One Piece: Starting with God Valley, intercepting the Dark-Dark Fruit

She hid behind a flowerbed, too afraid to go any further, for two guards in golden armor stood there. But as she turned to leave, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly erupted from the white building.

"Let me out! Father, why are you treating me like this?!"

The voice was terribly hoarse, but Lucia recognized it immediately as Gigg's voice.

The two guards at the gate were already used to it; one of them chuckled and casually said,

"Our Lord Giger Saint is at it again. Judging from the sound, it seems the dosage of medicine injected today is a bit high."

"Hey, you won't hear that soon. It's amazing that a little kid could survive that kind of experiment for so long. I guess he's truly a descendant of the Figarando family."

"Wait a minute, didn't something just run past over there?"

When the two guards arrived at the flower bed where Lucia had been hiding, it was deserted, with only a few drops of water that were almost dried on the ground.

Chapter 43 Past Events (Part 1)

Lucia ran back to her lodgings crying, covered herself with the blanket, and tried her best to stop herself from crying out loud.

She didn't know Jig's situation; she only knew that Jig was suffering immense pain and could even lose his life at any moment.

Recalling the moments she shared with Giger, her heart grew even sadder.

Having not slept all night, Lucia went out to work the next day with swollen, red eyes. She swept the yard with a blank stare, as if Gigg's painful screams were still echoing in her ears.

Since Giger was taken away, few people have come to this courtyard. But Lucia had only been here a short time today when a series of heavy footsteps approached from afar. It was the two men in white from yesterday and a guard in golden armor.

They stopped in front of Lucia. The golden-armored guard pointed to Lucia, who barely reached his knees, and said coldly,

"Is she the one you're talking about?"

The two men in white nodded repeatedly. After returning home yesterday, they became increasingly frightened, fearing that Lucia would reveal the contents of their conversation and implicate them.

So they found a golden-armored guard in charge of overseeing the laboratory and told him that a slave had overheard the secret.

Upon hearing that the recipient was merely a lowly slave, the golden-armored guard paid no attention and went directly there with the two men in white.

The golden-armored guard's gaze remained calm. He first asked a question.

"Little brat, who is your master?"

Lucia was initially a little scared, but upon hearing this, she raised her head and said with a firm gaze,

"My master is Jigsel!"

The golden-armored guard nodded slightly after hearing this, pondering in his heart.

Giger Saint's slave? Isn't that just like an ownerless slave? Such a slave would be much easier to deal with!

He grabbed Lucia by the back of her clothes, roughly lifted her up, and said coldly,

"Oh, that makes things easier. You heard some unpleasant things yesterday, and now I'll have to shut you up forever."

After saying that, he ignored the two men in white and carried Lucia outside.

The Figarando family has a rule that if a slave is to be executed, it must be done outside the family, so as not to let the blood of the lowly contaminate the noble lands of the Figarando family.

All alone, her only concern was Jig.

The Figarandou family's territory was vast. The golden-armored guards carried Lucia and swaggered through several courtyards. As they passed a palace, a majestic voice stopped them.

"Hisai, where are you going?"

The golden-armored guard called Hise froze. He slowly turned his head and saw Garin sitting on a chair inlaid with various gems, arms crossed, staring at him indifferently.

The moment Hise saw Garin, he immediately knelt on one knee, bowed his head, and said...

"Lord Garin! This slave has committed a capital offense, and I am about to take her out and dispose of her."

Garin glanced at Lucia, who was being held by Hiseti, raised an eyebrow, and felt that she looked somewhat familiar.

He rose from his chair, slowly walked to the kneeling Hise, looked down at Lucia, and asked,

"What's your name?"

Lucia lowered her eyes and replied mechanically.

"Lucia".

Such a lukewarm attitude was utterly disrespectful to a slave. Hise frowned, threw Lucia to the ground, and scolded her.

"You brat! How dare you speak to Lord Garin like that!"

Hise's blow was quite forceful; Lucia felt as if her body was falling apart, but she still struggled to get up from the ground and met Hise's eyes without fear.

Lucia's behavior infuriated Hise, and if Garin hadn't been there, he would have killed the disrespectful slave on the spot.

