The pattering sound of the rain showed no sign of stopping, and the croaking of Croagunk echoed off and on from the sunken ground.
Rainwater gathered into droplets on the leaves, weighing down the branches under the influence of gravity, eventually forming tiny streams that flowed downward toward the lower ground.
The crowd on the street thinned, everything appearing so natural. It was still Wano Country as far as the eye could see, yet in a country like this, scum still found ways to fester.
"These footsteps don't sound right."
Even the weakest Marine Admiral could be described as a monster. Their strength had already long surpassed the limits of ordinary humans, and that limit was not only in strength and speed but also in the five senses.
Kuzan's sight and hearing were sharper than those of a normal person, and anyone who trained in Observation Haki would find their senses becoming keener. After all, Observation Haki was essentially an extension of the eyes and ears.
Even a blind person can move around freely like an ordinary person as long as he is proficient in Observation Haki. They just wouldn't be able to see people's faces clearly, and everything in the world would look like those blackened-out shadow figures in the detective conan.
There was a wall separating the alley from here, making it impossible to see what was happening inside with the naked eye, but that only applied to ordinary people.
For Kuzan, even without moving from where he stood, he could still sense exactly what was happening in there.
Kuzan couldn't do what Enel did, combining Observation Haki with his Devil Fruit powers to expand his perception across an entire island.
That kind of talent combined with devil fruit's powers was almost impossible to replicate, but sensing what was going on in an alley tens of meters away was no problem at all.
The little girl's footsteps shifted from steady to panicked, and then vanished…replaced by heavier ones.
A gust of north wind swept through, and a few tiny icicles clattered into the puddles on the ground, quickly melting away under the scouring of the rain.
As soon as Kuzan sensed the anomaly, his figure disappeared. The shattered blossoms of ice on the ground were the only proof that he had been there.
In the alley, a familiar flower-patterned umbrella lay fallen to the side, while the girl was being pinned down in the muddy ground.
A man reeking of alcohol was pressing down on her, his large hand covering her mouth, cutting off any chance for her to call for help.
From the marks around them, it was clear she had tried to run when danger struck, but failed.
Against an adult's strength, she was too outmatched, and in the end, he had cornered her in this alley.
The man did not premeditate, but just acted on a drunken whim. In the deserted street, he had spotted the girl taking a shortcut home.
On the slippery rain-soaked road, he had fallen. Out of kindness, the girl tried to help him up, but he let his twisted thoughts take over.
Wano Country was full of surveillance equipment, but most of it was aimed outward, or else used to secure Queen's laboratories. For the common folk, this only served as a warning, it could never completely prevent crime.
If surveillance alone could solve such problems, then tragedies wouldn't exist in this world.
Yet just as his lecherous smile spread and he prepared to continue, he suddenly lost control over his body.
"I'd advise you not to move. If it breaks, that'll be the end for you."
Kuzan had appeared behind him, his hand resting lightly on the man's shoulder. Most of the man's body had already been frozen into an ice sculpture.
Terror flooded his heart, sobering him up instantly. He knew what he was doing was wrong, but lust still clouded his mind.
"I—"
Crack.
The ice spread. Kuzan didn't bother listening to his excuses; he simply pushed his power further, freezing the man completely. Freezing him right away might have endangered the girl beneath him.
"You alright?"
"I'm okay. Grandma was right, kindness really does get rewarded."
The girl's voice trembled slightly, tinged with relief.
She had thought Kuzan looked strange and wanted to offer him her umbrella, and that brief encounter had led to everything that followed. The process was dangerous, but in the end, her unintentional act had brought her even greater aid from Kuzan.
"Be more careful when you go out from now on. Keep your guard up around strangers, and best not to take these side roads at all."
Seeing that the girl's mental state didn't seem too bad, Kuzan felt a little more at ease, though he still gave her a few words of advice.
Truth be told, he didn't want to say such things. The girl embodied the beauty of humanity; her selfless willingness to help others was exactly the kind of thing that could make society better.
But he had no choice. The human heart was unpredictable, and even in Wano Country, there were still scum like this man.
Here, there was a peaceful environment, countless paths for hard work, and endless opportunities, yet this man still chose to commit the most despicable of acts.
Such people were few in Wano Country, but even one of them could spoil the whole pot. No one dared gamble on whether their kindness would bring about similar troubles. If something like this happened to their own loved ones, it would be nothing short of a nightmare.
To protect oneself, the only way was to tuck away that kindness.
The conscience of society was slowly worn down, bit by bit, by people like this.
"I'll walk you home. I'm pretty strong, you know. Even if a few hundred guys like these showed up, I wouldn't be afraid."
The girl looked fine on the surface, but Kuzan had already noticed her legs trembling slightly. Right now, she was just forcing herself to stay calm.
He couldn't understand the kind of experience she had gone through, but he didn't mind lending her a hand.
In Kuzan's hand, a pony made of ice appeared out of thin air. The lifelike pony eased the fear in the girl's heart.
The girl was right; her house really wasn't far. Kuzan quickly escorted her back and met the old woman who was waiting for her at the door.
"Where are this child's parents?"
"At work. They want to buy a new house in the Flower Capital, so they've been working overtime all this time. They left her in my care.
"Thank you, subordinate of Lord Wise King."
"Wise King…"
Kuzan didn't dwell on the title. He had been living in Wano Country for a while now, so being mistaken for one of Kaido's subordinates was only natural.
After bringing the girl back, Kuzan explained what had happened earlier. Then, the girl's grandmother insisted on Kuzan coming in to sit for a while, resulting in this scene.
At this moment, the girl was changing clothes inside the house, while the old woman entertained Kuzan and chatted about ordinary household topics, as well as the changes in Wano Country over the years.
Through the words of an ordinary citizen, Kuzan gained more understanding of the remarkable transformations Wano Country had undergone in the past twenty years.
"They really should take better care of their child. This kind of thing is far too dangerous."
"Cases like this are actually very rare. I haven't heard of anything similar in years. Life is already so good now, why are there still people who can't be content?"
"Grandma, this isn't really about contentment. It's just… human nature."
Kuzan didn't want to comment further. He simply stood up and left. There were too many people in this world, and even more who needed help. He couldn't form close connections with everyone; most encounters are just fleeting meetings.
After Kuzan left, the girl, now dressed in clean clothes, came back out, ready to continue helping her grandmother apply medicine.
"Hanako… maybe I taught you something wrong. From now on, when you're outside, you should protect yourself first before caring for others. Good deeds don't always bring rewards."
"Maybe your parents are right. Rather than becoming a doctor, it might be better to do business with them."
"I understand, Grandma. But I still want to be a doctor. There are always more good people than bad ones. If I save one good person, then that's one less bad person in the world, right?"
The hearts of the young were not filled with complex schemes. They only wished to follow their dreams. Whether they could hold onto their original intentions in the future is unknown.
After leaving Hanako's house, Kuzan returned to that same alley. Earlier, he had only frozen the man, not shattered him in front of Hanako.
But when he came back, he found several people already there, with two Mightyena prowling around the frozen statue.
Surveillance couldn't guarantee the prevention of accidents, but it could provide more help when handling incidents afterward.
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