The nun's expression softened, showing a trace of reluctance. "Little Lami... to think she's… alright."
She, too, remembered the gentle little girl vividly.
Silently offering a short prayer for her, the nun crouched down and spoke to Law, "Then you must catch the next evacuation ship, Law. I'll come back to get you."
From among the children gathered behind her, a boy who had grown up playing with Law shouted.
"Hey! Law! Come with us! Lami will be saved later for sure! Our parents are all gone! That's why we need to survive! Law!!!"
Law kept his head down, biting his lip without moving. He couldn't bear to leave his sister behind, alone.
The nun thought for a moment, then softly said, "Listen to me, Law. There's no such thing as true despair in this world. A merciful light of salvation will surely descend upon you."
He froze, then nodded firmly. "Yeah!"
* * *
Flevance, outside the largest hospital in the nation.
The iron gates were shut tight. Crowds of people gathered outside, crying and pleading for the doctors to save them.
But the hospital had long been crippled. Most of the staff had fled; only a few doctors remained, still clinging to the hope of finding a cure.
Inside an office.
Law's father shouted furiously into a Den Den Mushi, "There are too few doctors here, and we're running out of blood and medicine! Why won't the kingdom send more people?! There has to be a way to remove Amber Lead from the body! And this disease isn't contagious at all! Why is the government hiding the truth?!"
Blurrp.
The Den Den Mushi shut its eyes. The line had been cut.
"Damn it!!!"
Bang!
* * *
In a hospital ward.
Law stood beside a small bed, quietly watching over his sister.
Her brows twitched. Slowly, she opened her eyes.
She turned her head slightly and saw him. Tears welled up as she whispered, "Brother... my body hurts so much..."
Her voice was barely audible, weak to the point she didn't even have the strength to cry.
"And my skin is getting whiter and whiter… am I... going to die?"
His body shook at her words. Tears threatened to fall, but he forced them back and tried to comfort her.
"It's fine, just hold on a little longer. Dad is the best doctor in the country, he'll definitely cure you."
Bang, bang, bang...
The sound of constant gunfire echoed from outside, drawing her attention.
"What's going on out there? Why's it so loud…?"
"They're having a festival," he lied softly. "Flevance is always lively, right? Once you get better, we'll go enjoy the festival together."
A faint smile tugged at her lips. "Mm..."
* * *
A few days later, ninety-nine percent of Flevance's population had been slaughtered.
Soldiers from neighboring countries swept through the land again and again, hunting down survivors to execute.
Inside the hospital, it looked like the aftermath of a war: bullet holes, corpses, broken walls everywhere.
Soldiers wearing gas masks were searching floor by floor.
In a small ward in the corner, Law carefully placed his sister inside a cabinet. "Lami, just hang on a little."
She nodded weakly. "Mm."
He closed the cabinet, hiding her away, then avoided the patrolling soldiers and ran toward his parents' office.
But the moment he stepped inside, he was met with a scene that shattered his world.
Everything in the room was smashed. In the center lay two bodies, his mother and father. Bullet holes riddled their bodies, and their once-white doctor's coats were soaked in blood. The blood on the floor had spread across the room.
He threw himself onto them, clinging to their lifeless bodies. "Mom! Dad!! Ahhhh!!!"
The soldiers scouring the building heard his anguished screams.
"There's someone inside!"
"This way!"
"Hurry! Kill him!"
The footsteps grew closer. There was no time for Law to grieve. Gritting his teeth, he broke the window glass and leapt out.
Gunshots rang out behind him as the soldiers gave chase.
But Law had grown up here, and he knew the terrain like the back of his hand. After weaving through the streets, he hid under a bridge pier and escaped the pursuit.
* * *
Late at night.
Only after hiding for hours and hearing no more footsteps did Law dare to come out.
But the town felt foreign to him now. Fire was everywhere…
Even with thick clouds blocking the moonlight, Flevance was as bright as day. Wherever he looked, raging flames consumed everything, turning the place into a vision of hell.
As he stumbled toward the hospital like a walking corpse, his foot caught on something.
He looked down, then cried out in disbelief, "Si... Sister!!!"
All around her lay the bodies of his friends. His voice trembled, nearly breaking apart.
The nun's words from days ago echoed in his head.
"Law, there's no such thing as true despair in this world. A merciful light of salvation will surely descend upon you."
He dropped to his knees, pounding the ground.
"Why!!!"
He vented for a long time... then left in silence, his heart dead and empty.
There was nothing he could do.
* * *
When Law finally returned to the hospital,
he saw the largest and tallest building in all of Flevance engulfed in flames.
It crushed what little remained of his heart.
"The hospital… ahhhhh!!!"
He knelt on the ground, eyes rolling back, screaming in utter despair.
"Lami!!!"
No one answered. Only the blazing fire lit his hopeless face.
Then his consciousness faded, and he fell into darkness.
In just one day, his entire world had collapsed. No one could endure it, let alone a ten-year-old child.
* * *
The next day, Law climbed over the iron fence. He looked back at the ruins of Flevance.
"I'll… destroy this filthy world..."
To the rest of the world, "White City" Flevance had been erased, leaving only ashes behind.
* * *
At the entrance to the New World, Fishman Island.
Several colossal Sea Kings floated in the distance, watching the island.
Suddenly, they raised their heads, letting out deep roars that echoed through the depths.
Oooong!
Oooong!
"Our king is born!!!"
The ocean floor stirred with waves...
* * *
Holy Land of Mariejois.
From a heap of corpses, a fish-man with thick curly hair, a wide mouth, and burn scars across his neck slowly rose to his feet.
He ripped off the destroyed slave collar from his neck with one hand.
"Freedom..."
His body was covered in blood. He gave one last glance at the Holy Land; it looked like a paradise to the eye, but he knew it was hell, a living hell.
Clutching the cliff face of the Red Line, his heart burning with hatred, he began to climb down.
"Wait for me..."
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