Chapter 17: The Nun Raises the Flag
"Then I'll ask you to look after the house," the nun said kindly, her smile soft as sunlight on glass.
"I'll clean the toilet!"
"I'll do the laundry!"
The children crowded around, eager to prove themselves useful.
"Don't worry, Sister. I'll keep an eye on them," Roy said, rubbing the head of the small child from the Mink Tribe. The fur was soft—much softer than Pandora's temper.
"When will you be back?" Linlin asked, tilting her head.
"I'll return soon, after I finish shopping," the nun replied. Her smile widened. "Now, what gifts do you all want?"
"Strawberry cake!" Linlin shouted immediately, her eyes sparkling.
"Poker cards!" whispered the little mink child, clutching Roy's hand.
"I want a martial arts suit!" cried the long-hand child, bouncing in excitement.
Then the nun's eyes turned expectantly toward Roy. The others' wishes were trivial—hers was really to hear his.
Roy clasped his hands, expression serious. "A collection of famous swords. A full stack of the latest bounty posters. A Den Den Mushi with a built-in microphone. And one camera Den Den Mushi…"
He paused and produced a small paper list, neatly written. "Here, I've itemized them for clarity."
The nun's smile twitched.
Well, since her death sentence wasn't far off, might as well let him request whatever he wanted.
After all, Roy's demands weren't impossible to buy… just expensive.
"No way, that's too much!" Linlin gasped, watching as Roy listed item after item—over a dozen requests in total.
"You're so greedy!" complained the long-hand boy, crossing his arms.
"Anything else?" the nun asked sweetly, her tone indulgent.
She didn't mind at all. In her mind, this was pure profit—spending a little money to keep him happy, then selling him later for a fortune.
"I should've asked for more clothes," the long-hand child mumbled, envious.
"Well then," the nun said, adjusting her habit and waving as she turned away, "behave yourselves while I'm gone~"
The children waved back cheerfully.
"I should've ordered more cake," Linlin said gloomily, her shoulders slumping. For her, not eating enough was agony.
"If I'd known how generous she'd be, I'd have written an extra page," Roy sighed with mock regret. "Such wasted opportunity."
With that, he sat on the steps in front of the door, Pandora nestled in his arms. Opening a thick book on navigation, he flipped through its pages.
As everyone knows, to become a great king of the seas, one must first learn how to sail.
---
Far from the quiet cottage, waves shimmered beneath the afternoon sun. A large ship rested offshore, the flag of the World Government flapping in the wind.
The nun walked along the pier, her steps calm and measured. When she boarded, a Marine saluted stiffly and guided her below deck.
Inside the cabin, a faint smell of ink and salt filled the air. She opened the wooden door, stepped through, and closed it behind her.
"Very punctual."
The voice came from behind a table. A man in immaculate white sat there—white hat, white coat, white mask concealing his face. Two others in matching attire stood behind him, silent as ghosts.
"Of course," the nun said, her tone businesslike. "Have I ever missed an appointment?"
She reached into her robes and produced a bundle of photographs, tossing them onto the table. "Let's talk business."
The masked man looked down. The top photo showed a little girl with pink hair—Linlin.
He didn't comment, just tapped the edge of the photo.
The nun dragged a chair out and sat across from him. The sweet, nurturing smile she'd worn before was gone, replaced by something cold and sharp. Her eyes gleamed like polished glass, and the curve of her lips was more a threat than a grin.
"I have wonderful children," she said softly, her voice carrying the chill of steel.
The man in white leaned back slightly. "You actually left Elbaf." His tone held a trace of disapproval.
Originally, their cooperation had been a calculated masquerade. Together with the Marines, they'd staged a show at Elbaf's execution grounds to deceive the giants. The purpose was simple—win the giants' trust, secure a giant division within the Navy, and continue the nun's operation of supplying orphans to the World Government.
Those orphans would become the next generation of Cipher Pol agents—trained, conditioned, and loyal to the core.
But the nun had defied the plan and left Elbaf.
"I'd rather do this myself than hand over the children so easily," she said, tapping one finger on Linlin's face in the photograph. "That girl—Linlin—is extraordinary. A true monster in the making."
She paused, then smiled again, slow and dangerous. "Oh, and there's another one."
The masked man's gaze flicked up.
"Yes," the nun whispered. "Another child with the kind of talent you can't put a price on."
