End(S) Conclusion(B) Remarks

Oh.

Since there seem to be quite a lot of people who hate this book, I didn't want to write any final remarks to get criticized; but after all, there are readers who like this book, and there are readers who have liked this book before, so I'll just say a few words at the end, which can be regarded as an explanation for this three-million-word journey. Let's start with a small tidbit - one year and eight months ago, it should be around the time I uploaded the first chapter of this book, a One Piece fan fiction author who did not want to reveal his name, Happy Luo, said: When you write about getting on the ship later, remind me, I'll go to your book review area to see what's going on.

Then let's start the first, only and last SBS of this book! D: (Applause) (Applause), judging from your accent, you have already decided to "follow the flow" when you wrote the first chapter? Y:? D:? Y: Your question reminds me of a little tidbit...

D: Why do you have so many behind-the-scenes stories? Y: When the book was about a hundred chapters in, and Lynch and Robin passed by the Mechanical Island, the Shemale Island, and the Boeing Islands, I forgot where I saw a comment that roughly said: Why does the protagonist keep going to the islands in the two-year plot? Is he going to be followed by a ship?

D: ...So? Y: I mean, if you read it from the end to the beginning, the book has a very obvious flavor of boarding a ship. Otherwise, why did the protagonist pass by those islands related to the Straw Hats when he first entered the Grand Line? Why did the protagonist hardly call himself a pirate group and never recruit new crew members? Why did he have to take a detour to go to the Nine Snakes? Why did he not go to Fishman Island because of an accident when he obviously arrived in Sabaody? And so on (laughs).

Y: By the way, Chapter 610 is titled "I Don't Want to Be a Hero". When I wrote that chapter, I felt that I was almost explicitly stating... Lynch's "hero theory" was basically copied from similar remarks made by Luffy and Zoro in the comics.

D:? Let’s not talk about whether it’s explicit or not; didn’t he go to Fishman Island to treat Whitebeard? What does it have to do with getting on the ship later? Y: Didn’t Whitebeard die on the top after being treated?

D: If you put it that way...

Y: Treating Whitebeard was just a cover-up, to cover up the fact that I absolutely did not want the protagonist and Robin to go to Fishman Island before boarding the ship. It seems strange to bring it up specifically, but when I was writing it, I had this kind of self-restraint: if I was writing it and my hand was crooked, and Lynch and Robin went to Fishman Island in advance to "check it out", then I would give up boarding the ship later.

D: It’s good to give up. It’s such a sin…

Y: There are similar ones: if I accidentally wrote that Lynch allowed people other than Robin to board the ship, forming a pirate group in the true sense, then I would still give up following the ship later; even if I accidentally wrote that Lynch was in the style of "I am the captain of the JOJO Pirates", then I would still give up following the ship later; if I accidentally wrote the first half of the story in a style that was "not so much like a pirate comic", then I would still give up following the ship later...

D: Wait a minute. It's written in the style of a One Piece manga. Was that intentional?

Y: What else? (Laughs) Actually, we specifically let Lynch do some things that people on the Straw Hat Pirates would do, which people on Earth would not do. What I remember most was that in the early stage in the West Sea, Lynch would intentionally play with fire when facing a gun; he would directly rob Caesar on the flower boat; when fighting Haiina on Kraikana Island, he would not "think about the cycle" and make a "best-effort plan" when facing the enemy's strange abilities... To put it bluntly, we intentionally made him "unserious" and "brainless". Lynch's speaking and behavior style, while trying not to deviate too much from the route of the protagonist of the online novel, also tried to fit in with the atmosphere of the Straw Hat Pirates.

D: If you put it that way, when Lynch faced the gangsters in the first chapter, he would have a "suicidal" reaction...

Y: I wrote it that way on purpose (laughs), just to highlight that there’s something fishy about my brain.

D: Also, Lynch is sometimes described as a benevolent pirate, because the books rarely describe how he slaughters the small fry...

