Chapter 16: Enelu's Tragic Childhood
Lex and the Red Earl stood at the very top of the White Sea, on top of the giant vines of Apaia Doshandora!
Under their feet was a vast sea of clouds rolling like huge waves, and the undulating clouds were surging like tides. There was no sound around them, and the world was completely silent. The two stopped here, gazing at the sea of clouds, and suddenly felt relaxed and happy, as if the world was vast.
"The top of Qinghai? It's quiet and majestic. The meaning of life lies in the grand scenery and the wonderful struggle!"
Lex muttered to himself as he looked at the dreamy scenery before him.
When faced with such beautiful scenery, Lex thought of the struggles in life and the grandeur of the world!
"My prime years are gone, my life is fleeting; the capital and Nara, we will never see each other again."
The Red Earl opened his mouth and recited a haiku.
His vicissitudes of life seemed to pass through the layers of clouds and see his past.
When faced with such scenery, the Red Earl thought of the regrets in life and the passing of time.
After admiring the scenery for a moment, Lex finally spoke.
"Master, how do we find the fruit? We have spent two days reading the minds of so many people, but we haven't found any key clues. Our observation Haki can't lock onto a devil fruit without life. Should we give up for now?"
The Red Earl frowned and turned to look at Lex.
"Lex, you must always remember that you are the leader. Even if you give up, you don't need to ask for anyone's opinion, including me. Although there are only two of us in this operation, you will always be the leader."
The Red Earl stared into Lex's eyes and spoke word by word.
"That's true, but Master, you—"
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by the Red Earl.
"No buts. It's not just me. Even Ski, Newgate, Rhine (Golden Lion's first deputy, King Rhine), and Gut (Golden Lion's second deputy, the man who organized the alliance between Golden Lion and Whitebeard in the Ante Islands) are centered around you. I hope you won't care so much about our opinions in the future. If you have made a decision, just give the order. If you care about your subordinates' feelings in everything, it will be difficult to accomplish anything great."
After a pause, the Red Earl continued slowly and added.
"This is not just what I mean, but also what they mean."
After hearing this, Lex was silent for a while.
"....I see."
"Well, you have to remember that although there are only a few of us now, more and more powerful people will join us in the future, and by then there must be a unified voice as the core. Subverting the world is not something that can be done by the strength of a few people. You should know this better than me, Lex."
"Phew~I'll keep it in mind."
“…Then keep looking for the Thunder Fruit. If you can’t find it before tonight, take some of Shandora’s gold back with you as a backup for internal funds.” Lex said.
"Well, shall we split up next?"
"No, Master, come with me. It won't have any effect if we continue to read minds one by one in Arpailla. Let's go to Bica! If it's not in Arpailla, then it can only be Bica. As for the fruit, if it is really floating in the White Sea, then it is not something we can find."
"it is good."
-
Bica is a small sky island located in the south. Its area is not as large as Angel Island, but it is also a part of the Sky Island civilization and the hometown of Enelu.
Rex actually remembered it wrong. Eneel had obtained the Thunder Fruit as early as the time of Pica, which might have happened within the past few years. He then destroyed the Sky Island that made him resentful and insulted, and began a period of wandering. In the process, he found various "priests". Then, relying on the power of the Thunder Fruit, he easily defeated Ganfor, the "God" of the Island of Gods - Arpayard, and replaced him as the new god of Sky Island, starting his own dictatorship.
Fortunately, Lex now remembered that the Thunder Fruit was most likely in Bica.
Lex continued to stay in the alien space with the Red Earl, observing the outside world. Without the wings unique to the Sky Island people, if they went out, they would probably be regarded as aliens like Enelu and be expelled.
It would be fine if all the people on Bika were killed, but it would be inconvenient for finding the fruit.
This fruit plays a vital role in Lex's future development of technology and establishment of space bases, and is irreplaceable!
The two continued to release their Observation Haki and noticed that there was an unusual place at the other end of the island.
A group of children surrounded another child, punching, kicking and swearing at him. The bullied child had earlobes that were much larger than those of ordinary people. The most noticeable thing was that he did not have the same white wings as the other children. This might be the reason why he was bullied.
It is natural for people to bully those who are weaker than themselves, or those who are different and don't fit in.
"Go and see, the alien child without wings and with huge earlobes, it's you, boy. Let's go, Master."
