In Chapter 3, the player encounters the Red-Haired Pirates...
Beckman stood on the lookout tower, and after more than a minute of confirmation, he finally had to admit that the island they had planned to use to replenish their fresh water and food had been completely buried in the sea in that terrible earthquake.
Shanks!
Leaping down from the lookout tower, Beckman strode over to the red-haired captain and his brow furrowed as he watched the captain struggling with a fishing rod bent into a crescent shape.
"We need to change our route."
"Huh?" Shanks looked puzzled. "Why?"
Beckman had to coldly tell him the truth: "The island is gone."
"Of course, all the liquor you hid on the island is gone too."
"How did you know I was secretly... wait, that's it?!" Shanks stood up in shock, his hand loosened, and the fishing rod was pulled hard by the big fish in the sea. It turned into a black line and disappeared into the sea in a flash before Beckman and Shanks' eyes.
"Ah, my fish!" Shanks leaned on the railing, looking at the sea with dismay. "I've been fishing all day and this is the only one I've caught!"
Beckman let out a disdainful sneer.
Shanks gritted his teeth, placed one foot on the railing, and roared, "You bastard, who do you think I am?!"
"Hey Shanks..." Beckman, realizing what Shanks was about to do, looked like he had a headache, but before he could stop him, his captain, with a resolute look in his eyes, jumped into the sea with an unwavering posture.
"Hahaha, the boss and Yasopp made a bet: whoever catches the most fish today gets the last barrel of beer!" While munching on roasted meat, the tall and muscular Raki Luke nudged the tanned man in a star-patterned cloak beside him with his elbow. "Yossopp, how many did you catch?"
"At least ten."
"Even if that leader manages to catch that fish, he's doomed to lose!"
With a splash, Shanks' striking red hair, which always drew attention wherever he went, emerged from the sea. He held a large fish as tall as himself in one hand, grabbed the rope on the side of the boat with the other, and easily jumped onto the deck with a powerful leap.
Shanks vigorously shook his soaking red hair, earning him disapproving looks from the group.
"Look! This is a fish I've never seen before!"
Shanks excitedly showed everyone the fish he was holding. It was a fish that looked a bit like a manta ray, all black with a white stripe down its back to its furry tail. When Shanks lifted it up, it opened its white eyes and stared at him, while its tail twitched slightly.
"What is this, a squirrel fish?" Shanks poked its tail.
Beckman looked at the black and white color scheme and had a bad feeling: "Wait, this looks like..."
puff--
A cloud of yellowish-green gas shot out from the base of the fish's tail, instantly enveloping the four people.
"vomit!"
"Ugh, what's that smell? Take it away, take it away!"
"Oh, my nose!"
"..."
In an instant, cries of agony rose and fell on the deck. Beckman, with his exceptional Observation Haki and premonition, took a few steps back to avoid the yellowish-green gas, but still caught a whiff of the sea breeze and his face darkened instantly.
It stinks! How can there be such a stench in this world?!
Shanks, who was sprayed with a stench right in his face, felt as if a hundred Whitebeards were releasing the Tremor-Tremor Fruit in his brain. Even someone as strong as him was completely blank in the face of such a biological weapon attack!
So that color scheme really is skunk, right?
Beckman raised his hand tremblingly, wanting to take a drag of his cigarette to calm himself down, but the next moment he smelled the lingering scent on his fingertips and couldn't help but gag.
Finally, Shanks tearfully returned the fish to the sea—after all, no one wanted to test its taste—and the three of them were kicked into the sea by Beckman and frantically washed for hours before they could barely make the smell less pungent.
Sitting in the restaurant, Shanks looked down at the vacuum zone around him and smelled his arm in frustration.
"...Ugh! It still smells awful!"
“There’s nothing we can do. You were attacked head-on.” The ship’s doctor, Hongo, who had already finished eating, crossed his arms and sat seven seats away from Shanks. “If we’re going to make a medicine to remove the odor, we don’t have enough supplies on the ship.”
"What do we do now?" Shanks asked, his face contorted in a grimace. The smell was so bad he couldn't even drink wine anymore. "Am I going to have to live like this forever?!"
His current scent is even more effective than Conqueror's Haki!
Hongo looked at Beckman.
Beckman: "...After changing our route, we will be able to land on a small island tonight, where we have the supplies we left behind."
“Oh, I remember that island.” Hongo nodded. “There’s a swamp on it with the herbs I need. As long as I have enough, I can make an ointment to remove the odor quickly.”
"Of course, this is on the premise that the island is still there and that the swamps and medicinal herbs on it have not disappeared."
Beckman: "If something happens on that island too, then we'll have to either go back the way we came, or take a gamble and go to another island that's three days away."
"Shanks, all we'll be able to give you then is a wooden boat, so you can follow us behind."
"What?!" Shanks exclaimed in shock. Wasn't this the treatment given to exiled crew members? "I'm the captain!"
“Shanks stinks,” Beckman emphasized. “He stinks.”
“If you stay on the ship any longer, I’m worried it will cause a riot among the crew.”
