The territory of the Flevance Kingdom was not large. Its geographical location was about 200 kilometers north of the Principality Kingdom, and it consisted of only three adjacent islands: one large and two small.
The largest island was the famous White Town, known for the Amber Lead Syndrome. It was also Law's hometown.
At this moment, Reiju, who had led twenty Germa Warships and five thousand troops, had arrived here. Reiju was wearing a tight-fitting leather suit. Her pink hair covered her right eye, and her eyebrows had the Vinsmoke family's unique circular shape.
She wore headphones with the number 66 printed on them. She wore knee-high boots on her long, fair legs. The tight leather suit could not hide her proud figure.
After ordering the clone army to wait on the sea, Reiju walked alone into this world-famous White Town. The first impression she had of this island was desolation.
The ground, as far as the eye could see, was either covered in piles of various garbage or overgrown with weeds and moss, making it look like an uninhabited island that had been abandoned for many years.
On both sides of the street were old, dilapidated buildings covered in various vines. Some had already collapsed, and most of their doors and windows had been destroyed. The slightly valuable items inside had also been taken.
Reiju stood at the empty street corner and looked at the ancient town, which was terrifyingly quiet, like a ghost town. Her brightly colored clothes seemed out of place in the town.
Reiju glanced around, and a faint smile suddenly appeared at the corner of her mouth. She raised her hand and tapped the headphones on her ears.
The headphones, which could amplify tiny sounds and enhance human senses, immediately picked up many subtle breaths coming from the dilapidated buildings on both sides.
There were many breaths, and they became denser the further she went. It was clear that the island was not uninhabited; the people had already discovered their fleet and had hidden in advance.
Following these subtle breaths, Reiju released her recently awakened Observation Haki. Although she had just mastered this magical power and the effect she could produce was very shallow, she could clearly feel the fear, panic, and despair radiating from the people hiding in the surrounding old houses.
These emotions were so obvious that they were directly reflected in their bodies. Some people couldn't help but sob quietly, some were mumbling prayers, and some were curled up in a corner, trembling in fear.
As she walked deeper into the town, these emotions became more and more chaotic, even affecting Reiju, causing the faint smile on her face to gradually disappear.
Until she suddenly heard a faint cry. Reiju walked toward the sound. The bottom of her shoes was equipped with a bubble-like device, which made her body light and her steps silent.
Therefore, she did not startle the owner of the crying sound until she reached the dilapidated house where the faint crying was coming from.
Reiju hid her presence and looked through a cracked window. In the dark room with no lights, a ragged, barefooted little girl of seven or eight years old was hugging her knees, curled up on an old wooden board, and sobbing softly.
The little girl had short, black hair, but it looked messy due to malnutrition and a lack of care. The clothes she was wearing obviously did not belong to her; it seemed like she had picked up an adult's clothes somewhere, and they looked too big on her.
The clothes were very thin and could not provide her with any warmth in the cold winter. The little girl was very thin, with prominent cheekbones and sunken eyes. Her body was so small that a gust of wind could blow her away.
"Gurgle..."
The gurgling sound coming from her stomach made the little girl's sobs incredibly faint. Reiju heard her whisper. She was saying, "Daddy, Mommy, I miss you so much. Big brother, big brother... I'm so hungry, I'm so cold."
Time passed little by little, the sky grew darker, the air temperature dropped, the room became darker, and the little girl shivered more and more.
Reiju stood quietly outside the house the whole time and did not go in.
After a long time, a boy who was also thin and short came running from a distant street corner, panting. In his hand, he was holding a palm-sized fish.
"Alice! Alice!"
As soon as the boy approached the house, he lowered his voice and called out, walking in nervously.
Hearing the boy's call, the little girl who was curled up and sobbing with her knees hugged to her chest quickly wiped away her tears, got up from the wooden board, and squeezed out a weak smile on her small face.
"Big brother, you're back?"
The boy saw that the girl was fine, and his tense mood relaxed. A smile appeared on his dark face, and he raised the fish in his hand.
"Alice! Look, what is this?"
The little girl saw the fish in his hand and couldn't help but lick her lips. Her throat moved, and she said with delight, "Big brother, did you catch a fish again?"
"Yes! I told you I'm great at catching fish. As long as I'm here, you won't be hungry, Alice. Come on, I'll grill this fish for you to eat right now."
The boy held the fish in one hand and his sister's hand in the other. He walked into the dark room and squatted on the ground next to the broken wooden board. The boy rubbed his stiff hands and feet.
He picked up a pile of dry grass he had collected from next to the board and took out two flints from under the board. He skillfully started making a fire.
He was also barefoot, and his feet were red and swollen from the cold. A cold wind blew in from the cracks in the window, making the two children huddled together shiver.
"Click, click."
Sparks flew from the flint in the boy's hands, illuminating their expectant faces. The weather was not good today, and the leaking roof had made the dry grass he had collected a little damp. No matter how many sparks hit it, it would not light up.
After striking it more than ten times, the boy was panting, and his hands were so cold that they wouldn't listen to him.
He looked back at his sister with an apologetic expression. He picked up the fish from the ground, wiped it in his arms, and handed it to the little girl.
"Alice, you must be so hungry. The grass is too wet; it won't light up. It looks like we'll have to eat raw fish again today."
"Big brother, you eat. I've been at home; I'm not hungry." The little girl, Alice, licked her lips and pushed the fish the boy gave her back.
"I've already eaten. I forgot to tell you that I caught two fish by the sea today. I ate the big one, and I'm full now. You eat. I'll try to light the fire again."
The boy stuffed the fish into Alice's arms. Without waiting for his sister to speak, he turned and squatted on the ground, picked up the two cold flints, and started striking them again.
Behind him, Alice, who was holding the fish, hesitated for a moment. Swallowing her saliva, she put the fish to her mouth and took a bite.
Reiju stood outside the house and watched quietly. She suddenly raised her hand and shot a tiny spark from her fingertip, which flew into the dry grass in front of the boy.
The next moment, black smoke came out of the slightly damp dry grass, and a fire appeared.
"It's lit! Alice, I've lit the fire!"
The boy saw that the dry grass was lit and immediately cried out in surprise. He took a few more dry twigs from next to the wooden board and put them on the burning grass. Then he looked at his sister.
Seeing that his sister was struggling to bite the palm-sized fish, and her small body was uncontrollably shivering, he quickly pulled her down and made her huddle close to the burning fire, saying, "Alice, the fire's lit now, so you don't have to eat it raw. I'll help you cook it."
"Okay, here." Alice obediently handed the small fish to the boy.
The boy picked up a dry twig, inserted it into the fish's mouth, and placed it on the fire. The two thin bodies huddled together in front of the fire, watching the small fish being roasted by the flames. The flickering firelight reflected on their small faces, providing a bit of warmth.
"Do you see? A small fish and a simple fire can keep two fragile lives going. If the Germa army comes, that small flame will be extinguished. Countless people who are already lonely and poor will die one by one. Do you still want to stain this already desolate and broken kingdom with more blood?"
"Vinsmoke, Reiju."
Reiju slowly turned around and saw a woman smoking a cigarette, with her chest exposed, walking out of the darkness.
End of Chapter)
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