Age of Pirates

"God bless you, Douglas, you survived."

The old man looked at the weak Douglas and uttered something. Looking at Douglas, he continued: "You don't know, we all thought you wouldn't survive."

Dougla could hear the concern in the old man's rambling words. Looking at the old man who had lost an arm and a leg, he smiled slightly and said naturally: "Uncle Cole, thank you for your help, otherwise I would definitely die. "

When he was unconscious, these neighbors must have helped him.

"It's good that you survive, that's good that you survive."

Uncle Cole smiled and the two talked for a while before Douglas left.

After walking around in a circle, Dougla returned to the room out of breath. He had a personal understanding of the dire situation of his situation.

Not only him, but also several of his neighbors used the few Baileys they had to help him. Without enough food, they may not be able to survive this winter.

Time passed, watching the sun set, footsteps sounded, and as soon as Douglas got up, the door opened.

"Douglas, you're just fine."

As soon as the person walked in, the voice came. The person who walked in was a middle-aged man, equally thin and malnourished.

"Uncle Modo, you are here."

Dougla said hello. This middle-aged man was the one who cared for him the most.

Modo sat down and talked for a while, then handed the bag in his hand to Dougla and said: "Dougla, I will give you this ration first, and take good care of yourself first."

After saying that, he stood up and left without allowing Dougla to speak. Dougla looked at his back and opened his mouth not knowing what to say.

Uncle Modo returned at this time, which proved that he did not get any prey in the back mountains.

In other words, this ration was divided from his reserves.

"really"

With slightly red eyes, Dougla held the bag of rations tightly with trembling hands and let out a long breath.

What could he say before he had no power to help?

No matter how much he talks, it's useless. He needs to survive and then use his actions to repay the favor.

Over the past few days, Dougla slowly recovered. Although he still couldn't eat enough, his physical strength slowly recovered.

"What a gifted body.", murmured, Dougla felt the strength, his eyes flashed.

The original Dougla may not have known the potential of his body because of his lack of knowledge.

But now he felt that a malnourished body had a lot of strength. Apart from being gifted, Douglas couldn't think of anything else that could explain it.

"Perhaps this is my biggest reliance." Feeling the momentum of exerting his strength, Dougla had more hope in his eyes.

Don't think about things like taijutsu, domineering, and devil fruits. What he wants now is to restore his body and change his malnourished state.

If he can solve the food problem, then the next survival problem will be well solved.

The gangsters in the small town who once bullied him were just little punks.

If he could return to normal, with his physical strength and talent, he could naturally crush those bastards.

"Maybe it's time to take a risk." Looking at the afterglow of the setting mountain, he squatted down and continued to polish the arrows.

He got the bow and arrow from Uncle Cole. Although it was a bit old, it was still usable.

Uncle Cole was also a hunter back then, but later due to some reasons, he lost his hands and feet, and then he fell into despair.

Maintaining his bow and arrows, Dougla looked at the empty grain bag in the corner.

He must find new food, otherwise not only will he starve to death, but Uncle Modo and several other neighbors will also make their situation worse because of him.

In the past few days, several other neighbors have also sent rations they had stored. Dougla said it was a lie if he said he was not impressed.

The help of these people made him feel the kindness of human nature, but he did not allow these people to survive this winter because of himself.

Douglas knew that the help of these people was not unlimited. The arrival of winter snow had made them sigh. Maybe tomorrow, they would close the door and live by themselves, using an out-of-sight, out-of-mind approach to be kind to themselves. suppression so that one can survive.

Douglas didn't want to see such a situation, whether it was for himself or for these kind-hearted people.

One night passed, Dougla got up, picked up his bow and arrow, devoured the last ration, walked out of the room resolutely, and headed towards the back mountain.

The snowy weather forced him to speed up his pace, because only in this way could he feel warmer.

When hunting in winter, there must be very few prey, because they are all ready for winter.

Dougla didn't know if he could meet his prey, but he came anyway. He needed this method to gain a chance for his future survival.

There were still green trees in the woods, and Douglas didn't find it strange at all, because there were so many strange things or things in the sea.

Carefully searching for traces of animals, Douglas entered the forest. The memory of the archery training taught him by Uncle Cole gradually integrated into his body's instinct.

The fusion of the two souls gave him hearing and vision, increased agility and good strength. With just some luck, he could get his prey.

While searching slowly, Dougla looked in one direction, narrowed his eyes, and suddenly his breathing became heavier.

Pulling the bow, aiming, there was a sound of breaking through the air, and the sharp arrow flew away.

Before the big rabbit in the snow had time to react, the arrow had already passed through his body.

Douglas ran over quickly, and when he saw the dead rabbit, he laughed, and then burst out laughing.

Picking up the rabbit, Douglas glanced at the rabbit's footprints in the snow, thought for a moment, followed the footprints, and looked over.

After walking a short distance, the footprints disappeared. Douglas took a deep breath, bent down, stretched out his hand and started to pull.

When he saw the other rabbit stuck in the hole, Douglas smiled so much that his eyes narrowed.

"Old Cole, we are in trouble this year." In the room, Modo sat with a few middle-aged people, surrounded by several women and children. They sat together to save firewood because the winter was still long. , there will be hard times ahead.

At this time, everyone sitting there was speechless because of Modo's sigh. Because of Douglas, their budget for this year was out of control.

"How is Dougla's health?" Cole asked. Modo hadn't spoken yet, but Cole had already turned his attention to the children who were waiting to be fed.

"If it's not life-threatening, just share a little less food and just drink soup, otherwise these children won't survive this winter."

Cole's tone seemed extremely stiff and cold. The Modo people were silent. They heard that Uncle Cole's meaning was very clear. Next, Douglas, including adults like them, must save food.

As a former hunter, Uncle Cole knew the rules. When desperate, one party must make a sacrifice.

As human beings, they must be responsible for the lives of their children, even if one of them, the adults, dies next.