Chapter 19: Orphans of Fill Kingdom

“Hey, that one’s mine!”

Karl could hear the arguing inside before he even got through the door.

“Yours? I say it’s mine!”

“Try calling it and see if it answers you! Give it back!”

“Just get lost, will you?”

A burly pirate kicked a scar-faced pirate to the ground.

“Give it to me, or you’re dead meat.”

The other pirate scrambled up, drawing his cutlass and charging right back in.

In an instant, the two were locked in a brawl.

Karl had just finished dealing with the auction house slaves and was making his way to the palace when he heard the pirates squabbling over loot.

He’d told them—half the spoils would be theirs.

So instead of hauling the loot to the ship, they started fighting over it on the spot. After all, only what you grab with your own hands is truly yours.

“Any Devil Fruits in there?”

Krell was waiting nearby, catching Karl’s eye.

Karl didn’t bother breaking up the fight. Even though he’d only spent a day on this island, he’d seen this scene play out too many times.

Back with the Rocks Pirates, it was almost routine for crew members to turn on each other.

He didn’t have any attachment to these pirates—they were just temporary subordinates, so he couldn’t care less if they lived or died.

“My lord, all we’ve got in the treasury are these three metal boxes, stashed in the very back. Everything else is just gold and other valuables.”

Krell immediately darted over, holding a tray with three heavy metal boxes—all locked tight. They definitely looked like containers for Devil Fruits.

“What about the royal family?”

Suspecting that this island’s king was mixed up in the slave trade, Karl felt zero affection for anyone from this place.

Human trafficking wasn’t unusual in the New World, but that didn’t mean Karl had to like people who did it.

“Don’t worry, Lord Karl. Not a single royal was left alive.”

“Good. I’m heading back to the ship. Watch over them and get all the loot moved on board—I’ll be waiting for you there!”

The moment Karl learned this kingdom dealt in slaves, he knew he couldn’t let these people go. Slave traders are despised everywhere.

“Rest assured, Lord Karl.”

Fill Kingdom was just a minor ally nation—the island was tiny, home to less than fifty thousand people.

Karl hefted the three metal boxes and made his way back to the ship.

“Come on, break it up! Get the loot loaded up!”

Krell might act respectful in front of Karl, but in everyone else’s eyes, he was as fierce and vicious as they come.

Seeing the two pirates still tangled up, Krell strode over and sent both flying with a single punch each.

Once they quieted down, Krell got serious.

He started barking orders, getting all the pirates to haul the loot aboard. They were heading back to Beehive Island soon—no time to waste here.

On his way back to the ship, Karl sensed something in a narrow alley: two kids clutching each other tight.

“Hide, big bro!”

“I know, just stay down too, little brother.”

The brothers cowered behind a trash bin at the end of the alley.

Maybe it was his Titan gift, but Karl could sense a hidden power within both boys.

He figured it might be some special physique unique to this world—like Kaido’s oni bloodline. Suddenly, he was curious.

“You two, come out of there.”

Karl stood at the mouth of the alley and called out to them.

“Are we caught, big bro?”

Long Er trembled with fear. The last thing he wanted was to go back to that dark, hopeless life as a slave.

“Don’t talk, little brother.”

Long Yi managed a faint smile.

He comforted his brother first, then slowly poked his little head out from behind the trash bin.

The moment Long Yi’s eyes peeked out, he saw Karl standing there, smiling warmly at them.

“Come out, you little guys.”

These two probably were orphans. Once the island was raided and the auction house plundered, tons of slaves escaped. Most of the slave children had come from other islands, so odds were most of them were orphans.

“Come with me. You’re free now.”

Karl’s eyes caught sight of the chains around Long Yi’s wrists.

They must be among those escaped slaves. Since he’d found them, he might as well take them along.

“Really? Big brother, is it true?”

Long Yi’s memories were nothing but endless darkness—he’d completely forgotten his parents and didn’t even remember who he was.

“Of course. From now on, just call me Karl. I’ll look after you.”

“Thank you, Lord Karl!”

Long Yi yanked Long Er out from behind the trash bin, and together the scrawny boys bowed deeply to Karl.

“Alright, you two look half-starved. Follow me.”

It was obvious from a glance—their bodies were nothing but skin and bones.

Karl led them toward the pirate ship waiting at the port.

“Do you remember your names?”

“Lord Karl, I’m Long Yi, and this is my younger brother, Long Er.”

“We were caught and kept as slaves since we were little.”

“But they said we were too skinny and weak, so we got auctioned off again and again, but nobody bought us.”

“That’s only because they never gave us anything to eat.”

“We made a lot of friends at the auction house, but they all escaped while things were chaotic just now.”

“My little brother and I weren’t fast enough, so we found a place to hide.”

Long Yi and Long Er told their story, taking turns.

Karl took another look at the boys—their limbs were stick-thin, every rib showing.

He couldn’t help thinking, If this were back home on Blue Star, something like this would never happen. There’d be news coverage, charities would step in. No one would end up like this. It made him ache inside, though he didn’t let it show.

Karl walked ahead while Long Yi and Long Er huddled together, trailing behind.

“Get some food for these two. Nothing too greasy.”

“Yes, Lord Karl!”

First thing back on the ship, Karl told the chef to prepare a meal.

He didn’t ask for a feast—just something simple. After all, if you feed starving kids too much at once, they’ll just get sick instead of better. Of course, if they can actually handle it, that’s another story.

These two were so weak, a stiff breeze might blow them away.

“Thank you, Lord Karl, thank you!”

Once again, Long Yi and Long Er bowed deeply.

“Alright, go wash up first. You two reek.”

Long Yi and Long Er sniffed each other, embarrassed—they were used to smelling this way.

They’d just crawled out of a garbage bin, so the stink of rotting food clung to them. But after Karl said so, the only thing they could do was nod and obey.

After sending the pair off to the chef, Karl made his way to his own cabin.

He closed the door behind him.

“Creak!”

He didn’t have a key, so he chose brute force—instead of delicacy, he just tore the three metal boxes apart, cracking them open like watermelons.

“Shame about the waste!”

Opening the boxes, he found two were empty inside. The boxes had seemed heavy, so at first he hadn’t noticed only one actually held anything.

Even if there was only one left, a Devil Fruit was still a big prize.

The Devil Fruit inside looked like a banana—deep gray with strange, mysterious patterns across its skin.

“Looks like a Zoan-type Devil Fruit, though I have no idea what kind.”

“System, what kind of Devil Fruit is this?”

“Scan complete: Zoan-type Rhino-Rhino Fruit.”

“Not bad. Got lucky after all.”