“p… p…”

  At dusk, as the sun dipped below the distant horizon, it paihe sky with beautiful hues of cloud and light—a breathtaking se.

  “Delicious! So delicious!”

  On a hill, Peony couldn’t stop drooling as she savored a refreshing ice pop, her crest-shaped eyes brimming with delight.

  “Thank you, El-sama!”

  In front of her was a rge box overflowing with assorted snacks, which she held tightly, as though they were precious treasures.

  “If you want more, I have someone deliver them again,” El said with a smile.

  Through his mirror unication, he had instructed the Homies on standby to notify Barry—the Mirror-Mirror Fruit courier from Totto Land—to send over some new-world snacks and specialties.

  Beside him were more than ten rge boxes filled to the brim with treats and delicacies, all prepared specifically floriosa, the Empress of Amazon Lily.

  “Who’s there, sneaking around?”

  Suddenly, several agile, lightly dressed figures dashed toward them.

  “Huh? Peony?”

  “El-sama?”

  The guards of the nation stared in shock at the sight of El and Peony sitting together.

  “Rex, I’m just here chatting with her and admiring the su,” El said with a warm smile.

  He had to admit that Gloriosa had an excellent eye for seleg her Royal Guard. The four women were not only petent warriors but also strikingly beautiful. By Amazon Lily’s standards, they were among the most exceptional in appearand skill—not at all like the rough, rugged image some might expect.

  Dressed in bold, revealing outfits, their presence was undeniably captivating.

  “Sister Littonia, Sister Tulip, Sister Lily, Sister Hibiscus… Do you want some?”

  Peony offered snacks to the group while holding her own box tightly.

  “What’s this?” Littonia, the red-haired leader of the guards, eyed the snacks with a fident gaze. Wearing a leopard-print outfit, she bined elegah boldness.

  “You should keep them for yourself,” El said, patting Peony on the head with a smile.

  He then grabbed one of the boxes—nearly a meter tall and packed with snacks—and ha to the guards.

  “These are some snacks and specialties I just had sent from the New World. Feel free to try them!”

  “Snacks?”

  “Specialties from the New World?”

  The guards’ eyes lit up, but they instinctively looked to Littonia for approval.

  “Thank you, El-sama,” Littonia said, nodding lightly and maintaining her posed demeanor.

  “Thank you so much, El-sama!”

  “Let me see… what’s this? Potato chips?”

  Receiving their leader’s permission, the uards couldn’t tain their excitement. Rushing to the box, they dug through its tents, marveling at the colorful array of treats and eagerly sampling them.

  “El-sama, are all the men iside world as kind as you?” asked Tulip, one of the guards. She stood a remarkable five to six meters tall, her proportions strikingly elegant. As she nibbled on some chips, she looked at El with wide, curious eyes.

  “Haha, I wouldly call myself a good person…” El chuckled. “To tless others, I’m a figure of dread. The Navy even siders me a demon and trembles at the mere mention of my name.”

  His kindness was reserved for those he sidered his own. To his enemies, he offered only terror aru.

  “Huh? Really?”

  Both Peony and the guards were astoulip, in particur, gazed at El with starry eyes, her admiration growing.

  Uhe members of the Kuja Pirates or the older women of Amazon Lily who had ventured out to bear children, these young guards had spent their entire lives on the isnd. They were deeply curious about the outside world. Dedicated torous training, they dreamed of someday joining the Kuja Pirates aing sail with Gloriosa to explore the world beyond their home.

  …

  Three days ter, El returo the Totto Land Kingdom via the Mirror World, leaving Gloriosa behind. The Amazon Lily Empress watched him depart with great reluce.

  “El, you’re back!”

  On Atntis, Gerd greeted him happily. She held two little troublemakers by their bck wings as they struggled to escape.

  “aa…”

  “Dada… Dada… Hug… hug!”

  El’s eldest son and daughter were truly extraordinary, exhibiting behavior far beyond ordinary children. Even pared to giant children, their development was astonishing. Not only could they toddle around, but they had already begun to babble simple words.

  The moment they saw El, they wriggled out of Gerd’s hands and reached their tiny arms toward their father fs.

  “You two little rascals, misbehaving again?” El sighed and scooped them up, gently teasing his son and daughter. “You ’t be naughty! Behave, okay?”

  “El-sama!”

  Lillian emerged from the castle at the sound of the otion, her visibly swollen belly indig how far along she was in her pregnancy. El o her warmly, smiling before turning to Gerd.

  “Where’s Linlin?”

  “She went out with Afar and a crew to seize a few resource isnds in the midse of the New World, following the early-stage expansion pns,” Gerd replied, shooting him a mildly disapproving gnce for his hands-off leadership style. Still, she smiled as she answered.

  “The Four Camities of the Fallen Angel Pirates have bee truly fearsome,” Lillian said with a ugh, settling onto a Bubble Homie.

  “They’ve lived up to their name,” El agreed, pg his squirming children onto the Bubble Homie. “Though Linlin and Afar still fall a bit short of my expectations in overall strength, their destructive power certainly qualifies them for the title of ‘Camity.’”

  I months, Linlin, Cyril Oka, Irma Irene, and Afar—a Lunarian who had eaten the Fme-Fme Fruit—had made names for themselves across the seas. With Afar’s diligent training and newfound devil fruit powers, his mastery of Haki and fmes had advanced rapidly. He had surpassed ures, like Little Oars, and bee the fourth-stro member of the Fallen Angel Pirates.

  Of course, this didn’t include individuals like Francis Bangi, the Barrier-Barrier Fruit user, whose specialized abilities made him nearly invincible under most circumstances.

  tless would-be challengers who thought to cause trouble in Totto Land had been buro ashes by Afar, earning him the moniker “Sce of Fme.” The Wover had pced a bounty of 500 million berries on his head, seg his pce as one of the “Four Camities” of the Fallen Angel Pirates:

  “Storm Camity” Irene

  “Thunder Camity” Cyril Oka

  “Blood Camity” Charlotte Linlin

  “Fme Camity” Afar

  Each led their ow and had bee notorious figures in the New World. Their ferocity shattered the ambitions of tless reckless pirates who uimated their strength and paid the ultimate price. Even the Rocks Pirates, despite gaining power during this chaotic era, avoided provoking the Fallen Angel Pirates, now widely regarded as the de facto rulers of the New World.

  “Gerd, if you’re feeling bored, maybe you could take on a mission yourself,” El teased, pyfully ping his children’s cheeks. “With your ability to trol the weather, you could earn a ‘Camity’ title of your own!”

  “As for these two little ones, don’t worry. We leave them in someone else’s care for now.”

  Gerd had grown impressively strong. With her neon—the Bloodstained Crest Scythe—and the supreme Homie Hades, along with Zeus, Prometheus, and the sea Homie Umibōzu, she was a near-unstoppable force. Her ability to manipute the weather elevated her beyond the limits of ordinary giant warriors.

  El had no iion of finio domestic life. She was no mere or, and he wanted her to tinue pursuing her goals and dreams of being a great warrior.

  “Is that so? Hehe…” Gerd’s eyes sparkled with excitement at the prospect of adventure.

  She didn’t want to be fi home taking care of children all day. She had her own ambitions and dreams—she wao bee a great warrior!

  Bleam