“Lami, what are you—”
Night descended, and the lights in the monastery gradually went out. Even the flames on the Rapidash’s backs dimmed. It was at this time that Lami returned to the monastery carrying Law over her shoulder.
“I brought my brother back. This way, he won’t offend Mr. Kaido.”
After adjusting the cushion, Lami placed Law in the chair and even straightened the position of his head.
Although Law was much taller than Lami, doing this took little effort for her.
This was also why Lami believed she could serve as a battle nun. She had undergone extensive combat training and was among the best of the monastery members of her generation.
However, Lami’s somewhat rough behavior still struck Misu as a little strange. It seemed that in the overall environment of the Beasts Pirates, no matter how quiet and gentle someone normally was, they would reveal their violent traits when faced with certain special situations.
Misu had considered that Lami might use this method, but she had not expected her to be this fast. Among the new generation of pirates, Law was one of the most outstanding.
In the World Government’s eyes, he was even qualified to become a Shichibukai, yet judging from the situation, the fight between him and Lami had not lasted more than a few minutes.
“Brother, just like before, has absolutely no guard up against me. Sister, could you give me some time? I’d like to speak with my brother alone.”
Seeing Lami place a Seastone bracelet on Law, Misu withdrew from the room and began her night patrol.
Lami then used a newly synthesized poison to kill the poison that had rendered Law unconscious. Before long, Law woke up without even the slightest headache. During the process of awakening him, Lami had already eliminated all of those potential problems.
But that did not mean Law could remain calm after waking up. The moment he regained consciousness, his fingers instinctively formed the gesture to activate his surgical space, but nothing happened.
“Calm down, Brother. That bracelet is made of high-purity Seastone. Only the craftsmen of Wano Country possess special techniques for forging Seastone. Otherwise, making an item like this would be quite difficult.”
“Who are you?”
“Of course I’m your little sister. When you first met the Sister, didn’t you ask her to keep it a secret from me?
“What? Now that the truth is right in front of you, you’re afraid to accept it? Let me think. When you were six years old…”
“That’s enough. You don’t need to say anything else. I know you’re Lami.”
Seeing that Lami intended to expose his black history, Law hurriedly stopped her.
He was not doubting Lami’s identity. Rather, her behavior gave him an unfamiliar feeling.
“It has been sixteen years since Flevance was destroyed. That is enough time for even people who knew each other well to change, let alone us, who never recognized each other during all that time.
But that isn’t important. I can’t even say exactly when my memories began to loosen, but after we finally managed to reunite, do you really have to walk down a path that leads only to death?”
There was little small talk. Lami also knew that Law was in no mood to reminisce. If they did not clarify the problem before them, it would only affect everything that came afterward.
“You know everything?”
“Brother, you’re not a fool. You should understand very clearly that although the World Government calls the Beasts Pirates pirates, what the Beasts Pirates can accomplish goes far beyond anything ordinary pirates could do.
Furthermore, this place has a very unusual system of government. As a member of the Arceus Cult, I naturally have access to certain information…
You should stop those little actions of yours. You won’t be able to remove that bracelet, Brother.”
Lami wiped the religious emblem on the table, but from the corner of her eye, she noticed the movements of Law’s fingers.
“So you want to protect Doflamingo? You should already have obtained the technology for artificial Devil Fruits. What value does he still have to you?”
“Protect him? Brother, why would you think that? The only reason I was in such a hurry to stop you was because I wanted to protect you.”
Her palm passed over the emblem. Under the light of the lamps, the silvery-white emblem gleamed brilliantly. Lami straightened her back and sat upright before the table.
“You think far too highly of Doflamingo. His reputation among us isn’t good. Sister and young miss both dislike him, and Mr. Kaido doesn’t care about him either.
Doflamingo was never a subordinate of the Beasts Pirates. After we eliminated the black-market merchants in a certain region, he approached us of his own accord. He was fairly capable at the time, so the relationship continued.
Although he has contributed quite a bit, he has also used the Beasts Pirates’ reputation to obtain the benefits he wanted. We don’t owe him anything, so naturally, we have no reason to specially support him.”
At this point, Lami paused, then picked up a copy of the doctrine beside her and handed it to Law across the table.
