Leave?
Law looked at the man before him, whose entire body radiated mystery and untrustworthiness. Every muscle in his body tightened as he prepared to turn around and flee with his little sister in his arms.
Run!
The moment he made up his mind, he spun around and dashed toward the alley corner with Lami in his arms.
However, one minute later, seeing the figure standing calmly at the next intersection ahead, Law abruptly stopped and turned around to run back the way he came.
This continued for a full five minutes.
After sprinting at full speed, the nine-year-old Law was gasping for breath. His throat already carried the metallic taste of blood.
"H-How is this possible? How do you keep appearing in front of me?!"
Rowan didn't answer.
Instead, he vanished in an instant and reappeared beside Law. Stretching out his hand, he lightly touched the head of the little girl on Law's back.
The next moment, the scenery changed.
Revolutionary Army Base, Medical Ward.
After briefly indulging in a bit of mischief, Rowan directly picked up the little girl and handed her to one of the base doctors.
"Amber Lead Syndrome has already flared up. Stabilize her condition first. I've already found a way to cure it afterward."
The doctor accepted the little girl.
After expressing respect toward Rowan, the doctor looked at the unconscious Lami with pity in her eyes and couldn't help cursing the World Government a couple of times.
Meanwhile, Law remained frozen in place.
His entire mind was occupied by a single phrase:
A way to cure it.
"Smack!"
Law lunged toward Rowan.
As a result, he crashed face-first onto the floor.
"Ugh!"
Where did he go?!
How did he disappear?!
He had been standing right there a second ago!
"What are you doing?"
After handing Lami over to another doctor responsible for emergency treatment, the female doctor who had carried her over looked down at the fallen Law.
"You have Amber Lead Syndrome too, don't you? Judging by your condition, it hasn't fully erupted yet. You'll need an examination later."
Law ignored everything she said.
Instead, he pointed frantically toward where Rowan had disappeared.
"The masked man just now! The one who said he could cure Amber Lead Syndrome! Where did he go?!"
A barrage of questions erupted from him.
The female doctor instead asked one of her own.
"So you're one of the people Mr. Rowan personally brought back?"
She sighed.
"Looks like the North Army's elite troops still aren't very efficient at search-and-rescue."
North Army?
Mr. Rowan?
Search-and-rescue?
Law's eyes widened.
Could somebody please stop speaking in riddles?
The only thing he cared about right now was where that masked man had gone.
Noticing his agitation, the female doctor reached over and ruffled his spotted hat.
"We're the Revolutionary Army."
"Tonight, we launched a surprise operation into Flevance to rescue survivors."
"As for the person you just saw, that's Mr. Rowan, the Flamebearer of the Revolutionary Army."
"He's also the leader of this rescue operation."
So...
They had really been saved?
Law shook his head vigorously and immediately asked:
"What he said about curing Amber Lead Syndrome... was it true?"
The female doctor nodded solemnly.
"Mr. Rowan never lies to his comrades."
"So don't worry, little guy."
"That girl just now was your sister, right?"
"She'll be fine."
Then she paused.
"However..."
Before Law could react, she picked him up as well.
"You need a medical examination too."
"We have to determine the progression and expected fatal stage of your illness."
"Mr. Rowan specifically arranged this before the operation began."
"We must determine every survivor's remaining lifespan so we can prioritize treatment accordingly."
Being carried like a child was deeply uncomfortable for the nine-year-old Law.
He struggled desperately to get down.
Only to receive two light smacks on the backside.
"Behave."
The female doctor rolled her eyes.
"You're a patient now."
"And patients don't get a vote."
Immediately, Law behaved himself.
These people weren't wearing protective suits, nor did they fear them as if they were poisonous vermin.
Besides, other than his own life and little Lami's, there was nothing they could possibly want from him.
So...
Had they really been saved?
The next morning, when the sunlight of a new day shone over Flevance, the chaos of the night had already ended.
However, the once-prosperous White Town had become a place of deathly silence.
All of the hospital's doctors had been evacuated.
The city had already been divided into sectors, and each Revolutionary Army squad escorted survivors to designated evacuation points before loading them into enormous land-based transport ships.
At dawn, everyone felt the ships rise into the sky.
After entering the clouds, they began traveling toward an unknown destination.
Flevance, after the outbreak of Amber Lead Syndrome, was left behind as nothing more than a silent ruin.
Inside the transport vessels, the survivors who had managed to live through the disaster embraced one another and wept.
Husbands and wives who survived together.
Women and daughters whose husbands had died resisting.
Orphans whose parents had been gunned down.
Everyone had witnessed death.
Everyone had come to understand the cruelty of this world.
Soon, one gigantic vessel after another descended from above the clouds and docked at the harbor of a remote island that served as a North Blue Revolutionary Army base.
Nearly eight thousand survivors disembarked from the transport ships.
They were immediately arranged into medical examination lines.
This made many people uneasy.
