Perhaps due to exhaustion, Finn slept soundly, occasionally furrowing his brows as if having a nightmare.
"Woof, woof, woof."
A sudden series of barks startled Finn awake from his slumber.
Rubbing his sleepy eyes, he looked at the cute little dog in front of him and gently stroked it.
"Kuro, are you hungry?"
Kuro thoroughly enjoyed Finn's petting, which Finn watched with doting affection.
"Let's go, I'll find you something to eat."
Finn had just gotten up.
Suddenly, a strong wind began to blow, and dark clouds instantly covered the entire island.
Before Finn could react, the howling wind swept in, and large raindrops began to fall with a pitter-patter.
Finn quickly picked up the small birdcage, called out to Kuro, and ran towards the small house to take shelter from the rain.
He looked towards the pond; the small goldfish were still swimming freely in the water, and the small lizard, hidden in a crack in a nearby rock, watched the pouring rain with a hint of contentment.
The few fruit trees planted in the soil ahead swayed continuously in the wind and rain, threatening to be overturned and broken at any moment.
Finn looked up at the sky, his brows tightly furrowed.
With such wind and rain, he wondered how long his small house could hold out.
"Damn it, what bad luck. This cursed weather is driving me crazy."
Whether it was an illusion or not, the wind and rain seemed to pause for a moment as Finn complained.
In the blink of an eye, the wind stopped, the rain dispersed, and the sun shone brightly.
Even the ground seemed as dry as before.
Aside from the pond being filled with rainwater, it was as if nothing had happened.
"Oh my, this Grand Line is terrifying; even the weather is so unpredictable."
Finn grumbled as he walked out with Kuro.
Only three pairs of awestruck eyes watched Finn as he gradually walked away.
"…"
The sky after the rain was exceptionally clear. Finn stood on a small mound at a high point, looking into the distance, but he could only see parts of the environment around the small house.
The other areas were covered by vast mountains and forests, like an undeveloped wilderness.
The small house was built against the mountain, and the surroundings were quite picturesque with clear waters.
There were still many fruits on the fruit trees outside the house. Although they tasted good, eating too many always felt a bit monotonous and bland.
"How can I find some vegetables and meat?"
For the sake of his future life, Finn had no choice but to start planning for his food supply.
"…"
As dusk approached, Finn had already fallen into a deep sleep.
In his dream, outside the island, several Sea Kings were wreaking havoc on the surrounding sea beasts.
The sea churned, and a golden Sea King body, tens of thousands of meters long, coiled around the island.
In the sky, a Seven-Colored Bird soared joyfully, occasionally diving into the water to chase and play with the golden Sea King.
A massive figure, a monster like a Sea King, roared continuously at the bottom of the sea, casually swallowing a giant kraken nearly a thousand meters long.
On the shore, a small Kuro sat idly by, grinning like a person, watching his companions play.
"Don't play too wildly; we need to be back before dawn."
"Don't worry, Kuro."
Three different voices simultaneously echoed in Kuro's mind.
It was already early morning. Kuro's gaze suddenly turned to the distance, and at the same time, the three playfully frolicking monsters also looked into the distance.
Faintly, a huge, blood-red bat soared into the sky.
It was clear that its target was the island where Finn was located.
The Seven-Colored Bird's eyes flashed.
"Work time! You guys in the sky, don't fight me for it."
"Who can't fly?" The golden Sea King smiled calmly.
"Exactly, exactly, is there anyone who can't fly?" Kuro teased, looking at the small lizard, which only had its head showing.
"Hmph." The lizard slowly lowered its head, and the deep sea churned even more, as if something was being used as a punching bag.
"…"
"Damn it, Kong, you ambushed me! You just wait, if I hadn't just been injured, I would have definitely taken you down this time."
Red Count, Patrick Redfield, cursed as he advanced towards the island ahead.
Although he had managed to escape in time this time, he felt extremely frustrated.
He had originally thought he could have a showdown with Whitebeard, but unexpectedly, Kong led the Marines in an ambush.
In a hurry, he could only choose to flee first.
"I'll go to the island ahead to rest and recover. I hope there's fresh blood."
Thinking of blood, Red Count's face once again showed a sinister smile.
As the island drew nearer, his heart suddenly tightened, and years of combat made him instinctively stop.
In the darkness, a ray of seven-colored light shot straight towards him.
He was too late to react and was sent flying.
Pfft.
A large mouthful of fresh blood spurted from his mouth, and Red Count, already weak in mid-air, turned even paler.
He cautiously looked at the massive figure in front of him, his heart filled with terror.
"A bird?"
"You're the bird, you bastard! I'm a Divine Bird!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the Divine Bird flapped its wings, and a precise hurricane struck Red Count's face.
With a smack, he was sent flying again.
In mid-air, Red Count was still reeling from shock, and the blood-red mark on his face was unmistakably a bird's wing.
Looking at the monstrous Divine Bird in the distance, he understood that the gap between them was something his Devil Fruit could not bridge.
Turning to flee was the best option at the moment.
The Divine Bird approached unhurriedly, completely disregarding Red Count's thoughts.
Red Count turned to fly away, but a massive figure, carrying a thousand-meter-high wave, rose from the seabed.
"Roar~"
The lizard, which had been teased by its companions earlier, wanted to unleash all its anger on Red Count.
At this moment, the familiar voice of Kuro rang out again: "Hey, keep it down, Master is still sleeping."
"Uh~"
The lizard's roar abruptly ceased, like a dud firecracker, with a fizzle but no bang.
The lizard looked at Red Count in front of him with even more dissatisfaction.
You almost disturbed Master's rest because of you.
With a bang, if Red Count hadn't had the enhancement of the Bat-Bat Fruit, he would have been smashed into a pulp by now.
"…"
In the sky, Red Count became a plaything for the lizard and the Divine Bird.
They batted Red Count back and forth like a shuttlecock.
By this time, Red Count had already lost consciousness.
The Seven-Colored Bird had lost interest. When Red Count was batted back by the lizard again, it was about to swallow him, but then it heard Kuro say: "Hurry up, it's almost dawn."
The four monsters immediately disregarded everything else, and four golden lights simultaneously flew towards Finn's small house.
The sea surface returned to its usual calm.
And Red Count, under the last force of the lizard, was slammed onto the island's shore, lying limp and unconscious.
"…"
The sky was faintly lit. When the first ray of sunlight flew into the small house, Finn had already woken up from his sleep.
He stretched lazily and walked out of the small house. He had a lot of things to do today, so he didn't dare to oversleep.
Stepping out of the door, Kuro was sprawled out in front of the door, sound asleep, the goldfish and lizard were playing by the pond, and the small bird had somehow escaped from its cage, but it was standing steadily on top of the cage, unwilling to leave.
"The cage is open? Never mind, as long as you don't fly away, just stay outside."
"Kuro, let's go hunting."
Hearing Finn's call, Kuro nimbly ran to Finn's feet and rubbed against them, acting as if its sleep had been an act.
Carrying a fishing net and a machete, Finn and Kuro walked towards the beach. The little bird at home circled around Finn, chirping happily.
"Hey, is there someone ahead?"
*****
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