vncnus Page 26
Page 26
At this moment, the promotional billboards in the Wheat Ear Cake Shop are up, colorful ribbons are fluttering, and welcoming flower baskets are placed in prominent positions, filling the entire shop with joyful colors.
After the celebration ended, Alice and her family, with the help of the Navy, quickly cleaned up the mess left behind by the party.
Laurentina and the others said a brief goodbye to the girl and smiled, saying they would visit the cake shop often during the remaining few days of their vacation.
Alice pouted and, under her father's gaze, reluctantly agreed to offer discounts to everyone.
After Laurentina left, Alice couldn't contain her excitement and looked back at the closed cake shop one last time.
"It feels like a dream," the girl smiled.
Wheat ears represent harvest and symbolize hope.
Thirty
Nine chapters of prosperity, rooted in darkness (Please support and add to your favorites)
Downtown, on her way home.
"Hmph... Ha... Ha..."
In the dark alley, a little girl in a ripped dress ran panting, clutching a few pieces of dry, black bread to her chest.
The sour-tasting bread was a treasure to her.
"Her very existence is a sin."
"What? That girl appeared in this neighborhood?"
She ran frantically, clutching the bread, leaving the harsh words and gunshots far behind.
"Hmph... Ha... Ha..."
Ahead, turn left, into the alley with the cracked wall.
The little girl struggled to open her eyes, aimed, and crawled inside.
boom! boom! boom!
A group of gang members in suits raised their guns and opened fire.
The sharp gunshot pierced the darkness, like a spark piercing through the dark clouds, echoing through the alley.
"Damn it, did she escape again?"
The gang leader, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, glanced up at the falling raindrops and cursed under his breath.
"Close the team!"
Although it was the head guard's idea to capture the little girl, the circumstances were absolutely terrible.
Late at night, heavy rain, dark alley.
"Let her go catch it herself," the man in the suit thought, wanting nothing more than to crawl into bed, hold the woman, and drift off to sleep.
Have they left?
The little girl slowly, very slowly, peeked out with one eye to observe.
Only after confirming that no one was around did she clutch her wound in pain.
She was lucky not to be shot, but a stray bullet shattered a piece of wall and cut her calf.
The little girl was about to apply saliva to the wound, but strangely, the scratch healed on its own.
It's not that it's healed, it's just that no blood is flowing out of the wound...
"This is a good thing," the little girl said with a forced smile, clutching the bread as she disappeared into the darkness.
Behind her, a figure was closely following her in the sky.
The Vampire Fruit did not make Laurentina afraid of sunlight; on the contrary, it enhanced her abilities in the dark.
Perhaps, like the Shadow-Shadow Fruit, only one's own family or creations possess the weakness of being afraid of light?
I wonder if Kizaru's Glint-Glint Fruit is a natural counter to him.
The girl shook her head, dispelling any irrelevant thoughts, and continued following.
After the party, Laurentina and her colleagues were on their way to the hotel when they unexpectedly ran into the 'thief' again.
Curious, Lauren Tina informed Tina and then followed.
At first, the little girl was just being chased by the shop owner, and he was about to pay for her again when a group of men in suits suddenly appeared.
Is stealing bread really enough to attract the attention of the local gang?
something wrong.
Laurentina followed the little girl, turning left and right with her, until they finally arrived at the city wall.
Huh? It's so late, is she still going out of town?
Laurentina's pupils contracted slightly as she watched the little girl find an extremely narrow hole under the cover of darkness.
She first stuffed the bread out, then laboriously squeezed through.
Seeing the remaining scraps of cloth and fresh bloodstains at the entrance of the hole, the girl's mood immediately soured.
No wonder.
Laurentina silently bit into the chocolate bar.
No wonder the child drooled over the bread countless times, but just wouldn't eat it.
Is it just to maintain body shape?
The city layout of Latavia is very similar to that of the Kingdom of Goa in the East Sea.
They all share the same concentric circle structure: the royal palace, the gambling city, the central street, the lower city, and the high walls that protect the city, radiating outwards in layers.
Latavia is surrounded by the sea on one side, and the central street connects to the port.
Where will the little girl go after passing through the high wall? Is there also an uncertain final destination here?
"Secret Technique: High Blood Sugar!"
Laurentina stretched out her right hand, and the guard guarding the city trembled, swayed from side to side, and slowly fell to the ground, falling into a brief unconsciousness.
Simple application of skills.
The guards only slowly awoke after Laurentina had flown far away.
"What happened? Why did I just faint?"