“Young Miss brought him back because, at the time, he still had ties to us. Regardless of right or wrong, there was no way we could allow outsiders to do anything to him right in front of us.
The same principle applies now. This is Wano Country. Since Doflamingo has been tacitly permitted to live here, if he were to die for no apparent reason, someone would have to pay the price.
The rules established in Wano Country over the past several decades cannot be broken so casually.
What matters isn’t the individual, but the place.”
Because of her ability, Lami had an unusual obsession with cleanliness. After using her ability to clean the table until it was spotless, she met Law’s gaze once again.
There is an Emperor of the Sea here, a former Marine Admiral, and Lord who has brought glory to the world. You may never get to see them, but when outsiders trample upon the rules of this place, none of them will stand by and do nothing.
Brother, I shouldn’t need to emphasize how vast the gap is between an Emperor of the Sea and you.
You managed to get inside not because your plan was particularly brilliant, but simply because Mr. Kaido was bored and wanted to play along. There is still time to stop.”
“Lami, you don’t understand. Doflamingo and I—”
“No, I do understand. He killed his own younger brother, the person who was your light back then, so you want revenge against him.
His plan has already fallen apart. I won’t let you perform some Immortality Operation on him, and he has lost the position he once held. Now he can only live as a spectator.”
“You certainly know quite a lot.”
“That’s because of Hercules. It told us everything that happened during this period. Recently, it has also been worrying itself sick trying to protect Straw Hat.”
“So Beetle-ya was actually…”
Those words caused the warmth in Law’s heart to drop even further. It turned out that the insect he trusted most had always belonged to the Beasts Pirates. With that as the premise, the Straw Hats’ downfall truly was not undeserved.
“So, Brother, stop clinging to something you can’t accomplish. Wasn’t your dream back then to become a doctor?
There is a top-class team here, the most advanced equipment, and partners countless doctors could only dream of working with. You can pursue the dream you once had here instead of living in hatred.
It’s time to let go of what happened back then.”
“Let go… How could something like that be so easy…”
Law remembered how Rosinante had also urged him to let go back in the underworld, but after all these years, the matter had long since become an obsession.
“Perhaps… this is simply my fate. Our full name should be Trafalgar D. Water. ‘D’ is the hidden name, and ‘Water’ is the taboo name. If the Clan of D is the natural enemy of the gods, then he, a Celestial Dragon, and I were always destined to be enemies.”
“There’s no such thing as fate. Brother, you’re far too obsessed. D isn’t the kind of inheritance you think it is. If they wanted to, anyone could put a D in their name.
Doflamingo killed your benefactor, but what about the culprit who destroyed Flevance? What about the murderers who caused Mom and Dad’s deaths? You’re willing to disregard everything for this one matter, so what about the hatred of our nation and our family?”
The matter concerning D had come from Saul. As a Giant, he himself was also a member of the Clan of D, so Lami did everything she could to refute Law’s reasoning. Although Law was left without a response for the moment, judging from his expression, Lami could tell that he had not changed his mind.
When it came to stubbornness, everyone in their family had a similar attitude. Law could not let go of his hatred, and neither could Lami. The only difference was that she did not hate a single individual, but an entire group.
“Sister will soon lead the knight order into a war. I’ve already decided that I’m going to take part.”
Looking at the silent Law, Lami suddenly said this.
“A war? Wait, why would you take part in something like that?!”
“For the same reason as you: hatred. Only mine isn’t just one person’s hatred, but the hatred of all Flevance and of Mom and Dad. When I think of it that way, I suppose I don’t have much right to criticize you.
“We’re both stubborn people. Even if we have to bear enormous risks, neither of us is willing to change what we believe.
“But now I’m taking the initiative. I originally didn’t want to do this, but you definitely won’t give up. For your own safety, Brother, you’ll have to endure some inconvenience for a while.”
As she spoke, Lami’s body once again displayed a liquid-like reaction. Seeing that familiar movement, Law immediately had a bad premonition.
“Wait!”
Law tried to stop Lami, but before he could finish speaking, drowsiness once again swept over him, and Law lost consciousness for the second time.
“Lami, have you truly decided to do this?”
