I guarded Impel Down for a hundred years in the pirate world.

……

Meanwhile, Figo was strolling around the academy island, wandering about.

Elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, specialized schools for swordsmanship and scientific research, private schools of different races, mixed-race schools—there are hundreds of schools on this island.

The students range from six or seven-year-old children to young adults around twenty years old. Some outstanding individuals could even become general candidates in Qinghai. It truly deserves to be called the Academy Island, which gathers the best children from the East China Sea.

This is the talent selection base for the Celestial Dragons.

By observing a part of the whole, and by doing this year after year, we can roughly understand just how powerful the Tianlong Star, located at the center of the universe, truly is.

No one would attack this place. There are countless powerful figures behind these children. Only a madman would dare to target them.

Therefore, the atmosphere on the island is relatively relaxed.

Arriving at a street corner, Figo saw a group of seven- or eight-year-old children playing in the distance.

One of the human children, carrying a wooden sword and shield and dressed in white, had the character "天" (heaven) written on his sleeve with a pen. He was chasing after the other children, shouting incessantly.

"Surrender, demons!"

"Before the great Celestial Dragon Lord Gilad, all evil will be destroyed!"

The children scattered and ran away.

The little boy, Girard, laughed triumphantly, his eyes bloodshot with rage. Turning to see Figo, he pointed his wooden sword and shouted, "Reinforcements? Come on! No matter how many there are, Lord Girard will kill them all!"

Figo raised an eyebrow.

He shook his white robes, letting them flutter in the wind, and a dignified smile appeared on his handsome face. He gripped the hilt of his sword and said, "Open your eyes and see who among us is the demon race."

Girard was taken aback.

Look at the swordsman Figo, clad in flowing white robes.

Look down at yourself again.

Wooden sword and shield, all dirty.

The seven-year-old boy had developed some sense of beauty and ugliness. He pouted and murmured sadly, "So I'm the evil demon?"

pat, pat.

Tears fell down.

She actually cried sadly.

Figo was instantly dumbfounded. He walked over and patted the boy's head: "You're not one, and neither am I. You're still too young to kill demons. You need to study hard first. Why aren't you in school?"

"I'm not?" The boy's eyes lit up again as he replied, "Lunch break, lunch... Oh no, I forgot to eat!"

"Which shop nearby has good food? Grandpa hasn't eaten yet either," Figo said.

Chapter 171 (Unrelated to other matters)

"Is it really okay to eat anything? This place must be very expensive, this isn't a good idea..."

Naika stood nervously in the luxurious hotel she had never been to before, and said, "I have no money."

"I have it." The hippo-faced man smiled, a smile that could scare ordinary children to tears.

The shop assistant next to him looked at the guy warily; he looked like a child abductor. Then he saw Naika, oh, a barbarian. Well, then it's alright.

Do barbarians still need to use crutches? They're worthless anyway.

After inviting the two to sit down and noticing that they had ordered a large amount of expensive meat, he couldn't help but say, "Please settle the bill first."

The man turned to look at him, and the slightly reddish light in his eyes made the shop assistant's forehead instantly break out in a sweat. After receiving a large denomination of Star Coin, he hurriedly retreated, feeling both nervous and relieved.

Who is this person? Is this... is he/she a human?

It looks like a rare beast?

He returned to the counter, muttering to himself, his eyes still glancing at the other shop assistants, his mouth twisted as he looked in that direction. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the shop door opening.

The swordsman in flowing white robes was completely different from the ugly man in black and the barbarian girl, making him feel as if his eyes had been cleansed.

"There are dragon-scaled pigs here, right?"

"There are some!"

He warmly greeted Figo and quickly led him to a seat. After taking his order, Figo smiled and said hello before returning to the counter.

The Dragonscale Pig was enthusiastically recommended by that little boy, Gerard, who acted as if he thought he was going to treat him to a meal. But after recommending Figo, he disappeared without a trace. I guess he'll be crying again.

It's quite fun to bully kids sometimes. The wicked old man Figo surveyed his surroundings when he suddenly heard a little girl's strange question coming from not far away.

"Uncle Alex, why does it seem like he didn't pay?"

“He can pay after he finishes eating.” The man’s hoarse reply followed: “Naika, you should know that most people in this world judge others by their appearance. I am ugly and you are a barbarian, so you will always be discriminated against.”

"Oh..." the little girl's voice was low.

Naika? Figo turned around and his gaze met that of the hippopotamus-faced Alex. He paused for a moment.

How come I didn't notice him when I entered the store?

