Chapter 2: Survival Day 2: What is your relationship now? ...
Chapter 2: Survival Day 2
Long was holding the warm, living heart in his hand, and felt a little bit confused for a moment.
He has always been a decisive person. He has had many confused times and dilemmas in his life, but it is rare for him to be confused and in dilemma at the same time.
He wanted to stuff the heart back, but the person was still alive even without it, and he couldn't see the hole, so he had no idea where to put it. Furthermore, the person had given him this "gift as a companion" with great anticipation, feeling like he was being entrusted with something very important... But if he accepted it, how would he keep it? It would feel strange to put it anywhere!
Wendy had no idea that her move had frightened her new friend. She only noticed the notification on the game interface: [You requested to add Monkey D. Dragon as a companion, and he agreed to your request.]
Wendy was satisfied and carefully instructed her new companion: "Carry the Telltale Heart with you. If I die unexpectedly, my soul will come to you, and you will use it to revive me."
Long felt his hand holding the heart go numb, and it felt heavier. He couldn't pass it over.
And when Wendy didn't respond to him, she jumped into the forest to collect it.
Long did not stop him this time, because he thought it was bad luck for the bandits to run into Wendy.
However...aside from the bandits, there are other things that need attention in this place.
So he stopped Wendy and asked, "Have you ever been to the Uncertainty Terminal?"
Wendy stopped and turned to look at him in confusion, her tone tinged with curiosity, "What is that?"
Windmill Village is a small port town nestled against Mount Korpo. While this is all part of the Kingdom of Goa, the official territory is located in the center of the island. Between the kingdom's outer walls and Mount Korpo lies a garbage dump known as the Uncertainty Terminal.
Abandoned garbage and people gathered here, making it a chaotic place and a hotbed of disease and crime.
After hearing this, Wendy's face suddenly became clear. "So this is considered a high-risk area, right? So, can we go mining there?"
Long looked at the other person's eager look and fell silent - the girl seemed even more excited.
Long wasn't one for words, so he could only emphasize it again in a simple sentence: "It's more dangerous over there."
"I know, but it doesn't matter. I have a sister," Wendy said matter-of-factly. Then, just like before, she summoned the white ghost he had seen before and enthusiastically introduced her to him, "Let me introduce you, this is Abigail, my twin sister."
I know this is your Devil Fruit ability, summoning the undead to fight... I just didn't expect it was your sister's soul. —Long watched as the ghost muttered clearly and circled around Wendy happily, his face remaining calm.
"The people over there are more ruthless and vicious than bandits. If you want minerals... what kind of minerals do you want?" Long asked.
Wendy glanced at her package and replied, "I need gold nuggets and gears... I can take my time with the gears, since we're not short of food right now. But gold nuggets are essential. I need them to build the science machine."
"Gold nuggets?" Hearing this word, Long felt a little helpless, feeling that this strange little girl lacked common sense. "You should be able to find discarded gears over there. But there's no way something like gold nuggets would be found in a garbage dump."
"That's right... It doesn't look like there's any gold mine available on this mountain." Wendy looked a little discouraged, then looked at him with curious eyes. "Long, where can we find the gold mine then?"
Long wanted to say that the only places where there could be gold mines on this island were either the pirates who passed by and stayed there, or the homes of the nobles in the Kingdom of Goa... but he didn't dare to say it.
Because of Wendy's ignorant and fearless state, he was a little worried that after he said that, she would rush into the pirate ship or the palace with a spear in her arms.
So, he hesitated for a moment before replying, "If you really need gold, I'll get it for you."
Wendy treated the man as a friend and didn't bother to be polite. She happily agreed and went to have fun in the forest again.
Long didn't stop her this time, but secretly breathed a sigh of relief - fortunately, although Wendy was strange, she still made sense.
But...why did she pick up an axe and start chopping trees? Why was she so skilled at chopping trees?
Before he came, he saw a piece of open space on Mount Korpo, and thought of the pile of wood next to his home... Long suddenly felt that he understood something.
***
Maybe it was because he had entrusted his heart to her, but after that, the relationship between the two of them became much closer.
Wendy, because she now treated people as her friends, stopped hiding things and even started sharing… while Long would proactively ask questions, though the answers he received might not always be effective.
Dragon: "What do you want the gold nuggets for? What's that scientific machine you mentioned for?"
Wendy: "To light up the technology tree! With a science machine, I can build a lot of things, especially a backpack. The current package slot is not enough!"
Long asked again: "Can't I use an ordinary backpack?"
Wendy replied, "Only a backpack I built myself can be effective! You know my ability!"
Long Shensi: That is to say, with scientific machines, we can build things... We can create a second heart to resurrect, summon our dead relatives to fight, and create strange and bizarre technological products... The ability of this devil fruit is really completely in line with people's imagination of the devil.
Wendy is calculating: Only second-tier technology is needed to make a refrigerator... Damn it, I don't know where in this world can I find clockwork and loose gears.
Long was a man of his word, and out of curiosity about Wendy's ability, he went to get some gold nuggets for her. After all, with his ability, it wouldn't be hard to make money through legitimate means—all he had to do was catch some bounties.
