The strange man abducting children

The sharp blade sliced through flesh, only stopping when it struck hard bone.

Drip.

Blood fell onto her shoulder, and only then did Perona realize what had happened.

Someone behind her wanted to kill her, and the person in front of her had protected her.

"Aaaah!!!"

A scream rang out. With the shadow of death hanging over her heart and tears spilling from her eyes, she instinctively clung tightly to Dill in front of her.

Compared with the unknown criminal behind her, Dill, who had protected her, gave her a greater sense of security.

And the person behind her was none other than the bald-headed boy Dill had happened to meet aboard the ship a few days earlier.

Bzzzt.

Electric light flickered over Dill's left hand. Lightning spread along the blade and through the bald boy's entire body, forcing him to undo his ability and retreat.

"I didn't expect to run into you here."

He looked at the bald boy and said in surprise,

"Mr. 1."

He had a shaved head, somewhat dark skin, thin eyebrows that joined together, and thick lips. His upper body was bare beneath a sleeveless cape, and he wore loose gray trousers.

He was the Dice-Dice Fruit user, the future Mr. 1 of Baroque Works.

As for his actual name, Dill couldn't quite remember it.

"Mr. 1?"

Daz Bones frowned, looking puzzled.

He was only eleven this year and hadn't joined Baroque Works yet, so naturally, he didn't have the code name Mr. 1.

Although puzzled, he was a man of few words to begin with. Rather than ask, he silently withdrew his ability, turned around, and ran.

Tap, tap, tap.

The footsteps faded into the distance as Mr. 1 left the scene without looking back.

Dill's expression shifted from surprise to speechlessness.

Was he nuts?

He showed up, slashed someone, then turned around and ran without a word? Wasn't he supposed to stay and fight to the death?

He had no intention of chasing him. He had kept Robin's disguise on his face the whole time, so he wasn't worried about Mr. 1 discovering his identity.

Besides, Perona was more important than Mr. 1.

The latter seemed to have been frightened by the blood earlier and clung to his leg, crying nonstop.

"There, there. He's already run away."

"Waaah!!"

Dill scratched his head helplessly. He had no experience looking after children.

When he first met Robin, she had not only already been eight, but had also been very mature.

"How about I give you that big bear?"

"Really?!"

Perona abruptly raised her head, her big, watery eyes looking pitiful.

"Of course. It's yours now."

Children's emotions were always easily redirected. All it took was something they liked enough.

After receiving his confirmation, Perona immediately let go of his leg. Her short little legs moved rapidly as she threw herself against the stuffed bear's belly.

"Kumashi~ Hehe, my Kumashi~"

She wore a satisfied smile, her little face pressed against the stuffed bear's belly.

Riiip.

The sound of tearing fabric rang out. She looked toward it and discovered that Dill had torn his clothes and was wrapping strips of fabric around the wound on his hand.

The white fabric quickly turned red, blood still dripping from it.

The Dice-Dice Fruit could turn the user's entire body into blades, and Mr. 1 had turned his whole right arm into a large blade.

Had his bones not been fairly hard, Dill's left hand would have been severed.

After all, without Armament Haki reinforcing him, even Garp could be slashed by Axe Emperor Morgan and bleed heavily, let alone him.

Although he was losing an enormous amount of blood, Dill wasn't particularly worried.

Just a serious injury, that's all.

He could make up for it by eating more later.

But Perona didn't know that. She bit her lip, unable to help feeling a twinge of guilt.

He had suffered such a serious injury for her, yet all she cared about was the stuffed bear.

"Um... thank you for earlier."

She turned around, clenched her little fists tightly, and said with a serious expression,

"Whatever you said you wanted to do earlier, I can help!"

"That's great!"

Dill brightened. He hadn't even had time to use his hypnosis before the matter was settled.

He stepped forward and rubbed the pink-haired little girl's head.

"But we'll have to wait a few days. How about coming with me for now? By the way, where are your mom and dad?"

"I don't know..."

Perona's voice grew somewhat downcast.

"I don't remember."

All she remembered was opening her eyes and finding herself in the forest behind the cemetery, wearing a Gothic-style dress.

She had only been three then.

Later, she found a hollow tree in the forest and made it her home, staying in during the day and coming out at night.

She slept during the day, then went to the cemetery at night to steal offerings to eat.

For daily necessities and such, she had to rely on stealing.

There was a general store not far from the cemetery.

Thanks to the island's good social atmosphere, there was little crime, and few people visited the cemetery in the middle of the night.

The store owner had therefore let her guard down and always left some goods meant for sale the next day outside when she closed.

That gave Perona opportunities to help herself to some five-finger discounts.

One day, she accidentally ate the Soul-Soul Fruit.

The Soul-Soul Fruit's ability allowed her to create ghosts as playmates. The ghosts could also gather information for her and discover good things in the cemetery ahead of time.

"Why didn't you go ask someone for help?"

"Because... they're all monsters out there."

Perona said in a trembling voice,

"Especially that werewolf granny at the general store. She looks really scary. Every time I go get something, I have to be extra careful."

The island's customs had caused her to misunderstand. She took the people dressed up as monsters for real monsters and therefore didn't dare ask anyone for help.

"How about staying with me from now on?"

Dill crouched down and said with a smile,

"I can take you to find more, even cuter little bears."

Perona looked somewhat tempted. The boy before her wasn't a vicious-looking monster, and he had saved her life earlier.

Following him seemed pretty good, but she had to bargain for more benefits.

At that thought, Perona gave a little huff and made an extravagant demand.

"I also want lots and lots of bagel sandwiches!"

"No problem! You can eat as many as you want."

Dill agreed without hesitation.

It was just a little food. However much she could eat, could she possibly eat more than him?

"Then it's settled. Come on, call me big brother."

Robin, who came running over, couldn't help looking utterly exasperated when she heard that.

She hadn't followed Dill to sweet-talk Perona, but had waited behind a tree outside the cemetery the whole time.

Earlier, she had heard Dill shout and thought something had gone wrong, so she hurried over.

Who knew she would arrive to see this scene?

"Dill, you really look like some strange man abducting children right now."

"You mean a handsome man."

Robin wasn't opposed to Perona joining them. In fact, she was even a little happy.

She finally wasn't the youngest anymore.

The three returned to the inn with the stuffed bear.

Robin and Perona went into the bathroom first.

For the past two years, whether the latter could bathe depended entirely on whether it rained.

The weather had turned cold lately, and she hadn't dared spend too much time in the rain, so she was filthy.

Naturally, she couldn't get into bed in that state, so she needed a hot bath first.

Dill flopped onto the bed. His bandaged left hand was no longer seeping blood.

It was well past midnight, making it inconvenient to either get his wound treated or find food.

He planned to deal with his wound after getting up the next morning.

Woken by the noise, Hina rubbed her eyes and mumbled,

"You're back. Is there breakfast?"

"It's the middle of the night. Go back to sleep."

"Oh."

Hina pulled the covers over her head and burrowed back into bed.

The patter of water came from the bathroom, and Dill groggily closed his eyes as well.

It felt like he'd forgotten something. Oh, why had Mr. 1 wanted to kill Perona? There shouldn't have been any grudge between them.

Forget it. He'd ask tomorrow.