Chapter 97: Old Cloth Possession

But unfortunately, this pleasure didn't last long before the boy was stripped of his clothes by his parents, even his pants were pulled down.

"Customer, these are your clothes. If you feel they're dirty, we can wash them clean and return them to you, and this time, this kind of thing won't happen again."

Hill's father respectfully handed over the clothes in his hands, seemingly worried the dirt on them might displease Broly, yet he still added those latter words.

Broly felt a bit disappointed; the pleasant crying had stopped so quickly.

【Why not just kill the two people in front of me and make that guy cry again?】

A dangerous thought emerged, and killing intent boiled over with his rising emotions. Killing two ordinary people would be an effortless matter for Broly.

And this wouldn't be meaningless slaughter either. Killing them, making the boy continue crying, would bring him joy. That reason alone was already enough for Broly to act.

But in the end, Broly didn't do it. The surging emotions from his previous life as a shut-in influenced him, but his kind nature equally influenced him, gradually calming the boiling killing intent in his heart.

He looked at the clothes in his hand, then at the boy over there who had realized his parents wouldn't indulge him this time, his tearful face after taking a solid beating from both his father and mother. Some information surfaced in Broly's mind, and he had another idea.

"A guy who longs to get my clothes, huh? Watching the thing he longs for, yet being deprived of it by his own parents — how cruel a thing that is."

Broly spoke to the boy who had already stopped crying over there in an exclamatory tone.

"What do you want to say?"

The boy wiped his tears, harboring the resentful thought that 【if this guy hadn't come asking for the clothes, his own clothes wouldn't have left him】, and looked at Broly with some anger.

"What I want to say is, I won't wear clothes someone else has worn. I'll throw this piece away, but throwing away a perfectly good piece of clothing is a bit wasteful, so I want to give it to someone who needs it. Hmm, do you need it?"

"Ah, this..."

The boy froze, eyes widening.

"If you don't need it, I'll just throw this piece of clothing somewhere else."

Broly spoke again.

"Ah, no, please don't throw it somewhere else."

The boy hurriedly shouted.

"So, you do need this piece of clothing?"

Broly pressed the question.

"Mhm."

The boy bit his lip, not wanting to be treated as a trash-picker, but really wanting it. He replied softly with a red face.

"Good, I like honest people, and this is the reward given to honest people.

Now, I'm going to throw the clothes in my hand over. You have to catch it.

If you can't catch it, you'll lose the chance to get this piece of clothing."

Hearing this, Hill's younger brother nodded vigorously.

Broly watched his excited, eager expression, the corner of his mouth curling up into an inexplicable smile, and tossed the clothes in his hand high into the air.

The boy tilted his head back, staring unblinkingly at the clothes as they flew to their highest point, then fell toward this side.

【I can catch it, I can catch it. As long as I catch it, I'll once again have that piece of clothing that gives me the confidence to be envied by the friends around me!】

Just as the boy opened his arms, preparing to welcome the regained clothes, an energy beam shot out and struck the falling clothes a step ahead. Right before the boy's face could break into a smile, it mercilessly turned the clothes into ashes.

A few ashes drifted onto the boy's hands. He subconsciously tried to grasp them, but all he could hold was the residual warmth of the ashes.

He stared blankly at that side, raising his hand and pointing at Broly who had instant-cast the energy beam. The stunned expression on his face seemed to be asking Broly why he did this.

"Something I don't want, even if I destroy it with my own hands, I won't give it to a guy like you!"

Broly lowered his hand, smiling as he gave the explanation.

"The thing you yourself longed for, disregarded by another, destroyed right when you thought you had it in your grasp — how does that kind of feeling, that kind of atmosphere, feel to you?"

In his short life, the eleven-year-old boy had cried and made a fuss before, but there were very few times he had truly cried from inner sorrow.

However, watching his cherished clothes turn to flying ash before his eyes, hearing the mockery of the one who did this cruel thing, the boy felt anger, sorrow, even pain. "You... I, I'll kill you."

In just an instant, the eleven-year-old boy was driven red-hot with rage by Broly, his anger plain to see.

"If you lose your reason and launch an attack at me, I'll smash your head without hesitation."

And with just one sentence from Broly, Hill's parents hurriedly grabbed their son who was charging over, ready to act.

The boy was pinned firmly to the ground by his own parents, yet still struggled to crawl toward Broly's direction. However, he simply couldn't resist an adult's strength, and could only glare viciously at Broly with red-rimmed eyes.

"That look in your eyes is excellent. I just love your look of impotent rage."

Broly continued to mock.

The boy finally couldn't hold back, screaming ah-ah-ah, like a triggered rabbit.

This was an extremely intense humiliation, a feeling he, who had been doted on by his family since childhood, had never experienced before.

Tears finally spilled over.

"Wah—"

A louder cry than when his clothes were stripped off rang out.

"Hahaha..."

Correspondingly, Broly burst into loud laughter.

That laughter sounded exactly like the old cloth that destroyed Planet Xiamo.

"So your big brother is actually this kind of person?"

In the courtyard, Leone, who had been brought along, watched this scene in the courtyard and just felt this was somewhat bullying a child.

Although Broly is also a child, and that girl Hill's younger brother isn't anything good either, luring him on, giving him hope of getting the clothes, then personally destroying that hope right before his face when he was about to get it — it really is quite vicious, bullying.

"No, our big brother absolutely isn't the kind of person who would take pleasure in others' sorrow."

Nahashu and the others immediately denied Leone's words.

"Then how do you explain this?"

Leone pointed toward the situation over there and asked.

"When something is abnormal, there must be a reason."

Main said.

"Think carefully back: when did Broly-san's abnormality begin to appear?"

Someone answered Main's question.

"It was after learning of Miss Hill's situation."

"That's right. It was from that time that Broly-san became abnormal. Combined with what Broly-san said at noon about thinking of unhappy things, the reason Broly-san now bullies Hill's little brother for fun is already obvious."

The children's expressions turned solemn.

"I fear Broly-san once had a family experience similar to Hill's, which is why he is so angry, why he toys with Hill's family like this. He is venting for Hill, and also venting for himself..."

The speculation made by Main and the others left Leone stunned. The girl carefully looked toward Broly, who was laughing heartily over there.

She discovered the boy's laughter was not, in the usual sense, the laugh after bullying others, but rather like someone who had once suffered grievance and now finally had his great revenge avenged, laughing freely and openly with relief.

The emotion surged, making him quite fired up, but as his brother cried while he laughed, the negative emotions surfacing in his consciousness were also released along with the laughter.

Recovering from that fired-up state, Broly's laughter abruptly stopped. Hearing the crying beside him suddenly seemed noisy, and Broly went up and delivered one kick, knocking the boy who was still weeping bitterly unconscious.

(Chapter End)