Y: If it was too bloody and described directly how many people Lynch killed, it would always feel inappropriate to the style of the Straw Hat. So yes, I intentionally avoided describing killings - just like in the comics.

D: I suddenly feel so bored...

Y: (Laughs) You insisted on talking about it from the perspective of writing. Writing a novel is boring, especially when you already have the overall outline of the book at the beginning. But looking at the story itself, when did Lynch decide to go on the ship? It was after the Battle of Marineford. For Lynch at that time, whether to go on the ship or not did not affect him much, and he himself did not mind it very much. In addition, Luffy insisted, so he went on the ship naturally - at least that's the effect I hope to achieve.

D: There is no such effect.

Y: It seems so.

D: So back to the beginning - why follow the ship? This is too outdated. What's so good about following the straw hat's crappy ship?

Y: I also hate the New World arc, especially Luffy after the Big Mom arc, and even the entire Straw Hat Pirates. It feels like it doesn't have the same flavor as before.

D:? Y: That’s why I miss the first half of the Straw Hat Pirates even more, isn’t it? If we divide the first half of the Straw Hat Pirates and the second half of the Straw Hat Pirates into Straw Hat A and Straw Hat B, then I think the reason why I want to write about the ship is that I think some things in the story of Straw Hat A would be better if they could be done (such as leaving Merry and taking Lab), and the bad and unpleasant story of Straw Hat B, if it didn’t happen at all, or if Straw Hat A replaced it, people would understand… For example, it was to make Luffy say to Tama that her ability was annoying, and to make Luffy say that Oden was too naive, that I didn’t feel comfortable writing it…

D: That’s enough. “For this little bit of vinegar, I made all these dumplings.” This is a cliché. It belongs to…

D: You haven't answered the previous question: Why follow the boat flow? Do you have any hobbies?

Y: I actually don’t read a lot of One Piece fan fiction. I read the most Naruto stories, and I’ve written some myself. I like Dragon Ball fan fiction the most, but I don’t read a lot (because not many people write about it), and I’ve written some myself, and I’ve even written two books. As for One Piece fan fiction… the two that I can remember that left a deep impression on me so far are “I Am a Devil in One Piece” and “The Legend of the Mage in One Piece”… Unfortunately (laughing), both of these are so-called “follow the ship” books, especially the latter, where the protagonist also goes on adventures first and then gets on the ship.

D: …are these two discontinued works dug out from some ancient tomb?

Y: So I don’t read much. Plus, I’ve never written a One Piece story before. This is my first attempt, so why not write a genre that I like?

D: Oh. So write "follow the boat". Oh.

Y: When I decided to write about following the flow of the boat, I encountered a very tricky problem.

D: Is it that no one likes to read this? Y: I personally don’t really like the nanny-like protagonist of the ship-following genre. Although I Am a Devil and Mage Legend mentioned above, especially Mage Legend, are a bit nanny-like… On the other hand, other One Piece novels, even if they are not ship-following, sometimes when encountering plot characters, even if they have nothing to do with the protagonist, the protagonist will still run all the way over to actively give without asking for anything in return. This feeling is actually quite annoying.

D: Didn’t you say you rarely read One Piece novels?

Y: Yes, I haven’t seen many, but it’s not like I haven’t seen any. I just glanced at most of them and threw them away if I didn’t like them, so they didn’t leave any impression in my mind.

Y: Since I don’t like protagonists who act like this, I try to avoid similar feelings when I write. Taking the plot in this book as an example, the design I am most proud of is the arrangement of Momonosuke in the Wano Country chapter. Lynch subjectively did not think of deliberately targeting Momonosuke, a little brat, but Momonosuke’s fate was closely related to Lynch’s killing of Doflamingo. In summary, I just like this feeling: no matter how much I want something to happen, if it is not very suitable for the protagonist to do, I will not force the protagonist to do it personally.

