The tribal chief watched as Reid and the girl were surrounded by a crowd of warm, enthusiastic villagers.
The food might not have looked particularly refined, but the sincerity behind it was impossible to ignore.
"You two came at just the right time," the old man said with a smile. "We just finished hunting. If you had arrived any earlier, there wouldn't have been anything left to eat."
He clapped his hands and waved everyone off.
"Alright, alright! Give them some space! Don't scare the kids. Let them eat, then head home. There's not much left anyway. The boy can come eat at my place. I've still got meat there."
He pushed through the crowd and beckoned to Reid.
"Hey, you foolish kid. Bring your wife along. Too many people here. Come eat at my house."
Reid and the girl were led through the village to a quieter spot at the edge.
Reid quickly noticed something.
The house stood at the very edge of the settlement.
In his experience, the closer one lived to the center of a village, the more important or protected they were. The outskirts were usually for the less influential.
But this old man did not follow that pattern.
Was it because he was strong?
Reid dismissed the thought almost immediately. The old man was only slightly stronger than an average adult.
Then why live here?
Was there another kind of hierarchy at play? Or was this location hiding something more significant?
Two sturdy wooden houses stood side by side.
The chief pointed at the empty one.
"My daughter built that when she had nothing better to do. It's empty now, so you two can stay there for the time being."
Reid was just about to thank him when suddenly
A presence.
It surged like a wild beast, something fierce and overwhelming.
Reid's expression sharpened.
Ah. So that's why.
The aura came from within the yard. To ordinary people, it would feel terrifying. But to Reid, it was nothing more than a false alarm.
A massive figure stood there, back facing them, swinging a huge axe.
Each strike split thick logs cleanly in two.
Even Reid could not help but think:
That's some serious strength.
So that explained it.
The chief could live on the edge of the village because of this person.
The old man looked at the figure, a "gentle" smile appearing on his face as his tone softened.
"Daughter! Your old man's back! I brought guests!"
Reid's expression froze instantly.
…Wait.
He slowly turned his head.
First, he looked at the frail old man.
Then, at the towering figure nearly three meters tall, with shoulders like a wall and arms thicker than thighs.
Give me a second.
Daughter?
You're telling me…
That is your daughter?
Reid: ???!!!
He had crossed the Grand Line, shaken the tides of war, even rewritten parts of history. He had seen all kinds of absurdities.
He believed nothing could surprise him anymore.
And yet, at this moment, that single casual sentence completely shattered his worldview.
"My daughter."
He even rubbed his eyes instinctively, wondering if he had fallen under some strange power.
The girl beside him also looked up in confusion.
She stared at the dark-skinned, steel-like giant who had turned around, then at the chief.
Her small mind was filled with question marks.
The "iron tower" turned fully around.
No… the daughter.
Seeing her father and the guests, she broke into a bright, honest smile. Her voice rang out like a bell:
"Dad, you're back! Hello, guests!"
Reid: …
Reid sat on a stone bench outside the wooden house, enjoying the hospitality of the chief and his "hawk-like daughter."
Chewing on roasted meat, he asked casually:
"Old man, your place… doesn't seem very peaceful. You're pretty alert about things."
The old man sighed, the wrinkles on his face deepening.
"This island is called Blueblue Island. It used to be stable. Life was hard, but we survived by relying on the mountains and the sea."
He paused, then continued with a hint of helplessness:
"But at some point, almost overnight, a superpower rose in the east. What was it called… Piruka? Yes, that's it. I've lived a long time, but I've never seen a country like that. The moment they appeared, they started dividing land and seizing resources. They don't care about people like us at all. We can't resist them."
He pointed west.
"And that's not all. In the barren lands to the west, a massive village suddenly appeared. It's called Elbaf. A strange giant came out of there. His name is Joy Boy."
The chief's voice grew more animated as he spoke.
"That guy is even more outrageous. He goes around shouting that he's a 'pirate,' saying he wants to spread his ridiculous 'smile' across the world!"
He grabbed a bowl of water, drank deeply, then slammed it down.
"And before all this!"
He pointed sharply toward the sky.
"Those people up there kept inventing all kinds of taxes. Life for people like us was already hard enough."
He spread his hands, his face full of exhaustion.
"And now it's even worse. The world is in chaos. If people are starving and freezing, what choice do they have? Isn't robbery the only way left?"
He sighed heavily.
"Life just keeps getting harder…"
Reid listened quietly, tapping his fingers against his knee.
Piruka's expansion.
Joy Boy setting sail.
The suffering of ordinary people.
The gradual collapse of the old ruling order.
All these fragments slowly pieced together in his mind.
He was beginning to reconstruct the story of that forgotten era.
As he listened to the chief's detailed complaints, Reid raised an eyebrow.
For a remote tribal leader, the old man seemed unusually well-informed.
"Old man," Reid said, swallowing his food, "your information is pretty accurate. Piruka in the east, Elbaf in the west, and those 'tax collectors' in the sky… how do you know all this?"
The chief showed a faint, knowing smile, mixed with a trace of bitterness.
"You wouldn't understand."
He turned and went into the wooden house. After rummaging for a moment, he came back with several large, specially treated leaves and handed them to Reid.
"It's all thanks to these."
Reid took them.
The leaves were stiff to the touch. Their surfaces were covered in dense markings made from hardened tree sap, along with simple but clear illustrations.
Though crude, they recorded news from different seas.
One even showed the outline of a Piruka airship and a rough sketch of an Elbaf giant.
"These are called Cicada Leaves," the chief explained. "They're made by an organization called 'You Know.' Their birds fly everywhere, gathering news, and these leaves are used to spread it."
"In this place, you can trade a small piece of meat, even just a dried fish, for the latest leaves."
He sighed again.
"Without them, we wouldn't know where it's safe or dangerous. When Piruka arrives, where to hide. When those 'royal' tax ships are coming. Even strange things happening in the sea… we rely on these for everything."
Reid flipped through the rough but information-packed leaves, a look of realization flashing in his eyes.
At this point in time…
That organization could truly be called heroic.