Then, he watched with his own eyes as Wendy used gold nuggets, wood blocks, and stones to instantly create a machine as tall as a person.
But Wendy didn't stop, as if this had just begun. Wendy was very busy going back and forth, and kneaded out... a bunch of things that looked ordinary but were actually completely extraordinary.
After finishing all those things, Wendy also gave him a backpack.
Long found that this backpack was almost weightless, no matter how much stuff he stuffed into it. And it was only limited by the type of things, and the capacity seemed unfathomable.
Long stuffed the "tell-tale heart" Wendy had given him in there, feeling relieved—finally, there was a normal place to put it.
Otherwise, carrying someone else's beating heart with you every day would feel a little off.
However, all these anomalies hinted at something strange about Wendy. After hesitating for a while, Long asked, "Wendy...is this ability of yours truly a Devil Fruit ability?"
"Yeah." Wendy, who felt that this was the way the world was set up, said seriously, "My fruit ability is the Famine Fruit. It seems powerful, but the side effect is that I can't stay in darkness without light, and I get hungry very easily."
Long pondered for a moment—so that was what she'd meant by "I'm afraid of the dark"... and that frequent eating also explained it. It turned out she was easily full and easily hungry, rather than being reluctant to eat her fill all at once.
But...this ability...
"Wendy, have you had this ability from the beginning?"
"Huh? No, I only got it after I came to this place."
Long was a little surprised: "... Came to this place? What about you before?"
Wendy thought about her character background and replied, "I used to live with Abigail in the manor. After Abigail's accidental death, I came here to see her again."
It sounds like she's from a wealthy noble family... maybe even higher up the social ladder. So, could that ghost not be the ghost of Wendy's real sister, but rather a manifestation of Wendy's longing, shaped by her Devil Fruit ability? — Long dispelled his doubts and confirmed Wendy's origins.
It's not his fault. After all, Wendy's appearance, clothing, speech and manners... well, okay, apart from the weird parts of her manners, she also knows some basic etiquette and occasionally speaks a literary sentence or two... The family behind a child like this is not ordinary.
It's rare for a noble to be such a gentle and lovely girl... This might also be related to her own experience. She seems to be out of tune with her relatives, so after her sister died and she gained her abilities, she ran away from home.
Long's gaze softened as he looked at the human—Wendy was still so young, it must be hard for her to live like this alone...
Long specifically reminded Wendy of the precautions to take when walking outside, and emphasized that she should hide her abnormalities in front of outsiders.
Her abilities are indeed unique, but she's also very vulnerable to manipulation. Her fear of the dark alone is enough to make her difficult.
Wendy took her friend's words to heart and was quite pleased. It looked like she was planning on living with him for the long term! She'd go collect some seeds and see if she could start a plot of land back home.
So, a week later, when Karp came back...
"Ah, you little brat, you still remember to come back?" Garp cursed at his son whom he hadn't seen for a long time. He was about to take off his slippers and beat the child. But before beating him, he had another question, "Where's Wendy? Did you scare the little girl away?"
Long also maintained an unyielding attitude towards his father, the Vice Admiral of the Navy. After all, he had previously clashed with his father over his resignation from the Navy. "No. She said she was going out to collect flower petals this morning, and she left."
Garp snorted in dissatisfaction, looked around the house, and finally realized that something was wrong - huh? Why did the house feel... uh, it didn't look like home anymore?
Long Ye saw what his father was thinking and kindly explained, "These were all made by Wendy. That's the refrigerator, that's the pot, and those over there are storage boxes... That round device outside is Wendy's second-grade science machine, called the Alchemy Engine. She said that once she's unlocked all the tech points, she can smash it so it doesn't take up space. Oh, and don't touch that triangular platform with the pottery jar on it. That's Wendy's sister's urn."
Garp was silent for a long moment, his face bewildered. After a long pause, he could only utter one syllable: "...Huh?"
And at this time, Wendy came back.
A little blonde girl wearing a pink woolen coat, a rose in her hair, and a beautiful wreath came in with a wreath of the same style in her hand. She ran to Long and held up the wreath with both hands: "Long, squat down a little, I will put it on you."
Long Yiyan bent down with his hands on his knees and lowered his head to move forward.
"This can maintain San, you have to wear it all the time. I'll make you another one when it breaks." Wendy put the wreath on the man and turned to see Garp with a dazed look on his face. "Ah, Uncle Garp, you're back. We might not have enough meatballs at home. I'll go get some meat later."
Wendy said this and ran out again in a hurry.
Long shouted at Wendy's back, "Pay attention to the time! Be back before dark!"
Garp's pupils trembled as he watched this scene. He watched Wendy run away, then turned his head stiffly to look at his son, who was over two meters tall and had a delicate wreath on his head. It was an eyesore no matter how he looked at it.
He trembled for a long time, and finally asked with a trembling voice: "What is your relationship now?"
The author has something to say:
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Dragon: Good luck on demoulding, we are good luck on demoulding [dog head]
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