One Piece: The sky is azure, I just time-traveled today.

Page 24

But those two arms followed her like a shadow, appearing on her body.

She looked in horror at the fact that she had four hands...

She remembered the children calling her a "freak," and the disgusted looks her relatives gave her...

Am I... really... a freak?

This thought was like ice water poured over her head, making her feel as if she had instantly fallen into an ice cave.

Overwhelmed by immense fear and resentment.

"Woo...Woo..."

She couldn't hold back any longer, hugged her knees, buried her face in them, and burst into tears.

The cries echoed across the empty coastline and woodlands, filled with helplessness and despair.

She didn't know what those two arms were, nor did she know what was happening to her body.

All she knew was that she seemed to have... truly become a monster.

A monster that even it fears.

The cold wind continued to howl, blowing against the girl's thin clothes and dark hair.

She cried so hard she was hoarse, as if she wanted to cry out all her fear and grievances.

The two arms that appeared out of nowhere trembled slightly as she cried unconsciously, and finally, just as they had appeared, they vanished silently into the air.

It's like it never existed.

Liu Jiu has been living on this island in the West Sea for some time now.

The island was small, and the people weren't exactly honest, but they weren't particularly bad either. He found a cliff by the sea, built a simple shed to shelter him from the wind and rain, and spent his days fishing and gathering, occasionally going to town to exchange for necessities. His life, like him, was quiet and almost stagnant.

He had met Robin, a little girl with black hair who was always alone but had a determined look in her eyes, several times.

Every time he saw her, she was never well-liked and was often bullied by other children. He didn't deliberately approach her because the timing wasn't right.

That day, he had just come out of the woods and was about to return to his lodging on the cliff when he heard a suppressed sob coming from afar.

She cried very sadly, with a hint of despair in her voice.

He initially didn't want to pay attention; it's normal for children to cry. But the crying continued, and... it seemed to be coming from near the path he usually walked.

He frowned, but still followed the sound.

Then, beside a clump of withered bushes, he saw the small figure curled up on the ground, trembling with tears. It was Robin.

She was so focused on crying that she didn't even notice him approaching.

Liu Jiu stopped a few steps away from her, watching her thin shoulders heave violently from sobbing.

"What's wrong?" he asked, his voice still devoid of emotion. "Did you get bullied again?"

The sudden sound made Robin tremble, and her crying stopped abruptly. She looked up in horror, her eyes brimming with tears, towards the source of the sound.

It was that uncle who lived on the edge of the cliff, who rarely spoke and seemed aloof.

Seeing it was him didn't reassure Robin; instead, she felt even more frightened and embarrassed. She didn't want anyone to see her in this disheveled state, especially since... she was now a monster!

She instinctively wanted to hide herself, to cover up the terrible scene that had just happened.

But fear and resentment surged up again like a tide, and she couldn't help but sob and cry out intermittently:

"I...I've turned into a monster..."

She stretched out her hands, but her arms had vanished:

"Hand...hand...another hand...grew out...just now..."

"Waaah... I'll never... never be liked by anyone again..."

"I'm a monster... Waaah..."

She was incoherent, crying uncontrollably, her small face covered in tears and dirt, looking extremely pitiful.

Liu Jiu listened quietly, his expression unchanged.

Another hand grew out of your hand? Just now?

He understood immediately.

In the original work, Robin possessed the Flower-Flower Fruit, but now she has become a Devil Fruit user.

Moreover, it seems that he had just eaten it not long ago, and his abilities went out of control, scaring himself.

He looked at the little girl in front of him, who was crying so hard she was almost fainting. Her eyes, which always held determination and envy for others who had parents, were now filled with immense fear and self-loathing.

He was silent for a moment.

Then, he stepped forward, not to help her up, but to bend down and pick up the purple fruit on the ground that had been bitten and was emitting a strange aura.

He held the fruit and waved it in front of Robin.

"Is it because you ate this?" he asked.

Robin looked at the fruit in his hand through teary eyes, nodded vigorously, and cried even harder: "Ugh... Waaah... It tastes awful... And then... And then..."

Liu Jiu ate the rest of the fruit in one go. As for the taste, it wasn't particularly delicious; in short, it was a hundred times worse than "Ouli Gei".

He looked at Robin again and spoke in a calm tone, but his words choked Robin's sobs.

"I've eaten it now, but that doesn't mean we're monsters."

Robin lifted her tear-streaked face and stared blankly at him.

Liu Jiu continued, "This is called a Devil Fruit. It's something that grants special abilities when eaten."

He pointed to the hands Robin had just stretched out: "The hands you saw are your own abilities."

Robin was completely stunned, forgetting to cry.

Ability...?

She...she just...gained...the ability?

Looking at her bewildered yet hopeful eyes, Liu Jiu had little patience for a detailed explanation and simply summarized:

So, there's no need to cry.

"No one will dislike you more because of this. Even if someone does, I just ate that fruit, and from now on... we'll be the same kind!"

His tone remained devoid of any comforting warmth, even sounding somewhat harsh.

But to Robin, it sounded like a ray of sunlight piercing through thick, dark clouds.

Not a monster...

We are the same kind...

She stared blankly at Liu Jiu, at his calm and expressionless face, at his eyes that revealed no deception or perfunctoriness.

The nerves that had been taut and on the verge of collapse suddenly relaxed.

A feeling of utter exhaustion, as if she had survived a disaster, overwhelmed her.

But this time, it wasn't despair.

She sniffed hard, lifted her dirty sleeve, and wiped the tears and snot off her face haphazardly.

Although her eyes were still red and her body was still trembling slightly from crying, the intense fear and self-loathing that had enveloped her had largely dissipated.

She looked at Liu Jiu, and asked again in a low voice, with a hint of uncertainty:

"Really...not a monster?"

Liu Jiu hummed in agreement.

Then, without saying anything more, he turned around and walked towards his cliff.

Robin watched his departing figure without following him, but stood there blankly for a long time.

The sea breeze carries a salty, fishy smell.

She looked down at her hands.

Try, carefully, and concentrate.

The next moment, a tiny hand exactly like hers silently grew from the tree trunk beside her.

Robin was startled, but this time, she didn't scream; she just stared nervously at the hand.

The hand moved, mimicking the movement of her body, and bent its fingers.

It really is... ability...

Not a monster...

She looked at the hand that was growing on the tree trunk, her own, and a complex, indescribable emotion welled up inside her.

There was lingering fear, there was confusion, but more than anything, there was a sense of relief after a heavy burden had been lifted...

She looked up and gazed in the direction where Liu Jiu had disappeared.

That uncle...

Although very cold.

But he didn't lie to her.

He told her that she was not a monster, and that they were all people who had eaten the fruit.

Chapter 24: Gifts of Gratitude and Guidance

A few days later, on a rare warm winter afternoon, the sun shone brightly.

Liu Jiu sat on a flat rock at the edge of the cliff, eyes closed, letting the sunlight bathe him and dispel the chill of the sea breeze. He was like a reef that had been washed by the waves for millions of years, quiet and composed.

The sound of light, hesitant footsteps came from the path behind me.

The person moved very lightly, stopping and starting intermittently, revealing their unease.

Liu Jiu did not open his eyes.

The footsteps stopped a few steps behind him.