One Piece: Star Sea Legend

Chapter 5: The First Opponent

After setting sail with Luffy on the small fishing boat, Qin Ming’s initial excitement gradually gave way to calm, followed by an overwhelming sense of boredom.

Yes, it was incredibly boring.

For twenty straight days, Qin Ming remained on the small boat, facing the endless expanse of the sea. They didn’t encounter any other ships or islands during that time, and apart from Luffy, Qin Ming hadn’t seen another soul.

Compared to Luffy, Qin Ming had a slight advantage—he knew a bit about navigation. At least for the first few days, he could still tell which direction they were heading.

But after a few days, even Qin Ming couldn’t figure out which way the drifting boat was going.

At first, Qin Ming had considered rowing the boat, but Luffy told him it wasn’t necessary. They could just let the boat drift with the current, as they would eventually reach an island.

Qin Ming thought about it and realized Luffy was right. Their departure had been rushed, and they didn’t even have the most basic navigation tool—a compass. They had set sail purely on impulse.

The small fishing boat the village chief had prepared for them was similar to the one Qin Ming had used before, but this one was stocked with plenty of food and water.

Even though Luffy had a huge appetite, the supplies were enough to last them for a while.

Because of this, Qin Ming didn’t need to fish and spent his days on the boat in relative leisure.

To his surprise, the boat also carried a large treasure chest. When Qin Ming opened it, he was nearly blinded by the glittering gold inside.

When Luffy saw the treasures in the chest, his eyes lit up, and he declared he would use them to trade for a giant copper statue.

Qin Ming was speechless at Luffy’s willingness to exchange gold for a lump of copper.

Although the boat was small, it was more than enough for two people. However, staying in such a confined space for so long with nothing to do could drive anyone crazy.

Qin Ming, who had never been on a long voyage before, now truly understood the loneliness and monotony of life at sea.

Thinking about how Luffy had once sailed alone on a small boat, Qin Ming found it hard to believe that someone as restless as Luffy could endure such solitude.

After enduring several days of boredom, Qin Ming decided to give himself something to do. He began training his body relentlessly, pushing himself to the limit every day until he was completely exhausted. He would collapse into sleep, only to wake up the next day and start all over again.

For sixteen days, Qin Ming spent every waking moment training, aside from taking care of his basic needs.

To keep Luffy from disturbing him, Qin Ming gave Luffy a task: to make the boat rock as much as possible without capsizing it.

Qin Ming had discovered that practicing his stance on a rocking boat was more effective than doing so on stable land.

“Alright, watch this! Fishing Net Frenzy!”

Luffy, excitedly holding the fishing net Qin Ming had given him, cast it into the sea. Standing at the edge of the boat, he began spinning rapidly, causing the net to whirl around in the water.

As Luffy spun faster and faster, the net dragged dozens of food-filled barrels that Qin Ming had thrown into the sea earlier.

The weight of the barrels created resistance, and as Luffy continued to spin, he created a small whirlpool around the boat.

The boat rocked violently, which was exactly what Qin Ming wanted. He used the unstable environment to practice his stances.

As Qin Ming held his stance on the rocking boat, he recalled how Luffy had initially thought Qin Ming was sun-drying the food when he saw him throwing the barrels into the sea. The memory made him chuckle.

When Luffy saw the barrels sinking, he was ready to jump into the sea to retrieve them, showing just how much he valued food.

Qin Ming had handed Luffy the fishing net and asked him to retrieve the barrels.

As expected, Luffy threw himself into the task with enthusiasm, especially since the barrels contained his favorite thing—meat.

This was why Qin Ming had thrown the barrels into the sea in the first place. It kept Luffy occupied, prevented him from causing trouble, and created the perfect environment for Qin Ming’s training. It was a win-win situation.

So, every day, Qin Ming would throw dozens of food-filled barrels into the sea, and Luffy would retrieve them with the fishing net.

To Qin Ming’s amusement, Luffy seemed to enjoy the game. By the tenth day at sea, Luffy started throwing the barrels into the water himself and playing the fishing net game, all while helping Qin Ming create the whirlpool for his training.

After sixteen days of relentless training, Qin Ming could feel that his body had become stronger and his stamina had improved significantly. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have been able to toss dozens of barrels into the sea without breaking a sweat.

Despite the muscle soreness and exhaustion after each day’s training, Qin Ming would wake up the next day and push himself even harder.

