Passing through several palaces, Aurelius arrived at the royal dining hall.
Upon entering, Aurelius saw a handsome and beautiful couple.
The man was wearing a magnificent king's robe, with the crown of the Helios Kingdom on his head. He was Aurelius's father in this life, Helios Ilo.
At this moment, King Ilo had a look of doting affection on his handsome face as he laughed with the person beside him.
Sitting next to the King was Aurelius's mother in this life, the Queen of the Helios Kingdom, Elisa.
Queen Elisa wore a form-fitting purple dress, and on her beautiful oval face, two purple eyes shone brilliantly.
Queen Elisa was chatting with King Ilo, and their smiles showed that they were having a happy conversation.
"Father, Mother, good morning."
Standing before the dining table, Aurelius bowed to King Ilo and Queen Elisa.
"Oh~ It's cute little Aurelius. Come, sit next to Mom."
Upon seeing Aurelius, Elisa's eyes lit up, and she quickly signaled for Aurelius to sit beside her.
Aurelius followed the flow and obediently took the seat next to Elisa.
Once Aurelius was seated, a maid who had been waiting nearby immediately served a rich breakfast and placed it in front of him.
"Little Aurelius, did you miss Mom last night?"
After Aurelius sat down, Queen Elisa completely ignored King Ilo, her eyes shining as she looked at Aurelius.
As she spoke, Queen Elisa gently pinched Aurelius's small cheeks.
"Mmh... No..."
Feeling the hands constantly pulling at his face, Aurelius couldn't help but roll his eyes internally.
Although he knew he had inherited their genes and had been cute since childhood, he still wasn't used to having his cheeks pinched every time they met.
"You didn't miss Mom... I'm so sad..."
Hearing Aurelius's words, Queen Elisa immediately pouted unhappily.
Beside them, King Ilo shook his head and spoke up.
"Alright, Elisa, let Aurelius eat breakfast first."
Hearing this, Queen Elisa could only release her hands. "Fine."
Finally free from the cheek-pinching trouble, Aurelius exchanged a glance with King Ilo.
Everything was understood without words.
After all, King Ilo was famous throughout the Helios Kingdom for being a jealous type.
Even Aurelius being pinched and hugged by Queen Elisa would generate jealousy, showing just how easily King Ilo got jealous.
He was even jealous of his five-year-old son. Although King Ilo's tone just now sounded normal, the jealousy in his eyes couldn't be hidden from Aurelius.
Regarding his eccentric father in this life, Aurelius felt he had learned something new; he had never seen such a jealous person before.
...
After a calm breakfast, once the maids had cleared the table, Aurelius turned to King Ilo and spoke.
"Father, I want to go to the Kingdom's Treasury to take a look."
"Hmm?" Hearing this, King Ilo, who had been about to stand up, paused slightly and sat back down. "Why?"
"If you want something, I can have it fetched for you. But the Kingdom's Treasury is a place of national importance. You need to be a bit older to enter."
"After all, the treasury contains a vast amount of materials related to the kingdom's livelihood and security. Being careless could easily affect the kingdom's safety."
Hearing King Ilo's words, Aurelius nodded, understanding the importance of the treasury.
However, having awakened the King's Treasure, Aurelius intended to visit the treasury personally.
"Father, a while ago I awakened a magical ability that allows me to put other items into a magical space."
"As long as the item is put into that magical space, the original item will gain some magical effects."
As he spoke, golden ripples began to appear in the space beside Aurelius.
Under the astonished gazes of King Ilo and Elisa, Aurelius reached his hand into the golden ripples.
Then, three golden items were taken out one by one and placed on the dining table.
"..."
Looking at the golden Noble Phantasms on the table, King Ilo frowned slightly.
"Aurelius, did you eat a Devil Fruit?"
"No." Aurelius shook his head and denied it directly. "I haven't eaten a Devil Fruit."
"I tested it. I am not afraid of seawater or Seastone."
Because the Helios Kingdom was located in the Grand Line, they were knowledgeable about things like Devil Fruits and the three types of Haki.
Hearing Aurelius's words, King Ilo's eyes immediately lit up slightly.
"Not afraid of seawater, and not afraid of Seastone. Then, this is an innate talent you were born with."
Speaking of this, King Ilo became quite excited.
"I didn't expect that our royal family would produce a genius with an innate talent."
"Could it be that my Helios Kingdom is finally about to open its borders!"
Watching King Ilo's excitement, Aurelius didn't interrupt, waiting quietly for him to calm down.
Aurelius understood King Ilo's feelings.
The Helios Kingdom was located on the edge of the first half of the Grand Line. The massive island it occupied was called Crown Island.
