"I am fine," said Ling as the red glint disappeared. Rouge and the old man sighed in relief, reaching out one hand towards Rouge, Ling wiped her tears. "Didn't I say, I won't die until you marry someone, haha."
Punching Ling's shoulder playfully, Rouge hugged him, "Don't scare me like that again, or I will disown you."
Chuckling, Ling said, "Even if you do that, I will still love you."
Pinching Rouge's cute face that had tear marks, the old man sat down weakly again, smiling at the scene, he asked, "What happened little Ling?"
"The devil fruit must have made me do that, for some reason," said Ling as he didn't want to reveal his past life to them right now.
The old man saw that Ling was reluctant to say what he saw, so he nodded and sighed, "Just be careful from now on, okay?"
Ling nodded and hugged the old man, "Of course, I am not you."
The old man's vein throbbed on his head and he smacked Ling on the head. "Go back to sleep, you stupid boy."
Chuckling, Ling hugged Rouge as they fell asleep like that. The old man walked back to his room with a smile on his face.
9 years go by again...
"Old man, don't go off, you are too old, just let me buy groceries for you," said Rouge as she was washing clothes outside.
"You better not buy any more of those candies," said the old man who at this point is sitting in a wheelchair that Ling created.
"Don't you love them?" asked Rouge as she put away the wet clothes and began hanging them.
"I do, but now, my teeth ain't what it used to be," said the old man as he wheeled his way towards Rouge. "Little Rouge, where is your brother now?"
Rouge scoffed, "He said it was a secret, I can't even follow him since he goes into the forest where the animals are."
During the years, Ling began hunting, at first the old man resisted but after seeing him take down a bear, he reluctantly allowed him to enter the forest since the animals can be sold for beli.
In a cave deep in the forest...
"500!" yelled Ling as he was doing handstand pushups while a rope was tied around his neck that strangled him.
Throwing a small rock, the rock sliced the rope, and Ling jumped on top of a crocodile's mouth and jumped off of it like a springboard.
Landing on a rock in the middle of the pond, he watched as the crocodile began circling him. With a smirk, he jumped into the pond that was quite big and murky, he began to wrestle the crocodiles.
Wrapping one in his arms and another with his feet, he did the death roll and flung them towards the walls. The other crocodiles all came in one after another and were flung onto the wall again and again.
After all the crocodiles landed in the water, they all swam away from Ling who in their eyes was a beast. They remembered him because he would come here every single day just to attack them.
Letting out a loud growl, the crocodiles didn't dare to attack again. This didn't mean Ling wasn't attacking, as he began to swim towards the crocodiles again. Letting out a welp in fear, they began to run in different directions.
Looking at the crocodiles, Ling laughed in amusement as he stopped and jumped out of the pond and onto the shore. Walking out of the cave, he heard the crocodiles cheer happily that the beast was gone.
Smirking, Ling jumped onto the trees and began to jump from tree to tree like a ninja from Naruto.
Seeing a large clearing, he landed in the middle and looked around. Boulders of all sizes were around, one the size of an elephant, one the size of a tiger, and one the size of a truck.
He began to pick all of them up one by one on his shoulders and carry them to the end of the clearing and back. The clearing was not too long but carrying a boulder made the clearing feel like twenty miles.
Not feeling the muscle fatigue, Ling put another boulder on his other shoulder. The feeling of soreness began to hit him and he smirked as he began walking slowly.
Smirking once more, he had another idea, suddenly he began pushing the biggest boulder using only his body as his shoulders were occupied, with two boulders on his shoulders and pushing another, his body was utilized to the max.
Pumping out more adrenaline, he felt more energy and began to go faster as he felt his muscles tear. Finishing his workout after the sunset, he put the boulders down and began jogging to his house.
Seeing the familiar smoke coming from his house, he quickly took a bath in the sea and dried his clothes by jumping high in the air and landing.
Walking inside, he saw the old man as Rouge was feeding him some porridge, "What is the rock cooking today?!" said Ling as he strode in.
Rouge sighed, "Why do you always say that when you enter?"
Ling shrugged and saw his plate of food that was filled with beans, rice, fish, and green beans. "Why are there green beans? I hate green beans."
"Shut up and eat it, or I will starve you. Green beans are healthy for you."
Grumbling, Ling began attacking his mountain of food, almost ignoring the green beans until Rouge whacked him over the head with a spoon. Reluctantly finishing the green beans, Ling burped loudly.
Smiling, the old man said, "My two grandchildren, I feel that my time is nearly here."
Stopping their quarreling, Ling and Rouge looked at the old man sadly, "But..." said Rouge as she was stopped by Ling.
"We...understand, Geezer."
Reaching out his hand, Ling placed his head on top of the hand as he felt a slap on the top of his head. "You are naughty, but I am proud of both of you, once I am gone, you will only have each other, so don't quarrel too much."
Rouge hugged the old man while Ling was staring at the setting sun, hiding his tears because men don't cry...
Feeling his heartache, Ling watched as the old man smiled and faded. Rouge, feeling his body droop and his temperature drop, cried more.
The only person who took them in when their parents died on the sea, none of their relatives or their friends took custody of them. Only the old geezer, even if he couldn't afford to help himself...
Ling and Rouge looked at the old man's grave that was next to the house, their relatives and friends came to give condolence but both of them ignored them all.
Ling's uncle, who was a fat merchant, looked at Rouge up and down. "Ling, since your grandpa is gone, why don't you move in with me."
"We are fine."
With a frown on his face, Ling's uncle tried to persuade again, "It is not good for two children to live without an adult, and how are you gonna take care of Rouge."
Looking at the uncle who only came after the old man's death, Ling gritted his teeth, where were they when they were crying for their parents, where were they when he went door by door asking for medicine for the old man?
Where were they?
Ignoring the uncle, Ling took Rouge into their house, at this moment, Ling's uncle was fuming. "Fine, I guess it is the hard way then."