Y: For example, the plot in Windmill Village where Garp takes Shanks and the others to meet Ace. This is of course a plot I intentionally wrote, but on the surface it actually has nothing to do with Lynch. But if it weren't for Lynch, Tulip wouldn't have survived to go to Windmill Village. If it weren't for Tulip, Garp wouldn't have returned to his hometown in the East China Sea in advance, and he wouldn't have met Shanks who hadn't had time to leave. Since Garp met Shanks, the following events were logical...

D: Why are you talking so much? Aren't we talking about the ship? Y: Since I don't like the nanny-type protagonist, the first plan I killed is the one that follows the ship from the beginning of the story. If you follow the ship from the beginning, it seems difficult to write one or two million words without the nanny.

Y: On the other hand, this way of starting with getting on the ship will cause a problem that is difficult to deal with: when encountering a boss, should it be fought by Luffy or the protagonist? If it is fought by Luffy, then what is the purpose of the protagonist? If it is fought by the protagonist, the limelight and experience will all go to the protagonist, so what is the purpose of Luffy? - If you choose to follow the ship, it is obviously because you like the Straw Hat Pirates, and in turn you want to compete with the protagonist to steal Luffy's boss and experience packs, steal the limelight and the highlight moments, which seems to be putting the cart before the horse.

D: …

D: So this is why others don’t like to follow the ship flow or write about following the ship flow, haven’t you noticed? This theme is naturally deformed in online literature! Y: You can’t give up when you encounter a difficult problem, right? Think about it again. Then consider another question: the protagonist has to board the ship. When boarding the ship, what range should the strength be positioned in? If the protagonist’s strength is less than or equal to Luffy and Zoro when he boards the ship, then obviously this is a way of writing about growing together - but this will lead to the protagonist appearing a bit useless if the growth rate is not as fast as Luffy and Zoro, and if the strength is not as good, then obviously the quality of the monsters swatted on the road is not as good as Luffy, and the highlight moments and BOSS are handed over to Luffy. Although I personally don’t think there is anything wrong, it is obvious that it is definitely not suitable for the reading habits of online literature; and if the protagonist’s growth rate exceeds Luffy, this is even more nonsense. In this case, what is the meaning of Luffy’s existence? The characteristics of the two characters, Luffy and Zoro, are in combat. Characters that have lost their characteristics are boring...

D: You're saying that as if Lynch's strength is not as good as Luso's...

Y: When it exceeds too much, it will not have any impact (laughs). It is based on this view that the current plot outline was finally finalized: the first half is the protagonist's own adventure, the middle half is the official boarding of the ship after the Battle of Marineford, and the protagonist only participates in the process of the new world in the second half.

D: I lost my memory? How come I remember writing the first half?

Y: Because I really wanted to write it. I also said it in the comments before the book was published. How could Mary just give up like that? ? ?

Y: But this also raises another new problem: since it has been decided that the protagonist will officially join the ship after the top, then obviously the protagonist's strength at that time is already in the first echelon, but we have to write the first half of the story. In this case, should the protagonist join the ship before the New World chapter, or in the first half? If it is the latter, it seems that the protagonist will definitely be the nanny...

D: Doesn't Lynch have to babysit now? He upgraded Luffy and his crew to the maximum level, and he still doesn't babysit...

Y: If you think about it carefully, isn't it because Lynch doesn't want to be a babysitter and feels that it would be meaningless that he spends a year to upgrade everyone to the maximum level?

D: ? Y: ? Y: (laughs) It is precisely because Lynch is so strong that he has the leeway to let Luffy fight the bosses in the second half. And because Luffy has already reached the maximum level, there is no need for Lynch to intervene and help fight the bosses.

There is no mistake in the poem, post, content, and read the book on 6, 9, and bar!

