"This mission actually had two requirements: resolve the incident and expel Charlotte."
"I've only defeated Charlotte so far."
As he pondered, Kenji looked up and glanced at the Charlotte Family children gathered around the unconscious Charlotte at the edge of the distant battlefield.
However, the BIG MOM Pirates weren't just these Charlotte Family members, they also included some core members.
Clearly, the mission's completion indicated that the system determined Charlotte alone was the primary instigator of this incident.
Originally, the true core of the entire BIG MOM Pirates was just Charlotte.
Hadn't it been seen that when the leaders of those Four Emperors crews were defeated, the famously vast pirate crews quickly crumbled?
At this moment, Charlotte's defeat meant that the BIG MOM Pirates were no longer capable of threatening Elbaph, which was equivalent to the conflict ending.
Furthermore, the unconscious Charlotte would be arrested, so whether she was expelled or not, the meaning was essentially the same.
"The requirement to expel Charlotte, in essence, probably means preventing the target from threatening Elbaph again for a short period?"
"If that's the case, then knocking her out is indeed more efficient."
Kenji silently speculated on the system's judgment rules, rolling his eyes as he thought, 'Since there's such a 'shortcut,' why didn't you say so earlier?'
"This time, the reward is an opportunity for a trait advancement, huh…"
Kenji retracted his gaze, his attention returning to the system interface in his vision.
As the light shifted, the mission rewards had already taken effect.
[Your Giant Bloodline (Blue) has advanced!]
[Current Giant Bloodline (Purple)!]
"So, [Giant Bloodline] advanced."
The moment the trait's color changed to purple, Kenji suddenly felt his blood surge violently, and every bone in his body conveyed a premonition of imminent growth.
This feeling was an entirely new sensation that had not occurred when he had first awakened [Giant Bloodline] or during subsequent upgrades.
"It feels like I still have more growing to do… Ugh!"
Just as Kenji was carefully experiencing the sense of change, he suddenly felt his body undergoing rapid transformation again.
He opened his eyes and then clearly saw his field of vision getting higher and higher. He wasn't flying, he was growing taller.
In less than a minute, his height surged, only slowing down after exceeding five meters. Such a drastic change in height was quickly noticed by others.
"Is Admiral Shirojishi getting taller?"
"Idiot! How could someone grow that fast?"
"Hmm, I don't think it's an illusion, come and see."
"Holy crap! He really did get taller!"
"Admiral Shirojishi looks more like a Giant! Does he have a hidden Giant bloodline?"
The Marine present were Kenji's direct troops, similar to personal guards, and had been in contact with Kenji for a long time, so Kenji's height change couldn't be hidden from them.
Or rather, precisely because they were familiar, they could immediately discern the changes in Kenji's body.
Their surprised voices, however, were noticed by those with keen ears.
The Charlotte Family members merely looked up and scanned, their attention more focused on dealing with the immediate crisis. They were still tightly surrounded, after all.
The Giant warriors further away heard the Marine's exclamations, especially the last remark questioning Kenji's bloodline, which caught the attention of these true Giants.
"Looking at him… he does look a bit like us!"
"Hmph! How could that be? His current height is at most five meters. He's still far from a true Giant."
"However, that fellow's strength is indeed no less than ours, the Giants…"
"Heh heh, whether he's a Giant or not, we'll know in the future."
"Indeed, humans live for at most a hundred years, but we Giants can live for over three hundred years."
"Hey, isn't that Admiral around sixty or seventy years old? Maybe in a few years, we'll see news of his passing, gahahaha!"
The Giants discussed in low voices for a while, finally reaching a consensus, tey would wait and see. Compared to humans, they had plenty of time.
Kenji could actually hear the discussions from outside, as his top-tier Observation Haki was not turned off.
However, at the moment, he wasn't interested in what others thought. He was more eager to know how far his Giant Bloodline had progressed.
"[Giant Bloodline] advancing to purple rarity… at least puts me one foot into the Giant race domain, right?"
"Hmm, but it still needs to advance to gold. Then I will definitely be a true Giant."
Kenji had little doubt about the effects of [Giant Bloodline], especially after this sudden change.
[Giant Bloodline] had just advanced, and his body immediately grew taller, which had never happened before.
He speculated that when [Giant Bloodline] reached the top-tier gold level, his bloodline would likely become that of a true Giant.
The difference between a true Giant and a giantized human, besides height, was primarily lifespan.
"My strength has increased quite a bit…" Kenji moved his arms, feeling the changes in his body.
Then, he suddenly realized a "bad thing".
"Oh no!"
"This advancement… I still can't freely shrink or expand my body size."
Kenji tried hard, but he didn't even know where to apply the effort.
In any case, his body showed no changes.
"Strange, that shouldn't be the case."
"[Giant Bloodline] is a trait. Logically, it should be like [Sea Beast Power] and allow for free contraction and expansion."
"Hmm, perhaps the method is wrong?"
"Strength originates from the body and is easy to control, but body contraction and expansion are indeed a bit hard to imagine… like bone shrinking techniques?"
"Hmm, but what does a bone shrinking technique feel like?"
After a series of fruitless attempts, Kenji scratched his head and decided to continue checking the mission rewards first.
This mission rewarded two random trait advancements, and each advancement reward was independent.
Kenji's gaze returned to the system interface in front of him, where he found that the second advancement reward had already taken effect.
[Your Sea Beast Power (Dark Purple) has advanced!]
[Current Sea Beast Power (Dark Gold)!]
"The advancement was a bit off." Kenji looked at the dazzling 'Dark Gold' rarity of [Sea Beast Power].
He felt a bit awkward about it.
Just as he was silently complaining in his mind, the system prompt reappeared in his vision.
This time, it was an evolution prompt!
[Your Sea Beast Power has reached Dark Gold, triggering the evolution threshold!]
[Your Sea Beast Power has begun to evolve…]
[A power stronger than Sea Beast Power has awakened within you!]
[Your Sea Beast Power has successfully evolved to a higher level - Sea King Power!]