4 Chapter 4
Chapter 4: Is This Really Sabaody?
The next thing to do is wait, wait for the fish to bite, wait for the water to distill, wait for the wooden board to reach the shore.
Adrian sometimes ponders how he can increase the 3% on the back of his hand. Sometimes he chats with Tom and asks if he can fly directly with him.
Unfortunately, even if Tom wants to fly, he would need various props. For example, with a wooden board, he can try gliding. With a special suit, he can imitate flapping wings like a bird. Or give him a broomstick and he can ride on it to fly.
However, the first two methods are unlikely to allow them to fly together, and as for the last method, even Tom himself is uncertain whether the flying method he learned from a witch in his dream would work.
Chatting about various things, Tom suddenly tumbles, and the whole cat lies on the wooden board, his upper body elongated, hanging over the sea—it looks like a fish has taken the bait!
Adrian quickly grabs Tom's tail, and in the next moment, Tom's hind legs are also lifted, turning the cat into a ten-meter-long stretch.
At this moment, Adrian doesn't care whether Tom is in pain or not. He exerts effort to pull back, allowing Tom's hind legs to touch the wooden board again.
Tom starts exerting force as well. His size gradually returns to normal, but the issue is not that they are moving backward, but rather the wooden board beneath them is rapidly approaching the fish!
What kind of fish could have such strength!
And are the fishhooks made from Adrian's two shoelaces and a keychain really sturdy enough?!
Tom pulls the fishing rod back with force, and Adrian watches as the sturdy wooden stick bends in an abnormal arc.
But they don't have time to worry about that now; they need to catch the fish first.
The hands that were holding Tom's tail start alternating upwards, passing Tom's waist, chest, arms, and finally joining Tom in gripping the fishing rod.
The fish clearly has no intention of stopping; it drags Adrian and Tom forward for over a kilometer before gradually running out of energy.
Adrian and Tom exchange a glance and nod. They start reeling in the line manually, as there is no reel. A fish about one and a half meters long is pulled onto the wooden board, flopping around with its mouth wide open.
Tom casually takes out a stick and taps the fish twice to knock it out.
Looking at the unknown, pitiful fish, Adrian's eyes well up with tears of sympathy.
He doesn't even have the mood to consider whether the fish's strength and size make sense.
When it comes to processing a fish, Tom is a professional. He skillfully removes the innards and scales, then cuts it into sashimi.
Given their current circumstances, making a fire is out of the question. As for the possibility of parasites, they'll worry about that after surviving.
Having something to eat is already good enough.
By nightfall, they have accumulated about half a bottle of water in a glass jar. Adrian and Tom split it in half, providing some relief for their parched throats.
Although Adrian feels the crude distillation apparatus shouldn't be this efficient, it's still a welcome development.
Adrian unbuttons his collar and lets Tom crawl inside his clothes—it turns out Tom is quite sensitive to the cold.
Side by side, Adrian and Tom embrace each other and spend their first day together.
And so, with Tom's company, Adrian manages to survive his second day in this world.
...
This is the fifth morning since Adrian drifted at sea.
Tom crawls out from Adrian's collar, stretching lazily.
These past few days, they've had enough to eat, but their lives have been nothing more than just surviving. Both of them look much thinner, with sunken cheeks.
However, Tom doesn't complain about their current situation. At least he can feel the care that his new owner shows him.
Although Adrian doesn't seem very smart and lacks practical skills, even struggling to efficiently kill a fish, Tom doesn't mind. After all, as long as his new owner treats him well and doesn't abandon him, especially if they can't catch mice in the future, he just hopes not to be scolded.
Tom's demands are modest and humble. As a cat, being kicked out of home for not being able to catch mice is a constant pain.
Fortunately, his new owner has accepted him with open arms, even after finding out the reason he was kicked out.
Seeing Adrian now, eyes tightly shut and features scrunched up as if in discomfort, Tom is used to it. Every morning for the past few days has been like this.
After waking up, Adrian's first action is to check the number in the circular mark on the back of his hand—it has changed to 7%. He has no idea how this happened. For the past few days, the percentage has increased without any particular reason. Could it be charging from solar energy?
Adrian yawns and starts telling Tom about his nightmare: "Let me tell you, Tom, last night I dreamed I turned into a scorpion spirit and was pinned beneath the Seven Colored Mountain by the Calabash Brothers. That mountain was so heavy, it left me gasping for breath..."
Usually, Tom is interested in the stories Adrian tells, but today he's uncharacteristically not paying attention.
Tom rubs his eyes, blinks hard, and gradually widens his mouth.
"What's wrong, Tom?"
"Yahoo~"
Tom cheers and starts doing a backflip, spinning around the edge of the wooden board before excitedly jumping onto Adrian.
Tugging at his clothes, Tom points in a certain direction.
Following Tom's gesture, Adrian sees a green patch on the blue sea. It's the treetops! That means there's land!
A smile immediately lights up Adrian's face. Their drifting journey is finally coming to an end!
Adrian cheers and lifts Tom high: "Let's go! Let's paddle over there!"
Tom and Adrian lie on either side of the wooden board, using their hands to paddle enthusiastically.
Tom's short paws should have a low efficiency for paddling, but he spins them like propellers, creating a whirlpool effect.
As they draw closer to the small island, Adrian notices something amiss. In the distance beyond the island, there's a massive mountain wall.
The wall is entirely red and towers into the sky, with the peak hidden from view, and its horizontal extent seemingly endless.
"This can't be, right?" Adrian thinks of something dreadful.
Lost in thought, his paddling slows down, causing the board to rotate in place.
Tom, who was excited just moments ago, gradually calms down and looks at Adrian, his expression seeming to say, "You're paddling while paddling!"
"Oops, sorry, Tom. I got distracted." Adrian says, "We might have reached a dangerous place. Be careful from now on, approach slowly, and be ready to draw your gun if things turn perilous."
Tom blinks, seeming to grasp the seriousness of the situation, and nods thoughtfully.
Together, man and cat continue to approach the small island.
Perhaps this is what they call "the horse dying on the way to the mountain." By noon, they finally start to make out the scenery on the island.
Tall trees cover the island, their trunks marked with white numbers. What's miraculous is that bubbles of various sizes continuously rise from the ground, floating upwards in a colorful display under the sunlight.
To Tom, this place seems like a beautiful fairytale island.
But to Adrian, it's a different story. The scene reminds him of a place from his memories—Sabaody Archipelago. And that towering mountain in the distance is likely the Red Line.
This is... the world of the anime "One Piece"!
