After going out, Yoriichi Tsugikuni gained two tiger legs. Yoriichi was unsure of the exact weight, but just looking at the volume, if the meat didn't spoil, he probably wouldn't have to worry about food for a short time.
However, to prevent the smell of blood from attracting other predators, Yoriichi didn't move the beast legs directly to the cave entrance but left them at the foot of the mountain, a considerable distance from the cave.
At the same time, he first roasted a small piece of beast meat to taste. Although the bird had indirectly indicated that the meat was edible, for safety, he tasted a small piece first.
Hey! Not only was it non-poisonous, but the taste, while not delicious, had absolutely nothing to do with delicacy. The blood hadn't been washed off completely, the meat was tough, and the fishiness was very strong.
But Yoriichi Tsugikuni was still very satisfied. After all, it was meat, which was infinitely better than that unidentified paste!
After confirming the meat was edible, Yoriichi Tsugikuni immediately spent over an hour roasting a few catties of meat to fill his stomach. He wasn't sure about the constitution of this body, but a few catties of tiger meat only left him half-full.
However, Yoriichi Tsugikuni restrained the urge to continue eating more roasted meat. He built a simple smokehouse at the foot of the mountain and cut off dozens of catties of meat, planning to use smoking to extend its shelf life.
After spending half a day "processing" some of the meat, Yoriichi Tsugikuni decided to put these matters aside for now and investigate the surrounding terrain again.
Although the food problem was temporarily solved, the biggest problem Yoriichi faced at the moment was not food, but water!
However, this most urgent water problem was also solved during Yoriichi Tsugikuni's second outing to investigate the surroundings.
After filling his stomach, Yoriichi Tsugikuni took his sword and started checking the environment again. This time, he didn't continue walking out along the forest path. Instead, after carefully observing the terrain, he plunged into the dense forest, heading towards the lowest geographical point.
"These trees grow so tall."
"If I don't make some marks, it will be very easy to get lost!"
The dense jungle made it easy to lose one's sense of direction. To prevent this from happening, Yoriichi Tsugikuni moved quickly along the way, his long sword swinging freely, directly "destroying" the flowers and plants that got close to the ground.
With life restarting, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's mindset had also become much younger.
...
"Gurgle, gurgle, gurgle..."
Deep in the island, after walking for about forty minutes following the terrain, Yoriichi Tsugikuni finally discovered a small stream. Looking up, it looked like a silver snake winding through the mountains.
Green grass grew lushly on both banks of the stream, and further away was the dense, flourishing forest, filled with many giant trees Yoriichi had never seen before.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stopped by the bank, looked around, swung his sword, cut down a giant tree as thick as a man's embrace nearby, then chopped off a section, hollowed out the core, made a simple container, and submerged it in the water to fill it up.
"Huh?!"
"Why is the water this color?!"
"And a faint fishy smell?!"
Scooping up a bucket of stream water, Yoriichi Tsugikuni suddenly realized that the bucket of stream water in his hand, contrasted against the wood color, appeared light red. Surprised, he looked at the stream and suddenly found that the stream water had also turned light red at some point, and as the stream flowed, the light red transitioned to deep red.
A strong smell of blood rushed into his nostrils.
"This..."
"What exactly happened?!"
The water source was polluted, and Yoriichi Tsugikuni frowned slightly, his gaze looking upstream, trying to see something. After a brief thought, Yoriichi Tsugikuni casually tossed the bucket onto the bank, tightened his grip on the long sword, and decided to follow the flow upstream to find the source of the pollution.
Having finally found a water source, he had to investigate the cause of this pollution. As long as he followed the stream up, found and eliminated the pollution, this running water would become clean again in less than an hour.
The biggest current water problem could then be solved.
Following the stream upwards.
After walking for an unknown amount of time, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's vision suddenly widened. The dense forest was left behind him as he walked up an incline.
However, the scene before his eyes made Yoriichi Tsugikuni hold his breath.
Upstream of the small stream was an open flat area, but now this land was strewn with crisscrossing corpses, roughly estimated to be hundreds of them. Blood had gathered into streams, flowing into the river.
This was clearly a battlefield. Flesh and blood were smeared on the ground, making it difficult to distinguish one from another.
