First Appearance, The Boy of Cocoyasi Village

As the autumn chill deepened, a heavy rain swept through Cocoyasi Village.

"Waaah, why is it suddenly raining so hard!"

"Xianuo, hurry up and run!"

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From the gate of the orange grove in the twilight, a black-haired youth burst out, shouldering two baskets of oranges and sprinting towards the village.

Suddenly, a rustling sound came from within the baskets, and two little figures popped out from the piles of oranges with a thump, peeking their heads over the youth's shoulders from left and right.

"Charge, the Xianuo-go! The intersection is three hundred meters ahead, hard to port!"

The girl with orange-yellow hair on the left raised her right hand high, full of spirit.

"Nami, be sensible. Xianuo is already very tired."

The blue-haired girl on the right held up an umbrella, frowning slightly, her voice gentle.

"Huh? You're the sensible one? If you were sensible, you wouldn't still be sitting in the basket!"

"Wh-what are you talking about! I'm holding the umbrella to shield Xianuo from the rain. He's a head taller than me, so how can I shield him if I'm not sitting on top!"

"Tch, then I'll say it's because I'm afraid Xianuo won't be able to see the road clearly if he lowers his head, so I'm giving directions. Either way, it's more useful than you!"

Listening to the familiar bickering of his two younger sisters, Xianuo was long accustomed to it. He glanced at the umbrella that was nowhere near his head and subtly quickened his pace.

Even though his two sisters, weighing a hundred and thirty kilograms of oranges, were both on his shoulders.

The youth still moved as swiftly as a flying bird, his breathing steady.

A moment later, that familiar house appeared in his sight.

The lights were already on.

Through the windowpanes, he could see a slender figure busy in the kitchen. Smoke curled out of the chimney, mixing with the rain and mist, and quickly disappearing without a trace.

He gently pushed the wooden door with his right hand, and the orange-yellow fireplace light instantly enveloped him.

In the warm glow, the sweet scent of oranges and pine wood collided, pushing the cold rain and chill to shrink back outside the door.

Xianuo dumped the baskets on the ground, closed the door, and lay down on the old sofa, stretching out his limbs like a starfish.

The firelight from the fireplace melted the twilight into thick caramel, flowing over his outstretched limbs.

At this moment.

The soreness and fatigue seemed to drift away with the desolate sound of the rain.

"Oh, you're back, are you, Nojiko, Nami."

Footsteps from the kitchen grew closer, "And Xianuo, you've worked hard these past few days."

Uh oh! The two little ones scrambled out in a panic, but they knocked over the bamboo baskets with a clang, falling to the ground with a splat. The golden oranges also rolled around like little suns all over the floor.

"Ah, I knew it!"

The young woman in an apron, with a deep red ponytail, stood with her hands on her hips, looking angrily at her two daughters.

"You said you were going to help your brother, but you were actually just causing trouble, weren't you? Sitting on Xianuo's load again, were you happy only when he was exhausted?"

"Bellemere, we know we were wrong..." Nami and Nojiko said pitifully, kicking their toes at the ground.

"It's alright, Bellemere."

Xianuo, on the sofa, turned his head, his tired voice filled with gentleness, "Don't blame them. The rain was heavy and sudden, I told them to hide in the baskets. Not only could they hide from the rain, but it was also a good way to exercise."

"Exactly, exactly."

The two guilty little devils immediately chimed in.

"Aargh, so annoying! When will you two ever be sensible like Xianuo!"

Bellemere lightly knocked the two little ones on the head with her fist, but couldn't bring herself to use much force. "No more of this next time. Go get towels to dry your hair, and come in for dinner!"

Saved! Nojiko and Nami looked gratefully at their elder brother, then ran joyfully towards the kitchen table.

"Bellemere, what's for dinner tonight... Duck breast with orange marmalade? Yay!"

"And honey-glazed ribs, wow, let me try!"

"Hey! Did you wash your hands, and you're already grabbing with them! You two hateful little brats, at least wait for your brother!"

