First arrival at Windmill Village

The wind and rain raged and the waves rolled.

Meli stood on the shaking deck, his small figure facing the baptism of wind and rain with tenacity.

The rain poured down like a waterfall, soaking her whole body, but she didn't care at all and continued to practice in the wind and rain with concentration.

This kind of weather with heavy moisture in the air is a perfect time for training for Meli.

During her time in the Sun Pirates, Merry consulted with every murloc on the ship. She absorbed and combined their guidance and techniques, and now, her skills in all aspects have improved by leaps and bounds, and she is becoming more and more powerful.

Meli's tentacles danced flexibly, and a water ball gradually condensed in the air, growing bigger and bigger, until it was several meters in size.

She waved her hand violently, and the water ball instantly turned into a surging water column, flying far away and creating a huge puddle on the sea surface.

Various water currents continued to dance in the air, creating an extremely spectacular scene.

At the hatch, several crew members stuck their heads out and looked at Meli training, and couldn't help but sigh.

"Merry-chan, not only has your appearance changed drastically since your return, but your combat power has also become immensely powerful."

"Yes, as expected of the Fishmen. Even such a young child has a combat capability several times greater than ours."

"No, no, no, Merry-chan is a mermaid. I heard that the fish-men are more powerful in combat."

"Huh? Is there any difference between the two?"

"Of course there is a difference between the mermaids and the fishmen..."

"I see!"

"However, Merry-chan seems to be an exception. Although she is a mermaid, her combat power is not inferior to that of the fishmen."

"Merry-chan is amazing!"

The conversation in the cabin was almost inaudible over the howling wind.

Meli was completely immersed in his training. His pink tentacles were like a conductor's baton, condensing water vapor into various shapes and then controlling them to fly across the sea.

Suddenly, Meli stopped moving, and something was looming in the waves on the sea in the distance.

Meli squinted her eyes and looked carefully. The scene in the distance was magnified in her sea of ​​consciousness and gradually became clear.

This is a new skill that Meli has recently discovered. Within a radius of several hundred miles, all people or objects in the sea, as long as Meli wants to see, the scene of that place will be brought closer and enlarged in her mind, allowing her to see it very clearly.

It was a small boat that could be swallowed up at any time, and there seemed to be an unconscious figure on it.

Was anyone killed?

Merry shouted, "Robert, Alexander, hurry! Come and help save people."

"Help? Coming, coming."

Robert and Alexander heard the shouting and immediately ran out of the cabin.

Not long after, the figure on the small boat was quickly rescued to the Redvers. It was an 11-year-old girl with short black hair and a Japanese sword.

No one knew how long she had been floating on the sea. She was pale and looked very weak.

"How is it? Is he still alive?"

"He's still alive. Let's show him to Hongxiang right away."

Hongo quickly examined the black-haired girl, his brows slightly furrowed. "She has a fever!"

"That's terrible! Change her wet clothes immediately!"

"Merry, come and help her change her clothes."

"Lu, go make some ginger soup."

"Robert..."

......

The wind and rain gradually stopped and the dark clouds dispersed.

The black-haired girl stirred slightly and slowly opened her eyes, only to be greeted by an unfamiliar ceiling.

Meili came closer, her eyes round: "You're awake, how are you feeling?"

The black-haired girl was stunned for a moment, then she subconsciously jumped up and put her hands in an attacking posture.

"What are you..." The black-haired girl's body was tense, but when she saw that there was only a little girl in front of her, she relaxed a little. Her eyes fell on Meli's lower body, but she was stunned again.

What is this!?

The black-haired girl had never seen this strange creature with a human upper body and a bunch of tentacles in the lower body. Her mind went blank in an instant and her eyes were full of astonishment.

Merry raised his hands and all his tentacles, making a defenseless gesture, and whispered, "Don't be nervous. My name is Merry. As you can see, I'm an octopus mermaid."

"Octopus mermaid?" The black-haired girl was still in a state of alert, with a scrutinizing look in her eyes, a flush on her cheeks, and her body was obviously still a little weak.

"Yes, I mean no harm," Merry said with a clear smile, like the rising sun shining on the calm sea. "You were floating alone on the sea, and we rescued you. You got caught in the rain, and now you have a high fever. You need to rest well."

The black-haired girl shifted her gaze from Merry to her surroundings. This seemed to be a medical room, with various medicines placed on the wooden shelves on the wall.

Several curious heads crowded at the door of the medical room, including a 7-year-old girl. They seemed to notice the nervousness of the black-haired girl and did not go in. Instead, they just peeked in at the door with curious eyes, without any malice.

