"Olga! Waaaah! My dear Olga!!"
The man dressed in a ridiculous dinosaur costume burst into tears as he hugged the blonde little girl tightly.
He rubbed his tear-streaked, snot-covered face against hers, crying out, "My sweet daughter! You're alive! Daddy missed you so much! Thank goodness, you're still alive!"
The girl's face was quickly smeared with tears and snot too, and she grew furious as she tried desperately to push his face away.
"You stupid old man! You're still alive?!"
"Huh?"
Yamato blinked. "They… don't seem to have a very good relationship."
Law smirked faintly. "Probably because they haven't seen each other in a long time. They were trapped in two separate stomachs of the Giant Footballfish. Ever since they were swallowed, they probably haven't met again—until now."
Ian, who already knew everything, understood that Law was right… but not entirely.
Olga, huh?
Honestly, that name alone sounds a little terrifying.
Good thing this world doesn't have black luxury cars yet.
Olga and her father had been swallowed by the Giant Footballfish nearly two hundred years ago.
Ever since then, the two had been separated and hadn't seen each other again until today.
Olga had survived all this time thanks to a small fragment of Pure Gold embedded in the ring on her finger.
Her father, on the other hand, lived only because the light of that Pure Gold shone through the Giant Footballfish's body and bathed him.
But the girl's hatred toward her father wasn't just because of their long separation.
Two hundred years ago, when Olga was only six, she had been struck by an incurable illness.
To extend her life, her father began experimenting with extracting Pure Gold.
However, during that process, Olga's mother died.
From that moment on, the little girl began to hate her father, believing that if he hadn't pursued his research, her mother would still be alive.
Even after two hundred years, she hadn't forgiven that wretched man!
What she didn't know, however, was that every bit of his research had been for her—to cure her fatal disease.
"Wait a second! Who are you people?!"
Though she looked only six, the girl—already two hundred years old and considered elderly even among giants—finally noticed Ian and the others.
"Hm?"
The middle-aged man, who had been smothering his daughter with affection, suddenly came back to his senses.
"Wait, are you the ones who saved us?"
"That's right," Ian replied calmly, nodding with confidence—because it was, after all, the truth.
"Oh! Thank you so much!"
The middle-aged man's joy overflowed, his face lighting up as he bowed repeatedly to Ian — he looked as if he might even drop to his knees any second.
But then, his gaze caught something else — the massive mountain of gold piled to the side.
"Th-That is—"
His eyes widened in disbelief, his entire body trembling uncontrollably. "Pure gold? Is… all of this pure gold?"
So much pure gold?!
Two hundred years ago, he had only managed to extract a single tiny nugget of it — and even that had drawn the wrath of Giant Footballfish!
But now… there was an entire mountain of it here!
Giant Footballfish—
Oh, right!
He looked down at the ground beneath his feet.
Giant Footballfish was lying beneath the sea at this very moment!
Could it be that this man had stolen all the pure gold that Giant Footballfish had gathered over countless years?
Unbelievable!
"So, you really do have the ability to extract pure gold, huh?"
Law glanced at the man, immediately recognizing the substance before him, and asked with genuine curiosity.
The man froze, staring blankly at Law.
How did this man know he could extract pure gold?
Not long after he first extracted it, their island had been attacked by Giant Footballfish. Half the island had been swallowed whole by that giant fish!
How could an outsider possibly know that?
Even though the man didn't respond, Law nodded slightly. "Impressive. To think you could create something this extraordinary."
"Haha, it's nothing, really…"
The man scratched the back of his head shyly, embarrassed by the praise.
But then, his body went stiff.
Not good — this wasn't good at all.
Now that they knew about his ability to extract pure gold… what would they do to him next?
Unease began to rise in his heart.
"There's nothing impressive about that!"
The little girl, who had overheard Law's words, puffed up angrily and shouted, "If he hadn't been obsessed with studying that stupid thing, Mom wouldn't have died! It's all Dad's fault!"
The man's eyes dimmed at his beloved daughter's words.
His wife's death was, without a doubt, the greatest pain of his life.
A group of pirates had learned — somehow — about his pure gold research. Thinking there was treasure hidden on the island, they attacked.
His wife had died in that raid.
"Now, now, don't talk about your father like that, young lady,"
Ian smiled and said, "He only sought out Pure Gold to cure your illness."
"Illness?"
The little girl—no, the ancient human—was stunned. She instinctively turned to her father. "What do you mean by that?"
The man froze.
He hadn't expected Ian to even know about this.
It made no sense to him at all.
After hesitating for a moment, he finally spoke with a pained expression.
"Olga, I'm sorry about your mother… but there's something I've never told you. The truth is, you were born with an incurable disease. In order to save your life, I thought of using Pure Gold to extend it."
"But as the price… you could never grow up again."
"H-how could this be…? How could something like this happen?"
The girl stared in disbelief, her voice trembling. "So that bastard father… was actually doing it all for me?"
"Of course, Olga!"
The man pulled his daughter into a tight embrace, tears streaming down his face. "No one in this world wants you to live happily more than I do!"
"Waaah!!"
Though she had lived for nearly two hundred years, she had never truly interacted with the outside world. Her heart and mind had never matured. Deep down, she was still just a little girl.
All the fear and loneliness she had bottled up through two centuries of isolation finally broke free in her father's arms.
Holding onto him tightly, Olga burst into uncontrollable sobs.
"There, there, Olga, it's alright now!"
Her father wept as well, patting her gently on the back. "Everything's fine now!"
**********
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