"Did they agree?"

  Ito Land Kingdom, within the grand pa Cake Isnd, El, seated ohrone, narrowed his eyes and gave a faint smile as he received a call from Sea Tiger Jien.

  “Then e back,” he instructed calmly.

  “El onii-, is it really necessary to ihe Roger Pirates?” asked the tall and imposing Linlied nearby. Her tone uzzled as she tinued, “Their strength doesn’t seem that impressive, does it?”

  “Don’t uimate them,” El replied, his expression posed but with a glint of amusement.

  He expined, “Individually, their strength might not stand out, but their teamwork is seamless. And their core trio—Gold, Silver, and Bronze—bined make for formidable bat power.

  “Besides,” he added, his tourning more serious, “no matter how much we look down on the Wover, we must aowledge one fact: right now, we’re walking a tightrope. It’s a delicate situation that leaves no room for carelessness.”

  At present, the pressure on the Fallen Angel Pirates was immense. Even though El had prepared measures to ter the Wover, he ragmatiough to pn for every eventuality. Ensuring the survival of the Totto Land Kingdom was his top priority.

  “If we fail, we retreat and focus on taking over Wano try, right?”

  Linlin shoved a handful of pastries into her mouth, speaking through her chewing, “That pce has been isoted for years. Even the CP agents ’t infiltrate easily. It’s a good fallback option!”

  Given the Wover's deep resources and overwhelming strength, the Fallen Angel Pirates had already mapped out their tingen.

  If they couldn’t repel the Wover’s assault, they would immediately abandoto Land Kingdom, retreat troup, and unch a takeover of Wano try. With its natural defenses and history of isotion, it was an ideal stronghold. From there, they could bide their time, amass resources, aurn to recim their honor.

  Even if they succeeded in defending Totto Land, their ultimate pn would still involve targeting the resource-rich Wano try, known for its abundant supply of Seastohe difference would lie in their approach—either gradual infiltration or ht quest.

  “The Roger Pirates are manageable, but that Rocks guy is a different story,” Linlin remarked, recalling El’s earlier battle with Rocks D. Xebec.

  With a serious expression, she added, “He’s ing, and his strength is terrifying. There’s something uling about his abilities, too—it’s hard not to be wary.”

  Despite her disdain for most oppos, Linlin couldn’t ighe threat Rocks posed. His overwhelming strength and eerie powers had left even her, a natural-born monster, feeling a rare sense of unease.

  “I did uimate him a little,” El admitted with a nod, his tone ced with admiration.

  “The Dark-Dark Fruit truly is a remarkable ability,” he tinued. “Doubling pain as its cost… That’s not something many could endure.”

  Though El had suspected Rocks' abilities beforehand, experieng the reality of the Logia Dark-Dark Fruit firsthand had left him shaken. The sheer iy of the power, bined with its fearsome potential, was enough to make even him tread cautiously.

  Of course, El was merely surprised, not overly wary.

  After all, his power wasn’t solely reliant on his Devil Fruit abilities. Even without utilizing the Mythical Zoan: Quetzalcoatl form, El’s natural Lunarian abilities couldn’t easily be tered by the Dark-Dark Fruit. Not to mention, he was a natural-born monster—immensely strong, impervious to most ons, and possessing a physique beyond ordinary prehension. His formidable mastery of swordsmanship and martial arts was far from oral.

  “At least he was smart enough to hand over a Devil Fruit as pensation. Otherwise, this matter wouldn’t have beeled so easily!”

  Linlin snorted and she Totto Land Kingdom wasn’t a pyone could provoke at will. If not for the fact that Rocks and his men hadn’t caused serious harm beyond superficial injuries, a single unknown Devil Fruit wouldn’t have been enough to buy their way out.

  “El-sama, we’ve just received news…”

  At that moment, Sally ehe room aed, “Lillian aeam have captured Kurozumi Semimaru and Kurozumi Higurashi. Their bat strength is rather average, but they were incredibly cautious. If not for the unique powers of Lillian’s Gre-Gre Fruit, which easily saw through the disguises of the Imitation Fruit, our personnel might have been deceived!”

  “Oh?” El raised an eyebrow, smiling faintly. “You’ve finally caught those two, have you?”

  For years, he had instructed the Hell Trading pany to covertly search for their whereabouts. Initially, the pn was to “cooperate” with the Kurozumi to use them in taking trol of Wano try. But now that Ryan had acquired the Munch-Munch Fruit, allowing the recovery of other abilities, his pns had naturally evolved.

  “Without the S-S Fruit, catg them would’ve taken much more effort…” Sally chuckled. “Semimaru’s Barrier-Barrier Fruit offers ‘invincible’ defense, after all.”

  The S-S Fruit, previously taken from a captured CP0 operative, had been gifted by El to a former member of the Dream House.

  “Where are they being held?”

  El rose to his feet and looked at Sally. “Don’t deal with them just yet… I want to extrae secrets from them myself.”

  It was highly likely that over the years, Higurashi, using the Imitation Fruit, had infiltrated various fas and stolen Devil Fruits and treasures. It wouldn’t be surprising if Semimaru’s Barrier-Barrier Fruit had been acquired in this way.

  While treasure was sedary, Devil Fruits couldn’t be missed.

  “They’re still in transit, heading through one of our maze-like routes…” Sally grinned. “vely, they happeo wander into our hunting grounds not far from the Totto Land Kingdom!”

  “Notify Barry and Ryan to return at once,” El ordered, sneering. “Let’s recover those two Devil Fruits first. Especially the Barrier-Barrier Fruit—it’ll e in handy soon enough. Who knows, it might even give the Wover a massive surprise!”

  El knew very well how formidable the Barrier-Barrier Fruit’s defense could be. With the right wielder—someone powerful and immuo queror’s Haki disruptions—the fruit could provide near-imperable prote. Even the Five Elders would struggle to break through such defenses.

  “The Imitation Fruit will be useful too!” Sally added with a smile.

  While the Imitation Fruit cked offensive or defensive capabilities, its strategic value was immeasurable. It erfect support tool, seemingly tailor-made for espionage. Going forward, she po selee of the most promising former Dream House members to cultivate as a top-tier agent.

  “I’ll leave the choice of who receives the Imitation Fruit to you, then,” El said with a smile.

  With the acquisition of the Imitation Fruit and Barrier-Barrier Fruit, the Fallen Angel Pirates had gained yet ane.

  “I won’t let you down!” Sally replied fidently.

  Bleam