Dragon-Human

"Don't you dare snatch mine!"

Carl could hear the arguing from outside.

"Yours? I could just as easily say it's mine."

"Call out to it then, see if it answers you! 'Yours,' indeed!"

"Get lost."

A burly pirate kicked a scarred pirate, sending him sprawling to the ground.

"If you won't give it to me, then go to hell."

The other man scrambled up immediately, drew his long sword, and engaged him in a fight.

The two were soon locked in a fierce struggle.

After processing the slaves from the auction, Carl had just reached the palace when she heard the pirates squabbling inside.

Because Carl had promised them fifty percent of the wealth, they hadn't bothered moving the loot to the ship first. Instead, they started fighting over the spoils right on the spot; after all, only what you could grab for yourself was truly yours.

"Are there any Devil Fruits?"

Carl saw Clay waiting off to the side.

Carl made no move to break up the fight. Although she had only been on the island for a day, she had seen this kind of thing far too often.

Infighting among crewmates was a common occurrence in the Rocks Pirates.

She felt no attachment to these pirates and was only using them as temporary subordinates, so she didn't care whether they lived or died.

"My Lady, here. There were only these three iron boxes in the vault, tucked away in the very back. Everything else was just gold and other precious treasures."

Clay darted over immediately, holding a tray with three locked iron boxes that looked like they were meant to store Devil Fruits.

"What about the royal family?"

Once Carl had suspected the king of this island was involved in human trafficking, she had developed a deep distaste for everyone on the island.

Although human trafficking was nothing unusual in the New World, that didn't mean Carl liked such people.

"Rest assured, My Lady Carl, not a single member of the royal family was left alive."

"Good. I'm heading back to the ship. You keep an eye on them and make sure they get the goods moved. I'll be waiting for you on board!"

In truth, once Carl heard this country was involved in human trafficking, she hadn't intended to let any of them go. After all, human traffickers were detested everywhere.

"Please rest assured, My Lady Carl."

The Phil Kingdom was only a small affiliated nation, so the island was tiny, with a population of less than fifty thousand.

Carl took the three iron boxes and returned to the ship.

"Alright, stop fighting! Get the goods moved to the ship, now!"

In front of Carl, Clay wore a look of deference, but in the eyes of the others, he was a vicious, ruthless man.

Seeing the two pirates still brawling, he rushed over and punched them both, sending them flying.

Seeing that they had calmed down, Clay immediately began sternly directing the pirates to move all the items to the ship. They were returning to Hachinosu soon and couldn't afford to waste time here.

On her way back to the ship, Carl sensed two boys huddled together in a small alleyway.

"Hide well, brother."

"I know, little brother, you hide too."

The two brothers were hiding behind a trash can in the back of the alley.

Perhaps because of her Titan talent, Carl could sense a hidden energy within their bodies.

She guessed this might be a special constitution unique to the Pirate World, much like Kaido's Oni Race, and she was instantly intrigued.

"Come out, you two little brats."

Carl stood at the entrance of the alley and spoke to them.

"Have we been found, brother?"

Long Er looked terrified; he didn't want to be captured again and return to that dark, miserable life of a slave.

"Don't speak, little brother."

Long Yi offered a faint smile.

After soothing his brother, he slowly poked his little head out from behind the trash can.

As soon as Long Yi peeked out, he saw Carl looking at them with a smile.

"Come on out, little ones."

These two must be orphans. After all, once they had stormed the island and raided the auction house, many slaves had escaped. Since many of the slaves had been trafficked from other islands, most of the children were orphans.

"Come with me. From now on, you are free."

Carl's gaze flickered as she spotted the chains on Long Yi's hands.

The two of them must be among those who escaped; since she had seen them, she might as well take them along.

"Really, big brother?"

In Long Yi's memories, there was only the sunless life of a slave. He had long since forgotten his parents, and he had even forgotten his own identity.

"Of course. From now on, you can call me Carl. I'll look after you."

"Thank you, Lord Carl."

Long Yi hurriedly pulled Long Er out from the trash bin, and the two small figures bowed ninety degrees to Carl.

"Alright, look at how thin you two are. Come with me."

It was obvious at a glance that these children had been starved into this state.

Carl led them toward the pirate ship at the harbor.

"Do you still remember your names?"

"Lord Carl, my name is Long Yi, and my younger brother is Long Er."

"We were captured and made into slaves when we were very young."

"It's just that they always thought we were too thin and weak, so we never sold at auction despite being put up many times."

"But that's only because they wouldn't give us anything to eat."

"We met many friends in the auction house, but they all ran away during the chaos earlier."

"My brother and I couldn't run anymore, so we found a place to hide."

Long Yi and Long Er spoke one after another.

Carl looked at the two children, who didn't have an ounce of meat on them and were nothing but skin and bones.

She couldn't help but think that if this were Blue Star, her homeland, such things would almost never happen. With a bit of news coverage and social assistance, they wouldn't have ended up like this. Although she felt a pang of sorrow, she didn't let it show on her face.

Carl walked in front, while Long Yi and Long Er followed behind, supporting each other.

"Go get some food, and make sure it isn't too greasy."

"Understood, Lord Carl."

As soon as she reached the ship, Carl ordered the cook to prepare some food.

She didn't ask the cook to prepare much at first, just a small amount. After all, for two boys who had been starving for so long, eating too much food suddenly would cause nausea and be counterproductive. Of course, if the two of them absorbed the nutrients quickly, that would be another matter.

The two children were so frail that it seemed a light breeze could knock them over.

"Thank you, Lord Carl, thank you, Lord Carl."

Long Yi and Long Er bowed ninety degrees once again.

"Alright, you two go to the washroom and clean up first. You smell terrible."

Long Yi and Long Er hurriedly sniffed each other; they had actually grown accustomed to the scent.

Because they had just crawled out of a trash bin, they reeked of rotting food, but hearing Carl say this, they could only nod in agreement.

After Carl sent them off to the cook, she headed straight to her room.

She closed the door.

"Creak!"

Since there were no keys, she resorted to brute force, ripping the three iron boxes open right down the middle as if she were splitting a watermelon.

"What a pity!"

After opening the three iron boxes, Carl discovered that two of them were empty. The boxes were quite heavy, so she hadn't realized at first that only one of them contained anything.

Although there was only one, it was a Devil Fruit after all, so the trip hadn't been in vain.

This Devil Fruit was banana-shaped, dark gray in color, and covered in mysterious patterns.

"It should be a Zoan-type Devil Fruit. I just don't know if it's useful."

"System, what kind of Devil Fruit is this?"

System detection complete: This Devil Fruit is the Rhino-Rhino Fruit, Zoan-type.

"Not bad, I suppose it's an unexpected gain."