Chapter 1

In the early morning, as the first light of the day illuminated everything.

At the People's Hospital in Huaxia, a young man stood outside the entrance, holding his phone with a gloomy expression.

"What do you mean, work is so important? Do you even know that Xiao Xi's illness has flared up again? All she wants is for you to be by her side. Tell me, how many years has it been since you last came back?"

"Yes, you earn money to treat Xiao Xi's illness, and I don't say anything about that. But it's been three years since you last came back. Is it really that hard to come home once?"

A roar of anger broke the silence of the hospital, and the young man's face was filled with fury.

"Hmph... I don't have a father like him, and I don't have a mother like you. Every month, you send us living expenses, but we never see your faces. What is this? What is this?"

Two streams of clear tears ran down his cheeks, and the young man looked haggard.

"Is it useful to say this now? If you had thought about me and Xiao Xi back then, we wouldn't be in this situation now. If you were going to abandon us, you shouldn't have had us in the first place."

"Fine, do as you please! I remember every penny of the living expenses you've given us over the years. In the future, I will pay you back every cent, and I wish your new families happiness."

The young man sneered and hung up the phone with a bang, then sat down on the cold ground, crying.

When he was six years old, his parents divorced without any regard. Both of them shirked the responsibility of raising him and his sister. Apart from the monthly living expenses, they could only be seen on the phone.

Ironically, not long after the divorce, both of them started new families. If it weren't for the law, Xuan Ye and his sister might have become orphans by now, or perhaps they already were.

Over the years, Xuan Ye's resentment towards his parents never faded. They said they earned money to treat his sister's illness, but those were just excuses. Apart from the monthly living expenses, they never even showed their faces. What kind of parents were they?

If it weren't for his grandfather, who raised him and his sister and left them a sum of money after his death, they might have become beggars by now.

His sister, born with an underdeveloped heart, had a congenital heart defect. She was much weaker than ordinary people and walked slower. Even a little excitement or shortness of breath could cause her heart to ache severely, leading to fainting.

In a sense, Xuan Ye and his sister had relied on each other since they were young. Therefore, he loved his sister deeply. After his grandfather's death, his sister was his only family.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Xuan Ye wiped his red eyes and tried to look normal. With a smile, he entered the ward.

As he approached the ward, he saw a white bed. On it lay a girl with a sickly complexion.

Her long black hair reached her waist, her arched eyebrows slightly raised, her delicate nose breathing, her cherry lips slightly open, her slender arms with a rosy hue, and her fingers long and delicate. She was beautiful, but her skin was pale.

He sat down quietly, reached out lovingly, and gently stroked her sleeping face. Xuan Ye smiled because the little girl had opened her eyes.

Her eyes were lively, full of vitality. She blinked and turned her head, smiling sweetly. "Brother, you're back."

"Uh-huh, what happened this time? Why did you suddenly faint?" He rubbed her head, a bit scolding.

"No..." The girl smiled innocently and then pouted. "Brother, I want to go home."

"Okay, I'll go and arrange the discharge. We'll go home soon." He tapped her nose, stood up, and left the ward.

A few minutes later, on the street.

A young man carried a girl on his back, forming a colorful scene, adding a touch of color to the road.

"Tang Xuan Xi, you seem to have gained weight!"

"Not really, just a little more than last time." The girl pouted, lightly tapping the young man's head, a bit upset.

"Heavier is better, heavier is better." The young man held the girl tightly, afraid she might fall.

"Brother, they still won't come back, right?" After a moment of silence, the girl's face turned sad, and she leaned on his back.

"Xiao Xi, they have their reasons. Let's go home. I'll cook something nice for you tonight." The young man's face stiffened, his eyes filled with resentment.

"Uh-huh, I love what you cook." The girl's face lit up, but she looked weak, clearly putting on a brave face.

"Let's go home..." The young man quickened his pace, running towards their unique home.

"Uh-huh... We're going home." The girl called out happily.

Suddenly, the girl turned her head, her face full of surprise. "Brother, wait, look what's being sold there!"

"Fruit." The young man turned his head, seeing a fruit stand.

"No, look, doesn't that look like a Devil Fruit? Let's go and check it out." The girl was eager, squirming on his back.

"Okay!"

