Lilac Island before dawn was shrouded in a gray-blue mist.
The neon lights of the casino had long been extinguished, leaving only the iron cages of the slave market gleaming with a cold, hard luster in the morning light.
Gern leaned in the shadow of the alleyway, his fingertips gently caressing the hilt of black blade eight desolations, his gaze never leaving that cage.
Tesoro’s voice was hoarse yet gentle, the worn guitar strings sounding exceptionally clear on the silent street.
Stella leaned against the iron bars, her fingers interlocking with his through the gaps, the light in her eyes brighter than Moonlight.
They sang a folk song from West Blue, about seagulls and lighthouses, about an unextinguished waiting...
Gern did not move, nor did he make a sound.
He just watched quietly, watching Tesoro brush away the stray hairs from Stella’s face, watching Stella suddenly smile when she heard a certain melody.
That kind of smile made the shadow of the cage transparent.
“So that’s it,” Gern narrowed his eyes. “This is the magic that can turn a gambler into a saint…”
Slowly, the blonde girl and the green-haired youth in the cage leaned against each other and slept.
As the morning light grew, Tesoro finally stood up, his forehead resting against the iron bars as he whispered, “Wait for me three more days… This time I can gather enough money.”
Seeing Tesoro’s many years of effort about to succeed, Stella nodded vigorously, her fingertips reluctantly tracing his palm.
Only when the youth’s back disappeared around the street corner did Gern step out of the shadows.
Noticing someone approaching, Stella in the iron cage instantly tensed, the light in her eyes vanishing.
She reverted to that numb slave, curled in the corner, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the collar on her neck, her eyes empty.
Last night’s song with Tesoro felt like a dream, but the reality of day remained cold.
“What a beautiful singing voice,” Gern stopped in front of the cage and said softly.
Hearing the voice, Stella suddenly looked up, clearly seeing the person in front of her was wearing a black uniform, a top hat, and a long saber wrapped in white cloth at his waist.
“His desperate efforts for you are truly moving.”
Hearing Gern mention Tesoro, Stella, even though she didn’t recognize the person in front of her, still clutched her skirt tightly, her voice deliberately hoarse.
“What do you want to do to him?”
Gern chuckled softly, tapping the iron bars with his fingertips: “Not me, but this world.”
He leaned closer, his shadow falling on Stella’s pale face, “Do you think he can redeem you once he has enough money? Naive.”
Stella’s breathing quickened.
Of course, she knew the darkness of this city—slave owners would raise prices at the last minute, guards would deliberately make things difficult, and even…
“Accidents” always happened to slaves on the verge of freedom.
“Who exactly are you?” she asked tremblingly.
Looking at Stella like this, Gern sighed and leaned against the iron bars.
“Do you think Tesoro would do anything for you? After all, he changed because of you.”
Hearing Gern mention Tesoro again, Stella’s expression changed, and a glimmer of light appeared in her eyes.
Although it outwardly seemed that Tesoro changed because of Stella, wasn't it also Tesoro's sudden intrusion that gave Stella a glimmer of light amidst her despair?
So, hearing Gern mention Tesoro, Stella became very agitated, her voice trembling with suppressed emotion: “What do you want to do to him?”
Gern did not answer, but instead, the corner of his mouth curved slightly as he turned and left.
His silhouette lengthened in the morning light, the black uniform and top hat gradually merging into the shadows of the street.
Stella’s fingers clutched the iron bars tightly, her knuckles white, and a low, hoarse question squeezed from her throat: “What exactly do you want to do…?”
However, Gern’s steps did not stop; he merely raised his hand and waved, as if saying goodbye, or perhaps mocking her powerlessness.
Stella watched the direction he disappeared, her chest heaving violently.
She slowly slid to the ground, her fingertips unconsciously stroking the collar on her neck; the cold metallic touch sobered her a little.
She closed her eyes, and Tesoro’s song seemed to echo in her ears again, that West Blue folk song about seagulls and lighthouses.
“Three days…” she whispered, as if convincing herself, “Just three more days…”
But Gern’s words coiled around her heart like a venomous snake—“Do you think he can redeem you once he has enough money?”
In the distance, the bells of the slave market chimed, and a new day began.
The world outside the iron cage was still noisy, but the blonde girl within the cage seemed to be isolated in another dimension.
She hugged her knees tightly, buried her face in her arms, and trembled silently.
The morning light grew brighter, but it could not penetrate the shadows in her eyes.
........
Lilac Island in the afternoon was scorching hot under the blazing sun. Tesoro clutched a stack of crumpled Berries he had just earned, a rare smile on his lips.
He specially came back early, wanting to tell Stella some good news.
The casino boss promised to pay him three days' wages in advance tomorrow.
But the moment he turned the street corner, his smile froze.
