For people with mediocre talent, it's hard to make much real progress in a single year—especially for children. At most, they just get a little taller.
But for monsters like El and Charlotte Linlin, one year is enough to bring terrifying change.
El's birthday is February 2.
It has been half a year since he met Carina and Nami.
In those six months, El's growth has been explosive.
In swordsmanship, a single full-powered sword draw can now unleash a flying slash measured in miles.
The range of his Observation Haki has expanded to cover nearly half of a medium-sized island.
His height has increased by ten centimeters, reaching 1.55 meters.
That obvious change in height is a simple, visible sign of how much stronger his physique has become.
The stronger his body, the higher the ceiling he can reach when he pushes his speed and power with Life Return.
After leaving the hotel, El walked into a quiet alley, put on a cloak he'd bought back in Loguetown, and slipped on a smiling white mask.
Then, with just a thought, his figure blurred—turning into an afterimage too fast for the naked eye—darting toward the palace of the Drum Kingdom.
With the help of Observation Haki, El moved like a ghost. He slipped through blind spots, bypassed patrols, and successfully infiltrated the royal palace.
Although the Drum Kingdom was one of the top fifty kingdoms at the latest World Conference, its military strength was far inferior to the "Desert Kingdom," Alabasta.
After sneaking inside, El avoided every surveillance Den Den Mushi, followed the presence he'd sensed, stepped into a room, knocked out the only person inside with a quick strike—then placed a hand on the unconscious man's head and read his memories.
Very quickly, El understood the layout of the palace. He learned who the king was and where he would be resting at this hour.
After hiding the unconscious servant, El stunned the guards outside the room one by one, then slipped into the king's chambers, where the monarch had already turned in early due to his fragile health.
A single blow put the king down as well.
Reading the king's memories, El finally found what he was looking for: information about the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit, the Baku Baku no Mi. He confirmed that the fruit had indeed not been eaten by Wapol yet, and that it was hidden somewhere in this very room.
He found the secret compartment, opened it, and revealed a combination safe.
Entering the code from the king's memories, El swung the heavy door open. Inside, the safe was stuffed with glittering gems, piles of documents… and a small treasure chest that took up nearly a tenth of the space.
Inside that treasure chest lay the Paramecia-type Devil Fruit—Baku Baku no Mi.
El took it out and opened the lid. A purple fruit shaped like a piranha sat inside, covered in strange patterns.
Satisfied, he slipped the fruit back into the chest, swept all the gems out of the safe and into the chest as well, wrapped it with his cloak—and the next moment, his silhouette vanished from the room.
As the saying goes: come and go without leaving a trace.
With his speed plus the ability to read hearts and memories, if El ever seriously turned to theft, he could easily become the number-one thief in the world.
That ability to read memory in particular made Carina deeply jealous.
She had to work hard to dig for information, and still couldn't be sure if it was accurate. El only had to burn a bit of Haki, and he could directly read someone's memories.
Not just their intel—every secret, every detail was completely exposed in front of El.
After leaving the palace, El took off the mask and cloak, wrapped them around the treasure chest, and quickly headed back to the hotel.
"Pack up. We're leaving Drum Island—now."
Back in the suite, he didn't immediately reveal the results of his little trip. Instead, he gave a calm order to the three girls who were still playing cards.
"O-okay!"
The three looked at the cloak-wrapped chest in his hands and froze for a moment.
Then, as if they all realized what that box meant at the same time, they hurriedly nodded, jumped to their feet, and started packing. They didn't even bother going back for the room deposit. The group left the hotel, returned straight to the ship, and slipped away from Drum Island under cover of night.
Out at sea, their ship sailed steadily under the moonlight.
In the third-deck cabin, the lamps were still burning bright.
"Waaah… so many gems! Where did you get all this, Nii-san?"
"And this fruit—isn't this a Devil Fruit?"
"The shape, the color, even the patterns—it's completely different from my Mera Mera no Mi. What kind of Devil Fruit is it?"
When El opened the treasure chest, the three girls all cried out in surprise.
Nami's beautiful eyes instantly turned into $ $, sparkling with greed as she stared at the pile of jewels.
Carina and Kuina, however, had their gazes fixed squarely on the purple fruit.
"Yes, this is a Devil Fruit."
El took the fruit out of the chest and held it up for them to see.
"It's a Paramecia-type Devil Fruit. Its name is—Baku Baku no Mi."
"Baku Baku no Mi?"
Hearing the name, Carina and Kuina both frowned slightly.
Carina couldn't help muttering, "What a weird name… it sounds like it has something to do with 'eating', right?"
"You're exactly right."
El nodded.
"As the name suggests, whoever eats the Baku Baku no Mi gains the ability to eat anything—just like how Nami can transform into flames after eating the Mera Mera no Mi."
"Baku Baku no Mi… what a strange name," Carina complained again.
Kuina nodded in agreement.
El wasn't surprised at their reaction and continued calmly:
"Even if the name is strange, this Devil Fruit is one of the top Paramecia-type fruits."
"The Baku Baku no Mi lets its user eat anything—even living beings—and turn whatever they eat into part of their own body."
"For example, if you eat a gun, your body can become a gun. If you eat a house, your body can become a house."
"On top of that, you can eat other Devil Fruit users and temporarily use their abilities."
"You can even eat yourself, then freely reshape your body however you like…"
"…What an insane ability," Kuina breathed, eyes wide.
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