Not far from this battlefield was a small town full of broken walls and ruins. In several places within the town, thick black smoke was still rising.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni looked up, and there was dead silence. He couldn't sense any sign of life. At the same time, the attire of some of the corpses on the ground immediately caught Yoriichi Tsugikuni's attention.
The pure white coat dyed with fresh blood, and the two bold, heavy black characters on the coat gave Yoriichi Tsugikuni a strong sense of familiarity.
"Justice."
"Marines?!"
Yoriichi Tsugikuni, on the second day of his transmigration to the One Piece world, witnessed the cruelty of this world firsthand.
From the clothing and rough judgment based on the direction they fell, the "people" on the ground should belong to two camps. The Marines wearing naval uniforms, and the civilians holding farm forks, hoes, wooden sticks, and other "weapons" should have been together.
Opposite them were the strong, robust Pirates carrying various weapons.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni stepped onto the battlefield and looked around, finding that the number of pirate corpses was far less than the corpses of the Marines and civilians. It was also strange that there were no women or children among the civilian corpses.
"Did the pirates win this battle?"
"Were the women and children taken away..."
"Or did they hide?"
Crossing the brutal battlefield, Yoriichi Tsugikuni pondered as he walked towards the nearby small town.
The originally exquisite houses were now broken walls and ruins. The fairly wide streets were now filled with roadblocks made of wooden carts, which were also loaded with stones.
He bypassed the obstacles.
On the white stone pavement, patches of bright red were shocking to the eye. Standing in the center of the ruins, Yoriichi Tsugikuni's heart sank slightly. Even though Yoriichi had not witnessed the villagers resisting the pirates, he could imagine the tragic scene that had taken place in the town before.
As far as the eye could see, there was no place that could be called intact.
Entering a house by his hand, the messy living room and overturned furniture met his eyes. Casually pushing open the bedroom door, the smell of blood rushed into Yoriichi's nostrils. The corpse on the bed made Yoriichi frown. Sighing, he covered her with a blanket and quietly withdrew from the room.
"How miserable..."
After a simple search, Yoriichi Tsugikuni silently walked through the entire town, his heart sighing, his hand gripping the long sword tightly.
There were no demons here.
However, human cruelty was comparable to that of demons.
At the end of the town was a high cliff, where he overlooked the vast sea.
The sea breeze blew, dispersing the smell of blood in the air.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni silently drew his long sword, examining the sharp weapon in his hand. The matte black blade reflected Yoriichi's blurred face. Looking at himself on the blade and noticing the character "滅" (Metsu - Annihilation) at the root of the blade, Yoriichi Tsugikuni finally understood, murmuring to himself:
"I think I already know what I need to do!"
"I will use you to bring a ray of dawn to this world."
"Black Blade - Dawnbreaker!"
As he spoke, dust lifted spontaneously from the ground around Yoriichi Tsugikuni, and an indescribably terrifying aura erupted from Yoriichi Tsugikuni's body, rapidly spreading outwards.
The distant primeval forest produced rustling sounds, and the waves crashing towards the shore were repelled by an unknown immense force, rolling back into the distance.
Several kilometers away on the sea, a dog-head battleship was rapidly sailing towards Dragon Roar Island.
A middle-aged man in a black suit with a thick beard was standing on the bow with his arms crossed. The Marine "Justice" coat draped over him fluttered in the wind.
"WUM!!!"
Suddenly, terrifying fluctuations came from the distance, and the originally compliant ocean current reversed direction completely at that moment. Feeling this fluctuation, the middle-aged man paused, then grinned.
"Conqueror's Haki!"
"I didn't expect such a figure to appear in the small East Blue!"
"The E-23 unit lost contact, was that guy responsible?!"
"Hahaha! Interesting! To dare to attack our Marines, I will definitely not let you off!"
As the middle-aged man muttered, a Marine soldier hurriedly ran up behind the middle-aged man, gave a standard military salute, and reported loudly:
"Vice Admiral Garp, an unexplained current has suddenly appeared. Continuing on the original course may lead to unexpected trouble. What should we do, should we change course?"
Hearing this, Garp slightly turned his head and replied with a smile:
"Don't worry about it. Maintain course. The current will recover soon."