The Patient and the Origin of Hatred

On the extremely perilous cliff face overlooking the sea, a withered, slender hand suddenly emerged, greatly startling the seagulls occupying the area to feed their young.

The startled seagulls left behind drifting down feathers as they fled. The confused young birds quickly escaped, circling and flying nearby.

From their continuous sharp cries, it was clear they were cursing profusely, obviously annoyed by the sudden, uninvited guest.

Yelena glanced at the seagulls circling and chirping around her before ignoring them.

* * *

For many years, she had experienced such things countless times. She was no longer like she was as a child, getting scared and falling onto the coastal rocks with her prey.

Looking at the summit less than a hundred meters away, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and extended the hand tightly gripping the thick iron chain, grasping the next protruding rock.

She forcefully pulled herself and the sea beast carcass tied to the end of the chain upwards.

It was at this moment that the seagulls, who had been continuously cursing Yelena, spotted the sea beast carcass hidden by the thick fog. Their eyes widened in disbelief, almost forgetting to fly and plummeting from the sky.

"..."

Ten minutes later, Yelena, panting heavily, clung to the giant rocks at the edge of the plateau with her free hand.

"Is that how you got that lung disease?" The sudden voice made Yelena, still clinging to the cliff face, tremble, her heart pounding. The iron chain in her other hand slipped several meters, and the giant sea beast swayed violently.

"..."

Several minutes later, Yelena stood on the plateau, staring blankly at Louis without speaking.

"..."

An awkward yet polite smile appeared on Louis's face. He subtly took a few steps back, creating distance between himself and the haggard-looking, youthful girl before him.

After a long moment, Yelena let out a long sigh. She looked at Louis's smooth, slightly rounded face and said softly, "My name is Yelena."

"Thank you for saving our lives on the battlefield."

Louis was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and replied, "You can call me Louis."

"Okay..." Yelena slowly nodded.

Louis's gaze fell upon the giant sea beast behind Yelena, bound by the thick iron chain. He mused, "Your lung disease, it's from years of diving into the deep sea to hunt sea beasts, isn't it?"

After treating these people, Louis didn't leave immediately. Instead, he followed them to the plateau.

While Yelena was unconscious, he had scouted the entire plateau. He discovered that the land here was terribly barren, and combined with the blockade at the border between the plains and the plateau, even a strong man would starve to death.

Yet, this group of refugees had been living here for many years, which Louis found quite astonishing. Eventually, he found a bone forest near the village, formed from a pile of giant beast skeletons.

From this, Louis understood how they had managed to survive. For food, they relied on their strong combat abilities to climb down the plateau cliffs to hunt. For water, they depended on the occasional rainfall and sneaking to the plains at night to steal water from the garbage-filled rivers that the Kingdom of Jacob disdained.

For those who hunted in the deep sea for years, the pressure in the deep sea placed a severe burden on their lungs. Over time, lung diseases were easily contracted.

Take the girl in the sports vest before him, for example. In Louis's perception, she didn't have much time left. Louis's treatment was only effective for her external injuries; he was powerless against diseases.

However, he knew of someone in the Drum Kingdom on the Grand Line who might be able to save her.

Why did he want to save her?

Because Yelena was the most exceptionally talented person he had ever met. As far as he knew, neither the Sky Island nor the Calm Belt settlements of the Lunarian had anyone her age with such strength.

Therefore, Louis thought it was too much of a pity for someone like her to die from illness. It would be better to treat her and then trick... no, invite her to join their side and shine.

As expected, Yelena nodded frankly and said, "Yes, that's right."

"I inherited my grandfather's responsibility when I was five years old, hunting here to provide for my people."

Louis wasn't surprised by these seemingly outrageous words. Having transmigrated ten years ago, he had become immune to the various superhuman abilities in this world.

Moreover, Louis himself was far more outrageous than the girl before him; he could chase and fight against Calm Belt instructors who had mastered Haki, even without mastering Armament Haki himself.

No matter how outrageous, it couldn't compare to Louis himself.

"However, after nearly a hundred years of hunting, the sea beasts have fled to very distant and deep places. Since I was very young, I've had to swim to places my ancestors had never reached to hunt."

"Therefore, I am also the first among several generations to develop this illness." As she spoke, Yelena's tone was quite calm, her expression peaceful, even gentle.

Louis listened and tried to find a look of fear on her face, but ultimately, he found nothing.

Afterward, Yelena put on the outer garment her people had sewn for her and began her return journey, dragging the sea beast.

The plateau was almost devoid of vegetation, with only thorny trees of no edible value.

Yelena led Louis along a path carved through the thorny forest.

Along the way, Louis asked Yelena a question: "Yelena, why did the kingdom below the plains blockade you on the plateau?"

As soon as he spoke, Yelena's movements froze, her expression changing unpredictably, her smile vanishing.

Louis was stunned and instantly realized he might have asked a sensitive question.

But before Louis could apologize, Yelena resumed walking and provided him with an answer.

"They are outsiders."

Louis's face showed a thoughtful expression.

"About a hundred years ago, they were ostracized by other kingdoms in the Grand Line and subjected to genocide."

Yelena's voice gradually became ethereal, as if taking Louis back to the era of the Kingdom of Canaan's tragic origins.

"At that time, a group of several hundred refugees drifted to this land. The king at the time took them in, giving them a small piece of land by the sea to survive."

"But later, they actually contacted more of their people to gather in this land, forming a considerable force."

"By the time the king at the time realized what was happening, they had already started to turn the tables and launched a war against us."

"We lost, and just like them back then, we suffered persecution and genocide. The few remaining people of our race were driven to the plateau, where they have survived to this day."

Louis fell silent upon hearing this. The confusion he felt not long ago when he saw many ruins and two distinctly different architectural styles on the island was finally answered.