Eric exuded a fierce aura, but his gaze was somewhat strange. He hadn't expected the person bringing help to his group would be a young boy.
His eyes darted around as he looked at Yol and asked, "Miss Nun, is this young brother the partner you mentioned?"
Yol held her rifle with both hands, remaining silent for the moment, just turning her head to look at Merlin. Seeing this, Eric looked at Merlin with a bitter smile:
"I'm Eric. As you can see, I'm leading this group of brothers to fight for our lives against these bastards. Since they want our lives, we'll make them pay with theirs."
"I'm Merlin."
Merlin looked at the people in front of him. Their exposed skin all had white patches of varying sizes, and most of them were young or middle-aged men.
"Is this everyone in your group?"
Hearing this, a look of intense hatred appeared in Eric's eyes as he cursed through gritted teeth:
"Almost everyone in this city has been killed by those animals."
Merlin lowered his eyelids. "So what do you plan to do next?
"Stay here and fight them to the death? Or find a chance to escape and seek revenge later?"
As soon as these words came out, the group of survivors erupted into noise, their words filled with deep despair.
"The border is sealed. Their weapons and equipment are better than ours. Can we escape?"
"We all have Amber Lead Syndrome. We don't know if it can be cured outside. They say it's an incurable contagious disease and won't let us out."
"We don't have many bullets left. We can't resist for much longer."
"Right now, we just want to kill one to break even, kill two to make a profit."
"..."
Merlin remained silent. This group of people was like trapped beasts in despair, like barrels of gunpowder ready to explode.
However.
"If I have a way to get us out of here, will you cooperate with us?"
Merlin looked at Eric and asked.
Hearing this, the corner of Eric's mouth twitched. His expression calmed down, and his tone became flat:
"Escape?"
"Fine, even if we can escape, given the current situation, even if we get out, Amber Lead Syndrome is rumored to be an incurable contagious disease. How will we survive out there?
"The countries surrounding Flevance are the very ones hunting us down right now."
As Eric spoke, the group of survivors became agitated and noisy again.
There was a look of mockery in Eric's eyes, but Merlin could tell it wasn't directed at him. So he clenched his right hand behind his back, then looked up at Eric:
"I can cure it."
Eric's face stiffened, and he fell silent. A few seconds later, he suddenly took a step forward, his eyes wide with disbelief as he looked at Merlin.
Simultaneously, Merlin took a step back, holding his right hand in front of him and his left hand on the grenade pin, saying flatly: "Back off!"
Seeing this, the corner of Eric's eye twitched violently. He looked at Merlin, wanting to say something but stopping. He stepped back, but his gaze was filled with intense longing:
"Can you really cure it?"
Merlin didn't trust the people here. Having suffered the slaughter of relatives or friends and being under constant threat of death, it was understandable if their minds weren't quite right. Merlin looked at him:
"Really!"
Not giving him a chance to speak, Merlin raised the grenade in his right hand and bit the pin with his teeth:
"Give me your hand."
Saying this, he extended his left hand, black flames rising from it. Eric looked at the black flames that gave him an ominous feeling, hesitating slightly, but then gritted his teeth and reached out to grasp Merlin's hand.
In the next moment, a black halo spread around his body. Merlin sensed the familiar Amber Lead Syndrome calamity within him.
Tens of seconds later.
Merlin let go. The white patch on his left index finger became even paler.
Eric extended his hands in shock. He saw that the white patches on his arms had disappeared, and the pain that had plagued him since the patches appeared was gone as well.
He instinctively understood one thing: his Amber Lead Syndrome was gone.
He looked at Merlin with excitement, his lips trembling:
"My Amber Lead Syndrome is really cured."
Instantly, the crowd erupted in excitement, looking at Merlin with fanatical eyes.
"Little brother, please cure me too!"
"And me, and me! I don't want to die. Sob..."
"Brother, me, me, me."
Beside him, Yol looked at Merlin with a complex expression.
At the same time, Eric looked at Merlin expectantly. He wanted his brothers to be cured too.
But at this moment, Merlin raised his left index finger to his lips. They all understood the gesture for silence. Instantly, they quieted down. Merlin spoke:
"I am a Transfer Human who ate the Devil Fruit... the Transfer-Transfer Fruit.
