People Who Think They Know Better!

Half past nine at night.

The area near the fountain in the city center.

A slender sword hung at his waist, its scabbard cracked from the grenade blast. He held a grenade in his right hand.

Merlin entered an alley nearby, following Yol's scent. He soon found them in a garden on the outskirts, where a few trees grew.

This was the place where they had agreed to meet the survivors.

So Yol and the others weren't the only ones waiting here for Merlin.

"It's me!" At Merlin's arrival, the survivors keeping watch around the area came out one after another.

However,

"Is this all that's left of you?"

Merlin looked around at the fifteen survivors who had come, besides Yol and Lami. Just then, a familiar face stepped forward. Anger flashed in Eric's eyes.

"Those bastards released Poison Gas Bombs in the sewers. These are the only people who managed to make it here.

"Of the brothers who were with me, only seven are left, me included."

For the past few days, they had usually hidden in the sewers. It was dirty and smelly, but at least it had been relatively safe.

But today, the soldiers had first marched across the city in force, driving the survivors into hiding. Then they sent people to release powerful Poison Gas Bombs throughout the city's sewers. More than half the survivors there had been killed outright.

Merlin looked around at the survivors, each wearing a look of deep wariness and fear. He knew they couldn't wait any longer, so he said,

"They've been driven into a corner. Tonight is our best chance.

"Get some rest. At three in the morning, we'll prepare to break out together!"

Eric nodded at that, visibly relieved.

But just then, the leader of another group of survivors stepped forward, his eyes flickering as he looked at Merlin.

"Mr. Merlin, in that case, when are you going to transfer the Lead Platinum Disease from the rest of us?"

Merlin calmly glanced at him. "Do you have a better idea, Alfos?"

He was a well-built, middle-aged man with blond hair, a dirty suit, and gold-rimmed glasses.

A gleam flashed in Alfos's eyes.

"Half of the companions we have left are afflicted with Lead Platinum Disease, and they're not doing well. If you cure them, our chances of escaping successfully will be much higher. What do you think, Mr. Merlin?"

Eric looked at Merlin as well, his expression conflicted.

"Merlin, three of the brothers who came with me still haven't been cured."

Over the past three days, Merlin had sometimes transferred the Lead Platinum Disease from some survivors onto soldiers who had been defeated but were still alive.

Of the fifteen survivors who had arrived, seven were still afflicted with Lead Platinum Disease.

In the dim light, a strange glint flickered in Merlin's lowered eyes.

"I believe I told you that my body can only bear the Lead Platinum Disease of four people.

"So, do you have any living creatures here who can take it on for me?"

Alfos let out a confident little laugh. "Mr. Merlin, your ability to transfer negative conditions works on animals too, doesn't it?

"We brought a hunting dog."

Merlin's lips curled slightly. "Of course. Anything living will do."

A smile tugged at Alfos's lips. He clapped his hands, and four people eagerly stepped forward from where they had been standing. One of them held a black hunting dog, its mouth tied shut and all four legs broken.

Alfos beamed.

"Then go ahead. Use that Devil Fruit ability of yours that amazes me every time I see it."

"Go ahead?" Merlin's face broke into a radiant smile. "Go ahead with what?"

Alfos's expression stiffened. He repeated himself, his voice low and displeased. "Cure our companions' Lead Platinum Disease."

Merlin's voice turned distant.

"Curing this many people at once will take a great deal of energy.

"We're escaping tonight. If I'm weakened at a time like this, what do you think will happen to my safety?"

Alfos's expression went rigid, but he immediately smiled again.

"Don't worry. We'll all protect you."

Nearby, hesitation flashed across Eric's eyes. Something about the atmosphere felt wrong to him.

He couldn't help feeling that Alfos was going too far.

He was about to step forward and smooth things over.

But just as he moved,

he felt a hard object quietly press against his back.

At the same time, Yol spoke in a calm, hushed voice.

"Don't move, Mr. Eric. Be careful, or the gun might go off."

Cold sweat burst from Eric's forehead.