D: What about the bosses in the second half being given to... Then there is only one Kaido? Oh, and there is also a Blackbeard. Big Mom and Dover have been booked long ago, Caesar is gone to Ice and Fire Island, Dressrosa is not there, and Zou Island is not there either...

Y: It was because we knew that the Straw Hats would not go to Zou in the sequel, so Lynch and Robin went there in advance and got the red stone; it was because we didn’t want to write the Dressrosa arc, so Lynch solved the hidden dangers of Dressrosa in advance and went to the North Sea to kill Doflamingo... This is actually a bit like the type of "looking for trouble" I mentioned above, but after all, it’s not looking for trouble to help the plot characters for free, but looking for trouble to step on someone to death... So it feels okay. The former is a benefit to the protagonist, and the latter can still gain some combat experience.

Y: Let's get back to the topic. Now we are in this situation: when the protagonist gets on board the ship in the New World, he must be very strong, preferably to the point of being above the rest of the world; I really want to write the first half of the story, but to be honest, I have a very good impression of the first half of the story, and I don't think it's necessary to make major changes - but if I don't change it, I need a reason. My first reaction is: wouldn't it be better to give the protagonist a reason not to act casually! D: ...Waiting here? So the reason why "BIB" has the setting of "the longer you leave the main body, the more fatigue you accumulate" is designed entirely for getting on the ship?

Y: Let's split the protagonist into two people! It's just such a simple idea. So if you want to write it this way, the other protagonist must be offline temporarily, otherwise there is no reason not to find a way to solve the reason why he can't act casually and stay on the ship honestly... At that time, I happened to be watching the fifth part of the animation of JOJO, Golden Wind, and I thought that the stand thing was very suitable for this idea, so I used it.

Y: Why did you stay in Nine Snakes for so long? Because I wanted the protagonist and Robin to be "related" to Luffy, hoping to reduce the discomfort of boarding the ship in the later stage; why did you meet Robin at the beginning, and Robin was the only companion for a long time? In fact, it was to pave the way for the protagonist to be offline in the middle period. The original plan was to expose Robin's identity and attract the pursuit of the World Government... But as I wrote, this point seemed to be not convincing enough, and there was no way to make the protagonist offline, so I had to introduce Im in advance. Lynch is a fan of Robin in the setting. I'm sorry that I'm not. I like all the beautiful characters in One Piece, but unfortunately in the plot arrangement of this book, the heroine at the beginning can only be chosen from Robin and Nami, and Nami is obviously not as suitable as Robin. It was actually an accident that the Empress became the second heroine... I suddenly remembered this when I wrote Nine Snakes. Because of the Empress's own charming setting, I convinced myself and let Lynch, who didn't have the mentality of opening a harem, embrace her left and right. Because only the exceptional Empress has a slight possibility of being accepted by Robin. As for other female characters, such as Heina, Otama, Nami, Shirahoshi... no matter how much I think about it, I have to forget it.

D: ...I haven't recovered from the fact that the protagonist must be offline.

D: So, do you have a habit of torturing the protagonist? You did it in the last book, and you do it again in this one. Is it going to end? Y: Regarding this, I can only say that I couldn’t stand the early part of the last book… As for this book, as I said above, the purpose of the long explanation is not to torture the protagonist, but to make Lin Qi offline. I also tried my best to live a comfortable life when Lin Qi was offline.

D: Robin has only two character labels, one of which is "Nico Robin's ten years of isolation." You call this nourishing...

Y: She can only be autistic. Should it be written like this: the protagonist is in jail, while the heroine is playing happily outside... This is actually the reason why Robin was chosen at the beginning. To put it bluntly, the character of Robin herself has the autistic gene in the comics, so it would not be inconsistent to write it at this time. For the same reason, I think that part of the plot must also be developed from Robin's perspective... If the perspective is placed on Lynch, after ten years in jail, he looks up and sees his wife coming to see him with a group of people. It feels a bit strange. Considering that after writing like this, some people even join the group to angrily spray "cuckold" and "giving away wife" and other arguments that I can't understand, I really can't imagine what the response would be if I skipped Robin's perspective and only wrote about Lynch...

