The Great Kingdom, Red Line, near Mariejois.
The prisoner carriage continued its journey across the vast continent.
It had been a full month's travel from Alabasta to here.
It wasn't that the Great Kingdom lacked faster means of transportation.
On the contrary, as a civilization that inherited part of Lunar Technology, their vehicles could easily transport people from Alabasta within days.
But the Great Kingdom's leadership chose not to do so.Instead, they placed Nefertari's widows in the most primitive prison carts, ensuring they passed through every vassal state along the way.
The aim was to make the so-called lowly commoners see clearly that even the royalty of a vassal state would meet the most wretched fate if they dared defy the Great Kingdom...
This act was no different from beheading someone and hanging their head above the city gates.
For the children, this period was equally terrifying torment.
The Great Kingdom's guard escorting the prison carts would not directly harm them, but neither would they care for them.
They provided only the bare minimum of food and water to keep them alive.
After just over a month, though they were still alive, they were barely clinging to life.
In fact...
Death might have been preferable.
For this slow journey was gradually dragging them into an ever-deeper abyss of despair.
Among these children was a girl whose bright red eyes remained open the entire time.
Though she was already skin and bones, the unyielding spirit of the Nefertari royal family never faded from her gaze.
Not only that, but she also consciously saved a portion of the food she received each time, hiding it on her person...
She hoarded enough for a full meal, hoping to use that tiny reserve of strength to escape the prison cart.
The Great Kingdom's guards escorting them weren't particularly vigilant...
After all, these were just a few children whose bodies were thinner than their arms.
Her plan was to slip out of the cart when the guards stopped for supplies in Mariejois...
By eating just a little less each day, she had already...
Become small enough.
Given the bustling nature of Mariejois, as long as she could blend into the crowd or slip into the sewers, there was a high chance she could escape.
Just before reaching Mary Geoise, she ate all the hidden food.
Then she leaned against the corner, waiting for the food to convert into energy...
"Let's go. Once we reach Mary Geoise, we'll have a good drink."
"Is this really appropriate? We're transporting prisoners."
"Relax! These Nefertari brats barely eat anything each day. Forget escaping—even opening their eyes is a struggle..."
"What a nuisance. As a vassal state, they dared to defy the Great Kingdom... Worst of all, we brothers have to travel slowly with them!"
The towering guards of the Great Kingdom, far larger than ordinary humans, conversed among themselves.
Upon entering the city of Mary Geoise, they parked the prisoner transport outside the guards' supply station and headed arm-in-arm to a nearby tavern.
At the same time, the girl suddenly opened her eyes.
She looked at the others in the transport...
In truth, the guards hadn't noticed that only two of the Nefertari survivors remained.
The girl... and her younger brother.
She gave him a deep look, and as if sensing her thoughts, the boy slowly opened his eyes.
"Run... sister."
The girl froze, then without hesitation, slipped out of the transport.
There was no way she could escape these vicious guards with her brother in tow.
At this moment... she had no choice but to abandon him.
The stored food had given her some strength, but prolonged malnutrition still weakened her body.
Stumbling desperately into the depths of the alleyways, she soon heard the roars of the Great Kingdom guards.
At the same time, a strange force swept over her...
A feeling of being watched.
Though young, as a Nefertari royal, she recognized this sensation.
Observation Haki!
Which meant... she'd been discovered!
Without hesitation, she mustered all her strength and plunged into the underground waterways...
The massive guards would have to circle around through the main entrance to follow, buying her time.
So... she still had a chance!
But once inside the waterways, she realized she'd been too naive.
Though torches lit the tunnels, the labyrinthine passages trapped her.
No matter which way she turned, she couldn't find an exit.
Her meager stamina, even fueled by sheer will, gradually drained away until she collapsed against the tunnel wall, listening to approaching footsteps and cruel laughter.
"Run! Go on, keep running, you Nefertari bastard!"
The nearly broken girl's head snapped up at the word "bastard," as if jolted by a final surge of defiance.
"I am Nefertari of Alabasta!"
"I am the kingdom's rightful heir!"
"I! Am no bastard! Nor a slave of the Great Kingdom!"
"You'd better kill me right here!"
"Otherwise, one day, whether it's the Great Kingdom... or you so-called 'divine' races who sit high above!"
"My wrath will burn you all to ashes!"
Within those crimson eyes burned something fiercer than life itself, known as...
Hatred.
"Tsk tsk tsk, you can only talk tough here..."
"But we dare not kill you... The lords of the kingdom specifically demanded that Nefertari become a slave, hahahaha!"
The towering members of the guard paid no heed to the threats of this frail girl, reaching out a hand toward her.
Just then, a blade's gleam flashed through the waterway.
The next moment, the dimly lit passage, barely illuminated by torches, was filled with sunlight and an even more dazzling white Holy Light.
A man with six wings descended from the sky.
"Little one, those words of yours were quite impressive just now."
"I hope... you can truly live up to them."
He landed on the ground, then walked past the guards, slowly sheathing his longsword.
"What's your name?"
"My name is... Nefertari D. Lily."
Lily mustered all her strength to lift her head, her eyes reflecting the figure of that supremely holy being, as a trace of reverence gradually rose from the depths of her soul.
She was absolutely certain that on this day, she had encountered...
The eternal light of her life!
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