Baby Nine/???

After bidding Heracles a warm farewell and transporting everyone back to the ship, they set sail for the next island.

Among the many people was a small and slim looking girl who looked to be around ten or eleven years old and was as thin as a twig previously.

Thanks to the effects of the food on the island she and the many others had undergone drastic changes.

After fattening up and getting introduced to a proper training program they had overcome their weak bodies and transformed into normal looking children their own age full of vitality.

Although some minor effects from starvation had lingered and had reduced their growth, they had begun to show signs of recovery.

Baby Nine who was thirteen years old was at the age where she would begin transforming into a young lady so as she recovered, her now slender body was now growing a little more curves.

However most of the time that was barely seen by people because she was always dressed in a baggy kangaroo one piece that had a large pocket on the front containing a customised sling shot, several Pop Green containers and some small metal balls.

She removed her slightly curly black hair from blocking her dark black eyes as she looked towards the captains room where Alyssia had been busy studying her skills and continuing her research. "It seems captain is busy again… hmph!"

Baby Nine had the desire to study more under Alyssia but had been ignored upon arriving back on the ship.

However she was used to being independent and resourceful so she had busied herself with her studies and practice.

In her view, Alyssia was more of a mom to her and the other kids than her true mother who abandoned her at the age of four.

Many of her siblings before her suffered the same fate, her mother was one of the few fertile women in the village so her fate was not something that could be described in great detail because of the vile acts involved…

Since there were so few women who had only been kept within the village for to reproduce or work, most others were abandoned as a baby or at a young age.

Her mother looked down at her full of resentment many times and when the villagers decided they could not afford to feed her anymore, she was tossed out by her mother giving her the words that she was not needed because she is useless.

However she was a smart child so she noticed the looking her mothers eyes.

It was a dead look of someone who had long gotten used to this kind of life she had lived and although she was insulting her daughter, it seemed as if she was actually talking about herself.

In the end, she was just a weak woman who had to give birth on the mens whims and that was her only value to them, she had been convinced time and time again to abandon her child.

Helplessly, she had to comply again and again, saying that she this was the last time.

Each time she became even more self loathing and as her children were born each time, she became even more distant with them and even started to hate them because she knew that they were destined to die out in the forest or the mountain area somewhere.

If she paid them any attention, she knew that she would be reminded of her other children who had perished so she kept getting worse with the children that were born later.

The peer pressure in the village was so frightening that they would band together to oppress and force their decisions on others, if others did not agree with them or fit in with the group they may even restrict a person or families food and drink available to them or even restrain them locking them up to starve in a dark room for many days.

Among the many children the woman had, there were two that had resembled herself a little and had inherited her black hair and eyes.

She hated those two kids the most because it was like looking in a mirror reflecting her ugly weak self who is constantly trampled on so when the time came she had said those hurtful words to them.

The first time she said so, Baby Five was frightened and hurt by those words but did not understand the true meaning behind it.

The second time she said those cruel words, she was met with a pair of eyes that seemed to wish to understand her and also held some pity towards her.

In response to seeing those eyes, she pushed the child away from herself and shouted. "Go! Survive and do not come back! If you do come back I will not forgive you!"

It had been a very long time since she had gone completely mad but in that moment she seemed to gain some clarity upon seeing her daughters during her final moments.

Upon finally looking at her properly for the first time ever, she hoped that the child would survive but never return.

The village was not suitable for females and she hoped that if her daughter survived, then Baby Nine would not be exploited by the village as she had and live freely.

That way she felt as if a part of herself had escaped the village and she had finally gained one up on those awful villagers however she still had to return on her own as instructed.

Little did she know that another black haired child had found a way to live and escaped the island a long time ago.

If she tries to escape, she will be hunted down and brought back..

Even if she escapes or ends her own life before being captured, they will only try to find a replacement for herself so she did not wish for her daughter to be brought back to be raised as a replacement.

Upon running into the mountains, the small young black haired girl began to eat the dead grass or dirt upon being hungry while foraging for any food.

She came across the leader of the children who had been abandoned and learned how to survive with them for a long time.

Eventually she became a useful part of the team becoming the number three of the group because of her resourcefulness and her ability to set traps to help hunting.

She was also a decent shot with the sling shot firing stones and had some skill using the wooden spear that the group carried so she was one of the few people capable of hunting.

After many years of having a bad relationship with the adults and suffering some losses after some had died from illness, starvation, during a battle or some had disappeared after being kidnapped by the villagers or other groups, they had grown up able to form a group of the remaining survivors.

She naturally became the big sister to many but when Alyssia came, things changed and new things were introduced to them all that they had never known before allowing a way to fight back or survive.

Although the leader decided to stay and uphold his responsibilities, she felt a calling to the sea so took this chance.

So far she had experienced many different sights and witnessed the transformation of Alyssia which was a little scary but also quite mystical.

Although the race was different, she did not have any feelings of rejection towards Alyssia at all.

Upon arriving at the Boin Archipelago things changed very quickly and traitors were revealed, the battle let her know of her weakness and how useless she was on board the ship so she wanted to improve herself.

Upon being introduced to the food, the island, the Pop Greens, the dangers on the island and the various training and hunting schedules made by Alyssia, Baby Nine had finally found a way to improve herself so worked extra hard to get where she was.

Upon being recognised by the captain for her efforts, she was happy but replied with. "Hmph! I am only doing this for myself! It isn't for you or anything like that!"

Alyssia smiled warmly and patted her head affectionately. "I know. Grow strong so that you can protect yourself first, then you can worry about protecting others. To be able to protect me, you must be super strong! Aha!"

Baby Nine puffed up her cheeks and pouted in response.

Alyssia calmly looked at her and continued. "Since you have worked hard how about I give you a new name if you would like? I don't want to make a habit of renaming all you kids but I at least have to give one to the one that I recognise as their little boss. That is.. of course if you are comfortable with having a new name."

Baby Nine blushed but turned her face away to not be seen. "Do as you please.."

Seeing the child agreeing silently but acting as she did not care either way, Alyssia pondered over what to choose. 'Jiu means nine so that could work since it is short but that would be too lazy…sigh. Lets think…a name for a black flower or a deadly one? Nah… hmm..hmm..hmm..'

After thinking it over, she came across a name that she had heard before which seemed unusual but also the other party had constantly bragged about the meaning behind it. "How about Yvie? I believe that it means alive or full of life. It is my wish that you can learn how to preserve your life the best that you can and enjoy every moment of it from now on no matter what challenges you may face."

However ever since then, Alyssia had rarely come out of her room only to check the navigation of the ship and see over everything before going back inside again.

Yvie took the sling shot out of her front pocket along with a container of balls and began to practice firing at the targets that had been set up filled with great determination to grow even stronger and healthier than before.

Maybe she will receive praise again if she can learn how to defeat the adults and grow more powerful than them!

However she did not realise that although many onboard were strong after training and experienced fighters now, her own skills if used correctly could inflict great harm and restrict many of them at once especially if she used her favourite Javelin Pop Green to pierce their bodies with.

Although they could not pierce through an Ancient Zoan Devil Fruit user like Page One or Ulti from the Beast Pirates, it was still able to cause heavy damage to a large army of Fishmen and people in the New World.

However she still needed further practice to properly use them in combat again humans who would be able to notice the strangeness of the Pop Green and avoid the location that it is fired.