Y: Besides that, this is the only way I can think of to get on board in this situation: using Luffy's character traits. If Luffy believes that Kuroko is his partner, he will not give up easily. Luffy's character is also convincing enough. He really regards Lynch and "BIB" as the same person.

D: In short, in one sentence: you want to write about following a ship, and this is the only way of following a ship that you can think of and are willing to write about and like to write about, is that right?

Y: About that.

D: If that’s the case, why didn’t you specify in the introduction that it was about following the boat flow?

Y: In that case, it is inevitable that there will be such a situation: people who want to read the introduction come in and read tens of thousands of words, hundreds of thousands of words, and why the hell they haven't followed the ship yet, and they are so anxious? On the other hand, after all, I also have this idea: as long as I try to write the atmosphere of the first half of the story in a more comic style, more "straw hat", it may not be impossible for people to be more receptive when they see the second half of getting on the ship... Even if I take a step back, even if I only look at it from a utilitarian perspective, if I put a "follow the ship flow" in the introduction, who knows, someone might say "it's boring, anyway, the latter part is following the ship, the better the front part is, the less interesting it is", and if I receive such feedback all day long, I doubt whether I can finish writing this book.

D: You say it so nicely, aren’t you just trying to trick more people into watching it?

Y: That’s fine if you insist. I’d also like to apologize to the readers who are “hurt” and cannot accept this. I did not do it on purpose. This is a fundamental structural contradiction of this book. I have done my best to improve the reading experience around the line of boarding the ship. If more than one million words are still unacceptable, then I have no other choice. At least there are more than one million words, so let’s just consider it finished! Finally, I personally feel a little helpless about the trend of treating “following the ship” and “leaning towards straw hats” as stinky shit that should be avoided even though it is a fan work of One Piece, and that needs to be specially marked with advance warnings... To be honest, after writing this book, I feel quite tired of the One Piece theme, which is...

D: Will you stop writing One Piece novels? Y: I will write two more.

D:? Y: (laughs) This is the idea that came to me when I was feeling upset in the second half of writing this book. I wanted to write two more fan stories based on the different time points when Lily gave birth to Lynch. The general direction and ending of the two books were almost considered without paying attention. It would be a pity if I didn’t write it. Especially since the title and introduction of one of the volumes have been finalized, [“Commodore Lynch, why did you choose such a remote South Sea branch instead of the Navy Headquarters in Marinford? I think everyone knows that with your talent, you can easily pass the enlistment test in Marinford.” “Because it is closer to home.”], even if it is just for this introduction, I want to finish it.

Y: But I probably won’t write the next book. I’m really tired of the pirate genre… I’ll take a breath first.

Y: As for the third One Piece book, I decided to wait until Oda finishes One Piece and the manga story is finalized.

D: You have thought a lot. Well, I have written so many testimonials, which should be enough to push the word count of this book to three million. Anyway, testimonials are free, so there is no need to waste them. Let's stop here and make a final summary! Y: (laughing) According to the outline, I have not deviated from the track and finished writing a novel smoothly. This is different from the previous experience of writing blindly (especially after finishing Hai Yina, I completely perfected the subsequent outline at that time, so the speed of updating has become stable and fast since then). In short, I am very happy to have finished writing this book.

D: Anything else?

Y: The idea of ​​serializing the beginning of a chapter is really genius! My neighbor Luo said that this is very useful for increasing the word count! The beginning of the chapter of the Battle of Marineford is my favorite. The serialization of the beginning of the chapter is perfectly synchronized with the main text. It's awesome! D: Anything else?

Y: Follow the flow of the boat, only idiots write that. I am an idiot! D: …

Y: It’s great that I wrote about the ship flow in my first One Piece novel. See you in the next book!

(End of this chapter)