"That really looks like a Devil Fruit." Looking at the fruit with intricate patterns and strange shape, Xuan Ye was amazed, thinking that people really put a lot of effort into fruit these days.

"Brother, let's buy one!" The girl's face was full of anticipation.

"It's not real, and we don't know if it's toxic. What if it's made of chemicals?"

"Hey, young man, this isn't made of chemicals. It's approved, it's normal fruit, just assembled by hand. The real fruit is an apple." The vendor explained.

"Okay, we'll buy one."

At night, the sky was full of stars, hanging high in the universe.

A meteor streaked across the sky.

"Xiao Xi, come down for dinner." In the first-floor dining room, a young man was setting the table with a simple meal of three dishes and a soup.

"Okay, I'm coming." A clear voice came from the second floor.

"Thump... thump..." The sound of footsteps, a girl panting, bouncing down the stairs in a loose nightgown, ran to the table with excitement.

"I've told you so many times, don't rush, and don't run. Look, you're already out of breath after just one flight of stairs." The young man, helpless, took a towel and carefully wiped the sweat from the girl's face.

"It smells so good, brother is so amazing." The girl ignored him and started eating with her chopsticks.

"Slow down, no one is competing with you." The young man smiled, sitting beside her, watching her eat greedily with affection.

"Brother, after dinner, can you watch TV with me?" The girl's mouth was full, speaking unclearly.

"Tonight? But I have to go to work later." The young man was a bit hesitant, as he had already said he needed to pay back the money.

"Really, brother, you haven't spent time with me in so long." The girl pouted, looking unhappy.

"Silly girl." The young man reached out, wiping the rice grains from the corner of her mouth, and nodded affectionately. "Okay... I'll stay with our little princess tonight."

"Thank you, brother." The girl's eyes curved into a smile, and she picked up her bowl and started eating greedily.

A few minutes later, in a room filled with cartoon posters and stuffed animals, a young man and a girl were watching the TV intently.

"It's already updated?"

"Uh-huh, Ace died, that big bad guy Akainu." The girl pouted, pointing angrily at the screen where Akainu pierced Ace's chest.

"What a pity, Ace was a good person, I didn't expect him to die." The young man stroked his chin, not as upset as the girl, as anime was just anime to him.

"Luffy is so pitiful, he's falling apart. If I could travel there, I'd beat those bad guys to a pulp." The girl raised her little fist.

"Ha ha... silly girl." The young man reached out and ruffled her hair, at a loss for words.

"By the way, I almost forgot the plot. Time flies, this anime accompanied us through our childhood. But I still prefer Naruto."

"Not true, One Piece is better."

"Okay... okay... One Piece is better."

"Hmph..." The girl raised her head triumphantly.

"Hey, didn't we buy a Devil Fruit? Let's try it."

"You really believe that? The vendor said it was made of apples." Xuan Ye looked exasperated.

"Brother..." The girl pouted, looking pitiful.

"Okay..." Xuan Ye always unconditionally met his sister's requests.

He got up, took the Devil Fruit from the kitchen, and they sat back down by the TV.

"I'll try it first..." The girl was eager, about to take a bite, but was stopped by a large hand. Her eyes welled up with tears, looking confused.

"I'll try it first, and if it's okay, you can have a bite." Xuan Ye glared, worried about the fruit.

"Hmph... making a big deal out of nothing." The girl huffed but didn't argue, as she understood her brother's concern. If he got serious, she wouldn't get to eat the fruit.

Xuan Ye took a bite of the fruit. As soon as he bit down, a foul smell filled his mouth, followed by an unimaginably bad taste, almost making him faint.

It was so foul, so terrible... Xuan Ye wished he could bang his head against the wall, it was worse than excrement.

"How is it... how is it, is it good?" The girl looked expectantly, her big eyes full of curiosity.

"Ugh... ugh..." Xuan Ye threw the fruit away, vomiting, regretting it deeply. Veins bulged on his forehead, and he was drenched in cold sweat.

"Brother... look..." Xuan Ye was still gagging when the girl shouted, pointing in disbelief at the fruit that had turned into light and disappeared.

"This..." Xuan Ye was also stunned.

At that moment, a terrifying suction force came from the TV, which was playing One Piece. A black hole, as tall as a person, suddenly expanded, swallowing everything.

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