"It's true! Grandma! You're really better! Let me help you up and walk around!" Konan couldn't help but shed tears of joy.
Rebecca and Wendy exchanged a smile, then carried Ain out of the room. After all, the old man would need to tidy up after getting up, so Konan could stay here alone.
" Konan, I don't need your help anymore. Grandma feels full of energy and can stand up by herself..." Rebecca didn't pay attention to what was said after that. The three of them had already returned to the hall and were waiting for the old lady to come out and greet them after she had finished tidying up.
Not long after, Konan led out an elderly woman with gray hair.
The old lady wasn't as tall as Konan. Although she was hunched over, she seemed to be in pretty good spirits, and her face didn't have as many wrinkles as before. This was how the old lady looked before she got sick. After exchanging greetings, they sat down at the table. Ain's spirits had also improved considerably.
"Grandma, my abilities are still unstable. I don't know how long this state will last. Please don't blame me if it reverts to its original state!" Ain hadn't eaten the fruit for long and wasn't very confident in herself.
"It's alright, little Ain. Grandma is content to live such a healthy life. It doesn't matter how long it lasts. I haven't felt this relaxed in two years. Even if I were to die any minute now, it would be worth it!"
The old lady chuckled and said that she was now indifferent to life and death. If it weren't for the fear of her granddaughter being lonely, she would have stopped living long ago. Not only would she be a burden to others, but she would also suffer herself.
"Grandma! Why are you saying all this now? You're definitely going to get better and live for a long, long time!" Konan couldn't bear to hear the old lady cursing her like that; she still hoped her grandmother could live a good life.
" Rebecca, you haven't gone to the capital yet, have you?" The old lady saw the flowers Konan had picked earlier on the table and asked Rebecca, seemingly remembering something.
"Not yet, it's too beautiful here. We wanted to go after we saw this sea of flowers." Rebecca didn't know why the old lady asked that, but she still told the truth.
"It's good that you haven't gone yet. Don't try any of the city's special foods. They're made with the petals of the Devil's Flower, and they're addictive. You absolutely mustn't eat them!" the old woman warned, not wanting these kind people to suffer that kind of torment.
" Devil's Flower? What's that?" Rebecca asked, somewhat puzzled.
"This is the sea of flowers! Those are the flowers left behind by the devil on earth, the Devil's Flower! That's what we call them in private; to the outside world, they're called the Flower of Love."
It not only destroyed our cultivated land, but also occupied all the places where we grow food. Now, we have to buy all our food from outside.
The royal family controls the food supply, which indirectly means they control the life and death of the entire nation's civilians. Each person receives a monthly ration, barely enough to keep us from starving.
And we'll be endlessly planting these harmful, Devil's Flower for the royal family, attracting outsiders to visit and spend money here, and feeding them addictive food.
Letting them linger until they're penniless and enslaved—that's a harmful tactic! I truly don't understand how the king who always cared for his people could become like this. Can time really change a person?
The old woman was heartbroken and revealed the island's secret.
"Grandmother!"
Konan cried out with some worry, "What the old lady said are the secrets of this island. It's a written rule on the island that you can't tell outsiders, or your whole family will be executed without exception."
Even if you talk about it in private, it's useless. Those words are like taboos. It's as if the royal family can accurately sense who is saying those things. The person who says them, including their family, will be arrested immediately and never appear in the public eye again.
Rebecca and Wendy were shocked to hear that such a beautiful island was actually rife with bloodshed.
This is a beautiful trap, and it has harmed countless people over the years, which makes Rebecca's righteous heart especially angry.
The royal family preyed on their own islanders for money and even set traps to lure outsiders to their doom. This beautiful island was nothing but a cannibalistic monster.
"It's alright, Konan. I've had these words bottled up inside me for far too long. So many people just look at the sea of flowers around them, only to disappear into the capital city in the end."
My conscience will no longer allow me to remain silent. My health was ruined before, and I was unable to tell the truth to outsiders.
But today I was cured, and I even encountered the Navy—it must be fate! I must tell the truth.
Regardless of whether your navy cares about people from a non- Affiliated Nation like us, even if you really can't, I hope you can take Konan away. The old woman is dead, but Konan is still young. She has so much of her life to experience, and she's not even married yet!
The old lady was in a state of great emotional turmoil. Having gone through a life-or-death experience, she had finally released the emotions that had been pent up in her heart for many years. She did not want the navy officer who saved her to suffer the same fate, nor did she want her granddaughter to follow in her footsteps!
"Don't worry, Grandma, we're still trainee marines. This trip is just for training, so we still have some autonomy."
I don't know how I can help you right now, but there's someone here who definitely can! If I go to him, he'll definitely agree!
Rebecca had sworn to defend her justice with her sword, but everything this country had done had completely contradicted justice.
If a royal family can't even treat its own people well, it has lost the support of the people. But the royal family has tied the hands and feet of all its citizens with food – that's exploitation!
Rebecca is now facing a nation-state, and she doesn't know where to start, but she believes Vic can find and resolve the situation here.
Vic was engrossed in his drawing, completely unaware that he had been unexpectedly brought to his doom by a teenage girl.
By this time, he was surrounded by a large group of beautiful women who were looking him up and down, admiring God's masterpiece, which was simply too perfect.
Vic couldn't help but marvel at the power of this Sea of Flowers of Love, which attracted so many young girls to try their luck here.
"Are you still trainee marines? The person you're talking about isn't your instructor, is he?"
The old lady was stunned by Rebecca's words. What could a trainee marine do? Compared to the country? Compared to the mafia? There was absolutely no need for comparison!
The old lady couldn't help but wonder if it was right or wrong to drag these kind people into this mess. Now, someone might already be coming to arrest her and Konan, and once they know the truth about the island, these naval recruits won't be able to escape either.
"It wasn't our instructor. He's sleeping soundly on the warship and isn't planning on going to the island this time. The person I'm talking about is with us; he's also a new recruit, but he's very strong!"
Rebecca spoke earnestly, but upon hearing this, the old lady's heart sank again. Was there really no escaping it this time? And she was going to implicate these young people and her granddaughter as well!
The old lady felt her decision had been somewhat hasty, but as long as these new recruits could take Konan back to the warship and escape, they should be safe. The royal family and the mafia were too powerful; the fact that the island hadn't exposed its secrets for so many years was proof of that.
At this moment, a crisis has quietly descended, and no one has noticed it yet!