The strange woman who emerged from the darkness was dressed very daringly. She was wearing a miniskirt on her lower body with a pair of red boots on her long, fair legs. On her upper body, she only wore an open red leather jacket.
What was astonishing was that she seemed to be wearing nothing underneath the open leather jacket. A pair of exaggerated, full breasts were vaguely visible in the darkness, illuminated by the cigarette between her red lips, making her even more tempting.
"Who are you?"
Reiju didn't know the person in front of her, but her Observation Haki told her that this person was not simple. Her hot body hid a powerful strength.
"Nice to meet you. Let me introduce myself. I am the Commander of the Revolutionary Army's East Army, Belo Betty. You can call me Betty."
Betty pulled down the pink glasses on her eyes. Without hiding her footsteps or caring about the mud on the ground, she walked straight to Reiju, passed her, and headed toward the room where the children were.
Hearing the sound, the two children who were warming themselves by the fire in the house became nervous.
"Alice! Hide quickly. Don't come out. I'll go check."
The boy quickly pulled his sister, pushed her into a corner of the room, picked up the broken cloth bag on the ground, and covered her with it.
"Big brother..." The little girl, Alice, who was holding half of a grilled fish, looked at the boy with a panicked expression and a crying voice.
"Don't be afraid. I'll be right back. Be a good girl, Alice. Don't make a sound."
The boy patted Alice's head and then covered her with the cloth bag. Hearing the footsteps approaching the door, he had no time to put out the fire. He ran to the doorway, grabbed a stick, and rushed out.
Although he was less than 1.3 meters tall and his body was thin and small, the boy's expression was incredibly determined. He charged to the doorway with the stick, pointed it at the approaching footsteps, and shouted in a stiff tone, "I don't care who you are! Don't come any closer! If you're not afraid of death, then come!"
In the dim night, the boy stood alone at the broken doorway, facing the unknown enemy in the darkness.
"Little Raoul, long time no see. You're a brave and qualified fighter now."
From the darkness, Betty, with a bright smile on her face, stepped out and walked to the boy named Raoul. Raoul's face showed a pleasant surprise when he saw who it was. He lowered the stick in his hand. "Big Sister Betty! You're back?"
"Yes."
Betty squatted down, opened her arms, and, without caring about Raoul's dirty clothes, hugged him tightly. Raoul's dark face immediately turned red with shyness, and he tried to break free, but Betty held him tightly in her arms.
"Big Sister Betty, put me down..."
"Hehe, you know how to be shy now. It seems you've grown up. But I told you to call me Mama Betty." Betty teased him for a while and then put him down.
Raoul quickly ran into the room, lifted the broken burlap bag covering his sister, and took her hand, saying happily, "Alice, look who's here."
The little girl, who was holding half of a grilled fish, looked at the doorway timidly. When she saw Betty clearly, she immediately started to cry. She didn't even care about the grilled fish in her hand and ran to Betty, crying.
"Mama Betty, I missed you so much. You're finally back."
"Yes, Mama Betty is back. This time, I'll take you away to a place where you won't be hungry." Betty's expression softened as she bent down to pick up Alice. She opened her jacket and tucked Alice's cold, red and swollen hands and feet into her warm chest.
"Really? Are we going to heaven? Daddy and Mommy are there. I heard that heaven is the most beautiful place in the world. You'll never be hungry there, and you'll have endless milk and bread."
Alice held Betty's neck tightly, as if she was afraid Betty would suddenly disappear.
"No, we're not going there yet. But the place we're going to is also a beautiful and warm place like heaven. There are many children like you there, and many gentle aunts, uncles, grandpas, and grandmas. Everyone builds their home together."
Betty hugged Alice and held Raoul's hand. She walked to the fire, which was about to go out, and squatted down. Raoul looked at Reiju, who had followed Betty into the room, and said nothing.
Reiju walked into the room, picked up a few dry twigs from the corner, and placed them on the fire, which was about to go out.
