“Huh?”

  “Did his face just… stretch?” Everyone—Moss, the CP0 officer, and even Steel Bone Kong—stared in surprise. But it was Saint Mars, typically impatient, whose expression shifted the most. His eyes narrowed as he gred ily at Rufe, barely able to ceal his shock. “Impossible…”

  “I… I think my body’s turo rubber…” Rufe stammered, astonished. He tugged at the skin on his shoulder, watg it stretch like rubber. When he released it, it snapped back with a 'pop'.

  Driven by curiosity, he swung his right arm, which extended several meters before retrag like a spring. The ued force caused him to stumble slightly. Moss, equally taken aback, murmured, “This… is the Gum-Gum Fruit?”

  “Acc to the Devil Fruit guide, the shape doesn’t match…” Mars muttered, forehead slick with sweat. After a brief cough, he forced himself to appear calm, masking his . “This must be the Paramecia-type Stretch-Stretch Fruit, an unrecorded fruit.”

  He insisted on this because no doted “Gum-Gum Fruit” existed. The Wover had purposefully recssified the powerful, mythical 'Human-Human Fruit, Model: Nika' as a “Gum-Gum Fruit” to ceal its true nature, hiding its infamous legacy as “the most absurd power in the world.” They aimed to keep its mythological properties under s. But if Rufe had eaten a genuine Parameika-Nika Fruit, it was an arming ce for Saint Mars.

  “Stretch-Stretch Fruit?” Rufe scratched his head, visibly disappoihe ability didn’t seem particurly useful—certainly not pared to rare Logia or Mythical Zoan fruits. Even some Paramecia types, like the Spike-Spike Fruit or Spin-Spin Fruit, seemed superior. Perhaps it was just bad luck; after all, he was only a fisherman who’d nearly drowned in a storm, only to be captured by sve traders.

  Moss, however, appeared uned. “The power of a Devil Fruit depends on the skill of its user.” He handed Rufe a small piece of Seastone ed securely in cloth.

  Rufe took it and quickly noticed its effect. “Moss-sama, I feel weak…” Moss smiled—proof that the fruit was gehough its full potential remained uain. Steel Bone Kong and the CP0 agents kept stoic expressions, hoping pirates would gain nothing powerful.

  “It’s just a simple Paramecia power…” Mars said, his toraying his desire to avoid further mention of the “Gum-Gum Fruit.” Feigning irritation, he added, “Now, have El bring the Celestial Dragon already. My time is precious.”

  “Uood, boss.” Moss quickly tacted El through a transponder snail. “The Devil Fruits are genuine, including the extra Logia Woods-Woods Fruit they provided.”

  “Good. Then you and Rufe return,” came El’s prompt response.

  Steel Bone Kong’s eye twitched as he gritted his teeth. “What’s the meaning of this, El? Are you pying games with us?”

  El’s voice responded, den with sarcasm. “I wouldn’t dare, though entering a figure as signifit as a Five Elder did give me quite a scare.” His words dripped with mockery. “Fag someone of such high rank is… intimidating.”

  Both El and the Wover knew each other’s true iions. El, ever eager to weaken the gover’s elite forces, had anticipated the ambush, while the gover aimed to eliminate him as a signifit threat. In this high-stakes game of cat and mouse, they’d soon discover who held the upper hand.

  “What?!”

  “F-Five Elders?!”

  Moss already knew who stood before them, but Rufe, the new recruit, gasped, his pupils shrinking as he looked at Saint Mars. Though once a simple fisherman, Rufe had learned about the Wover’s hierarchy from Moss and Roow, seeing the truth, sweat beaded on his forehead. Was this unassuming old man truly someone so powerful?

  “What are y to pull? I don’t have time fames,” Saint Mars growled, his eyes bzing with cold fury. “This is the Wover’s final offer. Don’t push further…”

  He tinued icily, “No matter how much you humiliate the Celestial Dragons, the Wover always tell the public they weren’t real Celestial Dragons.” With a steely sneer, he added, “Tell me—who do you think the people will believe? The Wover or some notorious pirates?”

  “That may be so; you trol the o’s narrative…”

  El’s voice came from the transponder snail, uerred by the threat. “But some people would still want to know, especially sidering how ‘untouchable’ you cim the Celestial Dragons are. What’s done is done, and the world has seen it.” His tone dripped with s. “Rumor or truth, most people don’t care—they just want a good story.”

  He ughed coldly. “Especially when it involves the Celestial Dragons—the greatest sce of the seas. Isn’t that right, Five Elder?”

  “How dare you!”

  Saint Mars’s face darkened, his expression torted with rage. “You i Lunarian! You’re c death!” His aura turned menag, chilling Moss and Rufe as if the very air had turned icy.

  “That damned El! How dare he speak to Saint Mars like that?”

  “Arrogant fool!” CP0 agents and Steel Bone Kong bristled with aheir expressions dark. They couldn’t believe El had the audacity to insult a member of the Five Elders, one of the most powerful figures in the Wover.

  “Don’t act like your title means anything to me…” El’s tone was equally defiant. “You think I don’t know that you summoher Elders from afar?” He sneered. “I’m not foolish enough to risk myself for a few Devil Fruits.”

  “What?!”

  Saint Mars’s pupils tracted, astohat El knew of this capability. Even Steel Bone Kong and the CP0 agents were taken aback.

  “Summoher Elders…from afar?”

  This revetion was staggering.

  “What do you know?” Saint Mars’s voice dropped, thick with threat. Somehow, El seemed to know far more than he should about their powers, powers that hadn’t been deployed in decades.

  “Ohing: send someone else,” El’s voice was firm, cold. “If there are any more tricks, the deal’s off. I’ll gdly let the world see the ‘uastes’ of the Celestial Dragons behind closed doors.”

  “You wretched brat!”

  “That i piece—!”

  Bleam