Chapter 139

Chapter 139: Clever Ways to Find Someone

Neptune readily agreed to lend them the best ship from the Ryugu Palace, along with the fish-powered rowboat that could easily outrun most sea creatures.

Neptune asked, "Are you sure you don't want a few merfolk to assist you? They could help with communication with the Ryugu Ship."

"No need. We rode on that ship with Queen Otohime before, so we're familiar with the Ryugu Ship," Adrian declined Neptune's offer.

Mainly, it was because Artoria confirmed that her riding skills could be used on that ship. Using such a mode of transportation, with animals pulling it, felt more natural to her.

As for lifeguards, they weren't necessary. In case of emergencies, they had the Sharkler Shark Giants with them, each carrying a bubble coral to ensure a supply of air.

With everyone aboard the ship, Neptune had already greeted the guards at the exit of Fishman Island.

"Adrian, how do you plan to find them?" Artoria steered the ship into the familiar yet unfamiliar deep sea, where finding someone in the vast ocean wasn't easy.

Adrian replied, "I have two unreliable plans we can try first. If they don't work, we'll think of something else."

Sharkler and Rui Mengmeng looked at him with disbelief. Why was this person so confident in his unreliable ideas?

Only Artoria asked, "What are the plans?"

Adrian took off his shoe and handed it to Artoria, saying, "Here, throw this."

Artoria took the shoe, looking at him in disbelief.

Others: ...

Was this something a normal person would come up with?

Tom, on the other hand, had an approving look. This plan was quite good; when he got lost, he would usually throw branches because he rarely wore shoes.

Adrian awkwardly explained, "You're the Lucky A, right? I think the chances of success are pretty high, and we don't have any clues, so we should choose a direction to start looking."

"Boss, are you serious?" Rui Mengmeng looked at Artoria, holding a size 43 sports shoe, feeling like she couldn't bear to look.

"Let's give it a try," Adrian signaled that she could start throwing the shoe.

Artoria threw the sports shoe, and luckily, Adrian kept his feet clean, or everyone on the ship would have suffered.

The sports shoe hit the ground, and Adrian shouted, "Alright, set sail, full left rudder!"

They didn't actually need to turn the steering wheel; the Ryugu Ship under the ship obediently changed direction and sped up.

Even though they thought Adrian's random command was unreliable, they had no better ideas. So, everyone dispersed in different directions on the ship to observe their surroundings for any clues.

The underwater lighting was poor, and they could only rely on a small light on the ship for observation. Even with Artoria's sensing ability, she couldn't cover a long distance.

They continued this slow and steady search for almost half an hour, and Adrian even wished Vander Decken would throw them a love letter or something at this point, even a knife would do.

"Boss, I found something!" Rui Mengmeng shouted. "There's a ship over there!"

Everyone gathered and looked in the direction Rui Mengmeng was pointing. Sure enough, there was a damaged ship slowly drifting along the current, without a bubble membrane.

Adrian took a moment to wonder why the wood didn't float to the surface, then gave up thinking. "Get the ship closer!"

"I'll go check it out first," Sharkler jumped out of the bubble membrane and swam towards the sunken ship.

After a while, Sharkler returned. "It looks like it was violently attacked, the ship's cabin is in disarray, as if it had been looted, and there are a few bodies, it looks like they died recently."

"This is a clue!" Adrian exclaimed happily. "Who could have robbed in this desolate place? It's almost certainly Vander Decken, and those gold bracelets might have been recently stolen!"

"Actually finding a clue..." Although she had discovered the ship herself, Rui Mengmeng still found it hard to believe.

Artoria nodded and said, "It means they're likely nearby in these waters. Let's continue searching here."

Upon hearing this, Rui Mengmeng silently took off one of her shoes and handed it to Artoria.

Artoria's hair strands stood up in surprise.

"Luck isn't everything, even if it's me, achieving this level is already quite exaggerated," Artoria looked at Adrian, the mastermind behind this, with a bit of reproach. She didn't want to throw shoes every time they needed to find someone or something.

"Cough, let's search in the direction of the current," Adrian changed the subject, pointing in the opposite direction of the drifting ship. "The ship probably came from over there."

"Leave the orientation to me," Sharkler jumped out of the boat and sat on the Ryugu Ship's neck. He was better at observing ocean currents and such.

In a blink of an eye, they spent an hour of boredom, and aside from a seven to eight-meter-long deep-sea fish, they found nothing.

The fish had actively attacked Sharkler and was subsequently killed by him. It was unclear why it targeted a metal lump like him.

In any case, this event added a barbecue activity to their boring journey and filled the belly of the hardworking Ryugu Ship.

"I'm full now, this isn't a sustainable approach, Boss," Sharkler took out his toothbrush and started brushing his teeth.

After being on Fishman Island for a week, he had already tried all the toothpaste available there. Soon, he would be able to compare the types of toothpaste in the Sabaody Archipelago and choose his favorite. This was an important matter for him.

"Yeah, Boss, don't you have a second unreliable plan? What is it?" Rui Mengmeng asked.

"The second plan requires a rare item, and it may not work," Adrian said, looking a bit reluctant. "How about Artoria throws her shoe again?"

Artoria didn't speak, she just stared at him and 'viciously' tore a piece of meat off the iron sign and chewed it vigorously.

"Alright, alright, let's go with plan two," Adrian compromised. "Sharkler, can I borrow your compass?"

"Sure." Sharkler pressed a protrusion on his waist, and his jaw popped open like a drawer, revealing a nautical compass lying inside.

Unlike the usual method of opening his mouth, when Sharkler did it this way, he accessed a storage space inside his shark head. It wasn't a space-time ability; it was a regular storage compartment, so it wasn't very spacious, holding only his big toothbrush and some small items.

The compass was something he had bought to learn navigation skills. Although it wasn't necessary in the Grand Line, it was an essential tool in the Four Blues and had to be mastered.

Due to the magnetic chaos in the Grand Line, the compass's pointer shook incessantly when taken out.

"Tom, give me Vander Decken's photo."

Tom reached behind him and pulled out a photo, handing it to Adrian.

Everyone had overlooked

the fact that the photo had already been given to Neptune for copying. So, why could Tom still produce one?

Adrian placed the compass and the photo together and then took out an item from his inventory:

【Peace Star (Fake): Although it can't grant wishes, sticking it on ordinary items will make them exhibit magical abilities. After exhausting its power, it turns into powder.】

Fake Peace Stars usually enhanced items according to the owner's wishes. For example, shoes that never miss, golf clubs that always got a hole in one, or a fishing rod that could catch Cabadath Giants. In this case, it would likely turn the compass into a super tracking compass since Adrian was focused on finding someone.

"Come on, may Lady Luck bless us!"

"Artoria, please bless us!"

"Whitebeard, please bless us!"