Chapter 351: Setting Sail for Adventure

“Luffy, I’ll never forget what you’ve done for me.”

As they reached the harbor, Luffy was just about to set out when a voice called out behind him.

The group turned to look back at Koby standing on the docks.

Zoro lowered his head and muttered, “Never thought I’d see a Navy officer thank a pirate.”

Ye Fan, fiddling with something on the little boat, grinned and answered, “Well, you saw it today.”

“Hehehehe!”

“See you next time, Koby!”

A moment later, Ye Fan raised the sail and the small boat started gliding gently out to sea.

From the harbor came a unified shout. “Salute!”

Luffy, still bursting with energy, waved both hands in the air. “Bye-bye!”

A Navy lieutenant commander glanced at the pirates in the distance, then looked at Koby. “You’ve made a good friend.”

Koby’s eyes grew misty at those words.

“One day we’ll meet again, Luffy. Even if it’s as a Navy officer and a pirate!”

…

Looking at the endless blue sea and the little town getting smaller in the distance, Ye Fan couldn’t help but sigh, “We’re finally setting out to sea.”

This voyage with Luffy was bound to shake up the whole world.

Im, better start preparing—your time is almost up.

Luffy stood at the bow, grabbing the straw hat on his head and laughed, “Alright, the Pirate Crew is finally on its way!”

“Looks like some thrilling adventures are waiting for us up ahead,” Zoro leaned against the cabin, turning his face toward Luffy.

Luffy spun around, looked at Ye Fan, Zoro, and Nami, and announced, “I’m going to become King of the Pirates!”

“You seem pretty obsessed with that dream. Is there a reason?” Zoro asked, puzzled—Luffy had declared his goal more than a few times already.

“No real reason. I just made a promise to a certain man.”

“Someday I’ll gather powerful friends, find the world’s greatest treasure, and become King of the Pirates.”

“This straw hat is proof of that promise.”

“Oh, is that so?”

“Alright, let’s go. Time to set sail for the Grand Line!”

…

Before long, with Nami guiding them, they sailed close to shore.

Things were different from the original story—last time, only Luffy and Zoro, both terrible at navigation, drifted aimlessly until they stumbled into Buggy’s base by accident.

This time, with Nami leading the way, they reached their destination directly.

“Ugh, I’m starving!”

“Ye Fan, do you have any food left?”

Luffy had finished off all the food Ye Fan prepared for several days during the journey.

Now, Nami and Zoro hadn’t eaten in almost ten hours.

“This is all your fault, Luffy.”

With a loud smack, Nami whacked Luffy on the head, leaving a big red bump.

Ye Fan didn’t miss this brilliant moment.

No matter how he looked, though, he couldn’t figure out how Nami actually managed to hurt Luffy.

Technically, Luffy was a rubber man now.

Without a weapon or Armament Haki, no one should be able to hurt him directly.

Maybe that’s just another main character bug.

“I’ve got nothing left in my storage, but isn’t that an island up ahead?”

This clone’s storage space was only ten cubic meters—enough for some rations, but Ye Fan wouldn’t use those unless it was urgent.

Even if he couldn’t take out food, his Observation Haki easily picked up a small island dozens of nautical miles away.

Everyone followed Ye Fan’s finger and sure enough, a black speck appeared on the horizon.

“Come on, let’s go!”

“Full speed ahead! Grilled meat, here we come!”

Zoro and Luffy charged forward, rowing with such force they looked like a pair of tornadoes, sending the little boat rocketing across the water.

In just moments, the island up ahead grew much bigger.

Not one to lose out, Ye Fan joined in from the back, adding his strength to their ‘tornado action.’

Nami could only hold her head in dismay, groaning, “If you keep this up, this boat’s not going to last! I seriously doubt we’ll even make it to the island.”

Hearing her concern, Ye Fan suddenly got worried and unconsciously touched the boat.

His senses told him the vessel really was on the verge of falling apart.

Cracks ran across the keel and splintering sounds came from the deck—if this went on much longer, they’d all be swimming before making land.

Well, fair enough. In the original story, this boat only held Luffy and Zoro. Now there were four.

After so much hard rowing, it was no surprise it was about to break apart.

“Relax, Nami, it’ll hold together till we get to the island.”

Ye Fan definitely didn’t want to swim—he quietly infused a bit of wood element power to reinforce the boat.

That would keep it together long enough to reach the island ahead. Besides, if that’s Buggy’s territory, there should be plenty of boats to ‘borrow’ once they arrived.

He just wasn’t sure if Buggy would even recognize him now.

After another ten minutes of flat-out paddling, the group finally set foot on the dock of a small town.

Crack!

Ye Fan was the last to step off. The moment he did, the little boat crumbled into pieces.

“Whew, that was close! Glad we made it.”

Seeing their wooden boat fall apart, Luffy quickly patted his chest. He was the only Devil Fruit user—falling into the sea would’ve been bad news.

“Alright, let’s get something to eat first!”

Luffy was the carefree type through and through.

He instantly forgot their boat problems and marched straight into town.

“Alright everyone, let’s go,” Ye Fan said with a soft chuckle.

He herded Nami and Zoro along behind Luffy.

“Hey, Zoro, where are you going?”

Shortly after, Zoro suddenly veered off down a side street.

Watching him, Ye Fan remembered that Zoro’s sense of direction was so bad, he’d get lost just ten meters away.

Only in battle could Zoro ever find the right way—no one could figure out how to fix his terrible sense of direction.

“Huh? I thought it was this way.”

Zoro quickly shook his head and, realizing his mistake, scratched his head and rejoined the group.

Boom!

Suddenly an explosion rocked the center of town, sending thick smoke billowing into the sky.

“Alright, adventure—here I come!”

The moment Luffy saw the smoke, he forgot about food and dashed toward the scene.

Luffy sprinted off in a flash.

Watching him disappear, Zoro grumbled, “The captain’s so reckless.”

Ye Fan just shrugged. “What can you do? That’s just the kind of guy he is.”

“Zoro, you follow Nami and catch up with Luffy. I’ll go buy some food supplies.”

“No problem, leave it to me. I’ll look after the captain.” Zoro replied, patting his own shoulder.

He knew Ye Fan had a mysterious ability to store some food—essential reserves for anyone out at sea.

So they split up: Ye Fan went shopping for supplies while Nami led Zoro toward the center of Orange Town.