Following the pointer flower's direction, the Laisherni steadily pressed forward across the vast sea.
Along the way, whenever extreme weather struck, Lind relied on his powerful telekinesis to push through.
Aside from the soul-crushing boredom, everything was pretty calm.
At one point, Lind's Mutation Fruit even had a little breakthrough—a passing seagull mutated and awakened its own telekinesis, along with a big boost in intelligence.
Sensing an opportunity, the clever little bird immediately pledged its loyalty.
Seeing as it was rare for his fruit to mutate an animal, and the bird was pretty smart (and could butter him up), Lind accepted it as his first official underling.
He even fed it some Dragon Bananas and Divine Dragon Coconuts to boost its strength.
One sunny, unusually calm day at sea, Lind was lounging lazily on deck when the seagull—nicknamed Da Kun—flew back in a rush.
"Boss! There's a ship ahead! Looks like pirates—their sail's got a skull and crossbones!"
Thanks to his telepathy training, Lind could just barely communicate with high-intelligence creatures like Da Kun.
"Hahahaha! Finally, people!" Lind practically wept with joy.
It had been seven days at sea, and the loneliness was starting to gnaw at his sanity.
"Forget what anime shows you—this ocean is huge! Meeting someone randomly is pure fantasy!"
Now finally, he had a chance to talk to someone—even if it was pirates.
And as long as he had enough strength, getting information wouldn't be a problem.
"Laisherni, fetch my sword!"
With a dramatic flourish, a shining blade flew out of the ship's cabin.
Lind had painstakingly mutated a wooden sword eighty times before finally creating one he was satisfied with.
And calling out to the Laisherni was just Lind's own dramatic flair—pure telekinetic showmanship.
Grinning, Lind leapt onto his flying sword and zoomed off toward the pirate ship.
As the enemy ship came into view, Lind started building up the mood.
When he got within fifty meters, he activated his telekinetic voice projection—and boomed out a dramatic introduction:
"I ride the waves, free across the skies."
"Sails fall silent as my scabbard stirs."
"One dance shakes the four seas; two dances move the sun and moon."
"I stand alone against the world—I am the Red Dust Sword!"
Despite the secondhand embarrassment, shouting out his arrival felt awesome.
Years of solitude had turned Lind into a full-blown drama king.
He watched in satisfaction as the pirates on deck gawked in stunned silence.
Pausing for effect, Lind declared:
"I am Hilt Lind, the Red Dust Sword—"
But just then, the cabin door opened, and out walked a towering figure with wild golden hair flowing down his back like a cape.
"...HOLY CRAP. GOLDEN LION?!"
Without a second thought, Lind whipped around, controlling both sword and body with his mind, and hit maximum retreat mode.
At the same time, Golden Lion Shiki had been reporting to his boss when he heard the commotion outside.
Normally, he'd leave minor nuisances to his subordinates.
But that flashy introduction had caught both his and Rocks' attention.
Maybe, just maybe, this was someone worth recruiting into the Rocks Pirates.
Seeing Lind suddenly bail, Shiki chuckled darkly.
He was satisfied—his mere presence was enough to scare the kid into running.
But recruitment was still important.
Without hesitation, Shiki took off in pursuit.
Meanwhile, Lind was cursing nonstop in his head.
What kind of broken luck is this? I must've burned all my good fortune mutating bananas back on the island!
And why the hell is Shiki sailing instead of flying?
If it were Whitebeard, Lind might have had a better shot at escaping with pure telekinesis.
But against Golden Lion, it was a nightmare—Shiki's Float-Float Fruit used almost no stamina compared to Lind's telekinesis, which drained energy like crazy.
He could maybe sustain full flight for a day and a night—no more.
Shiki, on the other hand, could float indefinitely.
There was no way Lind could outrun him.
After a few agonizing minutes of debate, Lind sighed.
Fine. If you can't beat 'em... join 'em.
It wasn't even unusual—tons of protagonists had joined the Rocks Pirates at some point.
What's one more?
Besides, he hadn't really done anything to offend them yet.
If he surrendered, odds were good they'd accept him.
Worst case, if things went south, he could always bolt later.
Now... how to surrender without looking too pathetic?
Maybe if he put up a little fight first, it would show he had value.
With a deep breath, Lind stopped flying away.
He floated in midair, controlling his body with telekinesis while his sword hovered protectively nearby.
(Note to self: next time, build two swords—one for posing, one for fighting.)
Feeling awkward standing without a sword under his feet, Lind braced himself as Shiki closed the distance.
Face to face at last, Shiki grinned.
"Jihahahaha! Not running anymore, kid?"
"I liked that poem you shouted. Want to join the Rocks Pirates?"
"Our boss personally invited you! We need guys like you!"
Lind almost stumbled in shock.
What's with this "Imperial Secret Police" tone? Is Shiki secretly a fellow countryman?!
For a moment, he was tempted to answer with "Imperial Jade Liquor" or "Change the odd, don't change the even" to test him.
But sanity prevailed. It was probably just coincidence.
He shook his head, refocused, and said:
"Let's fight first."
Before the words were fully out of his mouth, his Kunpeng Sword shot toward Shiki like a bolt of lightning.
"Jihahahaha! Bold kid! Let's see what you've got!"
Shiki drew his twin swords, Oto and Kogarashi.
With one blade, he parried the incoming Kunpeng Sword.
With the other, he unleashed a monstrous flying slash straight at Lind.
A slash easily dozens of meters long.
"OH COME ON!"
Cursing loudly, Lind twisted out of the way midair, narrowly dodging.
Seriously, why are all "swordsmen" in this world basically spellcasters?!
Lind split his focus: dodging while telekinetically controlling the Kunpeng Sword to duel Shiki.
His reaction speed, enhanced by mental training, gave him an edge.
He dodged flexibly and refused to let Shiki close the gap.
It looked like he was being pushed back—but he was holding out just fine.
Shiki grew increasingly annoyed.
"Jihahahaha! What's wrong, kid? All you do is run and dodge! Fight like a real swordsman!"
Lind wanted to yell back: I'm not a real swordsman yet, damn it! I can't even use sword aura!
His only advantage was telekinesis and raw sword durability.
If Shiki hadn't been holding back, he would've been toast already.
Seeing Lind's stubbornly evasive tactics, Shiki decided to end it.
"Lion's Thousand Cut Valley!"
Shiki slashed open the Kunpeng Sword with a powerful attack, then launched dozens of flying slashes at Lind.
"AW, HELL NO!"
Lind screamed, pouring all his telekinetic power into a force shield.
The slashes hammered the shield, shattering it in seconds.
Fortunately, Lind's grueling physical training—and a basic awakening of Armament Haki—saved his skin.
He managed to tank the hits, bruised but alive.
Shiki, now realizing Lind didn't actually know proper sword techniques, lowered his sword with a grin.
"Jihahahaha! You're pretty tough, kid! Wanna work for me? I'll even make you my vice-captain!"
Right now, Shiki was nowhere near his future peak—he didn't have many strong subordinates yet.
Finding someone who could survive his signature move was a rare gift.
Seeing Lind's youth and potential, Shiki decided he was worth keeping.