Chapter 5 — Finally, a Ship!
As he mechanically repeated his usual routine, Jack suddenly rubbed his eyes.
There seemed to be a black speck on the horizon where he was staring!
He shot upright and fixed his gaze on it without blinking.
There had to be something there!
After more than a year of spending countless hours every day staring at the sea, he was certain he couldn't be mistaken.
Whether it was the ship he had been dreaming about for so long, however, was still uncertain. It could also be a Sea King surfacing from the deep—he had been fooled once before and nearly lost his life.
After all, the sea was the territory of Sea Kings and Fish-Men.
Standing in the same position for a full hour, Jack finally confirmed that the black speck on the horizon was not a Sea King—it was a real, genuine ship!
He could see the straight, towering mast, adorned with a flag. Though it was still too far away to make out the design, there was no mistaking it: it was a ship.
It didn't matter whether it carried Marines, pirates, civilians, or merchants—Jack was not going to let this possibly only chance to leave the island alive slip by!
Excited, he activated his Honey Badger Zoan form and leapt from the tree, then charged straight in that direction.
After a year of hunting and being hunted, Jack wouldn't claim to be a fully qualified warrior, but calling him an experienced hunter was no exaggeration.
Not to mention the incredible defensive capabilities granted by the Honey Badger Fruit, combined with the limitless potential of the Infinity Gauntlet, which gave him even more confidence!
The only pity was that, despite searching the entire island, he hadn't found a second Devil Fruit.
Still, Jack was philosophical about it. Good fortune didn't always fall on him. Just having one Zoan Devil Fruit on the island was already an incredible stroke of luck.
Without it, the Infinity Gauntlet wouldn't have been activated, he wouldn't be living so comfortably, and some day he might have ended up as dinner for some predator.
With that thought, Jack moved at top speed and finally reached the shoreline.
Once he confirmed the ship's course was heading toward him, he waited patiently. Swimming out recklessly toward it would have been suicidal. Having made a mistake once already, he wasn't about to repeat it.
But what if the ship changed course midway?
How could a lone swimmer ever catch up to a fully powered vessel?
After thinking for a moment, Jack let out a loud roar toward the forest.
Immediately, the forest trembled, and countless birds living there scattered into the sky.
What Jack was trying to do was get the ship's attention. The birds were just an inconspicuous part of the plan; his real backup lay with the massive creatures in front of him.
His roar was like a signal. All the top-tier creatures in the forest appeared in line before him, including the three apex predators: Big Black, Little White, and Flower.
When it came to naming things, Jack considered himself unparalleled. Why bother with complicated names? Could they be eaten?
After scrutinizing the dozens of "ferocious beasts" before him, he sent the useless ones back into the forest and kept the loudest, including the armored Big Black and the obviously well-fed Little White.
"Roar! Let's hear you loud and clear!"
"If anyone slacks off, you'll all be someone else's dinner!"
Jack grumbled his threats, unsure if they understood him.
Here, Big Black proved invaluable. Once it realized Jack only wanted them to roar toward the sea—not chant some incantation—it hammered its chest so hard it felt like its organs might shake out.
"Roooar! Roooar! Roooar… Aaaah!"
With Big Black leading and a strange kind of animal communication, all the remaining creatures began screaming with everything they had.
"This should do it…"
Jack, worried he might go deaf, decided to retreat.
From a safe distance, he climbed another large tree. Whether the roar had worked or not, he felt the ship was drawing closer.
Soon, he could barely make out details on the vessel.
A burned flag, a mast on the verge of snapping, a pitted, battered hull…
It looked like it had just survived a brutal battle.
And in fact, it had.
Jack noticed another ship flying a skull flag tailing closely behind it. Splashes on the water indicated cannon fire—and from the looks of it, the pirate ship behind seemed deliberately avoiding sinking the ship in front.
The situation was clear: pirates didn't let prey escape, but they also wanted to maximize profit. Sinking a ship would cost too much, and they didn't have the patience to salvage it.
So, fleeing in panic, the so-called "fat sheep" ship had stumbled into this uninhabited sea region.
Without Jack as a variable, the people on that ship might have been doomed—either killed on the spot or sold into slavery. Women would have suffered even more.
But apparently, the crew of the "fat sheep" were clever.
"Captain, are we sure about going there? Haven't you heard those ferocious beast cries?"
The first mate at the helm was filled with despair. Predators ahead, pirates behind, and man-eating Sea Kings beneath the waves—how could they possibly survive?
Yet the middle-aged man called the captain refused to give up. He stood by his choice.
He was not only the captain of this ship but also the head of a trading company. Building everything from scratch to reach this point, he relied on daring and decisiveness.
An island full of roaring predators turned a near-death situation into a slim chance of survival—why not take the gamble?
No matter how fierce the beasts, they acted on instinct. Even if some of the crew became food, at least some would survive—and there would be a chance to rise again.
And the greedy pirates chasing their treasure wouldn't be scared off by a few wild animals. Dragging a few enemies down in the chaos before dying was perfectly fitting.
In short, it was a risk worth taking. A flicker of ruthlessness passed through the captain's eyes.
Since the other side was so greedy, he decided to test whether his teeth were hard enough.
"Full speed toward the island ahead! Engage!"