The sun was setting, dusk had arrived, and when only the last glimmer of light remained in the sky, Raiden Ei emerged from the cabin.
She walked to the bow and saw everyone on the ship looking toward the island ahead; the ship was already approaching its location.
Raiden Ei's appearance drew their attention.
Although the sound of the waves was loud and they were all observing the island, someone was also watching their surroundings.
Seeing her approach, someone came forward to report to her.
After all, she possessed the strongest combat power among them, and they had even been saved by her.
Naturally, everyone regarded her as their leader; they needed to consult her for anything they planned to do.
Even if she did nothing, Raiden Ei remained the most indispensable person.
Seeing Raiden Ei arrive, Gatt yielded the best vantage point at the bow to her and reported on the day's voyage.
Raiden Ei accepted without ceremony and went straight to the bow, looking at the archipelago.
That's right, it was an archipelago.
As soon as she stepped out of the cabin, she saw islands of varying sizes scattered ahead.
Now, standing at the bow, she saw it even more clearly.
The archipelago was composed of more than ten small islands arranged in a circle, forming a '0' shape with an inland sea in the center.
There was a beach on only one side, with sheer cliffs on the rest.
"General Raiden, this is an archipelago; there is no place to land ahead.
Our ship will have to circle around to find a suitable landing spot. Please wait a moment."
"It's fine. It's already dark, and the dangers on the island are unknown.
Why don't we rest on the ship for the night and land tomorrow?"
"We could, but everyone is quite curious and eager to land quickly, which is why we considered landing after dark."
Raiden Ei thought for a moment and then said, "Let's land tomorrow morning instead.
The dangers on the island are unknown; if someone gets hurt, it will be troublesome, as we don't have a doctor here."
Haisier: "Then let's land tomorrow! It's still too dangerous right now."
Cyrus: "Sigh, we have to wait until tomorrow!"
Sang: "Tomorrow is fine, then."
"Gatt... have you found a navigable route?"
"Not yet. We sailed all day but encountered no other ships.
We did run into sea beasts, but they didn't attack us.
Coupled with the sea serpent you killed, I estimate we are currently in a certain sea area.
This area was likely discovered by the Silver Axe Pirate Crew.
After looting Vinia Island, they used this area to evade the Marine pursuit.
If we want to leave this area, we must cross it or find an exit, but we don't know where the exit is."
"Oh, then how long do you estimate it will take to leave this area?"
Haisier: "General, we do have an estimate.
Twenty days before the Silver Axe Pirate Crew attacked Vinia Island, the East Blue Daily reported that the Silver Axe Pirate Crew had appeared in Elennard.
So, it will take us a maximum of twenty days to get out of this sea area, perhaps even less."
Raiden Ei nodded: "Mm, then navigate as you see fit.
I will handle any danger we encounter.
However, you all must also train diligently.
I might not be able to react to every danger.
Everyone, go back now, and we will land tomorrow."
Seeing that everything that needed to be said had been discussed and tasks assigned, the others secured the ship and went back to rest.
At this moment, night enveloped the entire world, plunging it into darkness.
Raiden Ei returned to the cabin less than half an hour after coming out.
These past two days, thanks to Mina's diligent cleaning, many messy things had been organized, and dirty spots had been scrubbed clean, eliminating the previous odor.
After having dinner with everyone, Raiden Ei returned to the crow's nest to continue meditating.
It wasn't that she was unwilling to meditate in the cabin; it was just that the crow's nest was an excellent spot for meditation.
Paired with keeping watch, it was simply perfect.
She was using meditation to rest now.
Although she hadn't reached the level of perceiving everything, she had made some progress.
It could serve as a way to restore her spirit, and she could also perceive any movement using Observation Haki.
Nothing happened that night; it passed peacefully.
As soon as the sky began to show the faintest light, she came up from the crow's nest to the deck and began today's training.
The sun hadn't yet risen when some people in the cabin were already up.
Mina came onto the deck with a mop and was somewhat surprised to see Raiden Ei.
Seeing her practicing sword forms, she only watched from a distance and did not disturb her.
Raiden Ei trained diligently, repeating her forms again and again, only stopping when the sun rose.
By then, almost everyone else was awake.
It was the first time they understood what it felt like when someone stronger than you was also working harder than you.
Although they hadn't heard the saying, the feeling was the same.
After eating a bland breakfast, everyone on the ship set sail.
They still had to circle the archipelago once before finding a place to land.
They anchored the ship at a suitable cliff for landing, and everyone grabbed their weapons before disembarking one after another.
Raiden Ei stepped off the ship first.
Having drifted on the sea for several days, she was starting to miss the feeling of solid ground beneath her feet.
It had to be said, the sensation of standing on land was ten thousand times better than being on a ship.
The purpose of landing on the island today was to replenish supplies.
Although there were still many supplies on the ship, if they encountered an opportunity to restock and didn't take it, they would be preparing to wait for death if supplies ran out later.
After discussing it with the others, Raiden Ei set off.
They all volunteered to disembark.
If they encountered danger, they would have to save themselves and be responsible for themselves, especially since the island might have poisonous insects and snakes.
Raiden Ei couldn't possibly stay by their side constantly just to protect them.
If they died, it would be nobody's fault but their own.
She would only deal with dangers when they arose near the ship; she would not provide individual protection.
Raiden Ei walked through the mountain forest with ease and leisure, keeping Observation Haki active at all times to prevent being bitten by small insects accidentally.
When she found a water source, she would check if it was fresh water.
She was here to find supplies; bringing the others would only result in them losing their lives.
They were currently just ordinary people, even worse off than those pirates, with the exception of Geer.
It was better for her to search alone, avoiding all the troublesome tasks; she could just put everything into the system backpack, and it would be done.
Raiden Ei kicked a snake away with her foot, checked the water source, found it wasn't fresh water, and continued moving to another location to search.
Just then, a tiger leaped out from the bushes and pounced at her.
Raiden Ei turned her head to look.
As the tiger lunged at her, drool was streaming from its mouth; it was clearly ravenously hungry.
But judging by its robust physique, it must have eaten well in the past; now it was starving and out hunting for food.
Raiden Ei reached this conclusion in an instant.
There must be many edible animals here; she could hunt a few more to have an extra meal.
She casually slapped the tiger, sending it flying, and continued searching for fresh water, now with the added goal of hunting some wild game.
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