"I can transfer negative statuses from others onto myself.
"Look, isn't my index finger whiter now?"
Merlin looked at their expectant gazes and said:
"Of course, since I can transfer others' negative statuses to myself, I can naturally transfer this negative status of mine to others.
"However, currently, my ability can only transfer the negative status of four people. And now, including Eric, I am already carrying the negative status of Amber Lead Syndrome for four people."
"I've given you the hope of living. Now, do you want to escape here with us?"
"I have a plan. If you participate, our chances of escaping alive will be greater."
"Those executioners from the neighboring countries slaughtered our friends and family. I can transfer the Amber Lead Syndrome from you to them. What do you think?"
As his words fell.
With a common enemy.
The eyes of everyone present lit up, and they all grinned ferociously.
"Heh heh, that's exactly what we should do."
"Don't they think Amber Lead Syndrome is contagious? Then let them all get infected."
"That's right! Brother Merlin, tell us your plan quickly. We will definitely follow your instructions."
Hearing their words, Merlin looked at Eric, the leader of the group. Eric nodded heavily at Merlin:
"Brother Merlin, you are our savior. Tell us what to do, and we'll do it."
Hearing this, Merlin breathed a sigh of relief. Misleading them about the Calamity Fruit as "Transfer" was a way to hide the true nature of his ability.
Merlin didn't trust them. To make them obedient, this was the only way.
By curing their leader Eric, he showed them hope, and then used a common goal to win them over.
This way, until they escaped, they would follow his orders.
Next, Merlin explained his plan of diversion, sneaking across, and sustaining the fight by looting the enemy.
However, he didn't tell them the final breakout location at the back mountain.
Always keep an ace up your sleeve; opportunities come only once.
He couldn't reveal his entire plan to these strangers.
After listening,
Thought appeared in Eric's eyes. He guessed that Merlin was holding something back, but he had to admit Merlin's plan was good.
He asked, "Will we act together afterward?"
Merlin shook his head. "The hospital ruins, the church, and the city center fountain.
"These three locations are our meeting points. Go to the hospital ruins at 9 AM, the church at 3 PM, and the fountain at 9 PM. We will meet at these places at these respective times.
"When the time is right, I will lead you all to gather at one point and break out.
"During this time, we will split up. The goal is to gather survivors, engage in street fighting with the executioners here, and seize their superior weapons and equipment."
Saying this, Merlin pointed to the soldiers' bodies around them:
"I'm taking the grenades. I'll leave the guns and ammo for you."
Eric nodded seriously. "Okay, we'll listen to you."
As he spoke, a strong light of hope appeared in his eyes. Since they could live, who would want to die?
---
After parting ways with them.
The three walked through the alley. Yol looked at Merlin, wanting to say something but hesitating. Seeing this, Merlin said to her:
"Whatever you want to ask, ask."
Thinking of what Merlin said just now about transferring negative statuses to himself, anxiety appeared in Yol's eyes:
"Is what you told them about your fruit ability true? Is it transfer?"
Her gaze unconsciously shifted to the differences on Merlin's left thumb, index finger, and middle finger compared to the others.
Walking quickly, Merlin said calmly, "I don't trust them. I lied to them."
Yol breathed a sigh of relief, then felt joy in her heart. Merlin was saying he trusted her. But then she asked curiously:
"Was it all a lie?"
"My ability is a lie to them. My plan only omitted the final step; everything else is true."
Yol looked at Merlin with bright eyes. "I knew you were kind.
"You're not useless like you said. You're kinder than I am."
Hearing this, the corner of Merlin's mouth twitched. He rolled his eyes at her helplessly:
"Can't it be that I'm using them as cannon fodder, giving them hope so that taking them along to escape makes us safer?
"I'm not kind. I'm just using them, and they're using me. We're each taking what we need.
"If I were truly kind, I would have cured them all just now.
"At most, it's hypocrisy."
Hearing this, the look in Yol's eyes remained unchanged as she walked beside Merlin:
"Regardless of the future outcome, right now, the person bringing them hope of survival is you.
"Is that not kindness?
"Hypocrisy is still kindness."
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