"Three days from now, I've arrao trade the Celestial Dragons with the Wover on Too Isnd," El announced.

  "But I'm almost certain they'll try something, so Moss, you’ll be taking Lillian to the nearby isnds to monitor the area. Report immediately if you see anything unusual."

  With Tsuru now having fully itted to joining the Fallen Angel Pirates, all of the group’s members gathered for a meeting iop-floor lounge of their dreamlike paradise.

  Sitting at the head, El tinued, "There’s o rush the final trade. Let’s take our time to figure out what they’re pnning, uncover any hidden cards they might have."

  Ohing he kept to himself: his primary was the Five Elders. These five old men were absurdly powerful, and rumors suggested that each of them had the ability to summon others through a magic circle. If even one of them showed up, it could meahers would join the fight at any moment.

  Despite his immerength, resilient body, and abilities as a Lunarian, along with the unique Observation Haki he was born with, El couldn’t overlook the danger of being surrounded by all five of them. Fag just one, he wouldn’t be ed—but against all five, the risk was far too high. Furthermore, he couldn’t rule out that the Five Elders might als in Steel Bone Kong and other members of the Holy Knights, some of whom could wield strange abilities capable of restraining him and Linlin.

  It wasn't worth the risk.

  But he doubted the Five Elders would take the drastic step of "desding" to the mortal realm for a mere Lunarian, even sidering the magnitude of this i and the involvement of the Celestial Dragons. Still, he couldn’t afford to be careless. If he judged that the situation became too risky, he would abandorade without hesitation, ge the meeting location, or even demand a higher ransom from the Wover.

  Tsuru, sitting nearby, stroked her in thought. “It’d be best t things out, ging locations a few more times to wear down their patience. After all, we have the upper hand here.”

  With her decision to join the Fallen Angels, Tsuru's perspective had already begun to shift. Now, she was viewing things from an anti-Wover stanbsp;

  The power she felt from her new Mythical Zoan fruit, the Okuo-Makami, filled her with gratitude toward El and respect for his vision and generosity. Giving her such a rare ability—something El couldn’t even be sure she wouldn’t betray—was a tremendous show of faith. If their positions were reversed, Tsuru doubted she could have been as open-handed.

  Though she k was likely a strategic move on El’s part, his siy and generosity had softened her stance.

  “Even if we don’t need everyoo step in, make sure you spend the week or so training and serving your energy,” El said.

  Yes, he pnned for ten days, not three. He inteo lead the Wover on a wild goose chase, making them circle the seas before any final e. But despite the looming frontation, he didn’t see the o summon the rest of the crew from the New World—Hajrudin, Streusen, Witt and the others. This csh with the Wover was still just a skirmish, limited in scope to the powers of the main pyers.

  Linlin, as the other natural-born powerhouse besides himself, would be his primary ally in battle. The others weren’t necessary yet.

  The true moment to assemble the full force of the Fallen Angels would be after they uhe Totto Land Pn, for ohey moved to establish their own nation, there would be no doubt that the Wover and Navy Headquarters would no longer sit idly by.

  …

  Two Days Later

  On a remote, unnamed isnd at dusk, with the setting sun casting a dim glow over the nd, a massive figure stood silhouetted against the sky. The figure, t and winged, exuded a terrifying aura.

  "queror's Haki Infusion!" El raised his colossal fist, letting potent queror's Haki course through it, iwining in crag bd-red lightning.

  The moment, his fist sliced through the air with immense power, and he punched directly at the mountain before him.

  'BOOM!' The impact was so powerful that the entire mountain shattered into pieces, scattering stones of all sizes everywhere, and leaving the earth trembling.

  In a fsh, the massive form split into three t figures: El, Lily, and Linlin.

  "Linlin, how does it feel?" El asked, turning toward Linlin. "Think you ha?"

  Over the past two days, beyond honing his own trol over queror's Haki infusion, El had also been experimenting with a way for Linlin to train in it faster. Using Lily's Pile-Pile Fruit, they shared senses—a ueique that allowed Linlin to sense and learricacies of queror’s Haki directly from El.

  For most, wielding infused queror's Haki was almost impossible; it required immealent and strength. But Linlin, a natural powerhouse like El, had already developed siderable skills under his guidance. With the Pile-Pile Fruit, there was a ce that she could grasp it.

  "Let me try, El onii…" Linlin raised her right fist, her face full of focus aermination as she unleashed a powerful burst of queror's Haki. After a moment, she looked frustrated and shook her head. "It’s no good—there’s just not enough time."

  Even with the advantage of shared senses and El’s guidance, she couldn’t quite press and trol her queror’s Haki to i into her fists or on.

  “No rush. Do your best, that’s enough,” El said, patting her on the head.

  After all, she was still very young, and her current strength was already impressive. Pushioo hard might stifle her potential ter.

  “For now, keep honing your Armament and Observation Haki,” he advised with a smile. “This uping battle could be intense—you might even end up fag someone on par with a Navy Admiral.”

  He expected the Wovero use this opportunity to gather some of its most powerful agents to eliminate him before his "Totto Land Pn" could be set into motion. If Linlin could help him hold off a strong adversary, he could focus on quickly eliminating one of the weaker targets.

  "I’ll give it my all, El onii!" Linlin replied, her eyes shining with resolve.

  "You’ve got this, Linlin!" Lily enced her.

  'RING…RING…' El’s transponder snail buzzed. He answered immediately, tapping the shell to send coded signals for security.

  'TAP…TAP…' came the corresponding coded response. El’s eyes narrowed slightly—Moss had called in.

  Moss, stationed with Lilliao Isnd, had been using Lillian’s far-seeing vision granted by her Gre-Gre Fruit to monitor the area. They had sighted movements by Wover personnel. Among them was a member of the Holy Knights with the Mythical Thunderbird fruit, who was not only esc medical personnel and equipment to verify the Celestial Dragon's identity but was apanied by both a CP0 officer and Admiral Steel Bone Kong.

  What caught their attention, though, was the movement on a nearby isnd. There, they spotted the Marine Admiral "Pegasus" Bardel Horn, apanied by two more Holy Knights, including the Supreme ander of the Knights himself.