Chapter 127: The Unformed Demon Child

Just as they were about to reach the first destination of their journey, Russ wanted to muster up the courage to report to Wood and see how he was doing.

But when Wood appeared on the deck looking as good as ever, Russ and the others breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"Oh, I guess I remembered wrong. So, Russ, where are we now?"

Russ wanted to use force to make Wood remember his name correctly, but considering Wood's strength and ruthless personality, he immediately gave up on correcting Wood's way of addressing him.

"We left the first half of the Grand Line and departed from the Red Line three days ago. We are currently entering the West Blue region."

"Based on the landmarks the captain provided earlier, the majority of locations are in the West Blue. To improve efficiency, we decided to start searching in this sea."

The pirates imprisoned on the first level of Impel Down are mostly newbies, who have just entered the Grand Line. However, if they have bounties on their heads from the Navy, they are certainly not ordinary individuals.

West Blue is known as the strongest of the four seas, and most of the pirates originate from there. Their treasure locations are likely more reliable.

In the West Blue, in the bay of Bird Island.

A group of pirates had just ransacked a small town on the island and were now holding a victory feast on the beach.

Judging by the distribution of the pirates present, the leader of this pirate crew appeared to be a middle-aged man with a shady face and an eye patch over his left eye.

At this moment, he was sitting arrogantly in the top seat, with a feast of roasted meat and fruits laid out before him. On either side of him were two scantily clad women with strikingly voluptuous figures.

The one-eyed man held a wine jug in one hand, drinking heartily, while the other hand roved over the bodies of the women beside him. Meanwhile, his underlings eyed the women with lust and flattered him with endless compliments.

"Captain, you were amazing today! That town's mayor was foolish enough to resist, but what happened in the end? We killed him, took the money, slaughtered the people, and even burned down the houses. What could that old man do about it?"

"Yeah, that old man was ridiculous. What was it he said at the end? He was willing to die alone if we spared the others in the town? Hilarious! The moment they resisted us, their fate was sealed."

"That old fool didn't even consider that we are the notorious 'One-Eyed Pirate Crew' from West Blue. Even when we enter the Grand Line, we'll be a force to be reckoned with. And he dared to secretly contact the Navy? That's a death wish."

Hearing the flattery from his underlings, the captain, with a bounty of 25 million Berries, One-Eyed Bebbart, maintained a stoic exterior, but inside, he was delighted.

Everyone loves to hear praise, and the way his underlings were flattering him now made Bebbart feel that his role as captain was well deserved.

While these notorious pirates boasted about how many defenseless townsfolk they had killed, a lackey of the crew dragged a black-haired, tan-skinned girl and threw her in front of Bebbart.

"Captain, I caught this brat trying to sneak away with the kids we captured."

The black-haired girl was thrown face-first into the sand, taking a hard fall.

Luckily, it was just sand; otherwise, she might have been disfigured by the throw.

The girl, who looked to be about ten years old, had tan skin, ragged clothes, and a face covered in dirt. Her whole body reeked of a foul odor, making her quite unappealing.

In reality, the black-haired girl was part of the "One-Eyed Pirate Crew" or, more accurately, she was a trophy of war.

She had been taken as loot when the "One-Eyed Pirate Crew" defeated another pirate group.

Since she was female and had no combat ability, the crew didn't kill her but instead kept her on the ship to do menial tasks after she begged for her life.

Though her body was covered in filth, the girl's eyes remained bright, showing a strong desire to survive.

Since her homeland was destroyed, the girl had done whatever it took to survive, even attaching herself to various pirate crews—all to keep living.

But today, after witnessing many children who shared her fate, the girl acted on a rare moment of compassion and broke her usual rules, making a grave mistake.

The "One-Eyed Pirate Crew" had only killed the townspeople who resisted, sparing the women and children since such "merchandise" could fetch a good price in certain places.

But now that this merchandise had been set free by the black-haired girl before him, how could Bebbart not be furious?

Surrounded by his underlings, Bebbart knew that if he didn't show his tough side, he'd lose respect and control over them.

"Robin, I only spared you because I pitied you, but now you've gone and let our merchandise escape. You know what that means, right?"

Bebbart grabbed Robin by the hair and lifted her into the air, his single eye glowing with malice.

As Robin screamed and struggled, the surrounding pirates only cheered excitedly, not one stepping forward to help.

Dangling in the air, Robin's face showed despair. She had survived all these years by walking a tightrope, tanning her skin dark and making herself dirty to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

But after all these years of caution, it had all crumbled today.

She had finally paid the price for her foolish compassion, confirming that people should live selfishly.

Jaguar D. Saul was wrong. All that talk of one day finding true friends was just lies...

"Captain! Captain! Something big is happening! I just overheard some crucial information!"

Just as Robin was about to be strangled to death by Bebbart, another lackey from the "One-Eyed Pirate Crew" ran up, panting heavily, to report urgent news.

The lackey's frantic expression made Bebbart pause, and he threw Robin aside like garbage.

"Captain, you told me to keep watch on the other side of the island, right? Guess what I saw—Navy warships are docking on this island..."

Before the lackey could finish, Bebbart slapped him across the face.

"Idiot! Why are you so happy that the Navy is here? Everyone, pack up! We're leaving now!"

Although the "One-Eyed Pirate Crew" wasn't afraid of the local Navy branch, there was no benefit in fighting them head-on, so retreating made sense.

"No, Captain, hear me out! I overheard the Navy saying they came to the island to find some treasure..."

Note: If you are interested, you can read up to chapter 230+ at patreon.com/Betek.