Famine Village. As the bleak name suggested, this place was incredibly impoverished—so profoundly poor that there was literally nothing to eat.
In truth, the natural geographical conditions of Famine Village weren't actually that terrible. The soil wasn't incredibly fertile, but it could yield crops; the weather was somewhat erratic, but still within a manageable range; and it was located directly on the coast, meaning they could fish for food.
The true source of their misery was political. Famine Village was not a World Government Affiliated Nation. Instead, it was ruled by a tyrannical, non-affiliated kingdom that levied absolutely crushing, insurmountable taxes. To make matters worse, pirates frequently raided the coastline.
Whenever a pirate crew invaded, the ruling kingdom never dispatched a single soldier to protect the villagers or repel the attackers. They simply waited safely in their castles. After the pirates finished pillaging and left, the kingdom's tax collectors would finally arrive.
Make no mistake—they didn't come to tally the property damage or offer relief. They only came to count how many living citizens were left so they could forcefully extract the remaining head tax.
Driven to absolute despair, the vast majority of the able-bodied youths and strong men had chosen to flee to the sea, either becoming pirates themselves or seeking work elsewhere. Consequently, Famine Village was left populated entirely by the elderly, the weak, women, and children, making them even more destitute and utterly incapable of fighting back.
The moment Bardock stepped off the White Dragon and onto the muddy shore, he felt a suffocating, deeply oppressive aura hanging over the settlement.
The villagers' vigilance toward outsiders was absolute—it was the most extreme reaction Bardock had witnessed on his entire journey. If the massive golden galleon had been flying a Jolly Roger instead of a blank mast, the entire village would have already evacuated into the rocky hills.
"This place is horribly poor... it's probably the most dilapidated, broken-down village I've ever seen," Perona muttered, floating alongside Bardock. She looked at the crumbling, rotting wooden huts with a mixture of pity and disgust.
"Indeed. This area is frequently raided by pirates, and the national taxes are completely draconian," Robin said calmly, lowering her arms. She had already gathered a sufficient amount of intelligence. "Did you notice? There are almost no able-bodied young men in the village. At this rate, it won't be long before this settlement is completely wiped off the map."
Perona looked at the emaciated, hollow-eyed villagers peering fearfully through the cracks in their boarded-up windows. She nodded in grim agreement. "They look like a bunch of walking corpses."
"Robin," Bardock asked quietly, scanning the desolate dirt roads. "Did you happen to find anyone in this village named 'Baby', followed by a number?"
Robin pressed her lips together slightly. "No. Not a single one."
"I didn't hear anyone with a name like that either," Enel chimed in, having passively blanketed the entire island in his Mantra.
"Hm? Is she already dead?" Bardock murmured softly to himself.
Robin caught the whisper and tilted her head. "Bardock, is there something special about this person? I can go ask the villagers directly if you'd like."
"No, it's nothing special. I was just a little curious," Bardock replied smoothly, deciding not to elaborate on Baby 5's tragic backstory.
Because Famine Village was an incredibly rare anomaly—a settlement so poor it literally did not possess a single tavern, inn, or restaurant—there was absolutely nothing to do. After briefly wandering the depressing, muddy streets, Bardock and his crew turned around and returned to the White Dragon.
Shortly after they boarded the ship and prepared to cast off, Robin approached Bardock on the deck.
"Bardock, I managed to look deeper into your inquiry," Robin reported quietly. "There were indeed several children here named 'Baby' followed by a number. However... they have all passed away. Some starved to death; others were killed by pirates.
"Their mother was the last one to die. The villagers said that right before she passed, she was deliriously muttering the name 'Baby 5'. As for Baby 5 herself... she went missing several years ago. According to the locals, in order to save on their dwindling rations and reduce their head tax, her mother was forced to abandon her in the mountains to die."
"Oh? Is that so?" Bardock leaned against the railing, his eyes looking out over the bleak village. "Well, she didn't abandon the girl the moment she was born, which means she held on until it was completely, physically impossible to feed her anymore. Ultimately, she left her to fend for herself out of sheer, agonizing desperation. In the end... this era is simply far too cruel."
Looking at the horrific consequences of the world's political structure, Bardock couldn't help but ponder a massive, overarching mystery.
If Imu truly was one of the original Twenty Kings who founded the World Government 800 years ago, possessing the immortality and terrifying power implied by the legends, why was the world still so fractured? With 800 years of absolute global supremacy, Imu should have easily been able to conquer and unify every single inch of the ocean.
After all, the Vinsmoke Family had managed to militarily conquer the entire North Blue in just 66 days, and they only fell apart because the World Government actively intervened.
Yet today, eight centuries later, there were only about 170 official World Government Affiliated Nations. Massive, sprawling territories across the Four Seas and the New World remained completely outside their jurisdiction, left to rot in poverty or be overrun by pirates.
Furthermore, the Celestial Dragons possessed a horrific tradition: every three years, they would select a Non-Affiliated island and conduct a brutal 'Native Hunting Game', slaughtering the entire population for sport.
Putting it all together, Bardock came to a chilling realization. He finally understood Imu's true objective. They weren't failing to unify the world; they were intentionally keeping it fractured and chaotic. A unified, prosperous world was a threat to their absolute authority. Keeping the non-affiliated nations in a state of perpetual poverty and fear was a deliberate, systemic design.
Suddenly, a glaring inconsistency pulled Bardock out of his dark thoughts. He looked at the archaeologist. "Wait a minute. Robin... you haven't left my side this entire time. How exactly did you manage to interrogate the villagers and gather such specific intelligence?"
Robin smiled, a hint of genuine pride in her eyes. "My Devil Fruit abilities had a breakthrough. Just now, I sprouted a full-body clone of myself to quietly gather information in the village. It went perfectly smoothly; it was exactly the same as being there in person.
"At this rate of progression," Robin continued, holding up her hand, "achieving localized Gigantification—sprouting massive, giant-sized limbs—shouldn't be a problem soon. It's all thanks to you pointing me in the exact right direction for my training. You saved me a massive amount of detours."
"Don't sell yourself short," Bardock smiled warmly. "I only gave you the theory. The actual execution and mastery are entirely the result of your own hard work." He wasn't about to take credit for Robin's genius; he had simply spoiled her future moveset.
The White Dragon didn't linger in the depressing waters of Famine Village for long.
However, right before the golden ship officially sailed away, Bardock gave a final order. Enel raised his hand, casually dropping several massive, blinding pillars of lightning directly into the coastal waters.
The ocean boiled briefly, and within seconds, hundreds of massive, electrocuted Sea Kings and large fish floated to the surface, their white bellies gleaming in the sun.
It was Bardock's parting gift to Famine Village.
Standing on the deck as the island faded into the horizon, Bardock didn't know exactly how long that massive pile of cooked meat would sustain the starving villagers. But in a world this cruel, he could only offer them a few more days of survival.
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