo hung from the rope and swiftly climbed over like an agile monkey.

As soon as he jumped through the window, Doflamingo's gaze, hidden behind his sunglasses, locked onto the food on the nearby shelves, unable to shift his eyes away.

"Here," Rosinante handed a piece of bread to Doflamingo, and he took a bite of the dried fish in his hand, gnawing on the fish bones with a crunch.

"Hmm?!"

"What's wrong? Has your power stopped working?"

Facing Doflamingo's whispered and astonished question, Rosinante shook his finger.

"Don't panic, listen carefully."

Apart from the sound of chewing on the dried fish, they couldn't hear the usual "sound of wind and waves" that should be everywhere. This calmed Doflamingo down.

"Your power..."

"That's right, it's called 'Soundproof Barrier.'"

Although the Hush-Hush Fruit was considered quite "useless," it had one advantage: it was easy to develop.

"Unlike simple soundproofing, the soundproof barrier I create can block the sound between this kitchen and the outside world."

"Hahaha, well done!"

"Rosinante, your ability is amazing!"

Doflamingo, who appeared small in stature due to malnutrition, burst into excited laughter. Taking a big bite of the bread in his hand, he didn't care about drawing attention from the others on the ship.

Rosinante poured a cup of liquid from a nearby barrel and guzzled it down, feeling the warmth spread through his stomach. It was a feeling of "happiness" that he had long forgotten.

"Don't focus on just one type of food," Rosinante said. "Let's take a little bit of each so that it's less likely to be noticed..."

As the two starving children took a small portion of each type of food and indulged under the moonlight, they didn't notice that the kitchen door was trembling. It was because someone was turning the key from the outside.

Silently, the kitchen door opened.

?!

In an instant, the two children who were stuffing food into their mouths, as well as the chubby person at the doorway, froze.

————

The next second, the chubby person, who opened his mouth in a soundless exclamation, strode into the kitchen. At the same time, he agilely pulled out a sharp knife from the nearby shelf and swung it toward Rosinante's head!

?!

The gleaming blade reflected in Rosinante's innocent eyes, instinctively triggering his own power at full force. However, the Hush-Hush ability had no killing effect. Just as the lethal weapon was about to strike his head—

The burly man suddenly leaned backward, and a red and white flower of life blossomed in the air.

Then, the massive body silently crashed to the ground, causing the entire kitchen to tremble, and the sharp knife fell to the floor, jumping without making a sound.

—

Turning his head, Doflamingo, holding a flintlock pistol, seemed to be mouthing, "Are you okay?"

Rosinante took a fierce bite of the dried fish in his hand, which was splattered with blood, and silently grumbled to himself.

This damned world!

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(End of this chapter)