"Do you want people to fear you?"
Ling looked across the fire at Naguri.
"No."
The answer came easily.
He had never cared about making people afraid of him. Fame didn't interest him much either, and while money was obviously useful, becoming rich wasn't why he had spent the past month pushing himself every day.
Naguri quietly turned one of the pieces of meat over the fire.
"Then why do you want to become strong, noshi?"
Ling didn't need long to answer that either.
"To protect the people precious to me."
Selene immediately came to mind.
He wanted to find her more than anything. After everything that had happened in Cozia, knowing she was alive had been an enormous relief, but knowing wasn't enough. Somewhere out there, his sister was living a life he knew almost nothing about.
Then there were Makino, Woop Slap, Gyoru, and the others in Foosha Village.
Ling had already lost Alfred and Susi.
He didn't want to stand helplessly by if something happened to the people he still had.
Naguri watched him quietly.
"That's why you want strength, noshi."
Ling nodded.
Naguri turned another piece of meat over the flames.
"Then let me ask you something."
Ling looked at him.
"Would you rather be a worm or a bird, noshi?"
Ling stared at him.
"...What?"
"A worm is crawling along the ground. A bird sees it and eats it."
Naguri lifted his pipe slightly.
"Which would you rather be?"
"The bird."
The answer seemed obvious.
Naguri nodded.
"Then a snake sees the bird."
Ling paused.
"The bird is watching the worm."
Naguri moved the pipe slightly higher.
"The snake is watching the bird."
Ling looked across the fire at him.
"So would you rather be the worm to the bird..."
Naguri took a slow pull from his pipe.
"...or the bird to the snake, noshi?"
Ling frowned.
Neither sounded particularly appealing.
"...Neither."
The corner of Naguri's mouth lifted.
"Good."
He removed one of the pieces of meat from the fire and placed it aside.
"But then what?"
Ling paused.
"What do you mean?"
Naguri looked back at him.
"If everyone precious to you were already safe, what would you do with that strength?"
Ling opened his mouth.
Nothing came out.
Naguri raised his pipe.
"Protecting someone can give you a reason to become strong, noshi. But that isn't the same as having a dream."
The fire crackled softly between them.
"What do you truly desire?"
Ling became quiet.
His first thought was still Selene.
'I want to find her.'
That was the one thing he wanted more than anything right now.
But Naguri wasn't asking what he wanted to do tomorrow or next year. He was asking what Ling wanted beyond that.
Ling lowered his gaze toward the flames.
He wanted to become strong.
That much was obvious.
He remembered what awaited the world in the years ahead. Pirates who could destroy entire islands, wars that would reshape the balance of the seas, the World Government, the Four Emperors, and countless dangers that could swallow someone like him without ever noticing he existed.
Strength meant survival.
It meant being able to protect the people around him.
But if he became strong enough...
If Selene was safe...
If nobody precious to him needed protecting...
Then what?
Ling frowned.
He wanted to travel someday.
There were countless places throughout the world he had only ever seen through manga panels and anime episodes. Islands he wanted to visit, people he wanted to meet, and things he wanted to see with his own eyes.
But even that didn't feel like the answer Naguri was asking for.
Across the fire, Naguri continued watching him.
Then his expression changed slightly.
His eyes closed beneath his thick eyebrows.
The awareness of Observation Haki spread quietly around him.
Ling remained seated on the other side of the flames, still lost in thought.
Naguri sensed something.
His fingers stopped against his pipe.
'Greed.'
It was difficult to describe any other way.
Something deep inside the boy carried an enormous amount of desire, far greater than Naguri would have expected from someone so young. It wasn't directed toward money, power, or anything else he could clearly recognize.
There was simply too much of it.
Uncontrolled and buried so deeply that Ling himself didn't seem aware it was there.
Naguri's brows shifted slightly.
'How can someone this young carry so much greed, noshi?'
He studied Ling again.
There was no malice behind it.
Whatever that desire was, Naguri couldn't sense anything cruel or twisted in the boy sitting across from him.
More importantly, Ling clearly had no idea it existed.
Naguri slowly opened his eyes.
Asking him about something he didn't even understand himself wouldn't accomplish much.
Ling remained silent for several more seconds before finally raising his head.
"I don't know."
Naguri waited.
Ling looked toward the fire again.
"I want to find my sister more than anything right now. I want to get stronger, and I want to travel someday."
He hesitated.
"But if you're asking what I want after all of that..."
Ling shook his head.
"I don't know."
Naguri stared at him for a moment.
Then he smiled.
"Good."
Ling looked at him.
"Good?"
"No-shi-shi-shi-shi-shi!"
Naguri laughed and lifted his pipe.
"You're ten years old, noshi. I'd be more worried if you already had every answer."
Ling blinked.
Naguri's laughter gradually faded.
"Better to admit you don't know than invent an answer because an old man asked you a difficult question."
Ling relaxed slightly.
"You have time, noshi."
Naguri glanced through the cave entrance.
Outside, the unfinished ship stood beneath the night sky, its tall mast rising between the cliffs while piles of timber and salvaged metal surrounded the incomplete hull.
After a moment, Naguri pointed toward it with his pipe.
"I'll train you."
Ling immediately straightened.
"Really?"
"Once a week, noshi."
Ling's expression shifted.
"Once a week?"
Naguri grinned.
"In exchange, you'll help me finish that ship."
Ling followed his gaze toward the enormous vessel outside.
He looked at the unfinished hull, then at Naguri, then back at the ship.
"...How much of that thing is left?"
Naguri's grin widened.
"No-shi-shi-shi-shi-shi!"
Ling's eyebrow twitched.
"That didn't answer the question."
"There's still work to do, noshi."
"How much?"
Naguri calmly reached for another piece of meat.
Ling stared at him for several seconds before trying a different approach.
"How about twice a week?"
"Once."
"Three times every two weeks?"
"Once a week, noshi."
Ling frowned.
"What if I do more work on the ship?"
"Then we'll finish sooner."
"And you'll train me more?"
"No."
Ling fell silent.
Naguri continued eating as though the negotiation had already ended.
'Mom... you really didn't teach me enough about bargaining.'
Considering Susi had spent years helping run a bakery, Ling suddenly felt that this was one lesson he should have paid much more attention to.
He released a quiet sigh and shook his head.
Still, being trained once a week by someone who actually knew Haki was far better than having nobody to guide him at all.
"Fine."
Naguri glanced toward him.
"We have a deal, noshi?"
Ling almost nodded before stopping.
"Wait."
Naguri raised an eyebrow.
Ling pointed toward the unfinished ship.
"I'll help during the day."
Naguri waited.
"Only during the day," Ling continued. "I still have my own training to do, and I'm not spending every waking hour working on your ship."
For a moment, Naguri simply looked at him.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted.
"Fair enough, noshi."
Ling blinked.
That had worked surprisingly easily.
'Should've started with that.'
Naguri extended one hand.
"We have a deal?"
Ling looked at it before reaching forward and taking it.
"Deal."
Naguri gave his hand a firm shake before releasing it.
"Good, noshi."
Ling leaned forward slightly.
"So when do we start?"
"Tomorrow."
A small smile appeared on Ling's face.
Then he looked through the cave entrance at the massive unfinished ship again.
The hull seemed considerably larger now that he knew he would be helping build it for the foreseeable future.
'Once a week...'
Ling sighed.
'Definitely need to learn how to bargain.'