Lex spoke, and finally remembered the clue. After living in the pirate world for more than 20 years, many details of his memories of his previous life have inevitably become blurred. Of course, he still remembers them generally. The advantage of knowing the plot will be used to the fullest by Lex!
The two of them teleported over and watched in a different space as the kid with big earlobes continued to be bullied and insulted by everyone.
"Bah! You wingless bastard, guys like you deserve to be taught a lesson by us!"
"Humph! You're getting off easy, Enelu. You actually dared to steal my pet dog's food. You're a bastard. You don't deserve to eat anything a dog can eat! Beating you up is a bargain for you."
"Hahaha, we've taught him a lesson and he doesn't dare to speak again. He's such a coward!~"
As they were talking, five or six kids started beating up the kid named Enel. It didn't seem like they were just giving him a lesson, but rather, they were beating him to death.
Yes, even if an orphan like Enelu who didn't even have wings was beaten to death, what would happen? Who would care? Who would care about it?
No.
The adults wish there was one less bastard on Bika who was an eyesore every day!
This is also why many adults around passed by and caught a glimpse of this scene, but pretended not to see it.
The weaker you are, the more you will be bullied and insulted. It would be foolish to expect to be given pity and protection by the strong just because you are weak.
Enel was surrounded and beaten by the children. He curled up and protected his head tightly. He did not resist at all, even though Enel had the strength to knock down anyone easily.
Because resistance would only arouse more interest from the abusers, Eneel, who had been beaten thousands of times, had already remembered it deeply.
"Hahaha, you bastard."
"You are still so weak, Enelu, so boring, huh~"
"Let's go, Perla, prepare some food for your dog. Who told Enelu, who is also a bastard, to steal the food? Hahahaha!"
"Hey, my dog is much more noble than this bastard." The boy named Perla retorted, his words full of pleasure after committing violence.
When everyone saw Enelu lying on the ground like a dead man, not saying a word, with his forehead pressed against the ground, not resisting at all, they became bored and dispersed.
Enel's head was pressed tightly against the ground, and his whole body was trembling with an extremely slight amplitude, as if he was in pain, or as if he was resentful.
He was dressed in rags, no, it couldn't be called rags, he was wearing an adult shirt that he had picked up from somewhere, but just the shirt covered his skinny body.
On that thin body, there were countless shocking scars and wounds! Penetrating wounds, burns, stab wounds, knife wounds...
These wounds tell of Enel's extraordinary experiences over the years.
It is hard to imagine that a child under the age of ten could have experienced such a hellish life.
Enel supported himself with his hands and stood up with difficulty. The pain throughout his body made it extremely difficult for him to walk, but he clenched his teeth, and even though his whole body was shaking with pain, he gritted his teeth and walked step by step towards the distance.
Since Lex and the Red Earl came here, they have never seen Enel speak a word.
The compassion of the weak is useless.
Ever since his mother passed away when Eneel was very young, Eneel has been walking alone with gritted teeth and will keep walking until he reaches the "infinite land" that his mother talked about!
Although little Enel would be beaten if he even snatched a dog's food at this time, who on this Bika could know that within this thin body, there was a passion to go to the "Infinite Earth (Moon)"?
Enelu returned to his residence, a dilapidated wooden house located in the jungle on the edge of Bika.
He carefully took out the herbs from the wooden box and applied them to the most serious wounds on his body.
These herbs were picked by Eneel himself in the jungle. After continuous experimentation, he roughly knew which herbs could heal wounds. Fortunately, there were no deadly poisons among these herbs, otherwise Eneel would not be alive today.
"Lex, do you want to knock him out again and read his memory? I just read his mind and didn't find any information about the fruit."
In the different space, the Red Earl spoke.
He had experienced almost the same tragic experience as Enel had just experienced. He was considered a "monster" because of his natural ability to read minds. He grew up in beatings and insults and became accustomed to the fickleness of human nature and the world. Fortunately, he met a young Brook and went to sea, starting a new legendary life.
Sympathy? A little bit, but the Red Earl doesn't really care.
"Don't bother, Master. Isn't there a Thunder Fruit on the shelf?"
Lex spoke lightly, glancing at the shelf in the corner of the dilapidated wooden house from the alien space. On the top of the shelf, there was a yellow fruit in the shape of lightning!