A luxurious carriage bearing the World Government emblem was parked in front of the slave shop.
A Celestial Dragon, wearing a glass bubble helmet, was nonchalantly pointing with a jewel-encrusted finger towards Stella in the iron cage.
The slave shop owner bowed and scraped, opening the cage door, and the collar’s chain was handed to the Celestial Dragon like a dog leash.
“No… No! Wait!” Tesoro’s throat let out a roar. He rushed forward, frantically grabbing the Celestial Dragon’s cape.
“I already paid a deposit! Three days… just three more days…”
The Celestial Dragon didn’t even turn his head.
“Bang!” A CP agent’s leather shoe heavily kicked Tesoro in the abdomen.
Instantly, he was thrown out like a broken sack, the sound of his ribs breaking clearly audible.
Blood spilled from the corner of his mouth, but he still struggled to crawl forward, his fingernails scraping a harsh sound on the stone pavement.
“Gild!” Stella suddenly cried out.
Tesoro looked up and saw her smile.
Sunlight streamed through her disheveled blonde hair, reflecting off the grotesque slave collar on her neck, yet her smile was brighter than ever.
“Don’t worry,” her voice was as soft as the night wind, “My heart will always belong to you.”
She subtly pointed to her chest, where Tesoro’s hairpin from last night was hidden.
“Thank you… During this time, I felt happy from the bottom of my heart.”
The Celestial Dragon tugged the chain, the collar digging into her skin, but she was still smiling until she was roughly dragged away.
The agent also deliberately stepped on Tesoro’s fingers, but he felt no pain.
The world lost its color at that moment.
Tesoro lay sprawled on the ground, his pupils dilated.
He heard the slave shop owner kicking him and cursing, “Idiot, that’s a Celestial Dragon! You should have gotten enough money earlier, now I’ve lost money directly! Damn it…”
Suddenly, the owner’s voice and actions abruptly stopped.
A pair of pitch-black military boots stepped through the pool of blood and stopped in front of Tesoro.
Gern looked down at Tesoro and placed a patterned golden gourd-shaped Devil Fruit beside his blood-stained hand.
“Without power, you will only lose everything,” Gern’s voice was terrifyingly calm, “Power is everything.”
Tesoro’s fingertips trembled as they touched the fruit, tears mixed with blood dripping onto the twisted spiral patterns.
“Without it, you can’t even get your cries to her ears.”
With that, Gern slowly walked forward, the hem of his black overcoat sweeping the ground, each step like a beat on the drum of death.
“You commoner! Do you know who I am?!” Charloss, the Celestial Dragon, stared with wide eyes, incredulous at this commoner who dared to disregard his authority.
“You see me and you don’t kneel, you even dare to stand in front of me!”
Seeing Gern ignore him, Charloss even furiously pulled out a golden pistol, aimed it at Gern’s forehead, and pulled the trigger.
“Bang!” The bullet pierced the air but passed straight through Gern’s figure, as if he were merely an illusion.
“Wh-… What?!” Charloss’s voice was distorted by shock, and after firing several more shots, he frantically stumbled back two steps, screaming,
“Where are the CP agents?! Kill him for me!! No, I want him as my slave!!”
Hearing Charloss’s command, several CP agents instantly attacked from all directions, their blades and finger pistols aimed at Gern’s vital points.
However, the moment they stepped within three meters of Gern—
“Buzz!” An invisible shockwave swept through, and all the agents froze simultaneously, blood oozing from their eyes, ears, mouths, and noses.
All of them collapsed like rags, their internal organs instantly shattered.
Gern’s steps did not stop; he walked directly in front of Charloss.
The Celestial Dragon finally showed a look of fear, his face twisted under the glass bubble helmet: “You, do you know who I am?! I am a Celestial…”
“Crack!” Gern’s fingers, like steel pliers, crushed the breathing mask, and he grabbed Charloss by the neck, lifting him up.
Charloss was also frantically kicking his short legs in distress, his jewel-encrusted rings reflecting a comical light in the sunlight.
“Honestly,” Gern tilted his head, a cold disgust rising in his dark eyes.
“I truly detest a weak-minded product of inbreeding like you.”
With that, a slight tremor passed through, and Charloss suffered comminuted fractures throughout his body, his pupils suddenly dilating.
Seeing this, Gern casually tossed the corpse in front of Tesoro, like discarding a bag of trash.
“Eat this Devil Fruit, and then… kill him with your own hands.”
“I kill a Celestial Dragon?!” Tesoro’s expression jolted, and then he looked around and realized.
Everyone within a 10-mile radius had disappeared at some unknown time.
Now, only he, Gern, and Stella were still conscious!
“That’s right…” Gern took off his hat, revealing his face, and smiled faintly at Tesoro’s shocked and bewildered gaze.
“Kill the Celestial Dragon, then join the Marine.”