Faced with the heavily armed Revolutionary Army, however, they had little choice but to cooperate with the series of strange examinations.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for them to realize something.
Nobody was using them as experimental subjects.
The examinations were genuinely just examinations.
Among them, the doctors from Flevance were especially astonished by the equipment inside the Revolutionary Army's hospital.
They constantly followed behind the Revolutionary doctors, asking questions about every machine they saw.
Eventually, the overwhelmed Revolutionary doctors lost their tempers and chased them away.
Embarrassed, the Flevance doctors returned to the examination lines.
Still, they weren't completely useless.
After returning to the crowd, they began explaining things to everyone around them.
"Yes, these really are medical examinations."
"These machines can determine the progression of Amber Lead Syndrome."
"They can even estimate the exact onset time down to the month."
As a result, the atmosphere among the survivors gradually settled.
What everyone cared about most was the cure they had heard mentioned during the rescue operation.
After all, it concerned their own lives and the lives of their loved ones.
A single day quickly passed.
From morning until late at night, the Revolutionary Army distributed three meals a day.
Infants were provided with milk powder.
Many female Revolutionary Army members voluntarily spent time talking with widows and orphaned families, helping soothe their fears and anxieties.
The plentiful supplies gave the survivors a sense of stability they hadn't felt in months.
By nightfall, all eight thousand survivors had completed their examinations.
Each person received a card containing.
Photograph, Name ,Age, Estimated remaining lifespan
Those who had finished were assigned living quarters.
The rooms were small, but they contained all basic necessities.
Once everything settled down, everyone finally relaxed.
Children whose illnesses had already reached dangerous stages remained in the hospital under medical supervision.
Many parents simply fell asleep beside hospital beds, only to be driven away by nurses and forced to get proper rest in the residential area.
As for the doctors from Flevance...
Even under such circumstances, they remained incredibly excited.
No matter how much others urged them to rest, they stubbornly stayed inside the hospital.
They absolutely had to learn how Amber Lead Syndrome could be cured.
And beyond that...
Those advanced medical instruments had completely captured their attention.
They continued asking questions endlessly.
They never touched the equipment without permission and tried not to interrupt the staff too much.
Still, not long after midnight arrived, these doctors who had seemed to possess limitless energy finally collapsed.
Some fell asleep sitting.
Some while standing.
Some while lying directly on the floor.
Although they still hadn't discovered how Amber Lead Syndrome would be cured, the Revolutionary Army's technology and medical knowledge had convinced them that a cure truly existed.
After months of relentless tension, their minds finally relaxed.
The fact that none of them died from exhaustion on the spot was already fortunate.
After all, if anything happened, they had conveniently collapsed inside a hospital where emergency treatment was immediately available.
The next day, all of Flevance's survivors were gathered together.
"Everyone."
Standing atop the training ground's steps, Rowan looked out over the crowd before him.
"Before this, I had Commander Karasu inform all of you through the squad leaders who rescued you that a cure for Amber Lead Syndrome had been found."
"That statement was not a lie."
"Nor was it a false promise made simply to give you the strength to keep going."
The moment those words fell, every survivor from Flevance turned their eyes toward Rowan.
For months, they had gathered outside the hospital every single day.
Every day they waited for hope.
Every day they received disappointment.
And eventually, disappointment had become despair.
They wanted to live.
That desire to live was precisely why they had risked everything to break through the border fences and escape Flevance.
Even if the chance of survival elsewhere was slim, it was still hope.
And now, the man who had saved them claimed to possess a cure for Amber Lead Syndrome.
"Bang!"
A middle-aged man pushed his way out of the crowd and dropped to his knees.
His daughter was currently in the hospital receiving treatment to stabilize her condition.
His wife had already died.
"As long as you can save my daughter, I'll do anything!"
"I'll join you!"
"Whether you're pirates or revolutionaries, I don't care!"
"I'll do anything!"
"Please!"
"Please save my daughter!"
"Bang!"
His forehead slammed against the ground with a dull thud.
The crowd immediately became restless.
To them, survival was everything.
Everything else could come later.
Anyone who had not endured these past months would never understand.
Knowing that death was inevitable.
Being abandoned by the entire world.
Watching hope slowly transform into despair every single day.
Many of them had been on the verge of breaking.
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
One person kneeling triggered another.
Then another.
Then another.
Within moments, the entire crowd had fallen to their knees.
They wanted to save their children.
For that chance, they were willing to accept any condition.
Rowan let out a quiet sigh.
"There is no need for this."
"I don't require you to join us."
"Nor do I require your lives in exchange."
"The truth is... the method to cure Amber Lead Syndrome originated from Flevance itself."
As he spoke, Rowan took out the fruit he had obtained earlier.
Its heart-shaped appearance made it strangely beautiful.
"This is a Devil Fruit."
"Some of you may have heard of them before."
"The one in my hand is known as the Op-Op Fruit."