"That's not how you do it. You have to use the dry grass first. If you do that, the fire will go out completely!" Raoul quickly reached out, wanting to remove the twigs he had put on the fire. But he was stunned.
He saw a dazzling tongue of flame shoot out from Reiju's sleeve. It radiated a scorching, warm temperature and immediately lit the twigs, which were difficult to light, making the fire burn very brightly.
"What is this? It's amazing." Raoul looked at Reiju's sleeve with envy. If he had something like this that could shoot out flames, he could light a fire every day and would not have to suffer from the cold.
"Do you want it? Here." Reiju took off the flame-throwing device on her wrist and held it out to Raoul. "These three buttons, from left to right, can shoot out flames at three different levels. The first level can be used to light a fire, and the third level has the most power and can be used against enemies."
Raoul looked at the bracelet-like flame-throwing device in Reiju's hand with a longing heart. He hesitated for a moment and did not take it immediately. Instead, he turned to Betty.
"Take it. It's from Big Sister Reiju," Betty said with a smile.
"Thank you, Big Sister Reiju." Raoul then took it and thanked Reiju happily, playing with the fiery red bracelet in his hands. He put the bracelet on his right hand. The bracelet was a little big, so Raoul wore it as an arm guard. With this bracelet, he would never have to worry about not being able to start a fire again.
Reiju also squatted by the fire, looking at Betty, who was illuminated by the flickering firelight, and the little girl who had fallen asleep in her arms. She said with a complicated expression, "Are they your children?"
"They are my children now." Betty gently patted the sleeping Alice in her arms. "Raoul and Alice's parents both died from the Amber Lead Syndrome. Last year, when we passed by Flevance and came here to buy food to support the refugees in the South Blue, we saw them."
She sighed, looking at the drafty room, and said with emotion, "That day, I saw a little girl naked, rummaging through a garbage dump, and she fainted from hunger while looking for food to fill her stomach. Raoul, who was catching fish by the sea, saved the little girl and took care of her as if she were his own sister."
Betty reached out and stroked Raoul's head.
Raoul picked up the half-eaten grilled fish that Alice had left on the ground and ate it with great relish. The grilled fish had no seasoning, was half-cooked, and the meat was still bloody. It hadn't even been cleaned properly. But Raoul ate it with great enjoyment. He even carefully saved the fish bones and put them into a small pocket, not wanting to throw them away. These fish bones could be made into simple fishhooks for catching small fish. Although they were brittle, they were fine for catching small fish.
"I originally wanted to take them with me. But at that time, our Revolutionary Army was in a bad situation. We had to run around providing disaster relief while also resisting the encirclement and suppression from the World Government. Following us would only make things harder for them."
Betty looked at the silent Reiju. "Reiju, I can tell that your nature is not like that of your brothers and father. You are not a cruel and bloodthirsty person. Look at the situation here. The country of Flevance became a dead country more than a decade ago when the Amber Lead Syndrome broke out. It was abandoned and forgotten by the entire world."
"First, the Flevance royal family was exterminated by the old Principality Kingdom and the Rubuniru Kingdom, who sent troops to seize the profitable amber lead mines."
"Then, the Amber Lead Syndrome broke out on a large scale. The World Government and the two member countries, under pressure from public opinion, took the large sums of money they had earned and withdrew from here."
"What was left was endless desolation and brokenness, trampled by war and disease."
"The people who contracted the Amber Lead Syndrome, the young men and women, died one after another, leaving behind the old and the young. When the old people also died, these lonely and helpless children were left to live in this hellish world."
"But even so, the cruelty of the world did not let this place go." A trace of uncontrollable anger appeared in Betty's eyes. "The slave traders and organ merchants from all over the world would come here every now and then, sailing in arrogantly, and plundering the population everywhere."
"They appear openly and don't need to hide their tracks. Because this country has been abandoned by the world. The World Government won't care about the life and death of a worthless non-member country. Even pirates won't come here to plant their flags because there is nothing here."
"The only people left to live here are those who can't survive anywhere else and those who have nowhere to go."
