The truth behind the tragedy of Flevance was a permanent stain the World Government could never hope to wash away. Even the most ruthless pirates would shake their heads at the story, while the cruelest of kings would tell themselves that at least they were merciful, that the "Heavenly Gold" they exacted from their people was a small price to pay for life itself.
The ore that caused the "White Plague" was only dangerous when it was mined. As long as the lead-based Amber was buried deep underground, it was harmless. But humanity's greed knew no bounds. The beautiful Amber was mined and used for everything: as a building material, for decorations, and even for tableware. Its use had reached a frenzied, fanatical level.
The ore brought immense wealth to the Flevance Kingdom, which was given the beautiful, idyllic name of the "White Town" because of its unique buildings. But the supposed gift of fate was secretly marked with a terrible price. The World Government and the royal family of the Flevance Kingdom knew that the Amber Lead was toxic, but they chose to hide the truth for the sake of profit.
When the Amber Lead Syndrome broke out on a massive scale, the World Government took away the Flevance royal family, leaving the citizens to die. They then spread rumors to the surrounding countries, claiming that the disease was a highly contagious plague. The once-beautiful name "White Town" became a nightmare for the neighboring nations, who immediately sent troops to block the town and prevent anyone from leaving.
Eren silently watched the reactions of the Straw Hats, impressed by the information he had managed to hear from Kaito, information that had to make the World Government seem even more evil than they appeared on the surface. He felt a profound sense of disappointment in the World Government and the Marines. In a world of black and white, this was the World Government's true color: black.
This was a story of pure horror and desperation that went beyond the normal cruelty of the world, and it was the same story that would be at the center of Trafalgar D. Water Law's backstory.
The Amber Lead Syndrome could be inherited from generation to generation, and patients didn't die immediately. They had a few years to live after the onset of the disease. But in this world, only the dead could keep a secret. The World Government sent elite troops to eliminate any survivors, indiscriminately slaughtering the elderly, women, and even children. The entire town was burned to the ground, a white land reduced to a white graveyard, erasing all traces of their heinous crime.
As Eren spoke in a calm, flat tone, the crew looked on in horrified astonishment. They had never heard of such a thing. They were still too naive, their impression of the World Government still held some semblance of justice.
"I was an orphan taken in by a nun," Eren said, his voice even. "Unfortunately, my adopted mother was deceived. The World Government lied to her, telling her they could provide a ship to let her and the children escape. She fell for their trap and was slaughtered. She saved me, but she paid the ultimate price. She underestimated the World Government's determination to eradicate Flevance."
Eren explained how he was lucky to have been at the back of the group of children. The moment the heavily armed soldiers opened fire, he managed to jump into the river and escape. He drifted for an entire day, and when he finally returned to Flevance, he found that the once-white town had been scorched into a white-ashed wasteland. The memory of the charred corpses still haunted him.
"That's terrible," Luffy mumbled. He had stopped chewing and lost his appetite, his face grim.
"Didn't you try to get help from the Marines?" the naive Princess Vivi asked.
Usopp cut in. "Princess Vivi, if the Marines were any help, you wouldn't have had to ask us pirates to save your kingdom." Crocodile was a member of the Shichibukai, a pirate with the legal right to plunder. For the World Government, justice was a malleable concept.
"It's been so many years since the Flevance tragedy. Logically, the Amber Lead Syndrome should have killed you long ago," Doctor Kureha said, interrupting the conversation. "How did you survive all this time?"
She eyed him with suspicion, but Eren had already shown his power: the ability to transform into a giant. He must have a minimal an Ancient Zoan-type Devil Fruit, she reasoned. Even with its enhanced recovery, it was impossible for him to have survived the disease.
"Chopper, a scalpel."
The small reindeer rummaged through his medical bag and handed the tool to Eren. Chopper was so happy that Eren hadn't called him a "tanuki" that he had completely forgotten to protest.
"The Devil Fruit I ate has some special properties," Eren explained calmly. He gripped the scalpel tightly in his right hand and plunged it straight into his body. Blood immediately began to pour from the wound, soaking his pants.
"What are you doing? Why are you hurting yourself?!" Chopper cried, immediately transforming into his larger, human-like form to try and wrestle the scalpel away from Eren.
"Don't be nervous," Eren said, enduring the sharp pain. "I'm just demonstrating my ability. Look closely." He pulled the scalpel out of his body. A small amount of steam began to rise from the wound, and to everyone's astonishment, the bleeding stopped. The wound began to heal little by little at a speed visible to the naked eye. In less than a minute, the skin was as good as new.
"What a miraculous ability! Could it be that you…?" Kureha trailed off, a theory forming in her mind.
"The human liver has the function of metabolism and detoxification," Eren continued, confirming her suspicions. "I have to cut open my stomach myself and replace the diseased liver. In less than half a day, a new one will grow."
A gasp went through the room. They all realized that Eren had been doing this to himself his entire life, a constant, painful, and bloody ritual. This wasn't a miraculous cure. It was a torture he had to endure to survive.
"When I was a child, I had to replace my liver every two years. As I got older, the frequency increased. Now, I have to do it every three months. If I delay it any longer, I'll reach a point where a liver replacement won't be enough to detoxify my body."
Eren spoke of his impending death with the same calm as he spoke of his lunch. His placid demeanor in the face of such a terrifying fate was far more unnerving than any emotional outburst. It spoke of a pain so deep it had hardened into apathy.
"Has the disease spread to your brain?" Kureha asked, her voice uncharacteristically soft.
"Yes. My Devil Fruit gave me the ability to regenerate, but I've never tried a brain replacement," Eren answered. In Kureha's professional opinion, the disease had been in his brain since infancy. He was living on borrowed time. His road to survival was a dead end.
The sheer will and resilience he exuded deeply moved the people present. He was a survivor, not by luck, but by sheer force of will.