"A Devil Fruit said to represent the highest form of medical skill."
Rowan's gaze shifted toward the doctors standing in the front row.
The reason they stood there was simple.
They wanted to determine whether this so-called cure was real.
Of course, their curiosity also played a major role.
"This fruit was obtained from the church in Flevance."
"Or rather... I am only safeguarding it temporarily."
"Its final ownership should be decided by all of you."
At that moment, one of the senior doctors stepped forward.
"M-Mr. Rowan..."
"Is its ability surgery?"
"An ability capable of performing any operation?"
Rowan thought for a moment before answering.
"I don't fully understand how its medical applications work."
"But I do know one thing."
"It can cure Amber Lead Syndrome."
"In other words, whoever eats this fruit will gain the ability to heal Amber Lead Syndrome."
"They will also obtain considerable power."
Then Rowan paused.
However...
"The World Government covets this fruit."
"In fact, they have offered a bounty of five billion Beli just to obtain it."
"There are things I cannot explain here."
"But you must understand this."
"Whoever becomes the Op-Op Fruit user will be watched."
"Not only by the World Government."
"But also by ambitious individuals throughout the underworld."
"And there is another issue."
Rowan's expression grew serious.
"After obtaining the fruit's abilities, that person will be responsible for treating every survivor of Flevance."
"The use of Devil Fruit abilities consumes tremendous physical energy."
"According to the emergency census completed last night..."
"There are currently 7,637 survivors from Flevance."
"Among them, 420 infants have less than one month remaining to live."
"Others have only two months."
"Three months."
"Half a year."
"The treatment process cannot be completed overnight."
"In practical terms, the fruit's user would need to remain here for approximately four years."
"Only after every Amber Lead Syndrome patient has been cured would they be free to leave."
The moment those words were spoken, the restless atmosphere instantly cooled.
A few moments earlier, many people had been tempted.
Now, that temptation disappeared entirely.
Four years.
Being targeted by the World Government.
Being hunted by powerful figures throughout the underworld.
And carrying responsibility for thousands of lives.
That burden was far heavier than anyone had imagined.
Seeing this scene, Rowan let out a slow breath.
For ordinary people who had not undergone any ideological awakening, a desire for simple stability was perfectly normal.
Just one day ago, they had been willing to risk everything for their children's survival.
They had picked up weapons and charged toward the blockade simply to escape.
But now...
They had been rescued.
They had left Flevance.
And a cure for Amber Lead Syndrome had been found.
Now, however, what was needed was a single person willing to sacrifice themselves.
Someone who would save everyone else, only to spend the rest of their life being hunted by the World Government and every ambitious figure in the underworld.
To them, that sounded no different from a death sentence.
The entire training ground fell silent.
Humans always cling to a sense of luck.
When they believed Rowan himself could cure Amber Lead Syndrome, they were willing to offer anything to save their loved ones.
But now, only one person needed to make the sacrifice.
So why couldn't that person be someone else?
A Devil Fruit.
A fruit cursed by the sea.
The loss of the ability to swim.
The weakness brought on by seawater.
A future spent being hunted.
The possibility of losing one's life.
One thought after another passed through their minds.
Many lowered their heads.
They didn't dare look at the people around them.
Nor did they want others to see the thoughts written on their faces.
At that moment, the nun within the crowd shifted slightly.
Beside her, Annie suddenly grabbed her hand.
Feeling the warmth of that small hand, the nun's resolve became even stronger.
"I'll save you."
"I promised all of you that from the very beginning, didn't I?"
Gently removing Annie's hand from hers, the nun stepped out from the crowd.
"I... I'll do it!"
Instantly, everyone's eyes turned toward the kind-hearted woman.
The church in Flevance had always taken in orphans.
It had always cared for elderly people with nowhere else to go.
Everyone knew this.
Many had donated money or offered occasional help over the years.
But stepping forward like this?
None of them could do it.
The nun looked directly at Rowan, her gaze unwavering.
"I can eat the Devil Fruit."
"And I'm willing to cure everyone suffering from Amber Lead Syndrome."
Someone had finally stepped forward.
The entire crowd seemed to relax slightly.
However, Rowan slowly shook his head.
"You can't."
The nun froze.
Rowan continued calmly.
"You aren't a doctor."
"Even if you eat this fruit, without the necessary medical knowledge, you won't be able to cure Amber Lead Syndrome."
The moment those words fell, countless eyes shifted toward the doctors standing in the front row.
The doctors immediately felt the weight of everyone's gaze on their backs.
Meanwhile, Rowan quietly observed everything.
Whether it was a test.
Or an examination.
Or simply an observation.
He wanted to see how ordinary people would choose when faced with a situation like this.
The bloodshed and chaos of Wano had taught him many lessons.
Lessons that could only be understood by witnessing people, studying them, and understanding their choices.
Only then could he gain a clearer understanding of the path that lay ahead.
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