One Piece: It's always been you

Chapter 47 Shanks and Yu (4)

"Is the newly arrested guy being held here?"

"Yes, sir. Would you like to go and take a look?"

"No need. There's no need to talk to me about these people until we're absolutely certain."

"Yes!"

"Did those people who were arrested exhibit any unusual behavior?"

"No, no matter how much we tried to scare them, they didn't react. It shouldn't be them."

"Keep going. Since it's still not working, go all out. Push them to their limits, I refuse to believe we still can't find them!"

There was a man and a woman. She recognized the woman; when they first arrived, You had been imprisoned because of something she said. Who was the man? Were they looking for someone? Had many others like her been arrested here?

Yu tried to sense her surroundings, but no matter how she kicked her feet or rolled around, she was all alone.

She wasn't going to sit idly by and wait to die!

To Yu's surprise, after untying the ropes, she could walk unimpeded along the wall, without even a cell door in sight. Yu had escaped, but not entirely; she still couldn't find her way.

It's windy!

This proves that there is an exit; as long as you go against the wind, there must be an exit there.

"Waaaah, don't hit me!"

"Please, let me go! Why did you arrest me?!"

"Waaaaah~ Waaaaah."

A faint light shone from the other side of the corner, but the children's cries grew clearer in Yu's ears. Peeking in from behind the wall, the scene was unbearable for Yu.

Countless children are imprisoned here, some younger than You, some slightly older, all girls. Each of them is in front of an adult who abuses, threatens, and bullies them in various ways; countless have been criminally detained. The light only shines on the adults; the children are shrouded in darkness and cannot be clearly seen.

Yu covered her mouth in terror, trying to stifle any sound. She couldn't imagine what such torture would be like to her, nor could she imagine how these children could endure it.

I must save them!

Yu is no match for so many adults on her own. Besides, she doesn't know where the exit is, and if she rushes out, she won't be able to get them away from here.

Find the exit first!

Yu carefully backed away, holding onto the wall. Suddenly, she didn't touch the wall, but a foot. In that instant, Yu's scalp tingled, and she turned around in terror to see a stranger's face.

The man looked down at Yu on the ground, the candlelight in his hand dividing his face into two parts, one bright and one dark. His face wasn't like any normal person Yu had ever seen; it was strange, and even describing him as a monster wouldn't be enough. The man's smile was chilling, as if he were looking at a rebellious prey struggling in its death throes. And rebellious prey never dies so easily.

"Little friend, being naughty can have bad consequences~" The person squatted down, his gaze level with You's.

It was too late for You to escape. She was lifted from behind, brought in front of the girls, and thrown hard to the ground.

"I remember saying before that if even one person tries to escape, then everyone will be punished." The man pointed at You on the ground. "Looks like you don't think it hurts enough. Beat him!"

"No! No!"

"We know we were wrong, please stop hitting us!"

You couldn't bear to watch any longer. They couldn't be beaten any more. Just by looking at the force with which those people hit them, you could tell they were already badly injured. How could they add new wounds to old ones?

"If you're going to hit someone, hit me alone, don't hit them!"

"You're new here, aren't you? Don't worry, you won't let it go. You'll only be more strict with newcomers like you who don't listen to reason."

With a wave of his hand, a man walked towards You, grabbed one of the torture instruments from the side, and started hitting You.

Yu is afraid of pain, and even if she weren't, she wouldn't let anyone bully her. If she can't fight back, she'll dodge; she'll absolutely not let anyone hit her.

"what!"

A scream stopped You's dodging steps and also silenced the cries and shouts all around.

A "thud" was the sound of someone falling to the ground. A girl was seen being stabbed with a knife; the moment the knife was pulled out, she collapsed to the ground, and liquid flowed from the darkness—the girl's blood.

"You hide for a moment, I'll kill one."

At the end of the sentence, another girl collapsed.

Still hiding?

Yu couldn't see the eyes of the remaining girls in the darkness, but she knew they didn't want to lose their lives because of her and become cold corpses on the ground.

But You didn't want to be beaten. It wasn't because she was afraid of the pain, but because she was afraid that her spirit would be broken. She was afraid that there was still a chance for her to run away with these girls, but if she was beaten until she begged for mercy, she would only become one of them.

A person who is afraid of death but lacks the courage to run away and can only beg for mercy.

She could avoid punishment for herself, and she didn't care about their lives.

But she couldn't do it. They were children too, and they had once dreamed of being saved, but that hope never came, and they ended up like this.

Yu's actions told that person that she was no longer hiding.

The whip lashed down from the sky, and You took the brunt of its blow. Instantly, her fair skin turned bright red, with purplish marks appearing. She was in excruciating pain; she wanted to cry out to ease the agony, but she didn't.

Yu was in the candlelight, while the girls were in the darkness; Yu couldn't see them, but they saw them clearly. Whip after whip, wound after wound. They also saw a trace of blood at the corner of Yu's mouth.

Being in the dark, they had no idea how badly they had been beaten; all they knew was that it hurt a lot, and they had to scream out in pain until their throats ached and they became hoarse.

Those younger than You were frightened and horrified by what they saw; those older than You felt sorry for her, knowing that she could have avoided it, but instead endured what she shouldn't have for the sake of strangers.

Perhaps it was a unique emotion among children, but the older children seemed to see a glimmer of light. They suddenly stood up, rushed towards the people who had been beating them, pushed them away, and tried to leave this place.

Amidst the flashing blades and bloodshed, one person after another fell.

"Stop! I'm not dodging anymore, you can't kill them!"

"If they resist, they will have no chance of survival."

"Stop! Stop!" You screamed, but the whip continued to lash him, and blood flowed from the corner of his mouth.

"Kill them all, leave no one alive."

“However, Lord Sai only instructed us to force them, not to kill them,” someone retorted.

But he was killed soon after.

“I’m the boss here, Lord Sai, I’ll explain myself.” The man waved his hand, signaling to kill all the disobedient ones. “Continue.”

"Stop! Stop!"

Yu was exhausted. She went from standing to kneeling on the ground, finally supporting herself with her hands. Between her hands was blood flowing from her mouth, blood she had bitten off earlier while gritting her teeth.

Someone, please save us! Shanks, where are you! Have you noticed I'm missing?!

"Shanks, save us! Shanks!"