Shanks: "...Eek."
——
Violet is examining the items she obtained from the [Pirate Treasure Chest]. The chest contains three items: [Abigail's Flower Blueprint], [Canned Tuna], and [Rotten Food].
[Blueprint for Abigail's Flower]
[Description: Reading this will unlock the crafting of Abigail's Flower]
Click to read more by Vier.
[Abigail's Flower]
[Description: Whose soul resides within?]
[Please note that this item is unique; each player can only possess one Abigail Flower in this world.]
[Crafting Materials: Undead Gratitude*1 + Nightmare Fuel*1]
[The Gratitude of the Dead]
[Description: Obtained after fulfilling the wishes of the deceased. Hey, isn't this supposed to be a horror movie setting?]
[Nightmare Fuel]
[Description: Dropped after defeating a Shadow Monster. A shadow creature born from the darkness? You dare show your health bar? I'll kill even a god!]
After reading it, the blueprint with pink flowers, like the treasure map, turned into golden light and disappeared. At the same time, the system issued a "ding" notification, reminding Vera that she had mastered the skill of making Abigail's Flower.
Although I don't know where to find the undead, or what the Abigail's Flower is for, I'll just accept the side quest and put it on the quest panel first.
Violet then looked at the other two treasures.
[Canned Tuna]
[Description: It has an indefinite shelf life as long as it's not opened! Oh, you're asking if the additive content meets food safety standards? What is food safety?]
[Rotten food]
[Description: A disgusting, hairy, soft, sticky substance. The perfect filling for your ex-boyfriend's Valentine's Day chocolates!]
Splash—
The sound of waves being pushed aside came from behind. Vera turned around and saw a huge dragon-headed ship gradually approaching the shore.
It was a large three-masted sailing ship, decorated with a fiery red dragon head at the bow. A flag with a skull pattern that looked somewhat familiar to Violet, with three scars on its left eye, was hoisted on the mainmast, exuding an imposing aura.
In terms of both imposing presence and sheer size, this ship left Viole stranded on the shore, utterly obliterating the tiny bamboo raft that could barely fit one person.
Before the ship had come to a complete stop, Shanks eagerly leaped off the deck, one hand resting on his famous sword, Griffin, at his waist.
"Huh?" He looked at the dilapidated little bamboo raft next to his own boat. "Who's so unhygienic as to litter like that?"
"Shanks."
Beckman, who had been using his Observation Haki to be vigilant around him, stood five meters away from Shanks upwind and frowned as he looked at the young girl standing on the beach not far away, staring at them blankly as if she were stunned.
If he remembered correctly, this was an uninhabited island.
The swamp, casually mentioned by the locals, is inhabited by dangerous one-eyed mudskippers. These mudskippers not only hide in the mud and spew out poisonous mud like sharp swords to attack any creature that gets close to them, but they also go on a rampage when the sea level rises and the air humidity reaches a certain level, taking over every corner of the island.
Were they nobles who were shipwrecked and drifted here by accident?
That's not impossible. The New World underwent tremendous changes because of that earthquake, and it's quite normal for inexperienced navigators to lose their way after setting sail.
This idea wasn't because Beckman wasn't vigilant enough; it was simply because Vil's appearance was so deceptive.
The little girl with black hair and black eyes looked like she was still a minor. She was wearing a pretty dress, and her fair skin was something that someone who lived on a sunny island all year round could not have.
Although Beckman had no fondness for those arrogant nobles who were proud of their so-called noble blood, he wouldn't take his anger out on a clearly underage girl.
He looked at Yasopp, who was probably the only one with experience communicating with children.
Yasopp: Ah, me?
Hinted at by the first mate, Yasopp scratched his head, hid the flintlock pistol behind his waist, walked up to Violet, bent down, and tried to put on a gentle expression.
The little girl looked up, her large, dark, lifeless eyes reflecting his figure.
"Little girl, are you alone? How did you get here?"
Intelligent NPCs in the game? Violet was pleasantly surprised. Judging from the trailer, the only intelligent creatures in the game [Shipwrecked: Survival] seemed to be monkeys, pigs, and fishermen. Although Violet was not racist, the human textures obviously looked more pleasing.
Violet ignored Yasopp's first obviously pointless question and simply pointed to the bamboo raft placed on the beach not far away.
"boating."
Shanks, Beckman, and the others turned their heads in the direction the little girl was pointing. The poor, rough, emerald-green bamboo raft was swaying back and forth in the waves.
Bang!
A huge black shadow fell from the sky and crashed into the sea not far from the bamboo raft. The raft was directly thrown into the air by the surging waves and spun into the sky under the watchful eyes of Shanks and the others, before finally plunging straight into the beach not far away.
With a snap, the fragile bamboo raft broke in two.
"Ah, my ship."
Everyone: ...
This can be called a boat?
The red-haired crew members, who had seen all sorts of bizarre ships in the New World, fell silent at this moment.
A note from the author:
----------------------
Vera: Paddling a bamboo raft across the new world, who else can do that?!
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