She looked at Reiju. "Our Revolutionary Army has been paying attention to the situation in the countries of the four seas, including member countries and non-member countries. The aggressiveness of the Germa Kingdom is our top priority. After all, the reputation of the Germa army is too great, and Judge's scientific research ability is also very strong. He was once a colleague of Vegapunk, the world's strongest scientist. And then, we discovered you, Vinsmoke Reiju."
"Based on our detailed investigations of the Germa army's mercenary missions, we found that although Judge used lineage factor modification on all his children, your performance in those wars was clearly different from that of your three brothers."
"If they are emotionless, cold-blooded machines, then you, Reiju, are a kind-hearted outlier. But because you were created by Judge, you often have no way to defy your creator's orders and have to go against your true self, doing things that cause your heart to ache."
"Reiju, you really don't belong there."
In front of the burning fire, Reiju was silent for a long time. She added a few more dry twigs to the fire and then slowly stood up. She looked at Betty and said softly, "Take them away. Leave this place."
With that, she took a step and walked out. Betty gently handed the sleeping Alice in her arms to Raoul and followed her out.
In the darkness, the two women walked one after the other out of the muddy street and toward the port of the White Town. On the dim, long street, countless ragged men, women, and children, as well as warriors in black and green uniforms holding flintlock rifles, had appeared at some point. In front of these people, on the dark sea outside the White Town, were the Germa Warships, which were like strict fortresses.
It was easy to imagine that once those terrifying war fortresses started pouring out firepower, this dilapidated island would be destroyed without a doubt. Even though the Revolutionary Army had arrived on the island, and even though the commander of the East Army, Betty, was leading them.
In the face of the overwhelming gunfire, the refugees who had been inspired by the ability of the Encourage-Encourage Fruit were still just ordinary people and could not withstand the bombardment of cannon fire. Even if the Revolutionary Army won in the end, the price they would have to pay was far from what they could bear.
"Reiju!"
Seeing Reiju walk straight toward the port without stopping, Betty sighed and called out to her.
Reiju stopped but did not turn back.
"Leave. I'll give you an hour to evacuate. In an hour, this town will be razed to the ground."
"Reiju! If you are in a swamp and don't struggle, you will slowly sink. If you struggle, you might sink faster. In that case, we wouldn't advise you. But now, we are willing to reach out to you. If you just grab this hand, we will pull you out of the swamp."
Betty extended her right hand. A formless power spread out with her words and entered Reiju's heart, making the struggle in her heart grow stronger. Her chest heaved. She looked at the Warships in the darkness, those war fortresses that were like floating islands on the sea, and a trace of pain and struggle appeared in her eyes.
Her breathing became rapid.
"Tell me, Reiju! What is the loudest voice in your heart? That is what you want to do the most. Do it if you want to. Don't regret today's hesitation!"
Betty's voice carried a strong sense of encouragement and inspiration. It also had a sense of clarity that made people look into their hearts and understand their own direction. This was the effect of the Encourage-Encourage Fruit's ability. It inspired people, ignited their fighting spirit, and gave them courage and hope to face cruelty and darkness.
Reiju's full chest heaved violently. A look of recollection appeared in her eyes, and she seemed to see a crying face.
"I want to escape! Reiju! I want to escape from this place! I don't want to stay here anymore! I want to leave the Vinsmoke Family forever! Leave Germa! I want to go to the sea and find the All Blue that Mama talked about!"
The young, crying voice came to her ears.
"I..." Reiju's body trembled slightly. She turned around little by little and looked at Betty, who was holding out her hand to her.
"Big Sister Reiju, although I don't know what you want to do, please believe Big Sister Betty. She's a good person. If you're in trouble, Big Sister Betty will help you."
In the darkness, Raoul appeared, carrying his sleeping sister. He said to Reiju seriously.
Reiju took a deep breath, stopped her trembling, and suddenly calmed down, showing a gentle smile.
"I want to find a person."
End of Chapter)
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