The masked man followed the nun's gaze to the photo lying beside Linlin's. In it, a handsome boy sat beneath a tree, reading quietly with a long sword resting against his shoulder. Pandora hovered beside him, his faint glow reflected in the boy's calm eyes.
"He and Linlin share the same remarkable defensive capability," the nun began smoothly. "Though his raw strength isn't as overwhelming, he's intelligent, disciplined, and eager to learn—far easier to manage than Linlin."
Her tone shifted from flattery to persuasion as she painted Roy in glowing colors, hoping he'd fetch a price equal to Linlin's.
Having said her piece, she reached into her robes, produced a cigarette, and posed dramatically as if expecting a lighter to flicker on its own—
Damn.
She froze mid-motion.
Right. Pandora was still in Roy's hands. No automatic flame this time.
With a stiff smile, she fished a match from her pocket, struck it, and lit the cigarette herself. The tiny flame reflected in her cold eyes as she exhaled a slow plume of smoke.
"Think about it carefully," she said evenly.
"Linlin is a prodigy—she destroyed an entire Elbaf village and defeated Giants at the age of five." She tapped the photo with her index finger, the smoke curling lazily upward. "And Roy... Roy withstood the giants' weapons as if they were child's play. He's clever, obedient, and already has the bearing of a future Marine admiral."
The masked man studied the photographs before him, his expression unreadable.
"But this price…" he muttered.
The nun's smile sharpened. "You can't possibly tell me you can't afford it?"
The air thickened. Sunlight slanted through the cabin window, cutting the room in half—one side bright, the other steeped in shadow. Their faces were divided by that light, smoke drifting lazily between them.
The two Cipher Pol agents behind the masked man said nothing. They might as well have been statues.
Silence stretched until the nun broke it, her voice low and deliberate.
"If these children join the Navy, they'll rise to the top—Admirals, perhaps even Fleet Admiral." She leaned forward, the tip of her cigarette glowing red. "If they enter CP, they'll become the strongest shields the Celestial Dragons could ever have. Don't you see? I've raised two perfect weapons. One will protect the World Government from the outside, and the other from within."
She straightened, staring directly into the black eyeholes of his mask. "That's the kind of deal you only get once in a lifetime."
The masked man leaned back as the nun pressed her hands against the table, her tone swelling with self-assured power. She was half in shadow now, cigarette smoke wreathed around her like a crown.
"I know, I know…" The man finally sighed, waving a gloved hand in defeat. "I'll find a way to secure the funds."
"Of course you will," the nun said with a sly grin. "After all, being a saint isn't easy."
Half her face was hidden by shadow, and her smile twisted into something closer to a sneer.
Her name was Carmel, known in underground circles as Mountain Witch—an orphan trafficker cloaked in holiness. For decades, she had supplied the World Government with one orphan every two years, all raised to be disposable agents, spies, or assassins.
Rootless children were the easiest to mold.
And what better loyalty could there be than that of a child who owed their entire existence to the World Government's mercy?
"I'm planning to retire," Carmel said, taking another drag from her cigarette. "This will be my last transaction, and I expect it to be worth my time."
Her voice grew colder with each word. Her sharp blue eyes locked on the masked man, a predator's gleam behind her practiced calm.
The man hesitated, weighing her demand against the potential return. Her asking price was steep—unreasonable, even—but the two children in those photos were exceptional. The kind of assets that could shape the future of the Government itself.
In the end, he nodded. "Fine. I'll make the arrangements."
Carmel smirked. "Pleasure doing business."
---
By noon, she was back at the Sheep's House. The sun shone warm and golden over the meadow as she approached the children, her steps light, her smile as radiant as ever.
"I'm back~!" she called cheerfully. "And I brought something for everyone!"
The children's eyes lit up as she distributed small packages one by one.
"Thank you, Sister!" they chorused.
Roy accepted his own parcel with an easy smile. "Thank you, Sister."
"No need for thanks," she said, her voice dripping with warmth. "We're all family here~"
She looked at Roy and Linlin, her eyes glimmering like coins in sunlight.
Roy met her gaze, his smile perfectly calm.
Has she already set her flag? he thought silently.
Pandora floated at his shoulder, expression unreadable, the faint flicker of his flame mirroring the wary gleam in Roy's eyes.
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