Chapter 9

Not long before Abel's departure, Law, with a rough cloth covering the white patches on his face, was caught stealing bread by the shopkeeper and suffered a beating.

Fortunately, Law protected his face, thus avoiding his identity being exposed.

Otherwise, it would have surely incited a great uproar, possibly even putting his life in danger.

After the beating, Law, weakened by hunger, simply sat dazed in a street corner. He didn't want to return; he just didn't have the energy.

"What a pitiful boy. Here, take this small change to buy some food."

After a while, a kind passerby took notice of Law, sitting by the side of the road. Moved by his plight, she handed two coins to Law, urging him to buy something to eat.

It was two hundred Beli, not much, but enough to fill his stomach with some black bread. After all, the price of a newspaper was only one hundred Beli.

Law was silent at first, then suddenly snatched the two coins from the woman's hand and immediately fled, head low, leaving the woman standing there in astonishment.

He didn't want others' pity or sympathy, so he'd rather 'rob' the money in this way!

This way, he was just a plain bad boy, not a pitiful worm needing someone's mercy.

What Law didn't know was that his actions were clearly seen by a few homeless men by the roadside.

They glanced at each other and quietly followed.

"Huff. Huff."

Out of pride or something else, Law ran far away until he couldn't see the woman anymore. Then, panting heavily, he stopped.

The two coins were clutched tightly in his hand.

With these two hundred Beli, at least he and Abel would have a meal.

With this thought, Law's mind gradually calmed down.

But when he turned around, ready to spend the two hundred Beli, he found the entrance of the alley he had run into blocked by two grimly smiling homeless men.

"Damn it!" Law thought.

Without hesitation, he turned around again, intending to run deeper into the alley.

But the other exit was also blocked.

With both ways blocked, Law was trapped like a turtle in a jar with no escape.

The lead homeless man, with long hair and disgusting yellow teeth, said with malice:

"Kid, you've got some nerve! Begging in my territory without even saying hello, do you even know the rules?"

Law initially didn't want to conflict with them. After all, in terms of numbers, age, and physique, he was at a total disadvantage. It was impossible to win.

But the word 'begging' from the man's mouth deeply hurt his pride, triggering his rebellious spirit.

So, without a second thought, he shouted back, "You're full of crap! I stole this from that stupid woman!"

"Heh, you stole it? Then it's only fair that we steal from you, haha!"

The homeless men immediately burst into mocking laughter, their ill intentions becoming more evident.

Law knew he couldn't keep the money in his hand anymore.

Right now, the best option would be to swallow his pride and beg for mercy.

However, the long-accumulated resentment in his heart kept him from making such a move. Instead, he glared fiercely at the men.

"Come and try!" he spat.

Such a defiant look, naturally, irritated the homeless men to no end!

Every day they had to put up with countless disdainful glances and scorn. Now they had finally found a seemingly easy target for their amusement, only to find that he was more stubborn than expected, refusing to play by their 'script'.

This, no doubt, infuriated them!

"Such a cocky kid. I hope you can still be this tough once I break all your limbs!" sneered the long-haired homeless man. After saying that, he promptly stepped forward and knocked Law to the ground. The rest soon piled on, mercilessly kicking the crumpled Law against the wall.

Law now bore no resemblance to the renowned Supernova. He could only protect his head with his arms as best he could, clenching his teeth tightly to stop himself from crying out in pain.

After enduring another vicious beating, Law was gasping for breath.

After all, these homeless men, living on the fringes of society, didn't understand the concept of holding back. They kicked and punched as they pleased, venting all their everyday frustrations on Law.

The spark that started it all - those two coins - had already fallen to the ground, ignored by everyone.

Obviously, what was happening now had nothing to do with the initial two hundred Beli.

Even in Law's current miserable state, the homeless men had no intention of letting him go.

With a cruel smile, the long-haired man said, "Hold him down. I'm a man of my word. I said I'd break his limbs, and that's what I'm going to do!"

The others immediately became excited, not caring at all that Law was just a child. They efficiently stretched him out and held him down.

The long-haired homeless man flashed his disgusting yellow teeth in a cruel grin once more, raising his foot to break Law's limbs with a brutal stomp.

Even so, Law kept staring fiercely at him.

For some reason, that look made the long-haired man feel a sudden chill, which quickly turned into rage.

"After breaking your limbs, I'm going to gouge out your eyes. Let's see how long you can keep glaring!"

Just as the man's foot was about to come crashing down on Law, a strong whooshing sound came from behind him.

With a resounding thud!

A rock the size of a fist struck the back of the long-haired man, sending him tumbling to the ground with a cry of pain.

The sudden turn of events left the other three homeless men stunned.

However, the timely arrival of Abel didn't let this opportunity slip.

Placing a similarly sized rock under his foot, he gave it a powerful kick!

Though Abel had never been a soccer player, he had frequently played during his college days in his past life. Plus, with the distance between the two parties being only a dozen meters, his aim was somewhat guaranteed, not too far off.

The result was another homeless man unlucky enough to take a rock to the face and promptly passed out.

Now, the remaining two men finally noticed Abel's presence.

Unfortunately, Abel's third kick went astray. The rock smashed into the wall next to one of the homeless men, shattering into pieces.

"Damn it!"

Abel furrowed his brow but didn't continue his assault.

It wasn't because he ran out of rocks. His right shoe, which enhanced his kicking strength, had run out of power, and he didn't have the ability to kick with his left foot, so he simply chose to give up.