Perched on a steep cliff overlooking the sea on the Highland, a thin, withered hand suddenly reached up, giving the seagulls nesting there to raise their young quite a fright.
The panicked gulls fled, leaving feathers drifting behind them. The bewildered chicks soon took flight as well, circling nearby.
From their nonstop, shrill cries, it was clear they were cursing up a storm, evidently furious at the sudden intrusion.
Yelena glanced at the gulls circling and squawking around her, then ignored them.
Over the years, she had experienced this countless times. She no longer got startled like she had as a child, when she'd fallen onto the coastal rocks along with her prey.
Looking up at the cliff edge less than a hundred meters above her, she took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and reached out with the hand gripping the thick iron chain to seize the next outcrop of rock.
With all her might, she hauled herself and the sea beast carcass tied to the end of the chain upward.
Just then, the seagull that had been cursing Yelena spotted the sea beast carcass hidden by the thick fog. Its eyes widened in disbelief. It nearly forgot to fly and plummeted from the sky.
"..."
Ten minutes later, Yelena gasped for breath as she hooked her free hand over a boulder at the edge of the Highland.
"Is that how you got your lung disease?" The unexpected voice made Yelena, still clinging to the cliff, shudder. Her heart pounded, and the iron chain in her other hand slipped several meters. The enormous sea beast swung violently.
"..."
A few minutes later, Yelena stood on the Highland, staring straight at Louis without saying a word.
"..."
An awkward but polite smile appeared on Louis's face. He discreetly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and the haggard, youthful girl before him.
After a long while, Yelena let out a deep breath. Watching Louis's smooth, slightly plump face, she said softly, "My name is Yelena."
"Thank you for saving our lives on the battlefield."
Louis was taken aback, then replied with a smile, "You can call me Louis."
"Okay..." Yelena nodded slowly.
Louis's gaze fell on the enormous sea beast bound behind Yelena with a thick iron chain. He said thoughtfully, "Your lung disease came from diving into the deep sea to hunt sea beasts year after year, didn't it?"
After treating these people, Louis hadn't left right away. Instead, he'd followed them to the Highland.
While Yelena was unconscious, he'd explored the entire Highland. He'd found the land terribly barren, and with the border between the plain and the Highland sealed off, even Bear Grylls would starve here.
Yet this group of refugees had somehow lived here for many years, which greatly surprised Louis. Eventually, he found a forest of bones near the village, formed from the remains of giant beasts.
That was how Louis discovered how they had survived. For food, they relied on their formidable strength to climb down the sheer cliffs of the Highland and hunt.
As for water, they relied on the occasional rainfall and sneaking down to the plain late at night to steal water from the garbage-filled river that the Kingdom of Jacob considered worthless.
For people who dived into the deep sea to hunt year after year, the pressure of the depths put an enormous strain on their lungs.
Over time, they could easily develop lung disease.
The girl before him, wearing a sports bra, was a case in point. From what Louis could sense, she didn't have long to live. His treatment could only help with external injuries; he was powerless against diseases.
But he knew that someone in the Drum Kingdom on the Grand Line might be able to save her.
Why did he want to save her?
Because Yelena was the most talented person he'd ever met. As far as he knew, nobody of her age among the Lunarians in the two gathering places on Sky Island and in the Calm Belt possessed such strength.
Louis thought it would be a terrible waste for someone like her to die of illness. Better to treat her, then trick—no, invite her to join their side and put her talents to good use.
Sure enough, Yelena nodded calmly. "That's right."
"I took over my grandfather's duty when I was five, hunting prey here to feed my people."
Louis wasn't surprised by how absurd that sounded. After ten years in this world, he'd grown accustomed to all kinds of superhumans.
Besides, he was far more absurd than the girl before him. Even without mastering Armament Haki, he could chase down and beat the instructors in the Calm Belt who had mastered Haki.
No matter how absurd it was, it couldn't be more absurd than Louis himself.
"But after a century of hunting, the sea beasts all fled far away, into deeper waters. Ever since I was little, I've had to swim to places our ancestors had never reached to hunt."
"That's why I'm the earliest to fall ill in several generations." As she spoke, Yelena sounded perfectly calm, her expression peaceful, even gentle.
Louis searched her face for signs of fear, but found none.
Afterward, Yelena put on the coat her people had sewn for her and began the return journey, dragging the sea beast behind her.
The Highland was almost entirely barren. The only plants were thorny trees with no value as food.
Yelena led Louis along a path cleared through the thorn forest.
On the way, Louis asked her a question. "Yelena, why has the kingdom below the plain sealed you away on the Highland?"
As soon as he spoke, Yelena stopped. Her expression shifted, and her smile vanished.
Louis was taken aback. He immediately realized he might have asked something he shouldn't have.
But before he could apologize, Yelena started walking again and answered him.
"They're outsiders."
Louis's face took on a thoughtful look.
"About a hundred years ago, they were persecuted by other kingdoms on the Grand Line and subjected to genocide."
Yelena's voice gradually grew distant, as if carrying Louis back to the sorrowful beginnings of the Kingdom of Canaan.
"At the time, a group of several hundred refugees drifted to this land. The king welcomed them and gave them a small stretch of land by the sea where they could live."
"But later, they actually contacted more of their people and brought them here, forming a considerable force."
"By the time the king realized what was happening, they'd already turned the tables and made war on us."
"We lost. Just like them before us, we were persecuted and subjected to genocide. The few of us who remained were driven to the Highland, where we've survived ever since."
Louis fell silent. The question that had puzzled him when he saw the many ruins and the island's two sharply contrasting architectural styles had finally been answered.
Before you continue