Chapter Sixty-Seven: Night in the Desert [First Update]

“With me here, those people from Baroque Works wouldn’t dare harass you,” he said. “If one comes, I’ll kill one.”

Vivi’s entire body trembled when she heard this. She gazed at him in disbelief, then quickly lowered her head after seeing the indifference in his eyes. His calmness was genuine, as if he truly cared nothing for it.

Exhaustion was written all over Vivi’s face. Even a single breath in the desert air felt scorching, and her body was severely dehydrated. She turned toward the ruins, searching for a place to shield herself from the wind and sand. Settling for a makeshift shelter, she decided to rest for the night, gather her strength, and soon drifted into a deep sleep.

Shu Mingyuan looked at her worn-out form and sighed. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but now was clearly not the right time.

He walked a short distance away. His arm suddenly multiplied in size, and with each sweep, he dug out heaps of sand. After just a few strokes, he had excavated a large pit nearby.

“Water Release: Surging Wave!”

His ten fingers shifted, forming a complex and mysterious hand seal. Chakra surged within him, and he opened his mouth to pour out a torrent of fresh water into the pit. Water gushed and splashed, and before long, a small pool had formed.

After finishing, he looked up at the sky. He had been in this world for fifteen years now. He once thought he would live his life in obscurity, fading away without ever making a mark. Yet, by a twist of fate, he awakened the system and finally experienced the grandeur of the pirate’s world.

In just half a year, he had accomplished far more than most could imagine, living through trials and adventures that few could ever comprehend. After a lifetime accustomed to fighting and killing, these rare moments of peace felt especially pleasant.

Vivi awoke after only four hours of sleep. In this unfamiliar place, with a potentially dangerous criminal nearby, she dared not sleep too soundly.

A humid scent drifted through the air, and as she opened her drowsy eyes, she thought she saw a clear pool of water. She gave a wry, inward smile—she must be so parched she was hallucinating. How could a dried-up city like this possibly have a waterhole?

But when she blinked her eyes wide, she saw it: a pool of fresh water, rippling gently under the night breeze. Hastily, she rubbed her eyes. It was real!

She could hardly believe it—this was nothing short of a miracle granted by the heavens.

She spotted the young man sitting at the edge of the pond and stammered, “Did you… did you do this?”

Shu Mingyuan shrugged helplessly. “Unless there’s a third person around, I guess it was me. I was bored, so I dug a bit and happened to hit an underground river.”

“Impossible!” Vivi denied it without hesitation. “Eruma has been abandoned for so long precisely because of the extreme water shortage. If it were so easy to find water underground, this place wouldn’t be a desert.”

Shu Mingyuan raised an eyebrow in surprise at the girl’s sharpness, then rolled his eyes. “Maybe I’m just lucky.”

“Um… thank you. I’m so thirsty, may I drink some?” Vivi’s cheeks flushed, her voice hoarse.

“Go ahead.” Shu Mingyuan nodded, then lay back on the sand with his hands behind his head, gazing up at the sky.

Soon, laughter from Vivi and Karoo the duck echoed by the water’s edge. A person can go days without food but not a day without water. The sudden, inexplicable appearance of the pond revived her completely.

“Does this count as her drinking my mouthwash?” Shu Mingyuan thought to himself.

“Sir, could you wait inside for a bit? I’d like to bathe…” Vivi’s shy, delicate voice floated from the pond. She hadn’t washed in days; sweat, dust, and the hardships of fleeing made her look disheveled and her skin a shade darker. If Shu Mingyuan hadn’t been familiar with the characters from the pirate world, anyone else would have failed to recognize her.

Hearing her request, Shu Mingyuan’s mouth twitched. He couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, “Women… barely back from the brink of death, and already thinking of washing up and prettying themselves.”

He rose and walked into the ruins.

“Karoo, you too!” Vivi called.

Standing by the pond, Vivi hesitated a moment, making sure the boy wouldn’t spy on her. Satisfied, she untied her sash and let her coat slip off her shoulders. Bathed in moonlight, her body was revealed in all its perfection. Her dishevelment was only surface-deep; beneath, her skin was as smooth as creamy jade.

She slipped out of her undergarments and glanced once more in Shu Mingyuan’s direction. Still, she could not fully trust the character of a criminal, no matter how young he seemed.

Once certain she was alone, she let out a long breath, stepped barefoot into the pool, and moved through the water like a mermaid dancing under gentle moonbeams.

In the ruins, Shu Mingyuan wiped a trickle of blood from his nose. He had promised not to look, but his Observation Haki allowed him to sense everything in a thirty-meter radius with perfect clarity.

So, every inch of Vivi’s body was as clear to him as if he had seen it with his own eyes…

“Damn it…”

He had lived over thirty years across two lifetimes, and now, at his most vigorous age, he had never faced such temptation. The nosebleed just kept flowing.

He cursed inwardly, looked helplessly to the sky, and, after using his Haki for one last “look,” finally withdrew his power and sat in meditation, recovering his chakra.

An hour later, Vivi emerged from the pond, her body—which could stir the desires of any man—once again hidden beneath her clothes. Gone was her earlier disarray; she was fresh and clean, a genuine smile gracing her lips for the first time in days.

Blushing, she returned to their shelter. Seeing Shu Mingyuan meditating with closed eyes, guilt flashed in hers—this water was meant for drinking, yet she had squandered so much of it.

As she bathed, she had checked herself: this was no underground spring. The sand was still far from moist beneath the surface; the pond could only exist because a great deal of water had been poured out to saturate the ground. So, this pond was entirely his doing.

“It seems his nature isn’t as bad as I thought,” Vivi mused.

Shu Mingyuan slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. After her bath, her natural beauty returned, her vitality restored, and her bright eyes sparkled with life.

“All finished?” Shu Mingyuan’s lips curled into a playful smile.

“Yes… I’m really sorry for wasting so much of your water.” Vivi blushed.

“Are we setting out right now?” she asked. “There isn’t much wind and sand right now—it’s the perfect time to travel. I want to reach the rebel army headquarters in Cattleya as soon as possible.”

“We can… but first, let me deal with two little mice,” Shu Mingyuan replied, gazing toward the horizon where two figures were slowly approaching.

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