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Chp.9: Citizen of Dadan's Country
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Neil's POV:
I trailed after Ace as we walked through the forest. We continued to walk until we reached the open clearing by the cliff.
There we saw Luffy, laying on his stomach, face down with his strawhat covering his head.
Ace and I approached him slowly, alerting him of our presence.
Once both of us were close enough, Ace brought his fist up and quickly bonked Luffy on the head.
I winced slightly at the sound before raising a brow at Ace, silently questioning whether punching him was really necessary.
Ace paid me no mind and ignored the look I was giving him.
"How long are you gonna mope around like this?"
He sternly asked before looking away from Luffy and gazing towards the sea as he continued to speak openly without reserve.
"All the treasure we hid in the Middle Forest is all gone now."
Ace folded his arms together and continued to speak as if none of it mattered.
"Neil, Sabo, and I were supposed to use it. It was our Pirate fund."
"But Sabo never got to use it. That's why Neil and I don't care about it anymore."
"There's no point in gathering treasure we can't even protect."
Moving closer and sitting down beside Luffy with my legs sprawled, I nodded mutely, wholeheartedly agreeing with Ace.
Luffy's voice faltered and tears began to fall from his eyes as he spoke up.
"Ace. . ."
"Neil-nii, I-"
"I want. . ."
". . to get stronger!"
"I want to be stronger and stronger and stronger. . ."
He continued on repeating the word 'stronger' over and over, with each time louder than the last. His body was shaking as he cried out.
". . . And stronger than that! So that, I'll be able to protect anything! And I won't have to lose anyone ever again!"
"So please. . ."
Luffy pleaded softly before suddenly crying out, his tone desperate.
"Ace, Neil-nii. . . don't die too!!"
Annoyed, Ace snapped at Luffy, bonking him on the head again as he yelled out.
"Don't be stupid!"
"You should be worried about yourself rather than us!"
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