Unaware that it was an attack, the guards defending the city simply thought they were experiencing some kind of health problem.
Looks like I'll have to see a doctor tomorrow.
Following the little girl's flight, we saw her run for nearly twenty minutes before disappearing into a huge factory.
Laurentina stopped at a corner of the factory wall.
A red glint flashed in her eyes, her hair swayed, and a transparent wave emanated from her.
Fully activate your Observation Haki!
In the dark world, figures gradually became clear. Apart from a few powerful ones on the periphery, the ones in the center were all weak and feeble.
The little girl was nimbly moving through the various dark alleys, seemingly having even figured out the guards' shift schedule.
Laurentina spread her bat wings and appeared in a deserted alley the next moment.
This place seems to have been decorated as a warehouse?
The factory was surrounded by a dense guard, but it was a piece of cake to evade these guys who were only slightly stronger than ordinary naval personnel.
The girl walked through the shadows, following the little girl into the center of the underground factory.
The dark underground world was so quiet you could hear a pin drop; it seemed even the tracks of rats had been erased.
How much suffering did that little girl endure to become unable to make a sound?
As you continue forward, the sounds of blacksmithing can be heard coming from inside.
Laurentina quickened her pace, and the abyss-like world suddenly opened up before her.
This was a stuffy, dimly lit space, where molten orange iron flowed from beneath the massive device into a recess, becoming the brightest source of light.
On the ground, countless withered-looking 'people' numbly wielded hammers, forging weapons and casting molds for guns and cannons...
They didn't make a sound, and their faces showed no expression.
A person is still considered upright
Normally, but what if thousands of people all looked numb and lifeless, and moved in the same way at the same time?
Weird, surprisingly weird.
The vast space felt surprisingly cramped amidst the densely packed crowd.
The people were dressed in various ways, but most were filthy, and Laurentina even spotted some navy personnel among them...
ding ding ding~
As soon as a bell rang, the people who had been working like slaves automatically lined up and walked towards the room not far away in an orderly fashion, just like machines.
Using her Observation Haki, Laurentina realized that it appeared to be their rest area.
In the chaotic dormitory, the girl spotted the presence of several children.
The little girl seemed to be distributing bread to them.
Those people, however, had no expression on their faces, but obediently accepted the food.
Like mindless slaves!
Just then, Laurentina felt a sudden tap on the shoulder.
???
The girl used a finger gun to strike backward with incredible speed.
The fingers covered in Armament Haki were instantly blocked by a scabbard.
Laurentina staggered backward, and a figure in a purple yukata appeared before her eyes.
"A smile?"
"It is indeed I." Yixiao put down his cane and sword, his expression calm. "I didn't expect this young lady from the navy to know me?"
"Don't tell me you're the guard at this factory!"
"Of course not, I was just wandering around and happened to pass by here."
In the darkness, Laurentina glanced at Yixiao, only to find his expression terrifyingly gloomy.
"Latavia is as prosperous as it is dark."
Chapter 40 Wheat stalks are extremely prone to lodging (Please continue to support!!!)
(Friendly reminder: The next one is going to be brutal, the next one is sheer fabric.)
"Aren't you the legendary Navy Empress?"
He smiled, his eyes wide open, as if he were sizing up the girl.
"Hmm? Isn't Mr. Yixiao blind?" Lauren asked, slightly surprised. "How did you recognize me on our first meeting?"
With a smile, he turned and left, leaning on his cane and knife, his voice hoarse, "I have heard your speech; blind people often have keen hearing."
"Your ideals have deeply impressed me." The rhythm of a wooden cane tapping the floor echoed from the corridor. "Before this, the Navy's justice was fragmented and broken."
He smiled and turned his head, the huge height difference causing him to lower his head. "But after the speech, I saw a spirit that was gradually gathering."
Laurentina didn't like being looked up to, so she spread her bat wings and flew away.
"Thank you for your compliment." Laurentina clenched her fist, and dark red bat wings slowly unfurled from the side of the guitar case.
After becoming a captain, she commissioned a guitar case in Marineford to hold her long-handled circular saw.
This guitar case is beautiful. The pure black box is secured with a silver clasp, giving it a romantic feel, as if you've stepped back into the college streets of Victoria, where elegantly dressed art students would carry it to class even in the rain.
Laurentina thought for a moment and decided to follow Yixiao.
"Justice is yours." Yixiao tapped his cane-knife, testing the waters, "How would you respond to a brutal nation?"
"Even if the rulers of this country are not pirates."