"El-sama!"

  "Boss El!"

  "Gerd!"

  Soon, the massive homie cloud drifted close to the deserted isnd, settlily oer's surface. Rock, Moss, and Nef looked on with calm i, while Linlin, Lily, and the Three-Eyed Tribe girl, Lillian, eagerly ran up to greet them.

  "Tsuru the Strategist."

  El aowledged Linlin and the others with a nod as he approached Tsuru, who stood tensely. His unwavering gaze bore down on the aged former "Navy's Flower."

  "Fallen Angel… El."

  El's t presence was intimidating; even for someone of Tsuru's caliber, it invoked a sense of undeniable pressure.

  "Though we had our differences, resulting in some unpleasas, it seems you've mao hold onto your life. I suggest you treasure it."

  El's tone was surprisingly cordial, almost dismissive. "If the Navy and the Wover knew you were still alive, they'd e after you without hesitation. So why not stay with us for now? You might even find a new perspective."

  Without waiting for her response, he turned and motioo Linlin, who was eically boung across the cloud, gleefully hopping alongside Lily and Lillian.

  "Linliurn her youth to her."

  "Got it!"

  Linlin transformed into a giant bat and flew over to Tsuru, who looked on with barely cealed excitement.

  "sider yourself lucky!"

  Linlied to human form, pced her hand on Tsuru, and without needing to fully transform, activated her Bat-Bat Fruit powers to restore Tsuru's stolen years.

  In a fsh, Tsuru's white hair regais deep blue luster. Her aged appearance vanished, repced by the vitality of her youth. Her once-wrinkled skin became smooth and radiant agai her former aura as the fierd dignified "Navy's Flower."

  "I'm… back to normal."

  Tsuru ied her restored body in amazement, overwhelmed by a mix of relief and disbelief. Yet her feelings toward Linlin remained unyielding; she had no gratitude to offer.

  "Don't expect me to thank you."

  Her words were sharp, ced with lingeriment. If not for Linlin, she would never have ended up in such a state—her career and life as a Navy officer destroyed beyond recovery.

  "Mamamama, I don't need your thanks. I only did it because El-oni told me to."

  Linlin smirked, her tone dismissive as she towered over Tsuru. Her eyes narrowed menagly. "Whether or not you join us, just know that if you try anything against us, you won't just lose your youth ime."

  Her voice held a chilling threat, her expression dark, exuding a demonic glee that left little room for doubt.

  Without waiting for a response, Linlin's demeanor transformed back to her usual cheerful self. She g to El's arm, excitedly pointing to the giant homie cloud. "El-oni! Let's turn this pto a paradise, like the Sabaody Archipego. Sally already had Moss bring back seeds for Yarukiman Mangroves and other trees!"

  Tsuru's eyes wide the mention of the famed mangroves.

  "Absolutely. Whatever you want." El smiled, nodding in agreement. The seeds were something he had arranged with Sally, his intelligence officer, to be ready for Atntis's transformation.

  "Here are the seeds!" Lily bounded over, holding a tiny pou her giant hands.

  "Oars," El turo the massive figure perched on Fish-man Jien's head. "I'll need your help moving this forest to the cloud."

  "No problem!" Little Oars jumped onto the open ground, much to Tsuru's shock.

  As the others looked on in amazement, Oars's body expanded, rapidly growing until he stood over 30 meters tall—a hulking, monstrous figure. His powerful presence sent chills down Tsuru's spine, even as the crew looked on with awe.

  "So that's… Oars's true form?"

  "He's even bigger than a Giant!"

  "An A Giant… Incredible!"

  Tsuru felt a chill as she realized, "So, he's an A Giant… no wonder he's powerful enough to stand against Garp!"

  "That's right. Little Oars Jr. here is the desdant of Devil Oars, a notorious vilin from the North Blue," El expined, his tone casual but proud. "He's not even fully grow. Someday, he'll be bigger and strohan even his infamous aor."

  The tale of the inal Oars, a giant capable of moviire isnds, was infamous throughout the seas, striking fear even into the Wover.

  "Devil Oars…?" Tsuru felt a shiver nition; the legendary Devil Oars, the "ti-Puller," was the stuff of legend. Her jaw ched as El's words sank in.

  El raised his sword, looking up at the forest. "Oars, I'll cut the forest into ses. It's your job to move them."

  "Got it, El!"

  With his instrus given, El shot into the air. In an instant, his sword began slig through the air, sending waves of massive, gleaming strikes toward the forest below.

  Each blow from El created perfectly carved ses within the forest, as if dividing it into puzzle pieces. Oars's t form approached with determination, gripping the earth in his massive fingers and lifting it with a mighty roar, the grouh him splitting uhe sheer weight of his strength.

  As his rades looked on, awe etched on their faces, Tsuru felt an odd sense of disbelief. El and his crew had resurrected the legendary power to carry entire isnds—a feat beyond even the Navy's might.

  Bleam