Chapter 30: The Orphan of Flevance!
In the summer of Sea Circle Calendar 1506, North Blue, on a flat piece of land ten kilometers outside Fia Town, near the border of Witter Kingdom, groups of bare-chested farmers were swinging hoes, digging ceaselessly downwards. In the distance, two squads of soldiers in protective suits and masks watched as lines of oxcarts approached them from afar.
"Tera, is this the last of them?" As an oxcart arrived, a person wearing a mask asked another masked person beside the cart.
"Ah, it's Woods. Yeah, this is the last batch. It's finally over. We won't have to go to that desperate town for a long time. The bodies on the cart are yours. Bury them quickly. I'll be waiting for you at Lisa's Bar tonight."
"Your treat?"
"Damn it, I took on all the heavy lifting, and you still dare to say I should treat? I'm definitely not bringing any money tonight. If you don't bring money, I guarantee that fatso Lisa definitely won't beat you to death; on the contrary, she'd surely be very happy for you to pay for your meal with your flesh."
"Stop f*cking disgusting me. These mountains of corpses are already disgusting enough. My treat it is, my treat. Hurry up and get lost. Remember to wash off the bloody smell on you, or that fatso Lisa definitely won't let you into the shop. Then even if I wanted to treat you, you wouldn't be able to eat."
"Got it."
Watching his friend depart, then looking at the bodies being thrown from the oxcarts into the newly dug giant pit, the masked man let out a long sigh: "The war is finally over."
A short while later, the army, having buried all the corpses, withdrew amidst cheers, leaving behind only this barren, treeless patch of land.
And after the army left, a figure emerged from the tall grass far away, slowly walking to the periphery of the barren land. Without doing anything, the figure stood quietly beside the barren land, like a statue staring expressionlessly at it.
Soon, night fell. Gusts of gloomy wind blew from all directions, like the resentful roars of wronged souls.
At a certain moment, a small mound of earth suddenly bulged at the edge of the flat, barren land. Then, a hand covered in dried blood broke through the mound and stretched out from the ground.
Alright, if a timid person saw this scene, they would definitely be scared witless. But the statue that had been standing there, upon seeing this, its expressionless face finally thawed.
With a trace of joy, the statue moved. In a flash, it arrived beside the bloody hand, then reached out, grabbed it, and pulled upwards.
In the next second, like pulling up a radish, a child was pulled out of the soil by the statue.
A tender "cough, cough, cough" sounded in the next second across the windy, empty ground.
"Wait aside, I'll fill the hole, and then we'll go!" The statue finally spoke.
"Who are you?" After the coughing, a low voice filled with boundless hatred sounded.
"Someone who can save you!" While answering, the statue quickly found a rock and threw it into the empty hole, then flattened the ground.
After doing all this, the statue walked over to the child, then picked up the child and disappeared into the vast darkness of the night.
A day later, on a small sailboat, two people were looking at each other.
"Who are you?" the little boy asked again.
"My name is Buggy.1 A man whose name will resound throughout the world in the future!" Rubbing his red nose, Buggy replied unhurriedly.
"The future, huh? I have no future. I only have three years and five months left to live." The little boy's tone was very flat, without even a hint of fear, as if he were talking about someone else's situation, not his own.
"Oh, is that so? Then, in the time you have left, what do you want to do?" Buggy asked the little boy with great interest.
"I want to kill as many people as possible." The little boy's psyche was already twisted.
"To vent your injustice and hatred?" Buggy continued to ask.
"Don't you care why! Ask any more questions, and I'll kill you too," Staring fiercely at Buggy, the little boy completely erupted.
"Hahahahahaha! Kill me too? Kid, if the legendary great pirate Whitebeard said that, I might think there's a slight possibility. Next time, don't say such things in front of a true pirate, or you'll die in the next second, and even that limited three-plus years will be stripped away from you." Buggy's eyes narrowed slightly, and an invisible energy instantly burst forth.
Struck by the invisible energy, the little boy's eyes instantly filled with terror. Cold sweat immediately covered his tender face. What didn't surprise Buggy, however, was that the little boy didn't roll his eyes and faint.
Even without possessing Conqueror's Haki, he has considerable aptitude.
"Hahahahahaha! Not bad, quite good indeed! To not faint under my intimidation, you have good aptitude. I didn't expect an orphan from the 'White Town' Flevance to possess such good aptitude. Little fellow, what's your name?" Buggy asked with a loud laugh.
"Trafalgar D. Water Law." Intimidated by Buggy's Haki, little Law hadn't recovered his senses at all at this moment and could only answer passively in terror.
"Law, huh? Not a bad name. How about it, want to come aboard my ship and become my crewmate?" Buggy patted Law's shoulder and asked calmly after Law had somewhat recovered.
"Will you teach me techniques to kill people?" Law asked, looking at Buggy.
"Does killing people require techniques?" Buggy retorted, looking at Law.
"Doesn't it?" Law continued to ask.
"At least I don't need them. Anyway, when I throw a punch, I basically blow people up. There's no need to study any techniques. And what I want to tell you is, I actually don't really like killing. The clashes between pirates might be quite cruel, and people will definitely die, but that's a collision between different dreams, a fight for one's own dream, not simply to kill, let alone killing to vent aimlessly." Buggy's expression was very serious when he said this.
"If you don't teach me, I will find someone who will," Law refused to listen.
"I didn't say I wouldn't teach you. Law, remember this: not all assassins are doctors, but for doctors, especially surgeons, to switch careers and become assassins is the easiest thing in the world. If you want to learn how to kill, you just need to learn medicine well. Then, just take a knife and insert it into the most vulnerable parts of the human body; that will be enough."
After hearing Buggy's answer, Law's eyes reddened. After thinking for a moment, he continued to ask, "Can you teach me fighting techniques?"
"You still haven't answered whether you want to become my crewmate or not," Buggy asked, changing the question.
"I only have three years left to live. Am I useful to you?" Law stared at Buggy and continued to ask.
(End of this chapter)