On an unnamed island in the West Blue, the night was pitch-black. Dark clouds churned overhead, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and rain poured down in torrents.
Lightning split the sky amid rolling thunder. Rain lashed the empty streets, but in a nearby grove, a frail figure shivered in the downpour.
The girl was only eight. Faced with such brutal weather, she could do nothing. She had no home and no family beside her. All she could do was curl up and hug her shoulders tight.
Her eyes were large, and even though she was soaked through, her blue-black irises still held a captivating gleam. Her purple dress was worn and torn. Now it clung to her body without offering the slightest warmth.
Her long, straight black hair was drenched too, and her lips had turned purple from the cold. For all she had suffered, she blamed no one. Her gaze remained firm and full of hope.
"Mom, Ye Chen, where are you?"
The girl cried out to them again and again in her heart. That hope kept her alive. No matter how mercilessly the wind and rain battered her, she refused to give up.
After a while, she even clenched her fists and forced herself to smile. "Dereshishishi... Saul said no matter what happens, you have to keep living with a smile!"
The wind raged, cutting across her face like icy blades, while the rain poured down without end. After enduring it all night, Robin was burning up by dawn, her forehead feverish.
Even so, she had to drag her frail body into town to find work. Otherwise, she would go on starving.
"Woof, woof..."
A stray dog came from who knew where and ran up to Robin, wagging its tail and looking pitiful. Her own stomach ached with hunger,