Although this guy is ugly, unremarkable, and all in black, making people want to ignore him, the fact that Figo subconsciously ignores him means that he is not ordinary!

After a pause, Figo said, "Don't be too pessimistic. There are always people who are different, aren't there?"

Alex retorted, "Who? You?"

“Yes, I’m different.” Figo got up and walked over: “Naika, do your parents work up there, on the ring road?”

Naika was taken aback, then her eyes lit up and she said, "Yes... Uncle, do you know Mom and Dad?"

"You could say we know each other," Figo said with a smile. "It's quite a coincidence to meet here. Oh no, it might not be purely a coincidence."

He looked at Alexander and asked, "Shall we sit together?"

Alexander raised the hippo's head slightly, indicating that he was okay.

So Figo sat down next to Naika and asked her, "Why are you all wet?"

Naika, who was about to press Figo about his relationship with his parents, suddenly became depressed.

"Yes, it's because I'm too stupid."

She stammered as she recounted the bullying she had suffered at school to Figo, then, as if remembering something, nervously said, "Uncle, please, please don't tell my dad and mom. They've always told me to get along well with everyone, and I will... Luckily, I'm not very bright, and I'll forget about today's events soon."

Figo paused for a moment, then sighed.

Alex asked him, "Didn't we say not to be pessimistic? Why are you sighing?"

“Because the more sensible a child is, the more heartbreaking it is for them, and I don’t know how to comfort this child,” Figo said. “We cannot choose our birth, race, appearance, or talents. Some people are lucky, and some people will always be unlucky.”

Little Naika is unfortunate right now; encouragement can't change her situation, but it seems that all I can do right now is encourage her.

He patted Naika's head: "There are always different people. The starry sea is vast, and you will always meet people who are good to you, just like today. Didn't someone treat you to dinner?"

Naika looked at Alex and grinned, revealing her little yellow teeth.

"Ok!"

“It’s because I’ve experienced the same thing,” Alex said. “Sometimes, the rejection and insults from peers are more terrifying than violence. Without encouragement from others, it’s very difficult to get through it on your own.”

“I agree with that. Children don’t understand how vicious their actions are,” Figo said.

Alex looked at Figo in surprise. As if sensing that Figo's words came from the heart, he forced a smile and said, "Most people would just think that he is just a child who doesn't know any better. I didn't expect you to say something like 'vicious,' and I also didn't expect that spiritual guidance would lead me to you, Gaston Figo. You are different from what I expected."

Spiritual guidance, really?

That is a special ability that comes with the ignition of Observation Haki, even more powerful than a brief foresight. Occasionally, it can give the person who ignited the Observation Haki a kind of unseen guidance, leading them to do things that are of unknown good or bad.

Alex brought Naika to this hotel based on spiritual guidance; before meeting Figo, he didn't actually know where the guidance should be.

"And who are you?" Figo asked.

"I'll answer after I finish eating."

"Okay." Figo already had a guess.

Soon the waiter came to serve the food and was surprised to find that Figo was sitting at the same table as Alex and the barbarian girl, but he didn't dare to say anything.

Fish and meat were shared, and neither side minded which dish came from which side; they ate together. For Figo, whose physique was so powerful that he could ate hundreds of tons in one meal, it was no exaggeration. Fortunately, after lighting the lamp, his energy expenditure decreased to a certain level, and his three meals a day became more of a ritual to satisfy his appetite.

Alex seems to be the same.

Only Naika ate with gusto.

She must not have eaten her fill in a long time.

Half of the food was gone, and she let out a satisfied burp. Then, as if remembering something, the girl's expression changed.

"Is class about to start?"

“…Hmm.” She looked at Alex with great reluctance, then at Figo.

"I'll wait for you outside the school gate tonight and take you out for dinner," Alex said.

Naika's eyes lit up immediately.

"This isn't a good idea..."

"It's okay."

So the little girl skipped away, looking forward to their reunion that evening.

"You want to kidnap her?" Figo asked.

"No, being born into a barbarian tribe is unfortunate enough; there's no need to make her even more unfortunate. It seems I don't need to explain my identity anymore. I have two last questions for you."

"You said."

Alex asked, "Gaston Figo, have the demons ever brought you any misfortune?"

Figo: "No."

Alex then asked, "Do you support the Celestial Dragons in cultivating the Demon race, or even want to become a Celestial Dragon yourself?"

Figo: "Not really."

"Nothing else?"

"My judgment is based solely on my own perspective and what I have seen and heard, and has nothing to do with anything else."

A smile stretched across Alexander's ugly face.