009: One Reads, Another Tends the Land
Year after year, time passes.
In an instant, five years have gone by.
The brothers are now 18 years old, true adolescents standing two meters tall.
On this day,
Kazan moves swiftly through the Library of All-Knowledge.
He dusts off the books.
Then he heads towards the library director, Dr. Keith
Upon the arrival,
Dr. Keith, who was reading a book, puts it down, removes his heavy glasses, and asks, "Kazan, are you sure you're leaving?"
"Yes, Dr keith."
"Here's a list of books you'll need for your trip. We, O'Hara, receive books from scholars all over the world, each book is marked with its origin. You just need to find the marked place, and you can buy those rare books you haven't seen yet!"
Kazan spent a long time thinking before selecting a thick book.
Scientists are a very meticulous group, deeply passionate about books. When the scholars of O'Hara find books or receive them from outside scholars, they document the origin of the books, the process of their acquisition, and their history to create a collection.
Thus, if a book is lost, it can be found again.
This is part of passing down knowledge.
Some books from O'Hara are no longer published.
These books became part of Kazan's strategy in recent years.
As for other mass-published books that can be bought all over the world, he planned to acquire and read them slowly during his sea travels.
But even so, there are still a few books in O'Hara that Kazan hasn't read.
However, time waits for no one, and it's time to set sail.
Dr. Keith knew about Kazan's thirst for knowledge, so he prepared this farewell gift; some books from the collection were duplicates, and Dr. Keith also gave this part directly to Kazan.
"Thank you!" Kazan expressed his gratitude.
"What a good boy!" said Dr. Keith with relief.
...
Saying goodbye to Dr. Keith, Kazan approached the shade of the Tree of Knowledge.
There, Clover approached him with a silver-haired girl: "Kazan, have you decided to leave already?"
"Thank you for taking care of me all these years," Kazan laughed.
"Brother Kazan, do you really want to leave ? Or do you not want to?"
The silver-haired girl hugged Kazan's leg, tears welling up in her eyes, giving him a nurturing and gentle look.
Nico Olivia!
A local resident of O'Hara, she's only three years old.
At this age, she seems quite mature compared to other children, with a louder yet calm demeanor.
She's cold to those around her but very friendly with Kazan.
Perhaps Kazan seems relatively sunny to her, and over the past few years on the island, she often bothered kazan to tell stories, and more than once hid in Kazan's hair, dozing off secretly.
Over time, they became good partners, playing together.
Olivia touched his hair.
Kazan smiled: "When you grow up, you might also need to venture into the world for new knowledge!"
"Really?"
"Of course."
"Brother Kazan, will we see each other again?"
"Certainly."
Kazan and Olivia exchanged words, leaving Clover a bit sidelined.
"Then..." Clover hesitated.
Clover nervously pulled Kazan aside: "We all know you arrived in O'Hara on a military ship, so there's a question I've always wanted to ask you, your true purpose... is it... the Marines?"
Clover always had questions about Kazan's reasons for visiting.
But Kazan was too kind on the island, and Clover could never bring himself to ask.
He couldn't say: correct me if your intentions on the island are not good?
Looking at him,
Kazan whispered: "Yes, actually, I am a pirate, and I seized the military ship too."
"What!"
A pirate!!!
A pirate who seizes military ships!!!
Clover was so surprised that he quickly shut his mouth, fearing to utter the word "pirate."
The residents of O'Hara are quite straightforward, but that doesn't mean they lack feelings.
Clover is someone who harbors the deepest emotions.
From the moment Kazan arrived on the island years ago, he became the subject of Clover's observation.
Yet...
The more Clover watched, the more it seemed that Kazan's friendship was very pleasant!
At this moment, hearing Kazan's self-revelation, Clover's eyes were full of disbelief.
Scientists are indeed sincere and kind, but not all of them.
Kazan smiled and said, "How does being a pirate interfere? We're friends too, right?"
"Identity is just the opinion of others. Who you really want to be, that's for you to decide."
Clover stood frozen on the spot.
But he also believed Kazan's explanation.
After all, even if the other person is a pirate, he is still a pirate with knowledge.
Having knowledge to guide means he can't be considered a bad person, right?
Clover waved his hand: "Forget it, you should leave O'Hara quickly!"
"Remember, never get into trouble for the sake of O'Hara!"
Kazan was a little embarrassed.
Could I really bring trouble to O'Hara?
Olvia became angry and dissatisfied: "Uncle Clover, how can you be in such a hurry! That's quite rude!"
Clover's hair was ready to stand on end: "What worries could you have? You're just a child!"
Hey——!
Click——!
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps interrupted their conversation.
Kazan and the others turned around.
They saw the rough-looking Shiki with blonde hair, standing two meters tall and confidently walking toward them.
At the same time,
Shiki was holding a rope to which about a dozen bamboo baskets were attached, floating approximately a meter above the ground. Each basket contained potatoes, corn, and other crops, all covered in dirt.
In the last basket sat two little toddlers, dressed in children's clothes, joyfully dancing while clinging to the bamboo basket with both hands. They were looking out and continuously shouting with pacifiers — "Go! Go! Go!"
The whole scene resembled a yellow lion cub leading a group of balloons for sale.
Shiki turned around and angrily shouted: "Shut up!"
"Kids! You're too noisy!"
The children, sprawled out in despair, continued to shout: "Mean! Go away!"
This scene couldn't help but amuse Kazan.
Who would have thought that the famous future flying admiral also had a childish side?
His ability to make things float was applied to his extravagant agricultural works.
Perhaps Shiki had spent the entire year practicing swordsmanship on the reefs, where only the sound of waves could be heard and without communicating with others. That's why the monotonous training inspired him with more inventive ideas. Having seen Kazan having fun with the islanders, he went to the island to enjoy himself.
However, it seemed that Shiki did not possess the same social skills as Kazan and appeared to know nothing but swordsmanship.
Once he realized he had left neat stacks of timber in the forest behind the mountain after practice, he used his levitation ability to bring the wood to the islanders, receiving a round of applause for it.
Now, in O'Hara, the harvest season had arrived.
Everything Shiki carried changed from timber to crops like potatoes and corn.
It should be noted that his levitation ability significantly improved agricultural efficiency among the island's inhabitants, and the brothers became more popular; after the supplies on the warship ran out, they often came to the residents for meals.
When Kazan mentioned this, Shiki nonchalantly explained:
"Farming is training too!"
"Haven't you noticed that my skill level in controlling abilities has reached millimeter precision?"
Kazan remained speechless.
An aunt walking behind, with a smile on her face, said: "Thank you, Shiki!" I'm already home!
— What a big deal! I don't even know what you're touching!
Shiki, waving his hand irritably, said: — Aunt Jenny, hurry home and cook, or the pot will get cold.
— Look, this basket has potatoes, corn, and dozens of pounds of freshly slaughtered beef; it's too heavy. Come help Auntie carry it, Shiki! — said Aunt Jenny.
When Shiki heard this, he immediately flew over to her.
— No need to rush! You're already home, we're not going anywhere!
— Here, this is a gift from Auntie for you two brothers. You're growing up, remember to eat more!
— Ah! This! How embarrassing...
Some time later,
Shiki, with a full bamboo basket on his back, was tirelessly scratching his head.