"What should we do next? Shouldn't we just run?"
"I told you, calm down~" Xia Che said helplessly as he watched Nami fussing over him again after returning. "Nothing will happen. Even if something does, I'm confident I can get away."
"Fine! Fine! That's the Marine Hero! Our Colonel Xia Che will definitely be able to convince the Marine Hero to work with us." Yet seeing how calm Xia Che remained, Nami felt much more at ease. She looked around in confusion. "Where's Robin? Why isn't she here either? Did she sneak off and run away?"
"Robin has something to do. She'll be back later." Xia Che waved his hand without explaining where Robin had gone.
As for Garp...
To be honest, he had no idea whether Garp would join him in muddying the waters.
Garp could be called slippery, carefree, and somewhat hypocritical, but there was no doubt that, as the Marine Hero, he also had his own sense of justice.
There was no pure evil in this world, nor was there pure good. This was a world that belonged to a cesspit.
There were bad people in the Marines, and good people among pirates!
And Monkey D. Garp happened to be the kind of Marine who had his own way of judging justice.
As for the World Government and the Marines...
To be honest, the abilities the World Government displayed openly were already enough to make people despair. If there was no good way to deal with them, then this muddling-through justice was already the best justice they could manage.
Fool their superiors above, carry out their own justice below!
Without strength, one could either go out to sea as a pirate and hide everywhere, join the World Government, or muddle through.
As for himself...
He was merely taking advantage of the World Government and Marine Headquarters.
After all, this was a world that belonged to the strong. The strong could destroy everything in an instant, while the weak could only obey the rules set by the strong. Without great strength, everything was empty talk.
Xia Che shook his head with a sigh, looked at the newspaper in his hand, and said, "At least, it looks like we won't be arrested for now."
After all, Vice Admiral Garp had just eaten the flatbread he'd treated him to.
He raised his head and looked at the puzzled Nami. "If you really have nothing to do, go help deal with the newly arrived refugees! We caught quite a lot of people this time~"
"Dad, they really aren't going to sell us, are they?"
"I... I don't know."
"Th-then can I eat? That's white rice and steamed white buns. They smell so good!"
"I... I..." Looking into his daughter's longing eyes, the man she called Dad simply could not bring himself to say no.
He did not know whether all of this was a lie, nor did he know whether this would be their final meal as ordinary people.
Once they finished this meal, they would become slaves, sold to those hateful nobles, perhaps even to the terrifying Celestial Dragons.
Though he was only a refugee, as someone who had lived upon these seas, he knew all too well about those gods... no, they should more accurately be called terrifying demons.
He had heard that once someone fell into the hands of the Celestial Dragons, they would no longer be human. They could only live like vermin.
They might even suffer unimaginable torment.
But...
"Dad, I'm so hungry~"
Hearing his daughter's words and holding her tiny, emaciated body, the man still could not bring himself to refuse her.
Pike.
That was his name.
His wife had already starved to death. He did not want his daughter to starve to death too.
But...
As nothing more than an ordinary man, he had no way to do anything.
He thought back to yesterday...
They had once merely been citizens of the Wittgen Kingdom. No, they were more accurately forgotten citizens.
To pay the exorbitant Celestial Gold, the king of the Wittgen Kingdom had confiscated their property and driven them to a remote part of the island, leaving them as forgotten people to fend for themselves in the wasteland.
Some said the kingdom had learned it from the Goa Kingdom, said to be the most beautiful country in the East Blue—driving out useless citizens to keep the country clean and beautiful.
It was even said that the Goa Kingdom had received praise from the Celestial Dragons because of it.
He did not know how beautiful the most beautiful country was, but how beautiful could a country be if it abandoned its own people?
Yesterday morning, they had still been scavenging in the wasteland. Then, that night, a group of pirates suddenly stormed the island, and then they had ended up here.
He still remembered that when the bald pirate captain heard he had a daughter, the man froze for a moment before letting out an excited laugh and shouting, "You have a daughter too? Take her! Take her along too!"
What a terrifying demon!
He would not even spare a little girl.
He had originally thought that after he and his daughter were captured, they would suffer unimaginable abuse and perhaps even be sold as slaves. Yet he had never expected...
That things would turn out like this?!
Pike looked around, his nose involuntarily twitching at the aroma drifting through the air. Forget a little girl—even an adult like him could not resist it.
He was hungry too.
So terribly hungry!
He wanted to eat!
Just then.
"Knock, knock, knock~"
A series of metallic knocks rang out, pulling Pike back from his thoughts. He raised his bewildered eyes and looked at the serving window before him.