Crown Island was huge, even larger than Sandy Island, where the Alabasta Kingdom from the original story was located.
The resources on the island were abundant, allowing the population of Crown Island to increase significantly.
However, half of the island's area was located on the edge of the first half of the Grand Line, while the other half was located within the Calm Belt.
The entire Crown Island was in a remote sea area, and since the seas were unsafe, the country had always been in a state of isolation.
In the center of the island, at the junction of the Grand Line and the Calm Belt, there was a towering, massive platform shaped like a crown, which was why this huge island was named Crown Island.
The Helios Royal Family resided within the Crown Highlands in the center of the island. The area in front of the Crown Highlands, located in the Grand Line sector of the island, was the living district.
The area behind the Crown Highlands, located in the Calm Belt sector of the island, was the military district.
The ancestors of the Helios royal family understood the importance of strength, so they never exposed the kingdom to the outside world.
Due to the remote location and the kingdom's low profile, combined with the closed-door policy to minimize their presence, the Helios Kingdom was not a franchise nation of the World Government, and rarely did pirates visit these waters.
Therefore, the Helios Kingdom had been extremely low-key for hundreds of years, and life was basically self-sufficient.
Currently, the Helios Kingdom had a total population of thirty million. Among them, the military force numbered two million, divided into the East Army, South Army, West Army, and North Army, with five hundred thousand soldiers in each.
Although the Helios Kingdom had entered isolation to protect its people, the royal family had dreamed of opening the country for generations, so their military power had been constantly improving.
As a king, if one cannot make the people live better, if one cannot make the country stronger, then that king is a failure.
Unfortunately, the kings of past generations knew clearly that without strength, rashly opening the country would only lead to destruction.
Thus, the kings of the Helios royal family had always kept a low profile until they possessed absolute strength.
Generation after generation, the kings constantly developed the country's hard and soft power, hoping that one day they could truly open the country and let the name of the Helios Kingdom resound throughout the entire sea.
However, no absolute powerhouse had appeared in the Helios Kingdom's history. Therefore, out of necessity, the royal family placed most of their focus on the Calm Belt.
Because half of Crown Island was located in the Calm Belt, the Kingdom's military industry department had invented fuel engine technology.
Coupled with Seastone secretly purchased from overseas, the kingdom's ships could navigate within the Calm Belt.
Inside the Calm Belt, there were a large number of islands containing rich resources, so the kingdom's treasury was extremely abundant.
However, the kings of past generations knew that wealth should not be revealed. Coupled with the lack of powerful forces within the kingdom, they dared not sell large amounts of resources.
After all, if they were targeted by pirates or the World Government, it would be difficult to handle.
Now, looking at the increasingly abundant kingdom treasury, the wish of every generation of kings was for a top-tier powerhouse to appear in the royal family and lead the kingdom on the path to becoming a great power.
Especially the current king, Aurelius's father, King Ilo. They were now in the Great Pirate Era.
The words spoken by the Pirate King before his death had led to more and more pirates setting out to find the One Piece. There was no guarantee that the kingdom wouldn't be discovered by some pirates.
By then, if the kingdom didn't have the power to protect itself, it would passively head down the road to destruction.
So, although King Ilo had always appeared confident before, he was internally extremely anxious.
He didn't want the Helios Kingdom to be destroyed in his hands or his child's hands.
Therefore, after hearing Aurelius mention awakening an innate talent, King Ilo reacted so excitedly.
Because King Ilo seemed to see the opportunity for the Helios Kingdom's opening and rise in Aurelius.
"Phew~"
After the excitement, King Ilo gradually calmed down.
"Your innate talent allows items to gain magical abilities?"
Hearing this, Aurelius nodded and pointed to the three golden Noble Phantasms on the table.
"These three items are things I tested before. After putting them into that magical space, they changed. I call them Noble Phantasms."
"These three Noble Phantasms are, in order: Crystal Cup, Vintage Wine, and Deep Sea Night Pearl."
"Their effects are, respectively: improving taste, preventing drunkenness after a thousand cups, and increasing night vision. The method of use..."
As he spoke, Aurelius explained how to use the Noble Phantasms.
Furthermore, at Aurelius's signal, King Ilo and Queen Elisa tested them personally.
Immediately, both of them were astonished by the magical effects of the Noble Phantasms.
Because of this, King Ilo no longer intended to follow the original rules and was willing to make an exception for Aurelius.
As a king, King Ilo was not shortsighted.
He understood that for Aurelius's ability, the sooner it was used, the better.
Moreover, the better the items used, the stronger the Noble Phantasms would be.
Correspondingly, the stronger the Noble Phantasms, the greater the improvement in Aurelius's strength.