Chapter 9: The Patient and the Origin of Hatred

Chapter 9: The Patient and the Origin of Hatred

On the perilous seaside cliffs of the plateau, a withered, slender hand suddenly reached up over the edge, giving the seagulls nesting there a considerable fright.

The panicked gulls fled, leaving behind floating downy feathers and confused chicks. They flew away quickly, circling and hovering nearby. From their continuous, sharp cries, it was clear they were cursing up a storm, obviously furious at the sudden intruder.

Yelena glanced once at the gulls circling and screeching around her, then paid them no more mind. Over the years, she had experienced this countless times. She was no longer the little girl who would get scared and fall, along with her prey, onto the coastal reefs below.

Looking at the top of the cliff, less than a hundred meters away, she took a deep breath. Gritting her teeth, she reached out the hand that wasn't tightly gripping a thick iron chain and grabbed the next rock jutting out from the cliff face. With a great effort, she pulled herself, along with the sea beast carcass tied to the end of the chain, higher.

Just then, the gull that had been continuously hurling insults at Yelena saw the sea beast's body, which had been obscured by the thick fog. The gull's eyes widened in disbelief, and it almost forgot how to fly, nearly plummeting from the sky.

"..."

Ten minutes later, Yelena, panting heavily, placed her free hand on a large rock at the edge of the plateau.

"Is that how you got the disease in your lungs?"

An unexpected voice sounded, making Yelena, who was still clinging to the cliff, jump. Her heart pounded. The iron chain in her other hand slipped several meters, and the massive sea beast swayed violently below.

"..."

Several minutes later, Yelena stood on the plateau, staring intently at Louis without a word.

"..."

An awkward but polite smile appeared on Louis's face. He subtly took a few steps back, putting some distance between himself and the haggard-looking young woman.

After a long moment, Yelena let out a deep breath. She gazed at Louis's smooth, slightly rounded face and said softly, "My name is Yelena."

"Thank you for saving our lives on the battlefield."

Louis was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and replied, "You can call me Louis."

"Alright..." Yelena nodded slowly.

Louis's gaze fell on the massive sea beast tied up with thick iron chains behind Yelena. He said thoughtfully, "Your lung disease... it's from years of diving into the deep sea to hunt sea beasts, isn't it?"

After healing these people, Louis hadn't left immediately. Instead, he had followed them to the plateau. While Yelena was unconscious, he had explored the entire plateau and found the land to be terrifyingly barren. Coupled with the blockade at the junction with the plains, even a survival expert would starve to death here.

Yet this group of refugees had lived here for many years, which amazed Louis. Eventually, he found a forest of bones near their village, formed from the skeletons of giant beasts. From this, Louis figured out how they were able to survive. For food, they relied on their formidable strength to climb down the plateau's cliffs and hunt. For water, they relied on the occasional rainfall and sneaking down to the plains late at night to steal the water that the Jacob Kingdom deemed worthless from the garbage-filled river.

For people who dive deep into the sea to hunt year after year, the pressure of the deep is a severe burden on their lungs. Over time, it easily leads to lung disease.

Like the young woman in the sports vest before him. In Louis's perception, her life was already nearing its end. His healing was only effective on her external injuries; he was powerless against illnesses.

However, he knew of someone in the Drum Kingdom on the Grand Line who might be able to save her.

Why did he want to save her?

Because Yelena was the most talented person he had ever met. As far as he knew, neither of the two Lunarian settlements—on the sky island or in the Calm Belt—had anyone with such strength at this age.

Therefore, Louis thought it was a real shame for such a person to die from an illness. It would be better to cure her and then trick... no, invite her to join his faction and put her talents to good use.

As expected, Yelena nodded very frankly. "Yes, that's right."

"I inherited my grandfather's responsibility when I was five, hunting from here to provide for our people."

Louis wasn't surprised to hear such an absurd statement. After ten years in this world, he was already immune to the various superhumans he encountered. Moreover, Louis himself was far more absurd than the girl before him; he could chase down and beat Calm Belt trainers who had mastered Haki before he had even grasped Armament Haki himself. No matter how ridiculous she was, she couldn't be more ridiculous than him.

"But after a hundred years of hunting, the sea beasts have all fled to very far, very deep places. Since I was very young, I've had to swim to places my ancestors never reached to hunt."

"Therefore, I'm also the one who developed the disease the earliest among the last few generations." As she spoke, Yelena's tone was remarkably calm, her expression peaceful, one might even say gentle.

Louis tried to find a hint of fear on her face, but in the end, he found nothing.

Then, Yelena put on an overcoat that her people had sewn for her and began to drag the sea beast back.

The plateau was almost completely barren, and what little grew were thorny trees with no nutritional value. Yelena led Louis along a path that had been cleared through the thorn forest.

Along the way, Louis asked Yelena a question. "Yelena, why did that kingdom on the plains below blockade you on this plateau?"

As soon as he spoke, Yelena froze. Her expression shifted unpredictably, and her smile vanished.

Louis was startled, instantly realizing he might have asked something he shouldn't have. But before he could apologize, Yelena started walking again and gave him an answer.

"They are outsiders."

A thoughtful look appeared on Louis's face.

"About a hundred years ago, they were ostracized by other kingdoms on the Grand Line and suffered a genocide." Yelena's voice gradually became ethereal, as if taking Louis back to the era that marked the tragic origin of the Canaan Kingdom.

"At that time, a group of several hundred refugees drifted to this land. The king at the time took them in and gave them a small piece of land by the sea to live on."

"But later, they contacted more of their people to gather on this land, forming a considerable force."

"By the time the king realized what was happening, they had already begun to turn on their hosts and launched a war against us."

"We lost. And just like them in the past, we suffered persecution and genocide. The few of us who remained were driven to the plateau, where we have survived to this day."

Louis fell silent. The questions that had arisen when he saw the numerous ruins and the two completely different architectural styles on the island had now been answered.