Just then,

Merlin, who had somehow clasped his hands behind his back, gave a mocking look.

"You're going to protect me?"

In that instant,

Merlin suddenly sprang into action.

He pulled the pins with both hands behind his back, then hurled the grenade in his right hand toward the three survivors from Alfos's group.

Black Flame surged over his right fist. He swung and slammed it into Alfos's face.

"Calamity: Crimson Pain."

In an instant, Alfos's body was knocked to the ground and engulfed in Black Flame. Several fatal wounds suddenly appeared across him, and a gaping cut opened in his neck. Blood sprayed out.

Then came a thunderous explosion. The three men nearby didn't have time to react before the blast hurled them away.

Their agonized screams rang out.

Merlin shot forward, closing the distance in the blink of an eye and reaching the four men standing before him.

As they stared at him in alarm,

Black Flame surged over his fists. He threw three quick punches, and three men screamed as they fell to the ground. Then he darted forward and drove his right foot into the fourth man's crotch.

A heavy, muffled thud rang out. Merlin drew a dagger from the outside of his right leg.

He slashed across the man's neck.

Blood sprayed onto Merlin's face with a wet sound. He sprang forward, and three flashes of steel streaked through the air.

The three men on the ground were stabbed through the chest.

Then Merlin reclaimed the Lead Platinum Calamity from two of them.

He glanced at Eric and the others, who stood frozen in shock, then walked over to the three men badly wounded by the grenade.

As they screamed and begged for mercy,

he finished them off.

Merlin wiped the blood from his face and looked at Eric.

"Do you want me dead too?"

Eric clenched his jaw, sweat streaming down his forehead. At Merlin's words, he hurriedly replied,

"I don't, Merlin. No—Boss Merlin, you know I've never meant you any harm."

Merlin noticed Yol's questioning gaze and shook his head.

"Yol, put the gun away. Eric was misled."

"And Lami, grenades are dangerous. Don't play with them, little girl."

Merlin looked at little Lami behind Yol. She held a grenade in her right hand, its pin pulled by her left, and stared intently at Eric's group.

The people beside Eric suddenly looked at Lami in panic.

They swallowed hard, feeling as if they'd just escaped the jaws of death.

They looked at Merlin in terror.

Merlin was ruthless. He'd killed eight people without a second thought.

Merlin looked at Eric and said softly, "Eric, I've never meant you or your people any harm. I just want to escape this place alive.

"But there are always damned ingrates in this world, people who've got their eyes on what's in someone else's bowl while they're already eating from their own. You're not one of them, are you?"

Eric gave a bitter laugh and raised both hands. "I'm not that kind of person."

Merlin nodded. "I believe you."

Then he looked at the three people behind Eric. "Come over here!

"Now there's someone who can take the Lead Platinum Disease for you."

He walked over to Alfos, who lay on the ground, terrified and already on the brink of death.

When they didn't dare move, Merlin tilted his head and asked in confusion,

"Don't you want to be cured?"

At that, the three swallowed hard, then hurried over in fear.

A short while later,

Merlin absorbed the Lead Platinum Calamity from them and transferred it to Alfos.

Then Merlin reclaimed the Calamity of Injury, but plunged a dagger into him once more.

Thus, the man who'd foolishly thought he could force Merlin into submission just because he had more people stared wide-eyed as he died.

Merlin remained calm as he looked at Eric and the others.

"Tonight, we'll escape this prison called Flevance. Once we're out, we'll go our separate ways.

"From then on, you can decide for yourselves what kind of life you want to live and where you want to go."

At Merlin's words, Eric felt relieved. He glanced discreetly at the eight dead people in the garden.

Silently, he decided that Merlin was someone he must never provoke again.

Merlin gave him the unsettling impression of being completely unhinged.

The kind of man who'd kill you without a second thought.

Not long afterward, Merlin led them to Viscount Mela's villa.

Everyone sat in a corner to rest.

Merlin took Yol and Lami to the cave beneath the artificial hill.