HMJ - Chapter 40 (Patreon)

“They are elites from the HQ!” “Shit, Run!” “Damn it! Please let us go! We are willing to hand her ov-“ “Sto-“ PENG PENG

The distant echoes of countless gunshots reverberated loudly in the rain, accompanied by the fading cries and pleas that were silenced forever.

A small shadow didn’t stop as she heard them.

She kept running through the night; that sound was something she was deeply familiar with. This experience was a repeating occurrence in her life; every home she found would be taken from her by her continuous pursuer.

No matter where she fled, it always ended in betrayal and pain.

This was her life. Always on the Run.

“Find her! She has to be here somewhere!” A deep male voice ordered harshly.

“Yes Sir!” “Form a perimeter!" “Search the area!" She followed a mixed bunch of voices from behind her that were spreading out in all directions.

This time, she was slower than usual in her escape. Her pursuers were closer than she would like and had a real chance to find her.

Unfortunately, she had noticed them too late since she felt unusually comfortable and safe today.

A basic mistake. Normally, she is always attentive and ready to flee at the first sign of trouble. But today she missed the signs. And the consequences were the loud footsteps of hundreds of people so close behind her.

No matter what, she didn’t stop. If she stopped, her pursuers would find her, and she would break her promise. She needed to live. She promised it. Run. She needed to run.

It was too late. They had found her.

“There she is!” “Don’t let her escape!” “Fire!” “We need to stop the Devil Child no matter what!”

A volley of bullets landed around her as the elite soldiers from the Marine Headquarters fired at her.

Nico Robin had painfully learned that the Elites from the Grand Line were different from the Marines usually present in the West Blue; unfortunately, these ones were always responsible for hunting her down in combination with the Secret Agencies of the World Government called Cipher Pol.

They would never let her be, but she couldn’t give up.

“Devil Child Nico Robin! Surrender and face justice!" A voice from behind her shouted as she, in complete panic, ran from them.

She needed to get away from them, out of their line of sight. Just how. They were so close behind her; every last one of them was a trained veteran from the Grand Line.

There!

A dark and small alley! She could shake them off there. They would lose sight of her.

Nico Robin rushed into the alley, the soldiers with their Muskets aiming at her still from a bit of distance away.

Behind her, the bullets were hitting the ground as she vanished into the alley.

Only to stop.

Right in front of her was a wall. This was no alley but a dead end.

They would catch her.

…

Suddenly, she saw something shimming in the wall.

A Door.

She ripped it open and rushed inside. Maybe she could find a way out inside. The voices behind her are coming closer and closer.

———

“So Lisbeth is out leveling with Argo and Kirito? Who would have thought they would find such an easy glitch to get high-level experience?" Harry muttered as he listened to the report Lust was giving him as they stood in the store.

Lust was the one who was taking care of the store in his absence for the most part. Lisbeth would also help out often.

“Too bad. I wanted to test whether she could create armor and weapons in a size that fits Giants. I don’t believe her skills had a size adjustment function.” He sighed as he finally managed to return from the True North.

Even while wanting to leave as soon as possible and put as much distance between himself and whatever there is in the Lands of Neverwinter and Hopemourne, it took quite a lot of time.

After all, they had a few hundred giants they needed to transport. And obviously, they weren’t feet on the boats they used to ship over.

Harry had actually used Alchemy to transmute bigger, rudimentary Ferry’s that were large enough to transport multiple giants out of the wood they had gathered.

They weren’t of the same quality, as if a shipbuilder would have built them; after all, he didn't have a lot of understanding of ships, but they fulfilled their purpose.

Still, he needed to improve his alchemy skill; drawing a transmutation cycle each time was annoying.

Unfortunately, he wasn’t certain whether he would learn how to use alchemy by just clapping his hands; after all, he was grinding the skills whenever he could.

But he knew how he would get it; after all, he was familiar with the story of Fullmetal Alchemist, at least roughly.

“I am sure she will soon return. You still have me if you are lonely.” Lust replied with a teasing grin.

“Be careful that I don’t take you up on your offer. Always teasing me, why did I even recruit you in the first place?” Harry sighed as he looked at her warily, a faint blush on his cheeks.

“Because you need captive people. I believe you had other reasons too. My door is always open, by the way.” She smirked with a predatory grin, sending a shiver up his spine.

“You- “ Whatever he wanted to say was interrupted by the loud bang of the store door opening and a shape rushing in.

“She ran into that alley up there. Don’t let her get away.” “We need to capture that devil!”

Many voices could be heard from the outside as a girl around his current age stormed into the door.

The panic in her eyes was clearly visible. The sound of many steps got louder and louder.

While the girl looked familiar, or at least was triggering something in Harry’s memories, he still didn’t recognize her.

He was certain he hadn’t met her personally till now, so it was most likely a character from another universe he hadn’t visited before.

It was a light brown-skinned, tall, slender young girl with long limbs and shoulder-length black hair and eyes that had dark, wide pupils in a cerulean blue. Her nose was long, thin, and defined.

She wore a black dress with a white collar. She is quite a beautiful young girl, even in her disheveled and exhausted state.

She looked at them in fear, as she had realized she wasn’t alone in the room.

‘Observe.’ Harry thought as the familiar screen with her information appeared in front of his eyes, making them widen as he realized who had just strayed into his store. ‘That’s unexpected.’

The girls still starred at them, frozen in fear, as Harry spoke up, “Close the door." It will make it disappear on the other side, and the Marines will be unable to follow you here, Nico Robin.”

Having heard him, Nico Robin regained her bearings and closed the door behind her. But she still eyed them warily while listening to the other side, only to realize that the sound of the voices hunting after her had disappeared.

It was quiet on the other side of the door.

“Don’t worry about it. They won’t find the door. You are in a completely different place now. Somewhere, they are unable to follow you.” It was a trick he had figured out after the drama with Durza the Shade when he followed Arya into the store.

The store was actually reacting to his wishes, at least on some level.

If he wanted to get new customers, he would get some in the near future, though he couldn’t determine who.

The same goes for who could find the store; if he didn’t wish for other people to find the store or no new customers, then the store would react to his desire.

“Is that a Devil Fruit ability?" Nico Robin asked, still looking at him and lusting in suspensation.

“She is cute. Can we keep her?” Lust asked teasingly from the side, somehow defusing the tense situation slightly.

“Not now, Lust.” Harry sighed before looking at Robin again. “While there are some similarities, It’s not an ability coming from a devil fruit. I can still swim. But you can think of it in a similar manner. This ability allows me to create a store that connects to different places.”

Robin nodded. “You clearly know who I am. You called me out by my name. Why are you not selling me out? You could collect my bouquet right now. What are your goals? Why are you helping me?”

“Uh, that’s a bit complex to answer.” Harry replied, collecting his thoughts. It always was the hardest part to explain the store to someone else, or what his actual goals are. “First of all, I didn’t lure you here or seek you out specifically. It was you who found the store by coincidence and opened the door. Our meeting wasn’t planned.”