Was it his turn already?
Had everyone ahead of him finished lining up?
Had they really gotten food?
His heart was full of doubts, but...
"Dad, Kati is really hungry!" The little girl who called herself Kati cautiously glanced at the serving window, then looked at her father again with longing eyes. "Can I eat?"
"I..." Pike lowered his head and looked into his daughter's eager eyes. Then he looked up at the food inside the window, swallowed, and looked at the others who had already received their meals. Their eyes were dazed, as though they were dreaming, yet under the Security Force's directions, they had sat down.
Perhaps this really was a dream!
But even if it was a dream, they had to eat their fill!
With that thought, Pike's clouded eyes grew serious. He stared intently at his daughter. "Eat! We have to eat our fill! This might be our last meal."
He should not have said such things to a little girl, but there was no other way now.
"Even if we die, we'll die with full stomachs. We absolutely cannot become slaves. That place is hell!"
However.
Before his young daughter could ask in confusion what he meant.
"Knock, knock, knock~"
Another burst of metallic knocking sounded.
Then, just as Pike thought he was about to be beaten for what he had said.
"Hey, hey, hey! I've been waiting on you for ages! I thought you were choosing dishes, but who knew you were saying things like that to a child!"
"???" Pike raised his head blankly and looked through the window at the old woman serving food. She held a large ladle, and even her loose white chef's uniform could not hide her plump body.
What did she mean?
Was she worried they would kill themselves?
Before he could ask.
"Pah, pah, pah! What's with all this dying nonsense? This is Cocoyasi Village, Colonel Xia Che's territory. Where would slaves come from? You're not here to become slaves."
The old woman serving food complained irritably. Then she looked at the frightened little girl staring at her. Her wrinkled face broke into a smile.
"Don't be afraid, little girl. This isn't some bad place. Starting today, you can eat your fill, wear pretty clothes, and no one will bully you."
"R-really?"
"Of course. I wouldn't lie to you. As long as your father works hard." Looking at those longing eyes, the old woman cheerfully raised the large ladle in her hand and said excitedly, "Here, you can find work, earn wages, eat your fill, and have pretty clothes."
"You can learn useful knowledge, sleep peacefully, laugh happily, and enjoy every day!"
"If you have any skills, you can get a better job and earn better pay. Of course, even if you can't do anything, as long as you work hard enough, factories will take you in. This place is desperately short of workers!"
"Welcome to Cocoyasi Village, the most beautiful place in the East Blue."
"Now hurry up and choose your food. You can eat as much as you want, but remember not to waste it or stuff yourselves too full. You'll be very busy tonight."
"..."
Under the old woman's urging, Pike finally took a plate piled high with food alongside his daughter.
There was rice, fluffy white steamed buns, delicious dishes, and tempting meat—food his family had never eaten before.
The moment they sat down and looked at the food before them, everything felt like a dream.
Was this real?
"Dad, can I eat now?"
"Mm! Eat, Kati~" Hearing his daughter's voice, Pike came back to himself. After confirming that what lay before him was real and signaling that she could eat, he watched his daughter happily wolf down the food, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his face.
Just then.
Seemingly hearing something, he turned his head and saw another group of people walk in. No, it was not another group—they were the others who had arrived with them earlier.
It seemed that group had gone to... right, they had gone to bathe.
Pike stared at the people who should have been just as ragged and filthy as he was, but were now clean and dressed in new gray clothes. He froze completely.
His eyes were filled with disbelief.
"Dad, you should eat too. It's so good. This is the best food Kati has ever eaten."
Only his daughter's call pulled him back from his thoughts. Looking at his daughter's puffed-up cheeks, Pike, who had been so worried and anxious, could not help but smile. "Eat! Dad will eat too!"
He had been hungry for a long time too. It was only that everything before him had been so shocking that he had forgotten his hunger. Now that he had come back to himself, the painful hunger in his stomach surged up again, making him eagerly begin eating in huge bites.
But after just one bite of the steamed bun, he froze.
"It's delicious!"
In an instant.
Tears flowed from his eyes, streaked across his face, passed his lips, and fell from the corner of his mouth.
As long as he worked hard, could he really eat his fill?
Pike wept as he looked at his daughter, whose face was also covered in tears at some point. He took a deep breath and said firmly, "Kati, Dad will definitely work hard."
"Mm!"
"I definitely will. Even if it costs me my life!"
Pike raised his head and looked toward the serving window, where another line had formed. His eyes were no longer confused, only firm and serious.
Cocoyasi Village...
Colonel Xia Che!
Before you continue