Garin, however, remembered Lucia's origins. Wasn't this the birthday present he bought for Giger years ago?

He asked,

"I remember you were Gig's slave, what crime did you commit?"

The mere mention of Giger ignited Lucia's pent-up anger, and she yelled at Garin.

"What do you care what crime I committed? Kill me if you want! Even Lord Jig was imprisoned and tortured like that by you, what am I, a mere slave?!"

"Huh? What did you say?"

Garin frowned, and Hise, seeing this, immediately sensed something was wrong. He disregarded all rules and transformed his palm into a knife, slashing fiercely at Lucia's neck.

Bang!

With a muffled thud, Hisai was kicked away by Garin, his body sliding along the ground.

He struggled to his feet, clutching the dent in his chest armor. As soon as he looked up, he saw Garin's icy face. A domineering aura slowly emanated from Garin, and under the pressure of this aura, the ground beneath Hise's feet began to crack.

"Did I let you move?"

Garin made no move, but Hise was struck as if by a heavy blow. He fell to his knees with a thud, crying out in terror,

"It's my fault for dying! Lord Garin, spare my life!"

Garin ignored him, turned to Lucia, and said in an unquestionable tone,

"Tell me what happened."

From the moment Hise made her move to the moment she was knocked to the ground, it was only a moment. Lucia hadn't even reacted yet and was still standing there in a daze.

Galin was already very impatient. His aura suddenly increased, and he directly pressed Hise to the ground, causing Hise to let out a scream.

Lucia finally regained consciousness and saw Hise's miserable state. She vaguely felt that things might be turning around, so she decided to give it a try and told him everything she had seen and heard the day before.

Garin listened quietly, his expression growing increasingly sinister.

After Lucia finished speaking, he walked up to her without a word and said coldly,

"You should still remember where that place is, take me there."

Lucia nodded vigorously and hurriedly ran ahead to lead the way for Garin. Garin didn't even glance at Hise on the ground and stepped over his body.

Upon arriving at the white building where Giger was being held, the remaining golden-armored guard at the door quickly knelt down and bowed to Garin, whose face looked grim.

Garin simply stared at the door in front of him, and with his excellent hearing, he could already hear the groans coming from inside—it was his nephew, Giger.

Before the guards could open the door, he threw a punch, shattering the heavy iron door like a fragile mirror and revealing the scene inside.

On a large, snow-white bed, Gigg lay covered in needles, surrounded by a group of terrified men in white, and also Grando, who resembled Garin but had a cone-shaped hairstyle.

Hearing the noise, Giger struggled to lift his head. He looked at Garin and Lucia in the doorway and let out a painful murmur.

"Uncle Garin, Lucia, save me..."

Chapter 44 Past Events (Part Two)

Looking at Gigg lying on the bed, barely breathing, Lucia's eyes welled up with tears. She cried out, "Saint Gigg!" and was about to rush over when Garin grabbed her. He looked at Grando and asked coldly,

"Gulando, what exactly are you up to? Didn't you say you were treating Jig's illness? What illness has been going on for so long and still hasn't been cured? And you've even made Jig look like this!"

Gulando placed a vial of green syringe on Gigg's bed and responded calmly.

"Why are you meddling in this instead of focusing on your own cultivation? Jig is very ill; how can he be cured so easily? Seeing him like this every day is also very painful for me. He is my own son!"

Gulando deliberately emphasized the last few words, his meaning clear: he wanted to tell Garin not to meddle.

Giger struggled to speak on the bed, but Gulando pressed his hand to his mouth and whispered,

"Poor child, you should stop talking and get some rest."

Garin's eyes flickered; he didn't know whether Gulando was telling the truth or not, so he could only stand silently in place.

Seeing that Garin had calmed down, Grando's lips curled into a subtle smile. Just as he was about to tell Garin to leave, Lucia, who was being held back by Garin, suddenly shouted,

"He's lying! I heard it all yesterday, these people were doing some kind of experiment on Giggs!"

Gulando frowned, gripped the crescent-shaped pendant on his chest, and pulled out a miniature knife.

He slashed the knife through the air, and a burst of sword energy shot out towards Lucia.

"court death!"

Swish!

At this critical moment, Garin also drew his sword and blocked the incoming sword energy.