The treasure chest he had anticipated for twenty years was empty.
This feeling of crushing disappointment was enough to kill a man.
Yet, under the relentless grind of time, Gaimon had suspected the chest might be empty; he just hadn't been willing to believe it.
But the moment he cried, the animals poured out of the forest as if sensing his distress, gathering around him and calling out, as if telling Gaimon that his twenty years had not been wasted, that he was not a joke, but their "god."
Gaimon stared blankly at the animals.
Initially, he guarded the forest and the island's rare animals with the mindset that if he couldn't have the treasure chest, no one else would dare try.
Twenty years had passed without him realizing it. Looking at these animals, Gaimon seemed to find clarity: true treasure wasn't necessarily those five "Schrödinger's treasure chests," but rather his experience, and the rare animals that had survived under his protection and treated him as their "god."..."I think these rare animals are more like treasure than those chests, Uncle Gaimon. They are your treasure."
Baiyun stood on the edge of the hilltop, arms crossed, looking down at Gaimon surrounded by countless beasts, and offered his encouragement.
Luffy, meanwhile, simply sat down, his legs dangling in the air, "Hahahaha."
"Baiyun is right, Uncle! Don't be so down! You waited twenty years, and didn't you end up waiting for me?"
"If we hadn't come, you might have had to wait thirty or forty years."
"Maybe you wouldn't have found it until you died."
"You waited this long and waited for us! You should definitely go look for the Great Treasure! Come sail with us!"
Luffy extended the invitation; when choosing crewmates, he didn't care about age or gender, only whether the person was "interesting."
"Are... are you inviting me? Straw Hat Boy..."
Gaimon was slightly incredulous; a pirate invitation after twenty years certainly made one feel the swift passage of time..."Have you really made up your mind, Uncle, to stay on this island?"
The scene shifted; the four of them were back at the seashore, and Zoro was still asleep.
Nami went to untie the ropes, while Baiyun asked Gaimon, who had refused Luffy's invitation.
"Yes, thank you for inviting me. I have decided to stay here and continue being the [Guardian of the Forest]."
"After twenty years of being with them, I've grown to love these animals. Long-haired boy, you were right. After all this time, perhaps the rare animals I've protected are my true treasure."
"I'm going to stay here and keep protecting them."
"Heh, it's strange. The chests are empty, but I'm not sad at all. Instead, I feel light as a feather."
Uncle Gaimon was a man of carefree spirit; if he were twenty years younger, he certainly would have been a great friend and crewmate for Luffy and the others.
Facing the sea breeze, Gaimon looked dashing, free, and unrestrained, but one sentence from Luffy broke his composure.
"Hahaha, Uncle, you're a rare animal too!"
"I'll kill you!"
Gaimon instantly bristled, showing his sharp teeth, and shouted loudly.
"What a shame, Uncle. You're so humorous and witty."
"Yeah, it's a pity. The journey across the sea isn't suitable for pets."
Baiyun replied. Why did Gaimon feel like that sounded a bit strange?
Gaimon: ..."I meant the animals, of course! I originally wanted to take them, but it looks like nature suits them better than being on a ship."
Baiyun immediately clarified. Although he genuinely felt, just like Luffy, that Gaimon counted as a rare "animal," there was no way he could say it so bluntly.
"Hahahaha."
"Alright, hurry up and sail! If you delay any longer, it will get dark."
"You will definitely find great crewmates!"
"You have to find ONE PIECE, and then buy the entire world, Straw Hat Boy!"
"I definitely will."
"Goodbye."
After saying goodbye to Gaimon, Luffy and Baiyun once again set sail on their journey.
The two small boats slowly sailed away, and Gaimon, accompanied by a multitude of animals, waved them off from the shore.
Suddenly, the animals behind Gaimon uniformly bowed in the direction of Baiyun and the others.
The bow was unexpected, and it was unclear who it was meant for..."Grumble~"
"I'm so hungry!!!"
In the days since they set sail, the three words Luffy said most often were "I'm so hungry."
"There's nothing we can do. Even if we catch fish, we can't grill them on these small boats."
"Didn't Uncle Gaimon give us a lot of fruit? Why don't you eat some fruit to tide yourself over?"
Baiyun was already fishing; there wasn't much else to do on such narrow boats besides fishing.
"Hmm, I think Baiyun is right."
"Can we really enter the Grand Line just like this?"
"That place is known as the Pirates' Graveyard. Relying on just these two flimsy boats is far too reckless."
"Yes, if we head south from here, there's a small town. Let's go there first and see if we can get a bigger ship."
Nami suggested this after looking at the sea chart.
"I have no objections."
Baiyun replied. Of course he had no objections; they couldn't miss the Going Merry.
Zoro continued doing push-ups without replying.
"Great!! Meat! Meat! Meat!"
Luffy's main focus, however, was on the meat in the town, not the ship.
...
A/N: The journey continues! If you're eager to read far ahead and support this story, consider joining the Eternal Phoenix community. You can find me on Patreon by searching for "Eternal_Phoenix".
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