"Whoosh—"
Above the blue sea, Moss, in his massive Pegornis bird form, began to shift, transf into a hybrid beast form.
With his feathers puffed and his figure remi of a majestic griffiended his massive wings, now serving as hands, and opehe briefcase. Carefully, he moved the Devil Fruits into a secure pouch he had prepared in advahen tossed the bck briefcase into the sea below to avoid any potential traps from the Wover.
If they had slipped in a piece of Vivre Card as a tracker, that would have caused serious trouble.
Having thhly ied each Devil Fruit, Moss was fident there were no issues with them.
"Heh, the Wover sure has a well-stocked treasury," Moss said with a grin as he secured the fruits. "Pulling out Logia and even the rare Mythical Zoan types without hesitation."
"After ruling the seas for turies with a Navy presen nearly every er and CP spy works worldwide, it’s no surprise they have such a vast colle," replied El, his bck wings whipping up a powerful gust as he flew beside Moss. "But pushing them for twenty Devil Fruits was the limit. The Wover isn’t stupid—they won’t keep giving in."
"Destroying twe naval fortresses and then kidnappiial Dragons to ransom the Woverhese tactics are only viable before the ‘Totto Land Pn’ officially begins. Right now, they don’t have a fixed location on us, and we’re mobile. Once we establish a solid territory and develop a stable state, both sides will start calg risks differently. At that point, unless both sides are prepared for full-scale war, her of us will take things too far."
"You’ve got a point!" Moss houghtfully. Without aablished base, the Wover couldn’t easily track or front them. But ohey cimed territory and began to grow as a force, the bes of more resources, recruitment, and influence would also mean new straints. Both the Wover and the Fallen Angel Pirates would have limits unless ready for open war.
For now, though, they o survive and repel any attacks that the Navy or Wover unched. Only by demonstrating undeniable strength could they prevent the other side from ag rashly. Without that, her the Wover nor the Navy would allow them to tinue challenging the Celestial Dragons and funting their independe was only a matter of time before they tried to crush any efforts to establish a pirate state.
"Moss, you head back with the Devil Fruits. I have some things to discuss with Sally."
While El hadn’t fully ied each Devil Fruit, he had a general idea of what they were. As expected, the Wover had been careful. While they provided rare Logia and Mythical Zoan types, they weren’t the most powerful versions. For instahe Logia Fruit was the Smoke-Smoke Fruit—not weak, but also not a powerhouse. The Zoan, however, was more impressive than he expected.
"Uood," Moss replied. He then fully transformed, following the Vivre Card’s dire back to Atntis.
…
A Short While Later—
On a deserted ishe Sabaody Archipego...
"El-sama..."
As El’s t figure desded from the sky, the graceful and alluring Sally approached with a soft smile. "It seems everythi smoothly, doesn’t it?"
The two made their way to a cave entrance—a secret base within the Fallen Angel Pirates’ intelligework. Tucked away in a secluded and hidden location, it was nearly impossible to find unless you stumbled directly upon it. Sally, as head of intelligence, often ducted operations from here.
"More or less," El replied, with a slight smile.
With a subtle shift in his stance, his muscles tracted, visibly rippling as he executed Life Return, redug his form down to a more pact three-meter height.
"What kind of abilities do those Devil Fruits hold?" Sally asked, sliding into the spacious, well-lit cave alongside El. Embrag his arm, she leaned closely against him, looking up with curiosity.
The agreement with the Wover for the first exge stiputed one Logia, ohical Zoan, one A Zoan, and four additional Devil Fruits.
"The three rarest abilities include the Smoke-Smoke Fruit (Logia), the Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Okuo-Makami (Mythical Zoan), and the Dragon Fruit, Model: Velociraptor (A Zoan)," El replied, amusement in his tohe others retively have ordinary abilities, so nothing to get too excited about."
"And actually, I’ve e away with something eveer."
El’s expression shifted to a sly smile as he raised his right fist, g it as red-bck lightning crackled, a powerful dispy of queror’s Haki flowing around him in intense arbsp;
If Kong had wit, he would have been speechless. This advanced queror’s Haki coating teique took him years to master. Yet El, this formidable Lunarian, had now achieved it as well.
"Is this..."
Sally’s eyes widened as she gasped in astonishment. "Is this... the queror’s Coating teique you’ve been training so hard to master?"
As El’s trusted aide, she knew well how much time he had ied in honing this skill, alongside perfeg his swordsmanship, physical strength, and Devil Fruit powers. Although he’d made steady progress with his Observation and Armament Haki, queror’s Haki had seemed elusive. While it had intensified over the years, there had been no breakthrough—until now.
She recalled El mentioning that queror’s Haki, when mastered, could coat attacks with immense force, far surpassing Armament Haki. This ability was known only to the world’s elite few—true titans of power.
"The teique is still a bit unpolished," El said, dismissing the Haki as he smiled with fidence. "But I’ve finally broken through. It’s only a matter of time before I perfect it."
For this, he had Kong to thank. El had been on the cusp of a breakthrough for some time, but it was Kong’s Haki-coated punch that finally gave him the push he needed, allowing him to intuitively break through that barrier. Now, with years of accumuted knowledge, mastery was within reach.
"You’re incredible, El-sama..." Sally’s eyes sparkled with admiration, her gaze unwavering. Here was a man she found herself hopelessly drawn to, one who had captivated her with both strength and character.
In that moment, she leaned in closer, her form flexible aig, like a graceful serpent coiling around him. "Still, I’d love to test just how powerful you really are."
