“Wow…”

  “That’s amazing!”

  “Brother Thor, you’re incredible!”

  By the coast, a group of little oared iheir eyes filled with admiration as they watched Thor.

  No one had expected Thor to be capable of unleashing Elbaf’s Spear: Mighty Nation and passing the trial so soon.

  Evehird sibling, Dal, who had just earned reition for mastering Linlin’s signature sword teique, Night Demon Assault, was surprised.

  “Mamamama, you’ve already reached this level, huh?”

  Linlin squinted her crest-shaped eyes and praised him without hesitation. “Thor, you’re amazing!”

  “Pfft, it’s just so-so!” Thrinned, puffing out his chest with pride.

  “Don’t get too cocky, kid. It’s just one Ikoku—you still have a long way to go,” Gerd said, knog him on the head unceremoniously. “You even had to rely on the Rumble-Rumble Fruit to stimute your cells and boost your power, not to mention putting out the fmes on the back of your head…

  “When your father was nine, he could do this without relying on the Lunarian ability or a Devil Fruit—without eveinguishing his fmes!”

  “Was Dad really that strong as a kid?”

  Hearing Gerd’s words, Thor, Sif, Dal, and the others were dumbfounded.

  They all kheir father owerful, but they hadn’t realized he had been so extraordinary even as a child. Being able to unleash Elbaf’s Spear at nine years old, without relying on any special abilities—it was almost unbelievable.

  “Mamamama, of course!”

  Linlin, brimming with pride, ughed and said, “El-onii is the stro in the world! So, kids, you all have to work hard!”

  She looked at her children, who had ied the Lunarian bloodline, with high expectations. She thely ruffled the hair of her six-year-old son, Ares. Among them, perhaps only he could match El’s feats at the same age.

  “Mom, when did you master Ikoku?” asked the doll-like Athena, blinking her rge eyes curiously.

  “Since I have the powers of the Mythical Zoan: Vampire model, I ma by the time I was ten using the fruit’s ability…” Ping Athena’s delicate face, Linlin smiled affeately. “Without relying on my fruit, I ma around eleven. So, kids, don’t get arrogant. Keep w hard!”

  Gerd smiled warmly as she advised the little ones. Clearly, while Thor, Sif, and the others had ied El’s monstrous physique, they were still a step below the first geion. Without a doubt, the only one who could truly replicate the first geion’s aplishments—like El and Linlin—was Ares, the eighth child of the Kukulkan family, born of two natural-born monsters.

  That said, the children’s progress was already astounding. However, as the future of Totto Land, they carried everyone’s high hopes, so their training had to tihey couldn’t afford to grow pt.

  “When did you first master Elbaf’s Spear, Mom?” the eldest daughter, Sif, asked, blinking her big round eyes.

  “…”

  Gerd’s expression froze. She knocked Sif on the head gently and said, “You ask too many questions. Get back to your training!”

  How could she pare to monsters like El and Linlin? Strictly speaking, thanks to her Soul-Soul Fruit ability bined with the overpowered Pile-Pile Fruit that allowed her to stantly upgrade herself, she had already shattered the Giant race’s turies-old record. Even the elder giants, like Mountain Beard and Waterfall Beard, or the captains of the Giant Pirates—Blue Ogre Dorry and Red Ogre Brogy—who were still dueling on that isoted isnd, couldn’t pare to her. But stacked up against El and Linlin, the gap was astronomical.

  “Then, Mom, does that mean I go on missions with Uncle Afar and the others now?” Thor asked, his big eyes brimming with anticipation.

  “You ,” Gerd replied, smiling warmly at her gifted eldest son, “but you still o work hard. No sg off!”

  “Yes, Mom… that’s amazing!”

  Thor leapt into the air with excitement, grinnio ear, and stuck his to at Dal, who had been showing off earlier.

  “Hm?” Suddenly, Thor furrowed his brows and looked into the distahere are intruders at sea. I think they’re called the ‘Dire Wolf Pirates.’”

  “The Dire Wolf Pirates?” Dal immediately pulled out a bounty booklet, flipping through its pages until he found the he captain is Dire Wolf Jeff. He has the Dog-Dog Fruit: A Model—Dire Wolf form, and his bounty is 108 million berries!”

  “An A Zoan user?”

  “108 million berries… how many ‘Totto s’ is that?”

  “About thirty million Totto s!”

  The group of children chattered iement, while Linlin and Gerd remained posed. Over the years, as Totto Land thrived and earned a reputation as a wealthy kingdom, it iably attracted many greedy outsiders. tless overfident pirates perished in its surrounding waters each year. Thor himself, while training with his Rumble-Rumble Fruit powers, had taken care of several invaders effortlessly.

  “Mamamama! Then it’s all yours, Thor,” Linlin said with a smile. “Just remember to leave them alive. We still o extract his Devil Fruit!”

  “Yes, leave it to me, Mama Linlin!”

  Thor beamed with excitement. His right hand crackled with electricity as he raised it, his powerful Observation Haki already log onto the target.

  Crackle—Boom—

  “You have trespassed into the territorial waters of the Totto Land Kingdom. Leave immediately, or you will be sidered invaders!”

  Meanwhile, at the e of Totto Land’s waters ihree o’clock dire, a rge pirate ship had just ehe kingdom’s seas.

  “Hey, Captain…”

  A sweating pirate hurried over with a Den Den Mushi, shouting, “We just picked up a warning signal!”

  “What’s there to be afraid of? We’re the Dire Wolf Pirates!” scoffed one of the crewmen. “The brave eat their fill; the timid starve!”

  “Hahaha, acc to the map, there’s an isnd up ahead. We’ll loot it and leave—they won’t even catch us!”

  “I’ve heard Totto Land is a kingdom of gold!” another pirate chimed in, eyes gleaming with greed.

  “That’s right. I’m Dire Wolf Jeff, worth 108 million berries!” the captain decred arrogantly. “I’m not some overrated member of the Fallen Angel Pirates who only has a big bounty because they crossed the Wover…”

  “And if we mao kill an officer or two from those ‘72 Demon Pilrs’ the Gover wants so badly, we’ll be rich!” he added with a ugh.

  But just as his voice trailed off, the clear blue sky lit up with dazzling lightning, illuminating the sea around them with a blinding white light.

  “What…what is that?”

  “Ah! It’s tht!”

  “It’s lightning!”

  “Damn it, we ’t escape!”

  “No—!”

  In the moment, uhe pirates’ terrified gazes, a massive pilr of lightning desded from the heavens, crashing into their ship with devastating force.

  Boom—Boom—

  “Ahhhhh!”

  Bleam