As autumn deepened, a heavy rain swept through Cocoyashi Village.
"Wow, wow, wow, why is it raining so hard all of a sudden!"
"Brother Shanu, run!"
At dusk, a black-haired boy rushed out of the orange orchard gate, carrying two baskets of oranges on his shoulders, and ran towards the village.
Suddenly, a rustling sound came from the baskets, and two little guys popped out from the pile of oranges, one on the left and one on the right, poking their heads out from over the boy's shoulders.
"Go, Shanu! The intersection is three hundred meters ahead, full left!"
The orange-haired girl on the left raised her right hand, full of energy.
"Nami, be sensible, your brother is very tired."
The blue-haired girl on the right held up her umbrella, frowning slightly, her voice gentle.
"Huh? You're the only one who's sensible? If you were sensible, you wouldn't still be sitting in the basket!"
"Nonsense! What nonsense! I'm holding an umbrella for my brother to keep him out of the rain. He's a head taller than me. How can i keep him out if I don't sit on him?"
"Tsk, then I was giving directions because I was worried Shanu wouldn't be able to see the road clearly when he looked down. Anyway, I'm more useful than you!"
Shanu had long since grown accustomed to the familiar bickering of his two sisters. He glanced at the umbrella, which wasn't even overhead, and his pace quietly quickened. He was clearly carrying 130 kilograms of oranges on his shoulders.
Yet, the boy continued to walk briskly, his breathing steady.
A moment later, the familiar house came into view.
The lights were on.
Through the window glass, he could see a slender figure busy in the kitchen. Smoke climbed out of the chimney, mixed with the rain and mist, and quickly disappeared.
He gently pushed the wooden door with his right hand, and the orange light of the fireplace instantly bathed him in light.
In the warm glow, the sweet aroma of oranges and pine mingled, pushing the chill of the rain outward.
Shanu dumped the basket on the ground, closed the door, and stretched out on the old sofa, sprawled out wide, stretching comfortably.
The firelight from the fireplace melted the dusk into a thick caramel, flowing across his outstretched limbs.
In that instant, the aching and fatigue seemed to fade away along with the shrill sound of the rain.
"Hey, are you back, Nojiko, Nami?"
Footsteps approached from the kitchen.
"And Shanu, you've been working so hard lately."
Damn it! The two little ones scrambled out, knocking over the bamboo basket with a clang. They both fell to the ground with a thud, and the golden oranges rolled into little suns all over the floor.
"Ah, I knew it!"
The young woman in an apron, with crimson ponytails, looked at her two daughters angrily, her hands on her hips.
"You said you were going to help your brother, but you were really just going to cause trouble, right? You're sitting on Shanu's burden again, trying to tire him out, are you happy?"
"Bellemere, we know we were wrong..." Nami and Nojiko pleaded, their heads lowered and their toes tapping.
"It's okay, Bellemere,"
Shanu leaned over from the sofa, his voice soft and weary. "Don't blame them. It was raining hard and fast, and I told them to hide in the basket. It's not only shelter from the rain, but it's also a good way to get some exercise."
"That's right, that's right," the two guilty little brats immediately chimed in.
"Ah, that's infuriating! When will you be as sensible as Shanu?"
Bellemere pounded her fist on the two little brats' heads, but he couldn't bring herself to use more force. "Don't do that next time. Wipe your hair with a towel and come in for dinner!"
Saved! Nojiko and Nami glanced at their older brother with tears of gratitude, then leaped for joy and ran to the kitchen table.
"Bellemere, what are we having for dinner tonight... duck breast with orange sauce? Yeah!"
"And honey ribs, wow, let me try some!"
"Hey! Have you washed your hands? How dare you grab them with your hands? You two damn brats, at least wait for your brother!"
Listening to the chattering coming from the kitchen, Shanu leaned back comfortably, but his neck suddenly touched the warm wall of the ceramic cup, and the warmth of ginger cola mixed with honey snaked into his nose.
"Drink it while it's hot."
Bellemere's unpleasant voice sounded, "You only know how to protect your two sisters, but you don't know how to take care of yourself."
She took out a set of clean clothes from the closet, and in Shanu's astonished eyes, she quickly pulled off his shirt, and then wiped his upper body with a hot towel.
"Uh, um, Bellemere."
Shanu tried to evade her, but was forcibly dragged back. A look of embarrassment washed over him. "I'm thirteen already. You really don't need to do this. Just let me do it myself."
"Stop talking nonsense!"
Bellemere asserted her adoptive motherly authority, brooking no argument. "You're only two years older than Nojiko. Why are you pretending to be a grown man? Stand still!"
There was nothing he could do.
Shanu could only let her toss him around like a rag doll, a look of reluctance on his face.
But a warm feeling welled up within him.
Living in Cocoyashi, growing up in a family like this...
it was wonderful.
When had I ever experienced this in my previous life?
At twelve, I scratched the back of my hand while changing a lightbulb in the orphanage for the first time. At twenty-five, I worked an all-nighter and was carried unconscious to the ambulance. On my twenty-sixth birthday, the heart rate monitor in the ICU flatlined...
until I suddenly opened my eyes.
He found himself transformed into a five-year-old boy, covered in blood and filth, amidst the rubble. The female marine, draped in a white cloak of justice, leaned over with difficulty to offer him a helping hand.
"How many times have I told you!"
Bellemere suddenly twisted his ear.
"Don't push yourself! Don't push yourself! You've already harvested twelve baskets of oranges today, and you insisted on going on the seventh. Do you know that little heroes are prone to catching colds?"
Shanu grimaced and scrambled for a towel, only to be smothered by the crisp, citrus-scented hood of his clothes.
