"My name is Zhang Daye, but you can just call me Daye, Uncle. This is Tom."
"So it's young brother Daye." Uncle Goodman chuckled and looked at Tom. "It seems this cat is very important to you. If it were anyone else, they probably would have eaten it after being hungry for so long."
"Meow!!!" Tom's fur bristled. This person was terrifying; he actually ate cats!
"Tom is an important companion to me," Zhang Daye replied, then gently smoothed Tom's fur. "Uncle is just joking."
Tom rubbed against Zhang Daye's face, then hid behind Zhang Daye's neck, observing secretly.
"Haha, sorry I scared you, clever little cat." Goodman laughed heartily, not showing much surprise at Tom's intelligent demeanor.
There were many intelligent animals in this world. The simplest example was the diligent News Coo, who could not only carry a heavy bag of newspapers across the sea but also calculate and collect money based on the number of newspapers.
"So, young brother Daye, what are your plans next?"
"Plans... I'll find a restaurant or something and work for some food money." As he spoke, Zhang Daye's stomach rumbled.
Tom's stomach rumbled as if it were contagious. The claws that had been firmly gripping Zhang Daye's clothes suddenly seemed to lose strength, and the entire cat flowed like liquid from his shoulder, landing in Zhang Daye's arms.
"You both don't look too good. Why don't you come to my house and rest for a bit?"
"Is that alright?"
"No problem. Although I'm not a rich man, providing some food is no issue."
"I mean, why are you helping us so much? What if I'm a bad person?"
"You don't look like a bad person, young brother. And don't let my appearance fool you, I could take ten guys like you!" Goodman flexed his muscles and laughed, "You should be the one worrying, young brother!"
Zhang Daye believed him. This uncle's arms were thicker than his thighs, and he looked to be over two meters tall. Zhang Daye, at 1.8 meters, didn't even count as a little brother in front of him.
Tom's stomach rumbled again. Zhang Daye looked at Tom's pitiful appearance, nodded, and said, "Then thank you, Uncle."
"That's more like it. A man should be decisive. What kind of man is indecisive? I remember when I was young, whether it was work or anything else, once I set my sights on a goal, I would..."
Goodman led the way for Zhang Daye, chattering about his heroic deeds.
So, besides knowing where he lived, Zhang Daye also learned how he became the most outstanding shipwright among his peers on Island 59 at the age of 24.
He learned how he became a foreman at 30, married a virtuous wife, and incidentally learned that he had a lively son at 35.
He also heard him mention that the name of the world's best shipwright was also Tom, and he seemed to be building some kind of sea train, but because that Tom had built a ship for the Pirate King, he seemed to have been deemed guilty by the World Government.
When he mentioned the Pirate King Roger, he complained for quite a while, blaming that guy for babbling about some great treasure before he died. In previous years, many excellent young people had impulsively set sail, and he wondered how they were doing now.
What angered Goodman the most was that his four-year-old son, Byer, had recently heard someone boast about the Pirate King's deeds and came home shouting that he wanted to become the Pirate King.
The result, of course, was a severe scolding from Goodman, and because he had been a bit heavy-handed, Goodman's wife, Molly, had complained about it for several days.
Zhang Daye finally found an opportunity to interject and asked how long it had been since Roger's execution.
Goodman thought for a moment: "It must have been twelve years now, right? I remember I was 28 then, and Molly and I had just started dating. Those were the days, we were..."
Yes, yes, I already know how handsome and strong you were then, Uncle, and how sweet you two were... Zhang Daye felt a bit helpless. He hadn't expected Uncle Goodman, who looked so tough, to actually be a chatterbox. And every time he talked about his youth, Zhang Daye always felt like the person speaking in front of him was Usopp.
Helplessly following behind Goodman, Zhang Daye began to calculate. He remembered that Luffy set sail twenty-two years after Roger's death, which meant there were still ten years until Luffy set sail. Were the main characters still little kids of seven or eight?
These things were irrelevant to him for now. The important thing was, were there any dangerous major events near Sabaody recently?
He couldn't think of anything major, besides Monkey D. Luffy beating up the Celestial Dragons ten years later. So he probably didn't need to worry about dying inexplicably in the aftermath of a powerful battle.
Currently, the Sabaody Archipelago, apart from the Celestial Dragons occasionally visiting, sometimes experienced small-scale pirate disturbances, but most of the time these occurred in the lawless zones.
He just needed to avoid them. From Uncle Goodman's appearance, at least his family should not have been bothered by pirates.
Also, there was "the Right Hand of the Pirate King," "Dark King" Silvers Rayleigh, who should already be living in seclusion on this island. Given his personality, he probably wouldn't bother civilians.
He could only hope that the anime depicted reality. Zhang Daye could only wish for that.
This way, as long as he was careful, there shouldn't be any danger for a short time, and then... he needed to figure out this golden finger quickly.
Zhang Daye looked at his left hand and was slightly startled. The energy seemed to have increased in this short time?
[72%]
Although it was only 1% more, it had indeed increased.
First, it couldn't be due to solar or wind energy, otherwise, it would have been full during his days at sea.
Zhang Daye thought about what he had done since loading the language pack: only walking, talking, and daydreaming.
He had talked and daydreamed with Tom a lot in the past few days, and had experienced emotions like shock, fear, and happiness, so it shouldn't be related to those factors.
So, walking... was this thing a pedometer?
Thinking back to the energy surge before he came ashore, all he had done then was paddle, paddle hard.
So, this thing was very likely a pedometer, or... a fitness tracker?
Could it only charge when he exercised?
He would have to verify this thoroughly later!
Zhang Daye made a preliminary judgment, and Goodman's rambling also came to a temporary halt:
"We're almost there. The second house on this street ahead is my home."
Zhang Daye looked at where Goodman was pointing. This was still within the scope of Island 59.
Goodman's house was a two-story building. The first floor was nothing special, but the second floor was a spherical structure.
Not just Goodman's house, but many surrounding buildings also had a spherical structure on top, which seemed to be the architectural style of this area.
Zhang Daye didn't know much about architecture, he just felt it resembled a certain country, but couldn't quite place it.
As for Tom, at this moment, Tom's mind was only on food. If there was food to eat, even the cat-eating uncle didn't seem so scary anymore.