The nun's face showed a trace of reluctance:
"Little Lami actually... alright then."
That well-behaved little girl had left a deep impression on her too.
Silently offering a prayer in her heart, she squatted down and said to Law:
"Then you must make sure to catch the next evacuation ship, Law."
"I'll come back to pick you up."
At this moment, among the children standing behind the nun,
a friend who had grown up with Law shouted out:
"Hey! Law! Come with us!"
"Lami will definitely be saved later!!!"
"Mom and Dad are already gone! That's why we have to survive!!!"
"Law!!!"
Law lowered his head, biting his lip, standing motionless.
He couldn't bear to leave his sister behind, to let her remain here all alone.
The nun thought for a moment, then gently said to Law:
"Listen to me, Law."
"In this world, there is no such thing as true despair."
"The light of salvation, born of compassion, will surely descend upon you all."
Law froze for a moment, then nodded heavily:
"Yeah!"
...
Flevance, outside the largest hospital in the country.
The iron gates were locked. Endless streams of people gathered outside, crying and begging the doctors to save them.
But by now, the hospital had already collapsed.
Most of the staff had fled, leaving behind only a handful of doctors who clung to hope and continued their research.
Inside an office—
Law's father shouted angrily into the Den Den Mushi:
"There are too few doctors here, and the blood and medicine are nowhere near enough!"
"Why won't the kingdom send more people?!"
"There must be a way to strip Amber Lead Syndrome from the body!"
"And this disease isn't contagious at all!"
"Why is the government hiding the truth?!"
Buru—
The Den Den Mushi closed its eyes, showing the other side had hung up.
"Damn it!!!"
Bang—
...
Inside a hospital ward.
Law stood by the small bed, quietly keeping watch over his little sister, Lami.
Suddenly, Lami's brows twitched, and her eyes slowly opened.
She turned her head slightly and saw Law. Tears almost welled up:
"Brother... my body hurts so much..."
Her voice was nearly inaudible—she didn't even have the strength left to cry:
"And my body... it's getting whiter and whiter..."
"Am I going to die...?"
Hearing his sister's words, Law trembled violently, nearly bursting into tears. But he forced himself to hold it back, comforting her:
"It's okay."
"Just endure a little longer. Dad's the greatest doctor in the whole country."
"He'll definitely cure you."
Bang bang—
The sound of gunfire and cannon fire echoed into the ward from outside, drawing Lami's weak attention.
"What's going on outside... why is it so noisy...?"
Law soothed her:
"They're holding a festival."
"Flevance is always lively, right?"
"Get well soon, and we'll go to the festival together."
The corners of Lami's mouth lifted in a faint smile:
"Mm..."
...
A few days later... ninety-nine percent of Flevance's population had been slaughtered.
Soldiers from the surrounding nations swept through the country over and over again, hunting for survivors—to execute them.
Inside the hospital—
It looked like a battlefield after war. Bullet holes, corpses, shattered buildings filled the place.
Soldiers wearing gas masks searched floor by floor.
Inside a ward tucked away in the corner—
Law stuffed his little sister Lami into a cabinet:
"Lami, just endure for a little while."
Lami weakly nodded:
"Mm."
Then Law closed the cabinet, hiding her away. Avoiding the patrolling soldiers, he rushed to his parents' office.
But as soon as he entered, what he saw crushed him.
The room was wrecked, everything smashed. In the center lay two corpses—his mother and father.
Bullet holes riddled their bodies, their white doctor's coats stained crimson, blood flowing across the floor.
Law threw himself onto the tightly-embraced corpses:
"Mom!!! Dad!!!!"
"Ahhhhhh!!!!"
The soldiers searching the building heard his anguished scream.
"There's someone in here!"
"This way!!!"
"Quick!!! Shoot to kill!!!"
Footsteps drew closer and closer.
Law had no time for grief—gritting his teeth, he smashed through the glass and leapt out.
Soldiers followed, firing wildly.
But Law, who had grown up here, used his familiarity with the terrain to his advantage.
After twisting and turning through alleys, he slipped beneath a bridge and escaped the pursuit.
...
Late at night.
After hiding for half the day, Law only dared to come out once the footsteps faded.
But the town before his eyes felt utterly unfamiliar.
Flames were everywhere...
Even though dark clouds covered the moon, Flevance shone as bright as day, the endless inferno making it look like hell itself.
As Law trudged toward the hospital like a walking corpse, something suddenly tripped him.
He looked down... then screamed in despair:
"Si... Sister!!!!"
Around him lay the corpses of his childhood friends. His voice nearly broke.
In his mind, the nun's words from days ago echoed:
"Law, there is no true despair."
"The light of salvation, born of compassion, will surely descend upon you."
Law collapsed to his knees, pounding the ground madly:
"Why!!!"
After venting his grief... he left, his heart like ashes, silent.
There was nothing he could do...
...
When Law finally returned to the hospital, he saw the tallest, grandest hospital in all Flevance burning in the inferno.
It completely shattered what remained of his heart.
"The hospital..."
"Aaaaaaahhhhhh!!!!"
Kneeling on the ground, Law's eyes rolled back as he roared in despair:
"Lami!!!!!"
But no one answered.
Only the blazing fire illuminated his hopeless face.
Suddenly, he lost consciousness and fainted.
In just one single day, his entire world had collapsed.
No one could accept it—let alone a ten-year-old child...
The next day.
Climbing over the barbed-wire blockade, Law turned back one last time at the ruins of Flevance...
"I will... destroy this filthy world..."
And to the rest of the world, the "White Town" of Flevance had perished completely.
Nothing remained but ashes.
...
The New World's entrance—Fishman Island.
Several colossal Sea Kings fixed their gaze tightly on Fishman Island.
Suddenly, the massive Sea Kings let out long, thunderous roars, their voices reverberating across the seabed.
Oooooh—
Oooooh—
"Our king has been born!!!"
The ocean floor quaked with waves...
...
Holy Land, Mary Geoise.
From a pile of corpses, a fish-man with thick curly hair, a wide gaping mouth, and burn scars across his neck slowly crawled up.
With one tug of his hand, he ripped off the broken slave collar around his neck.
"Freedom..."
Covered in blood, the fish-man cast one last look at the Holy Land that seemed like paradise.
But he knew—this was hell. A hell on earth.
Gripping the cliff face of the Red Line, carrying hatred carved into his very bones, he began to climb down, inch by inch...
"Wait for me...."
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