As Lami prepared to move Law once again, Misu appeared beside her. The monastery had no filthy dungeon, dim interrogation chamber, or any other strange place of that sort.
This was a perfectly proper church. The only place that could even be considered a place of punishment is the knight order’s training ground, where the knights shed their sweat, blood, and tears.
Since Law could not be persuaded in a short time, and it would be inconvenient to assign someone specifically to watch him every day, they could only send him somewhere more professional.
“Although it isn’t entirely appropriate, I’ll explain things to Mr. Babanuki. Brother will just have to endure a few days there. Once the war is over, I can discuss this matter with him again.”
“You know that isn’t what I was talking about.”
“I’m sorry, Sister. Perhaps everyone in our family is a little stubborn, but if the knights can charge across the battlefield and contribute their strength to the holy war, then so can I.
Even if I don’t go onto the battlefield, I can treat their injuries at the field hospital. I don’t want to remain in the rear forever.”
Lami had failed to persuade Law, and Misu likewise failed to persuade Lami. In the end, she agreed to let Lami accompany the army as a medical officer of the Arceus Cult.
Early the next morning, when Law woke up once again, the Arceus Cult’s warship had already set sail for the location where intelligence analysis indicated a war might break out, while Law awoke in a room that was somewhat… cozy.
“This is a prison?!”
“Mr. Law? You’re awake. Miss Lami asked us to tell you that you’ll have to put up with staying here for the next few days. Aside from allowing you to leave, we’ll do our best to satisfy any request you have. Here is today’s newspaper, and there is also a live news broadcast from Wano Country. Which would you like to see first?”
With sufficient resources, even a prison could be decorated as luxuriously as a five-star hotel. Law was precisely such a special case. He was not a prisoner, but had been sent here as someone requiring special supervision.
Not only did he have the corresponding facilities, he was also exempt from physical labor such as mining.
Although there was no spare manpower elsewhere to watch someone specifically, supervising prisoners was the main duty at Udon. Diverting a little attention to him was easy enough.
At that moment, Law learned what it meant to be a free newspaper-reading king.
“Tra-guy?! You got sent here too!”
Before Law could even process all of this, a familiar voice sounded beside him. Luffy dropped the enormous boulder he had been carrying on his shoulder and immediately ran over to greet Law enthusiastically.
“That looks really tasty. Can I have a bite?”
Given Luffy’s personality, whenever he thought something looked delicious, his hand would already be reaching for it by the time he asked. However, the restrictions of the Seastone deprived him of that ability, leaving him able only to drool through the bars.
“Is this really the time to be thinking about food?! You’ve been thrown into prison! Is it appropriate for you to be this calm?”
“But I still haven’t figured out how to escape. Hercules won’t help me think of a plan, and it keeps suggesting that I should just join the Beasts Pirates. Tra-guy, why don’t you help me think of a way to break out?”
Law said nothing. He merely glanced at the prison guard who had just spoken to him. The man wore an utterly speechless expression before taking out a bamboo flute and blowing into it.
Before long, Hercules flew over while flapping wings and dragged Luffy away.
“Wait, Hercules! Why does Tra-guy get to eat without working? That’s not fair!”
“Heraaacross!”
Hercules shouted at Luffy, then revealed an extremely human expression of frustration at his failure to live up to expectations.
As the world changed, Law, Luffy, and Kid—the three men who should have been known together at Sabaody Archipelago as the Big Three of the Worst Generation—completed their meeting in Udon, each under entirely different circumstances.
Law, who had done nothing at all, had been temporarily placed under house arrest here with his sister’s help. Although he had lost his freedom for the time being, his living conditions far exceeded those of ordinary people.
Luffy, who had done a few minor things but had not crossed any firm boundaries, received fairly good treatment in prison with Hercules’s help. As long as he worked, he could obtain plenty of food and even a few small benefits.
Kid, who had no connections whatsoever and had merely been captured after losing a battle, was exploited for physical labor just like the other prisoners. However, because of his fierce competitiveness, he had actually managed to eat himself fat.
Notice: 50% Discount for T5-T7 tier. Available till 7/10. Code: 5DB4A
You can read ahead upto 75 chapters on my patreon and I’ve also activated (date to date) subscription model on my patreon.
Become a Patron!