"The anthem of humanity is the anthem of courage! The greatness of humanity lies in its courage!"
Linde stood by the sea, shouting at the waves.
"Waiting for a ship is unreliable. In the end, I still have to build my own to sail out!"
"To conquer the sea, you need courage — and I've got that! Sailing alone? If Monkey D. Luffy dared to, why shouldn't I? Let's do this!"
"And besides, I'm way more prepared than Luffy. I spent two whole years building this ship — what does he have on me? There's no way this thing flips. I'm telling you!"
Looking at the ship he had worked on for two grueling years, Lind nodded in satisfaction and declared with confidence.
It had been over two years since Lind mutated a coconut that could develop psychic powers.
Unknowingly, two and a half years had passed since Lind arrived in this world. His body had reached 17 years old — just the right age to begin sailing, according to this world's standards.
For some unknown reason, Lind had never come across another ship, which made him grow impatient.
So, in two years, Lind successfully built a sea-worthy vessel with his own two hands.
Although he hadn't originally planned to sail — just wanted to hide out on a decent island — the current one wasn't suitable for growth.
And since Lind didn't have a system to rely on, trying to become invincible while holed up on a tiny island was just too hard — and the loneliness was unbearable.
Finally, after two and a half years in this world, with everything ready, Lind decided to leave the deserted island and go search for others like him.
Over that time, Lind had mutated countless plants on the island. Although he hadn't been able to mutate anything as powerful as the "Dragon Banana" or the "Divine Coconut" (his names), there were still plenty of useful ones.
For example:
Durians that restore stamina
Durians that recover mental energy
Durians that toughen the skin
Durians that heal wounds
All are highly practical.
He had also created:
Giant grasses that could be sewn together as sails
Super hard giant wood
An unknown resin with better sealing power than rubber
A magical flower that functioned like a Log Pose (navigation tool)
Especially the flower — which acted just like a log and worked across the entire Grand Line.
Even in the New World, it could be used directly. The flower looked like a sunflower, but instead of facing the sun, it pointed toward the next island.
Thanks to that flower and a collection of tool-like plants, Lind dared to sail alone in such an extreme environment as the New World.
Of course, Lind's strength was his greatest source of confidence. After all, he could now fly on a sword.
If he weren't being extra cautious, he could have just held the flower and set out on a giant plank — or skipped the plank entirely and flown like Tao Pai Pai using a pillar.
He had tried that, but by the time the flower bloomed, his ship was nearly done.
And since he'd already flown around the area several times with no sign of human settlements, he figured it was best to play it safe and build a proper ship.
Now, two and a half years later, Lind had finally completed all preparations.
"Sailing tomorrow. Today I'll do one final check of everything I need. As for the stuff on the island, I'll just leave it as a gift for whoever comes next."
"I wonder who the lucky one will be to receive nature's blessing?"
Soon, Lind carefully packed seeds of all the valuable or bizarre-functioning mutated plants onto the ship.
Over the past two and a half years, he had experimented with planting these mutated species — and was pleasantly surprised to discover that the mutations seemed to alter their genes directly, making the traits inheritable.
Though the next generation wasn't quite as strong as the originals, they were still pretty effective.
Even if Lind didn't need them himself, they'd be perfect for raising a group of strong underlings later on.
After all, every farming story protagonist has a band of powerful followers — he had to be prepared for that.
"And then there's food and water... Thank goodness I mutated a resin that can preserve freshness. Otherwise, these fruits would rot in no time."
"As for meat — I'll just fish at sea. Too bad that after two and a half years, I still haven't managed to mutate any rice or millet-like grains. I'll have to wait until I find a populated island to buy seeds and mutate them."
"And water... Ah, my Spring of Life. I still can't take it with me — so frustrating."
As Lind checked off everything he needed to bring, he kept grumbling under his breath.
The so-called Spring of Life was a puddle formed by accumulated rainwater on the island. One day, Lind had a sudden burst of curiosity and decided to see if water could undergo mutation.
As a result, not only did the water mutate — but the puddle itself transformed into a special structure, instantly revealing a whole new world to Lind.
