"Huh?"

  "A giants?"

  "Are there really giants bigger than the regur ones?"

  "Unbelievable..."

  Three days ter, at Dreamnd, a group of troubled children from the Dream House were filled with surprise when they saw El, Linlin, Hajrudin, and Streuseurn with Little Oars.

  They curiously examined Little Oars, who had adjusted his size to match El and the others. His green skin, fierce face, and fangs made him look intimidating, yet his expression held a sense of innoce.

  Meanwhile, Little Oars looked around, fasated by the whimsical Dreamnd, a pce he had never imagined. His eyes sparkled with excitement when he saw the giant Ferris wheel, and he couldn’t help but want to try it out.

  "Alright, from today onwards, Oars is one of us. Everyone, get along with him!" El smiled as he introduced Oars to the group.

  "Got it, Boss El!"

  "Don’t worry, I’ll look after him!"

  "Look after him? Oep from Oars would ftten you like a fishcake!"

  "He’ll need me for that, haha…"

  "Hi, Oars..."

  The group of troubled children bantered and teased each other in a lively but friendly manner. Despite their pyful arguments, they got along well, thanks to Sister Carmel’s old teags. fliever led to hatred es, and El had established rules to ensure fairness. If a dispute couldn’t be resolved, they could settle it with an open, ho fight and then train harder to wiime. Of course, El forbade any bullying based on strength.

  Sometimes, the kids needed El, their “guardian,” to mediate and guide them.

  "Alright, everyone line up, and I’ll introduce Oars..." Gerd cheerfully stepped forward to introduce everyoo Little Oars. "This is Tain from the Longarm Tribe, Rock from the Loribe, Moss from the Mink Tribe, Barry from the Snakeribe, and Jien from the Fish-men Tribe…"

  When these different children first met Linlin, the inal "problem child," she nearly scared them half to death. Her curiosity led her to “kindly” try to make them look more like regur humans. She wao remove the Longarm Tribe’s extra joints, shorten the Snakeribe’s long necks, and pluck the Mink Tribe’s fur.

  Had El not intervened in time, half of them might not have survived her “kindness.”

  "Hello, everyone... I’m Oars!"

  Little rinned happily as he looked down at his new friends, all from different races but weling and kind. El and the others hadn’t lied—there really were many panions from different species, and they all lived happily together.

  "El, it’s been a while since I’ve been out. I o head back to Elbaf with Hajrudin for a bit..."

  Gerd ran up to El, smiling brightly. "Want to e with us?"

  Adventuring with El had been far more exg than staying in Elbaf. Even though the training with El was tough, Gerd k was for their be.

  "You two go ahead. Give my regards to Mountain Beard and Waterfall Beard. ime, I’ll bring some good wio Elbaf when I visit. Stay safe!" El nodded with a smile. He uood that Gerd and Hajrudin were still children, and it was natural for them to miss their families after being away for a long time.

  "Haha, we won’t be gone long, Boss El!" Hajrudin said with a ugh.

  "Gerd, bring me something tasty!" Linlin’s eyes sparkled as she looked at Gerd.

  "Something tasty? Sure, Linlin. I’ll bring you some Sem!" Gerd wi her.

  "Sem? Thanks so much, Gerd… I ’t wait!" Linlin’s mouth watered at the thought of Sem, the delicious dish from Elbaf that she couldn’t fet.

  Soon, uhe watchful eyes of the group, Gerd and Hajrudin leaped onto Zeus the Thundercloud’s bad sped off toward Elbaf.

  "Goodbye!!"

  ...

  "Moss, e over here!"

  Sitting casually on a swinging chair, El watched the group of children happily bonding with Little Oars, ughing and riding the merry-go-round together.

  He took out the Bird-Bird Fruit, A Model: Pegornis Bird, and called over Moss, the lion-like Mink Tribe boy.

  "Boss El..."

  The ten-year-old Moss, scratg his head, ran over curiously and asked, "What’s up?"

  "Do you remember this?"

  El tossed the fruit to Moss with a smile.

  "Huh? Isn’t this the fruit I found?"

  Catg the fruit with its straterns, Moss looked closely and widened his eyes in surprise. "Sister said it oisonous and threw it away!"

  Indeed, El had learned from Sister Carmel’s memories that this Devil Fruit had been found by Moss and his friends while pying in the forest. Carmel had tricked him into giving it to her.

  "That was a lie Carmel told you!"

  El expined bluntly, "This is a Devil Fruit, a treasure of the sea. It’s the Bird-Bird Fruit, A Model: Pegornis Bird. If you sold it, it would be worth at least a billion beli!"

  "What!?"

  "This is a Devil Fruit?"

  The kids from Dream House were all shocked, staring at the strange fruit in amazement. They never expected it to be the legendary Devil Fruit that granted mystical powers.

  El, Linlin, Gerd, Hajrudin, and Streusen were all Devil Fruit users.

  "Damn that Sister!"

  "That rotten kidnapper…"

  Realizing they had been deceived, Moss, Jien, Rock, and the ritted their teeth in anger and cursed Sister Carmel.

  "Since you found it, it chose you...."

  El smiled at Moss and said, "So it’s yours to eat!"

  As a member of the Mink Tribe with beastly strength, Moss already had impressive bat potential. Among all the children, he excelled the most in training the Six Powers, showing great talent and progress. At just ten years old, Moss had already mastered 'Shave,' the fastest move of the Six Powers.

  El could only imagine how powerful Moss would bee once he mastered the Mink Tribe’s electro teiques and the Moon Lion transformation, bined with the Bird-Bird Fruit, A Model: Pegornis Bird. He would essentially be a low-level version of a Mythical Zoan Griffin, and not far behind other Mythical Zoan users like those with the Tengu asus forms. In terms of flight, the Pegornis Bird’s capabilities were among the best.

  "Huh? Yiving it to me?"

  Moss was stunned, not expeg El to hand him the fruit. The other children looked a bit envious, but none objected. After all, if Carmel hadn’t tricked Moss, he would have eaten the fruit long ago.

  "Didn’t you say you envied me and Linlin for being able to fly?"

  El patted Moss’s head and smiled. "Eat it, and you’ll be able to transform into a giant Pegornis Bird and fly freely in the sky!"

  "But once you bee a Devil Fruit user, you’ll have to train even harder to live up to your new powers."

  "Yes, Boss El..."

  Grasping the Devil Fruit, Moss’s face flushed with excitement. Determined, he said, "I’ll work hard!"

  Without hesitatioook a big bite.

  "Ugh—" His face turned green as he gagged. "It tastes horrible!"

  "Haha…”

  Bleam