His chunky sweater rubbed against his neck, a slight tickle. The crackling of the fire mingled with the rustle of her gathering wet clothes.
In his previous life, the piles of plaid shirts had never smelled of sunshine, but now the feel of the coarse fabric against his skin made his chest feel strangely sore.
Shanu looked at his face in the mirror.
The delicate features of the thirteen-year-old boy, with black hair and dark eyes, were bathed in the warm light, his eyelashes still damp from the towel he wiped them with.
The lone figure who once stood before the floor-to-ceiling windows of a skyscraper had long since been crushed to dust by the ticking of the old living room clock.
"Thank you," he whispered suddenly.
Bellemere paused, bending to gather his clothes, then quickly returned to normal.
"What? I should be thanking you."
"You've done all the hard work in the orange orchard. You make me, a clueless mother, look so useless. Seriously, you're still a tiny kid, yet you're so incredibly strong."
He had spent the first few years of his reincarnation in a daze, playing and frolicking with his sisters, picking mushrooms in the mountains one day and fishing in the river the next, just like a real kid. It wasn't until the last two years, around the age of ten, when his brain had fully developed, that he began to piece together his memories of past and present lives.
His biological parents in this life were just ordinary people from the Kingdom of Oikot, killed in that tragic war. Nothing special about them.
If he had not been rescued and raised by Bellemere by chance when he crossed over, he would have become a corpse in the ruins long ago.
However.
Bellemere's mumbling is understandable.
Because his performance is indeed outstanding, especially in Cocoyashi, a small village in the East Blue.
At the age of thirteen, his strength is incredible.
At the wrestling competition held at the Harvest Festival a while ago, there were hundreds of adult men in the whole town, but none of them could be his opponent, and some could not even last a few rounds.
Ordinary background, ordinary blood.
He grew up in a rural fruit farmer's family and never had any famous teacher to guide him.
The reason he has such strength is naturally because of the golden finger he carries with him.
"Deep Blue."
Shanu silently recited the wake-up word in his heart.
The system started instantly, and the air rippled like shark silk, and a faint blue light curtain that only he could see appeared before his eyes.
This is the "sacrifice trading system" that he awakened three years ago.
[Name: Siano]
[Age: 13]
[Height: 159cm]
[Strength: 1.9]
[Agility: 1.8]
[Endurance: 1.7]
[Spirit: 1.3]
[Remaining Points: 25]
[Skills and Talents: Breathing Fist (Intermediate), One-Sword Swordsmanship (Beginner), Cooking (Beginner), Fruit Planting (Intermediate), Fishing (Advanced)]
The average adult in the pirate world has a base stat of 1.
Although Shinu's base stats are only a few points, given both sides are unarmed, he's confident he can easily repel an attack from seven or eight adults.
After all, he was just playing around in the wrestling tournament, not using his true strength at all.
Clearly, the calculation of stat points isn't as simple as addition and subtraction. It likely follows some exponential function, where every increase in value, even a fraction of a point, results in a significant difference in strength.
This is the so-called sacrificial trading system.
As the name suggests, it has a trading market that provides several items that can be purchased with points, which are refreshed every month.
The source of points is whether the host can provide qualified sacrifices.
After the sacrifice, points of the same level are obtained according to the difference in value.
When the system was first awakened, Shanu was not sure what could be considered a sacrifice. He experimented everywhere in the mountains and plains, and even caught a passing dog to try.
But no matter whether it was a big fat fish just caught, a rabbit hunted in the forest, or a large-denomination banknote of one thousand berries, none of them could be sacrificed.
Until one day, by chance, he tried it with Bellemere's old service pistol when he was a navy.
As a result, a blind cat met a dead mouse, and it really worked.
At the time, the system thoughtfully presented an appraisal panel:
[Sacrifice: Bellemere's Old Flintlock Rifle]
[Quality: Excellent]
[Value: 50 Points]
[Appraisal Comment: This weapon accompanied Bellemere throughout her youth, its mottled barrel bearing witness to her growth from a rookie recruit to a capable warrior on the battlefield. Even after retiring, she still frequently polishes it. It's not only a memory, but also the foundation of her family, and it means a great deal to her.]
So damn thoughtful.
After reading the appraisal comment, Shanu tossed and turned in bed, guilt-ridden and unable to sleep well all night.
Especially the next day, when Bellemere discovered her service rifle was missing and, in a fit of rage, stood at the doorway all morning cursing the thief, he wanted to slap himself.
Damn it!
So, once the guilt wore off, he chose his targets, choosing the more inconspicuous items.
Like Nami's orange flower hairpin, Nojiko's forehead band.
These were bought by Shanu himself for his two younger sisters a few years ago when the family was still poor. They're already quite worn and worthless.
Now that things are getting better, it's almost time for a new one.
In the end...
the sacrifice was a success.
It's just that the system still loves to prick my heart.
[Offering: Nami's Orange Blossom Hairpin]
[Quality: Ordinary]
[Value: 180 points]
[Appraisal Comment: This was a cheap accessory sold at the grocery store for a hundred berries, but young Nami loved it and treasured it. She wore it every day and was reluctant to take it off. She even puts it under her pillow when she slept, carrying the growing emotional bond between brother and sister]
[Offering: Nokigo's Old Headband]
[Quality: Ordinary]
[Value: 30 points]
[Appraisal Comment: This faded piece of cloth, stained with citrus juice, was difficult to clean. Nokigo, being the eldest daughter, would use it to tie her forehead tightly to help her adoptive mother and eldest brother when they were busy in the citrus orchard, fearing that sweat would sting her eyes and cause distress to her doting brother.]
That day, Shanu was silent for a while, then slapped herself twice more.
Damn it!