The mutated puddle, now producing a continuous supply of healing spring water, was named the Spring of Life by Lind.
Giving names to his mutated creations had become one of the few entertainments in Lind's otherwise monotonous island life.
Soon, the moon rose, and the sunset.
Lind sat by the window, gazing out at the vast sea with mixed emotions.
What was once a crude shelter had, over the course of more than 900 days, become a finely crafted little cabin.
Using his powerful telekinesis, Lind had created all kinds of exquisite furniture and arranged them neatly throughout the wooden house.
"I've always wanted to leave, but now that I'm about to go, I'm a bit reluctant. These past two and a half years… they've felt more fulfilling than the previous twenty-some years of my life."
"Sigh… who knows when I'll be back again? Will this little cabin still be here? Will someone new have moved in?"
"Maybe when I'm old, I can retire here. That wouldn't be so bad."
"Enough thinking! Time to sleep! Tomorrow marks a new beginning!"
When you've been alone on a deserted island long enough, you tend to start talking to yourself and overthinking things — especially at bedtime.
The thought of sailing out tomorrow had Lind too excited to sleep. His mind raced with random thoughts, and he wasn't even sure when he finally dozed off.
"Ah! I forgot something really important!"
The next morning, Linde looked at the ship he had built and suddenly realized something was missing.
"What's the ship's name? Should I carve it onto the hull? I remember in One Piece, the ships had names carved on them, right?"
"And what about a flag? Even if I'm not a pirate, should I draw something on the sail?"
"Might as well do it all. Let's go with a name that fits this world — Laisherni, meaning Freedom. Sounds good."
"As for the flag, let's match the figurehead — a giant roc?"
No sooner said than done. Lind quickly used a red resin to paint the name on the ship's side, and on the sail, he painted a lifelike giant roc.
"Everything's ready. Perfect!"
Standing at the shore, looking at his masterpiece, Lind was filled with excitement.
"Set sail!"
He used telekinesis to lift the ship into the water, then stood at the bow and waved as he shouted.
With a thought, the anchor retracted on its own, and the sail unfurled according to his will. The ship slowly began to move in the direction pointed by the navigation flower.
No doubt about it — telekinesis was incredibly convenient. All sorts of troublesome tasks could be solved with just a thought.
Being able to mutate something as overpowered as the Divine Coconut? Lind figured he must have saved the galaxy in a past life to have luck this good.
Standing at the bow, staring at the calm sea, Lind was full of thoughts, uncertain of what lay ahead.
Despite his earlier confidence, now that he was truly underway, he couldn't help but feel a bit anxious. Could his telekinesis handle the insane weather of the New World?
How strong was he?
Could he take on the powerful, evil pirates of the New World?
"I just hope for smooth sailing. I don't ask for much — just want to find a small inhabited island where I can lay low and grow stronger."
"If I can find access to information about the outside world — maybe even a place to study swordsmanship — that would be even better."
"Sure, I've learned to fly using a sword with telekinesis, but I can't even release sword energy, let alone perform flying slashes. I'd be too embarrassed to call myself a swordsman out there."
"I know nothing about swordsmanship. Just that 'everything has a breath' line. Oda doesn't understand swords. Whether it's sword aura or flying slashes, they're all nonsense!"
"I've got to find a place to learn the basics. Otherwise, I'll be stuck sniping enemies from a kilometre away. In a world where all the swordsmen are powerful mages, I'll end up being a high-tier archer instead."
"Just like Detective Dee, only instead of throwing flying daggers, I'll use flying swords!"
Life alone on the sea was incredibly boring. Since Lind didn't feel like training his body or telekinesis for now, all he could do was daydream and stare blankly at the ocean.
From time to time, he'd use telekinesis to pluck a bird from the sky or a fish from the sea to test his mutation ability — seeing which lucky creature might become the chosen one.
This had been his hobby for over two years. As for what kind of impact this might have on the ocean?
Lind didn't care at all.
Maybe that's just the essence of a true "fun-seeker."