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

Page 25

After a long while, a voice, barely audible, timidly sounded:

“Uncle…Uncle…”

Liu Jiu slowly opened his eyes and turned his head to the side.

Robin stood not far away, her small hands nervously clutching the hem of her faded old dress, her head lowered, not daring to look at him. She seemed thinner than before, but in her dark eyes, the previous fear had lessened, replaced by a cautious curiosity.

"Um... thank you..." Her voice was very soft, almost drowned out by the sound of the waves.

Liu Jiu looked at her without saying a word.

Robin waited a while, but received no response, which made her even more nervous. She mustered her courage, looked up, glanced quickly at Liu Jiu, then quickly looked down again, took out a small cloth bag from behind her, held it with both hands, and handed it forward.

"This... is for you..."

The cloth bag was small and very clean; it seemed to contain something inside.

Liu Jiu's gaze fell on the cloth bag.

Seeing that he wasn't taking it, Robin became a little anxious and explained in a low voice, "It's...it's an edible mushroom I found in the woods...I...I washed it clean...it's very clean..."

She seemed afraid that Liu Jiu would dislike her, so she spoke softer and softer, with a hint of barely perceptible grievance in her voice.

Liu Jiu silently watched her, her small hands trembling slightly with nervousness, and the faded hem of her skirt.

He reached out and took the small cloth bag.

The cloth bag was very light, and the mushrooms inside were indeed very clean, still slightly damp.

Seeing that he accepted it, Robin seemed to have accomplished a tremendous task, and secretly breathed a sigh of relief, a faint smile of relief appearing on her small face. But that smile quickly faded, and she lowered her head again, her fingers twisting together.

"I...I'm leaving..."

She finished speaking in a low voice, then turned and tried to run away.

Liu Jiu's voice rang out behind her, not loud, but carrying an irresistible power.

Robin froze in place, stiffly turned around, and looked at him anxiously.

Liu Jiu stood up from the rock and walked up to her.

He was very tall; Robin had to crane his neck to see his face.

Sunlight shone from behind him, gilding his features and obscuring his expression, but his calm demeanor strangely calmed Robin's frantic heartbeat.

Liu Jiu looked down at the little girl who only reached his thighs for a few seconds.

Then, he reached out, not to touch her head, but to point to the sea below the cliff, shimmering in the sunlight.

"Do you see that sea?" he asked, his voice still flat.

Robin looked in the direction he was pointing and nodded: "Mm."

"What's on the other side of the sea?" Liu Jiu asked again.

Robin blinked blankly. The other side of the sea? She had never thought about it. To her, being able to eat her fill and not be bullied was already a very distant dream.

She honestly shook her head: "I don't know."

Liu Jiu withdrew his hand and his gaze returned to her face.

“There are many islands, many countries, many… people like you, or different from you.”

His tone was flat, as if he were stating an objective fact.

"There are also people who can understand those stones."

Stones? Robin paused for a moment, then realized, were they referring to the historical texts inscribed with strange characters in the Omniscience Tree Library? How did her uncle know she was interested in those?

Her eyes lit up for a moment, but quickly dimmed again. Those things... were too far away from her.

Liu Jiu noticed the fleeting glint in her eyes followed by sadness and didn't continue the conversation.

He turned around, sat back down on the rock, and closed his eyes.

"It's alright, let's go."

Robin stood there, watching his profile, which was once again as silent as a rock, and then looked at his empty hands—the mushrooms had already been given away.

She pursed her lips, a feeling she couldn't quite put her finger on.

This uncle seems... a little different from the others on the island.

He didn't distance himself from her because of her reputation as a "freak," nor did he look down on her because she only brought him cheap mushrooms. He even... told her that on the other side of the sea, there were people who could read history.

Although he spoke very little and was very cold.

Robin glanced at him one last time, whispered "Goodbye, Uncle," then turned and slowly walked away along the way he had come.

His steps seemed a little lighter than when he came.

The sun was still shining warmly.

Liu Jiu closed his eyes, feeling the warmth of the sun and the caress of the sea breeze.

In my ears, I could hear the girl's soft, receding footsteps.

A few days later, the weather was gloomy, and the sea breeze carried a damp and cold air.