From doing 70 push-ups, 300 frog jumps, and holding a horse stance for an hour and a half each day, Qin Ming had doubled his training intensity in just half a month. He had gradually adapted to this nearly self-destructive, insane training routine.

During this time, Qin Ming had been so exhausted that he couldn’t even lift a spoon to eat. Luffy had to force-feed him chunks of meat, nearly choking him to death in the process.

Luffy watched Qin Ming train day after day, drenched in sweat, but he never commented. Sometimes, he would just laugh to himself, seemingly amused by Qin Ming’s dedication.

In those ten days, while Qin Ming trained, Luffy played his fishing net game, which slowed their progress. The whirlpool Luffy created helped Qin Ming’s training but also hindered the boat’s speed.

However, since neither Qin Ming nor Luffy was steering the boat, it drifted with the current. At night, when both of them were asleep, the boat actually moved faster than during the day.

In the first few days at sea, Qin Ming had been preoccupied with figuring out what ability his Devil Fruit had granted him. But no matter how he experimented, he remained clueless. Eventually, he stopped worrying about it and focused entirely on his training.

“Alright, that’s enough for today.”

Seeing Qin Ming collapse onto the boat, gasping for breath, Luffy cheerfully announced the end of the game and began pulling up the net full of barrels.

But just as Luffy was about to lift the net out of the water, a large fish leaped from the sea and swallowed the net along with all the food-filled barrels.

With a “splash”, the fish disappeared into the depths, leaving Luffy holding only a tattered piece of the net.

Both Luffy and Qin Ming were stunned.

“Hey! Give me back my meat! I’m the man who’s going to be the Pirate King! If you dare steal from me, you’d better be ready to face the consequences!”

Luffy, now fully alert, stomped onto the boat’s edge and shouted at the spot where the fish had vanished.

But the fish was long gone, and the sea remained calm.

Qin Ming, still exhausted, walked over to Luffy, intending to console him. But when he saw the serious look on Luffy’s face, his usual carefree demeanor replaced by a sharp intensity, Qin Ming felt a chill.

“Do you have a way to catch that fish and get our stuff back?”

Luffy stared at the sea, his expression grave. “We’re pirates! We can’t just let our things be stolen without doing anything. Even if it’s just a fish, I’ll give it my all!”

Then, turning to Qin Ming, Luffy added with passion, “And it ate all the meat I love! Even I won’t eat all that meat in one go! I won’t forgive that fish!”

Qin Ming couldn’t help but feel exasperated. “Of course, the meat is the real issue here. The rest was just a buildup.”

With most of their meat supply gone, they only had enough left for about four or five days, given Luffy’s appetite. Just as Qin Ming was about to respond, something burst out of the water in the distance.

It was the same fish that had stolen their food. As it dove back into the sea, it flicked its blue tail and let out a sound eerily similar to human laughter, as if mocking Luffy and Qin Ming.

“Ah! It’s mocking us! I’m going to punch it into the sky!”

Luffy, being the single-minded person he was, was now fully focused on defeating the fish.

“That’s a Laughing Fish. They can mimic human laughter. I’ve only read about them before.”

Qin Ming stroked his chin, deep in thought, as he explained to Luffy.

He had come across the Laughing Fish in a marine biology book while learning fishing techniques. Adult Laughing Fish were about 15 to 20 meters long, with smooth, scale-less bodies and a distinct blue color. Their gills could produce sounds resembling human laughter, and they loved to taunt fishermen, making them a notorious nuisance.

“I should be able to catch it, but it’ll take some effort.”

Twenty days ago, Qin Ming wouldn’t have had the confidence to say this. But now, after his intense training, his body was stronger, and his stamina had improved significantly. His clothes were drenched in sweat, and when he shook his arms, droplets flew off, evidence of his hard work.

“Then hurry up and do it! I’ve never eaten this kind of fish before. If its meat is tasty, I’ll forgive it! Hahaha!”

Luffy’s casual remark made Qin Ming facepalm. “You’re planning to eat it, so what’s the point of forgiving it?”

“A mere fish dares to mess with us? Doesn’t it know we’re pirates? Maybe it mistook us for fishermen since we don’t have a pirate flag.”

Qin Ming grabbed two spare fishing nets from the boat and grinned. “Who would have thought my first opponent at sea would be a fish? The sea is full of surprises.”