Little Girl Joni

The little girl's face was chubby, her long white hair draped over her dirty, dust-covered clothes. At that moment, she was clinging to Cifer.

"Someone finally came! This island is so scary~"

Large, pearl-like tears rolled down her face and dripped onto Cifer's shoulder.

"Looks like we'll save our match for next time!"

With the little girl causing such a fuss, he no longer had any desire to keep fighting. He lifted her off his neck by the collar and held her in the air, looking at the little thing.

"Mm!"

Though he was a little disappointed not to see Cifer's final form, Akainu had only wanted to gauge his strength. Regardless of what that final form was like, there was no doubt that he possessed Admiral-level power.

"Little one, when did you arrive on this island? How did you manage to avoid both our senses?"

Cifer was puzzled. Both he and Akainu were among the world's strongest—how could a little girl have hidden from them?

Cifer and Akainu sat down on the ground, but she absolutely refused to do the same, saying the ground was too hot and insisting on sitting on Cifer's shoulder.

As for why she did not sit on Akainu's shoulder, perhaps it was because Cifer had been the first person she saw on the island. Or perhaps there was something about Cifer that attracted her.

And so, perched on Cifer's shoulder, she finally spent over ten minutes explaining where she had come from.

The little girl's name was Joni. Some time ago, she had gone out to sea with her family for fun when they were attacked by a pirate crew. In the chaos, everyone found a small lifeboat and fled.

She had originally been aboard that lifeboat, but a massive wave knocked her into the sea and knocked her unconscious. When she woke up again, she found that she had somehow drifted onto an unknown island!

Based on Joni's description, Cifer and the others concluded that she had washed ashore on the other side of the island. As for how she had escaped Observation Haki and Neural Scan, they already had their answer.

A Devil Fruit!

Cifer and Akainu's senses had remained above ground, while this little one had burrowed underground!

According to her, she had initially been too scared to enter the forest. Only when hunger became unbearable did she sneak in to pick some fruit.

While wolfing it down, she ate one that tasted terrible. But since there was not much fruit, she could not bear to throw it away and forced herself to swallow it.

A few days later, she discovered that she could burrow into the earth. Only gradually did she dare to tunnel beneath the ground into the forest to look for food and water. Whenever she encountered danger, she immediately burrowed underground to escape, and she even slept underground.

She had never dared to go deep into the forest before. Earlier, she had seen two enormous eyes, glowing brightly like lanterns!

They had scared her so badly that she did not dare enter the forest for days. Only after nothing happened did she resume looking for food around its outskirts.

But over the past few days, the beasts that normally stayed deep in the mountains had gone mad, fleeing toward the area where she was.

She had also sensed that something seemed to be happening on the island. Volcanic eruptions and earthquakes had continued day and night, terrifying her into staying underground and not daring to come out.

But if she stayed underground, she would have nothing to eat. Starving beyond endurance, she resolved to burrow farther away. Maybe if she tunneled to the shore on the other side, she would find something to eat!

After burrowing for an entire day, she reached the area near Cifer and the others. Because of Akainu's power, even underground had become incredibly hot. That was why she could no longer stand the heat, burst out of the ground, and happened to latch onto Cifer's neck.

"Did you two also drift onto this island?"

Joni had never considered that everything happening on the island these past few days had been caused by the two people before her. She simply assumed they were just like her.

No, they were even worse off than she was. Both of them were bare-chested, and one of them had quite a few scars.

Cifer and Akainu both looked embarrassed.

"No, we came here to relax!"

Relax?

Joni looked around. There were volcanoes and ruins everywhere. They came to relax in a place like this?

"Come with us. We can take you away from here."

Unlike Cifer, Akainu did not make up random excuses. He directly changed the subject.

"Really?! That's wonderful!"

The tears Joni had finally stopped shed burst forth again, but this time they were tears of joy.

"Vice Admiral Jonathan! Admiral Sakazuki and the others are back!"

After holding their posts for three days, the Marines finally saw them walking through the air. Delighted, they ran into the cabin to report.

"We can finally prepare to head back!" Jonathan let out a long breath. As a base commander, being away from the fortress for so long was hardly a good thing.

Jonathan stood and stretched, then slowly walked out of the cabin. The moment he saw the scene on the deck, he rubbed his eyes hard.

All kinds of delicious food were being continuously carried out of the kitchen. Cifer, Akainu, and a little girl sat on the deck, eating with gusto.

Cifer and Akainu were both bare-chested and appeared to be unharmed. Still, Jonathan was curious about the little hole in Cifer's chest.

"Big brother, why do you have a little hole there? Does it hurt?"

While Joni, the little glutton, devoured food at an astonishing speed, she also asked the question everyone present wanted answered. Even Akainu beside her could not help pricking up his ears.

"This?"

Cifer held a marrow bone in one hand while touching his chest with the other, utterly unconcerned. This was the sort of thing that was difficult to explain in the first place.

"Just think of it as a racial trait. My race only has me left, though."

Everyone was instantly stunned. Jonathan wondered what kind of race could possibly be so bizarre, while Hina was already imagining a tragic epic in her mind.

Meanwhile, in Akainu's eyes, Cifer became a tragic, hot-blooded youth whose race had been wiped out in his childhood. Alone, he had drifted across the seas, bullied by all sides, with no choice but to fight every day to grow stronger.

At that moment, he finally let go of the tiny bit of prejudice he had held against Cifer for wanting to become one of the Shichibukai.

They were both people burdened by cruel fates. Even if they stood in different positions and viewed things from different angles, they walked the same path: evil could not be tolerated, and justice had to be upheld!

Thinking of it that way, Akainu found Cifer much more pleasing to the eye.

When he snapped back to his senses and reached out to grab more food, he found that Cifer and Joni were already lying on the deck, patting their round bellies. There was not a scrap of food left on the ground!

"Hina does not understand. Why does this child eat so much too?!"

Hina had watched Joni compete with Cifer and Akainu for food. The amount Joni ate in one meal was enough to feed her for several days.

"Joni was hungry for several days! I'm not usually like this!"

Hearing Hina's surprise, her little face immediately turned bright red, and she became embarrassed.

After Cifer explained, everyone finally understood why a child had suddenly appeared after the two of them had fought for days.

"So what do you plan to do? Joni, do you remember where your home is?"

Even after learning that she possessed Devil Fruit powers, Jonathan's first thought was still to send her home. After all, she was only a child.

Cifer and Akainu remained silent. They felt that Joni's story seemed to be only half true.

Joni's expression became unnatural, and she stammered, unable to explain clearly. Jonathan noticed it too. This little girl did not seem very honest, but he had his ways of dealing with dishonest children.

"Can't remember? Then we'll have no choice but to leave you here. That way, your family will have an easier time finding you."

The instant Jonathan finished speaking, Joni could no longer hold back her tears. She threw herself onto Cifer.

"Please don't abandon Joni! Joni doesn't want to be a child nobody wants anymore!"