Merry's eyes were as clear as pearls in the deep sea, which made the black-haired girl slowly relax her body, but her hands still clenched into fists subconsciously.

"Thank you for saving me," the brunette's voice sounded less defensive.

"You're welcome," Merry's smile grew even brighter. "By the way, what's your name?"

"My name is Shimotsuki Gu..." The black-haired girl seemed to remember something, and suddenly paused for a moment before continuing, "...Gu Youzi."

Gulixia, who was standing outside the clinic, smiled knowingly. "Isn't this dogtail grass? It must be a pseudonym. Otherwise, why would someone come up with such a name?"

"Hello, Guyouzi. You haven't recovered yet, so you should rest for a while. I'll get you something to eat."

Meli didn't notice anything. She stared at Gu Yaozi and lay down before turning around and running to the kitchen.

The others also dispersed from the door, leaving Gu Youzi with a quiet space.

Gu Youzi lay tensely on the bed, silently listening to the footsteps and whispered conversations coming from outside. Feeling that the people outside had no ill will towards her, her emotions gradually calmed down.

It seems that the person I met this time was not a bad person.

However, when Gu Youzi thought of what happened before the storm came, his face couldn't help but become a little gloomy.

In fact, Gu Youzi did not go out to sea alone. Unfortunately, they encountered a group of pirates during the voyage.

They fought against the pirates, but despite trying their best, they still couldn't win. Gu Yuzi and Kenta were captured by the pirates.

Not long after, a storm suddenly hit, and the pirates were busy fighting the natural disaster and relaxed their vigilance.

Gu Youzi took the opportunity to cut the rope tied around her wrists, and she and Kenta jumped onto a small boat and escaped.

However, the waves were completely beyond Gu Youzi's understanding, and the small boat they were riding was almost overturned by the waves several times.

Kenta accidentally fell into the water and soon disappeared in the surging waves.

Thinking of this, tears flashed in Gu Youzi's eyes. It was impossible for anyone to survive in such a storm.

She touched the sword at her side and thought to herself: If I had used the sword that had been with her for a long time, I would not have lost to those pirates, and Kenta would not have died.

Those damn pirates!

Gu Youzi bit her lip and her eyes became more determined.

She must become stronger!

There's absolutely no way around those pirates!

--

After Gu Youzi's body recovered a little, he came to the deck to get some fresh air.

When she saw the skull on the sail, her heart sank and she clenched her fists.

These people who saved his life in the storm turned out to be the same hateful pirates who caused Kenta's death.

This discovery made Gu Youzi's guard, which had been lowered with great difficulty, rise again.

Except for the two children, Merry and Uta, Guyouzi hardly paid any attention to Shanks and the other crew members.

Shanks and the others also noticed Gu Youzi's rejection, but they did not force themselves to talk to her, nor did they deliberately ignore her existence. They just lived their lives as usual.

During the voyage, the two sides maintained a delicate relationship and got along peacefully for a while.

Meli quite liked Gu Youzi. Seeing that she carried a sword with her, he finally couldn't help himself after she fully recovered.

"Sister Gu Youzi, please challenge me to a sword fight."

"Huh? Do you know what a sword duel is?"

"Of course! I've been learning swordsmanship from Shanks for years!"

"Well... well, let's have a sparring match."

"Very good!"

However, swordsmanship is still a little too difficult for an octopus.

Besides, Shanks really doesn't know how to be a good master. Merry's swordsmanship... well, actually, it's not even swordsmanship. It has never been very well-formed.

Now that Merry has grown human arms and has started practicing again, he has finally developed some semblance of swordsmanship.

Therefore, the confrontation between the two naturally ended with Meli's defeat.

Merry wasn't discouraged. Her eyes sparkled. "Amazing! Can you give me some guidance on my swordsmanship?"

“Huh???” Gu Youzi was stunned.

After all, he was her savior, and she was still on someone else's ship. Even though Gu Youzi had a grudge against pirates, when she saw Meli's clear eyes, she really couldn't say no.

Gu Youzi agreed to Meli's request and began to teach him swordsmanship.

Her guidance was strict, systematic and rigorous, which benefited Merry more than Shanks's spontaneous guidance.

Under Gu Youzi's guidance, Meli's swordsmanship finally made a lot of progress.

Unfortunately, Merry's happiness did not last long. When the Redforth approached an island, Barnacles immediately said goodbye to Merry.

Merry reluctantly bid farewell to his swordsmanship instructor.

--

A few days later, the Redvers approached a new island.

A small figure ran over from a distance.

Her short black hair fluttered in the wind, and she wore a pair of flip-flops that never changed.

The little boy ran to the edge of the dock, stopped, and shouted at the pirate ship.

"Hey! Are you pirates?"