Listening to the chattering from the kitchen, Xianuo leaned back comfortably. Suddenly, the back of his neck touched the warm ceramic rim of a cup. The warmth of ginger cola mixed with honey snaked into his nostrils.

"Drink it while it's hot."

Bellemere's exasperated voice rang out, "You always protect your two sisters, but you don't take care of yourself."

She took out a clean set of clothes from the wardrobe and, in Xianuo's bewildered gaze, quickly pulled off his shirt and began wiping his upper body with a hot towel.

"Uh, that, Bellemere."

Xianuo tried to dodge, but was still pulled back forcefully, a look of embarrassment on his face. "I'm thirteen years old, you really don't have to do this. I can do it myself."

"Enough talk!"

Bellemere adopted the stern demeanor of a mother, brooking no argument. "You're only two years older than Nojiko, so stop acting like a grown man and stand still!"

What a pain.

Xianuo could only let her fuss over him like a doll, a look of reluctance plastered on his face.

Deep down, however, a warmth bloomed in his chest.

To be able to live in Cocoyasi Village, to grow up in a family like this...

It's truly wonderful.

When had his past self ever experienced anything like this?

At fifteen, he cut his hand changing a lightbulb in the orphanage; at twenty-five, he collapsed from overwork and was rushed to the hospital; on his twenty-sixth birthday, the heart monitor in the ICU flatlined...

Until he suddenly opened his eyes.

He found himself a five-year-old boy, covered in blood and grime, amidst ruins and rubble. A female Marine, clad in a white cloak of justice, knelt down with difficulty, extending a hand to save him.

"How many times have I told you!"

Bellemere suddenly yanked his ear.

"Don't push yourself, don't push yourself! You've already collected twelve baskets of oranges today, and you still insisted on making a seventh trip. Do you know that little brats who try to be heroes are the most likely to catch a cold!"

Xianuo winced, his teeth gritting, and quickly reached for a towel, only to be covered head-to-toe by dry clothes that carried the fresh scent of citrus.

The coarse knit of the sweater tickled his neck slightly. Amidst the crackling of the hearth, he heard the rustling sounds of her tidying up the wet clothes.

The mountains of plaid shirts from his past life had never smelled of sunshine, but the feel of the rough cloth against his skin now brought a strange ache to his chest.

Xianuo looked at his reflection in the mirror.

Black hair, black eyes. The features of a thirteen-year-old boy, bathed in warm light, his eyelashes still damp from being wiped with the towel.

The lonely figure who once stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of a skyscraper had, unknowingly, been ground to dust by the ticking of the grandfather clock in the living room.

"Thank you," he suddenly whispered.

Bellemere paused in her movements of tidying the clothes, then quickly resumed her task.

"What are you thanking me for? I should be thanking you."

"You took on all the hard work in the orange groves. If you keep doing that, it makes me, your mother, look like a useless idiot. Honestly, you're just a little sprout, but your strength is already terrifyingly immense."

"I wonder who your biological parents were. I always felt like they had quite a background. Like, as you got older, suddenly, boom, your bloodline awakened, and you inherited some incredible power..."

Bloodline power?

What bloodline? Suddenly awakening? I'm not King Nika.

Xianuo blinked, a wry smile playing on his lips.

For the first few years after his transmigration, he had lived in a haze, constantly bickering with his sisters, picking mushrooms on the mountain one day and catching fish in the river the next, just like any other child.

It wasn't until about two years ago, when he was around ten, that his brain fully developed, and he gradually pieced together the memories of his past and present lives.

His parents in this life were just ordinary people from the Oykot Kingdom, who died in a brutal war. There was nothing special about them.

And when he transmigrated, if Bellemere hadn't coincidentally saved him and raised him, he would have likely become another corpse in the ruins.

But still.

He could understand Bellemere's rambling.

His performance was indeed outstanding, especially in Cocoyasi, such a small town in the East Blue.

At only thirteen, his strength was unbelievably great.

During the wrestling competition at the harvest festival a while back, not a single one of the hundreds of adult men in the town was his match. Many couldn't even last a few rounds.

An ordinary background, ordinary bloodline.

Growing up in a rural farming family, with no renowned teacher to guide him.