Just as Liu Jiugang took a grilled fish off the makeshift campfire and was about to eat lunch, that familiar, tearful footstep rushed over in a hurried and chaotic manner.

"uncle--!"

Robin ran up to him, this time forgetting even basic manners, and threw herself at his legs, bursting into tears. She cried even more miserably and aggrievedly than when she discovered she had grown an extra arm.

There was a clear handprint on her small face, her hair was messy, and her clothes were covered in mud, as if she had been pushed.

"They...they all call me a monster! Waaah..."

She sobbed uncontrollably, clutching Liu Jiu's trouser leg as if it were the only piece of driftwood she could grasp. "I accidentally used my power and scared my relatives... My uncle and aunt don't want me anymore... They want to kick me out... They say I'm a monster..."

"The people on the island also know about this... and they're all pointing and whispering about me..."

“Those nasty people…they…they threw stones at me…called me a child of the devil…and told me to get out of Ohara…waaaaah…”

She sobbed intermittently, her small body trembling violently from extreme grief and fear. The despair of being abandoned by the whole world overwhelmed her like an icy tide.

Liu Jiu held the grilled fish, looking down at the little girl who was crying so hard she was about to faint, his face expressionless.

He waited until her crying subsided a little before speaking, his voice still flat, revealing neither joy nor anger:

"Finished?"

Robin sobbed, lifting her tear-filled face to look at him blankly.

Liu Jiu didn't ask any more questions. He simply handed her another untouched grilled fish, then took out a pair of clean, simple wooden chopsticks from somewhere and put them into her hand that wasn't holding his trouser leg.

"Eat." He commanded succinctly.

Robin froze, staring at the grilled fish that smelled deliciously burnt, then at the cold chopsticks in her hand, and for a moment she forgot to cry.

How can she eat now?

She was abandoned by the whole world as a monster!

"I...I can't eat..." she choked, trying to push the chopsticks and fish away.

Liu Jiu didn't move his hand, his gaze calm as he looked at her and repeated himself, his tone unchanged, yet carrying an undeniable authority:

"You need to be full before you have the energy to cry."

Robin opened her mouth, but looking into his eyes, which were devoid of emotion yet unusually firm, the words of refusal stuck in her throat.

She hesitated for a moment, but finally accepted the grilled fish and chopsticks. The aroma of the grilled fish filled her nostrils, and her stomach growled involuntarily.

She was really hungry.

He was beaten and kicked out of his home by relatives this morning, and hasn't eaten a single thing since. He's also being chased and pelted with stones by other children.

She carefully picked up a piece of fish, blew on it, and put it in her mouth.

The fish skin was roasted to a crispy golden brown, and the flesh was tender and juicy... It tasted delicious.

She was starving and didn't care about her appearance, so she ate in small bites, but very quickly.

Liu Jiu sat down beside him, eating his fish without saying a word.

For a moment, the only sounds on the cliff were the sound of the waves and the girl's soft chewing, which was mixed with sobs.

After Robin finished eating the whole fish, even sucking the bones clean, his emotions seemed to have stabilized a bit. He stopped wailing and was just sobbing softly.

Liu Jiu then put down the fish bones in his hand, wiped his hands with the leaves beside him, and looked at her.

“Listen,” he said.

Robin immediately raised her head, her red and swollen eyes looking at him intently, as if listening to some important teaching.

“From now on,” Liu Jiu said in a flat tone, as if he were talking about something perfectly ordinary, “don’t pay any attention to those adults.”

Robin blinked, somewhat puzzled.

“What they say is their business,” Liu Jiu continued. “You can’t control it, and you don’t need to.”

His gaze swept over the bruises on her arms.

"As for those kids..."

He paused, his tone still calm, yet it carried a chill.

"If someone bullies you, insults you, or throws stones at you."

"You should retaliate."

Robin's eyes widened suddenly as he stared at Liu Jiu in disbelief.

Bullying...back?

She had never imagined she could do this. All she had ever learned was patience.

"But...I..." she said timidly, wanting to say that she couldn't beat them, that there were too many of them.

Liu Jiu seemed to know what she was thinking.

“Use your abilities,” he reminded him. “The extra hand isn’t just for show.”

Robin was stunned.

Use... ability?