The Hundred Beasts Pirates have a peculiar tradition of bringing back children during their travels, especially Kaidou, who frequently does such things.
Although she brought back Setsuna last time due to special reasons, she wasn't interested in taking a child this time.
However, during her morning exercise the next day, she discovered a little girl on the deck.
"Emmalyn, explain to me what's going on here..."
Emmalyn was the ship's giver, the owner of the Leaf Blade ability, and one of her immediate subordinates. She took care of some small matters on the ship.
With short golden hair, wearing a slightly cool Viking Pirates style outfit, which was also the attire of most Hundred Beasts members.
"Well... didn't you tell us to treat her yesterday, Big Sis?"
"I instructed you to treat her, but I didn't ask you to bring her on board."
Seeing the bandage on her right hand, Shaina noticed Emmalyn had followed orders, even tying a bow on the bandage, but that had nothing to do with her appearing on the ship.
"Well... her parents both died in the fire yesterday, and she seems to have no relatives in the village... Moreover, this little girl seems to really want to follow us, so I brought her aboard. If not... should we send her back?"
"Forget it, since we're already here. But does this little girl really want to follow us?"
"Big Sis, you can ask her yourself when she wakes up. I saw the little girl crying quietly in the middle of the night yesterday, probably didn't sleep well."
The slightly swollen eyes already indicated her condition last night. Hearing this, Shaina didn't say much, merely signaling Emmalyn to continue with her work.
And she herself returned to her room to hit the wooden dummy, or rather the stone dummy, which was a training tool made of Seastone. Its sturdiness was more suitable for her training and could also better imprison opponents when catching ability users.
...
Amidst the swaying waves, a small girl with dark orange-red hair woke up. Her name was Iscariot, a survivor of the fire. According to the original timeline, she would have been the sole survivor of the village.
And Dorlo would take her away, and she would join the Navy upon reaching adulthood, gaining fame as an executioner, and meeting Ace.
But because of Shaina's intervention, many more survived in the village, yet she still became an orphan. As for Dorlo, he couldn't become a Vice Admiral anymore, but instead became a Colonel.
The just-awakened Iscariot heard some of the pirates' curse words on the ship.
"These guys are really shameless. Clearly, it was the Navy that set the fire, so how come it's us who set it?"
"Exactly, and who is this Dorlo anyway? Heroically resisting the Hundred Beasts Pirates and unfortunately killed in action, posthumously bestowed the rank of Colonel?? Can that guy even match up to Big Sis? I think I could handle him myself."
Those were the discontented voices from the pirates aboard after reading the newspaper delivered by the News Bird. After the Navy chose to retreat, they reported the news up. But only Dorlo and a few trusted aides knew what Dorlo really did.
Those aides died in battle last night. The rest of the Navy truly believed Dorlo was fighting the pirates, and they didn't know there were civilians among their shooting targets.
The Navy hardly investigated before publishing the report. But even if they knew the truth, the deceased Dorlo could only be a heroic Navy, not a lunatic burning civilians.
The Navy did something worse than some pirates, and spreading the truth would be a huge disgrace.
"Big Sis! That little girl woke up!"
"Little one, what's your name? Uncle here has candy, want some?"
The pirates were quite friendly toward the child. From past experience, this little girl might end up playing a significant role in the future.
Most of the children brought back in the past grew up to be officers or reserved officers; even those Olga bought back became household managers or research assistants.
The only exception might have been Robin, but even though her ties with the Hundred Beasts weren't significant, she ended up being best friends with their young lady. This little girl seemed ordinary now, but the future was uncertain.
Building a good relationship now certainly had no downside.
"I.. Iscariot..."
The overly enthusiastic pirates startled her, and just as a wave rolled in, she fell onto the deck. But before she hit the ground, a wing scooped her up, and then thrown by the wing, she was caught in Shaina's arms.
"Iscariot, right? Emmalyn said you wanted to come aboard yourself."
"Yes.. because you saved me..."
"It wasn't me who saved you, it was your parents who gave you the chance with their lives."
That was seen by Iscariot's neighbor. Because the fire was put out in time, her neighbor, though severely injured, survived. He saw Iscariot's parents push her out and told some people, eventually reaching Shaina's ears.
"But you defeated the person who set the fire..."
She had just awakened when Dorlo threw her out, so she saw the moment Shaina caught her and heard Dorlo's words.
"This is a pirate ship. Do you know what pirates are? The ones who robbed your village earlier were pirates. We're not any kind of righteous heroes, little one; don't get involved with the wrong crowd."
Those pirates were indeed plundering, which led many to hide indoors, further increasing the fire's casualties.
In Shaina's view, Iscariot's life trajectory wasn't supposed to be linked to pirates, which is why she said that.
"You're different... I want.. the strength to avenge my parents, I want to save others..."
"Up to you, but this path is very tough; you might not be able to handle it, little girl."
"No problem, I'm already five years old!"
...
Just as Shaina was beginning to return, Arceus had already reached Ghost Island. He had found a new return route to Ghost Island, and as he set foot on Ghost Island, he heard cries of pain.
Seeing the roof of Ghost Island seemingly on fire, he thought he had found the truth. When he arrived, he saw a trio of lying bodies.
"Kaidou, what are you...."
"Oh, just ability training. That girl Yamato can now steadily use frozen energy, the training is very effective."
Kaidou's training method was definitely a crash course. After all, without using frozen energy, you'd get burned. Though Berries were very effective at treating burns, it still hurt.
No words were needed; from Yamato's eyes, he already saw the words "vacation."
"That's enough for today. I see you haven't given them any rest recently. Oh, Jack, come with me; you're about to receive your ability."
The newly found Plate attributed to steel, and given Jack's personal preferences, Copperajah was the ability prepared for him...