To possess such strength could only be attributed to the golden finger he carried with him.

"Deep Sea."

Xianuo silently uttered the activation word in his mind.

The system instantly activated. The air rippled like silk, and a faint blue light screen, visible only to him, appeared before his eyes.

This was the "Sacrifice Trading System" he had awakened three years ago.

[Name: Xianuo (Siano)]
[Age: 13]
[Height: 159cm]
[Strength: 1.9]
[Agility: 1.8]

[Stamina: 1.7]

[Mental Power: 1.3]

[Remaining points: 25]

[Skills & Talents: Breathing Fist (Minor Accomplishment), One-Sword Style Swordsmanship (Beginner), Cooking (Beginner), Fruit Tree Cultivation (Minor Accomplishment), Fishing (Mastered)]

In the world of pirates, the average basic attributes for a normal adult are 1.0.

Although Xianuo's basic attributes are only a little over 1.0, if both parties were unarmed, he was confident he could easily repel an attack from seven or eight adults.

After all, during the wrestling competition, he was just playing around and didn't use his true strength at all.

Clearly, the way attribute points were calculated was far from simple addition and subtraction.

It was highly likely to follow some kind of exponential function. With each increase in numerical value, even if it was only 0.1, the difference in strength would be enormous.

The so-called Sacrifice Trading System.

As the name suggested, it came with a trading market that offered several items purchasable with points, refreshing once a month.

The source of points depended on whether the host could provide qualified sacrifices.

After sacrificing, points of equivalent value would be obtained based on the difference in worth.

When the system first awakened, Xianuo wasn't sure what could be considered a sacrifice. He experimented everywhere, even catching passing dogs to test.

However, neither the large fish he just caught, the rabbits he hunted in the forest, nor the large denomination paper bills worth a thousand Belly could be sacrificed.

It wasn't until one accidental time, when he used Bellemere's old service pistol on a Marine.

By sheer luck, it actually succeeded.

At that moment, the system helpfully provided an appraisal panel:

[Sacrifice: Bellemere's Old Flintlock Pistol]

[Quality: Fine]

[Value: 50 points]

[Appraisal Comment: A weapon that accompanied Bellemere throughout her youth. The gun body is mottled, witnessing her growth from a rookie recruit to a capable fighter on the battlefield. Even after retirement, she often polished this gun. It's not just a memory, but also the reliance that allowed her to support this family, holding great significance for her.]

So thoughtful.

After reading the appraisal comment, Xianuo lay on his bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep well due to guilt all night.

Especially the next day, when Bellemere discovered her service pistol was missing and stood at the door cursing the thief in a panic and anger for a whole morning, he wished he could slap himself a few times.

I truly deserve to die!

Therefore, after the guilt gradually subsided, when he chose his next targets, he tried his best to select inconspicuous small items.

For example, Nami's Orange Blossom Hairpin, Nojiko's forehead band.

These were items Xianuo had personally bought for his two younger sisters when the family was still poor years ago. They were already very worn out and not worth much.

Now that life was slowly getting better, it was about time to get new ones.

As a result...

The sacrifice was successful.

It's just that the damn system was still as heart-piercing as ever.

[Sacrifice: Nami's Orange Blossom Hairpin]

[Quality: Common]

[Value: 300 points]

[Appraisal Comment: A cheap accessory sold for a hundred Belly at the general store, but young Nami loved it dearly. She cherished it, wore it every day and was reluctant to take it off, even placing it under her pillow while sleeping. It carries the gradually deepening emotional bond between siblings.]

[Sacrifice: Nojiko's Old Headband]

[Quality: Common]

[Value: 30 points]

[Appraisal Comment: A faded cloth strip stained with tangerine juice, difficult to wash clean. Nojiko had the awareness of an elder daughter. Whenever their adoptive mother and eldest brother were busy in the tangerine orchard, the little she would tie her forehead with it to help, afraid sweat would flow into her eyes and sting, causing her beloved brother pain.]

That day, Xianuo fell silent for a long time, then slapped himself twice again.

I truly deserve to die!