"Huff... huff... well then, until we meet again!"
"Hahaha! A pleasure doing business!"
Half an Hour Later
After Lillian confirmed that the World Government forces had fully retreated from the Totto Land seas and the Five Elders had returned to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, two massive Homie birds took flight.
One carried Rocks, while the other bore Roger's crew—the Gold, Silver, and Copper trio—each clutching their rubbings of the Road Poneglyph, heading in different directions.
"El-sama, here are the Devil Fruits we recovered earlier!"
Ryan approached El with a grin, presenting several Devil Fruits in hand.
During the chaotic battle, not only had Saul immediately brought back Saint Steadfast's ability after his defeat, but Helen and Moss had taken down two CP0 agents. Additionally, with Bangi's help, Rock defeated Vice Admiral Iron Bull, while Bangi personally killed a member of the Holy Knight Corps. Finally, Irene had slain Saint Pegasus herself.
All these corpses had been quickly delivered to El, allowing him to harvest their abilities.
The six recovered fruits included:
1. Fish-Fish Fruit, Model: Azure Dragon
Resembling a scaly blue dragon fruit, one of the most powerful Mythical Zoan abilities.
2. Horse-Horse Fruit, Model: Pegasus
White and carrot-shaped with peculiar patterns, another Mythical Zoan ability.
3. Cat-Cat Fruit, Model: Leopard
Bearing speckled patterns resembling wheat stalks.
4. Dog-Dog Fruit, Model: Jackal
Gray-black and wolf-head-shaped with spiral patterns.
5. Bull-Bull Fruit, Model: Water Buffalo
Gray and bullhead-shaped.
6. Soaring-Soaring Fruit
A Paramecia ability shaped like white wings.
"Even though Rocks snagged a Vulture Zoan ability during the chaos, it wasn't a wasted effort overall!" El nodded with satisfaction.
While the Devil Fruits were a nice bonus, their main objective—securing Totto Land from the World Government—was the real prize. With the Celestial Dragons as hostages, it would be a while before the World Government dared to make another move, giving them valuable time to regroup and grow stronger.
Among the recovered abilities, El was particularly pleased with the Azure Dragon Mythical Zoan Fruit—one of the most powerful abilities in existence. If the World Government hadn't been desperate for reinforcements, they likely wouldn't have entrusted such a potent fruit to someone.
"Hahaha, I did kill a Devil Fruit user, but the battlefield was so chaotic that I smashed the body into paste!" Saul scratched his head with an awkward laugh.
While his Stone-Stone Fruit techniques were ineffective against top-tier opponents, they had proven devastating against ordinary Vice Admirals and soldiers, wreaking havoc and leaving little behind.
"Mwahaha, it's good that we recovered the Devil Fruits," Linlin interjected with a mischievous grin. She turned to Ryan, asking slyly, "But what about their souls? Did you recover those as well?"
"Of course, Linlin-sama!" Ryan patted his chest confidently. "Thanks to Gerd-sama's Soul Fragments entrusted to me, we extracted their souls right away!"
However, his tone turned more somber as he continued, "But the World Government's strength is truly daunting. We suffered significant losses ourselves—three 'Queen-Class' Homies and thirteen 'Rook-Class' Homies were completely destroyed. While I've managed to repair their outer shells, the infused souls are entirely gone. And the remaining Homies have all sustained varying levels of damage, though I've done what I can to repair them."
"This is war, not a game. Such clashes are inevitable," El said, folding his arms with a faint smile. "As long as everyone made it out alive, these losses are acceptable."
For El, his early comrades were far more valuable than regional Homies. Even though these comrades might not yet be strong enough, they were irreplaceable compared to the Homies. Sacrificing some Homies to ensure their safety was well worth it.
"There's no other way. If we didn't need to reclaim abilities, we could've spared those people," Linlin said with a toothy grin. "By turning them into Blood Slaves, their souls could return to their original bodies after a Homie's destruction, allowing us to extract them again later."
While Blood Slaves had limited combat ability, powerful Devil Fruits were far too valuable. If a suitable candidate was available, they'd reclaim the ability without hesitation to empower their own people.
"Mwehehe~ All in all, this was quite the haul!" Lady Demon Irene licked her lips and cackled.
Being turned into Linlin's Bloodborne wasn't so bad after all. Linlin didn't treat her like a servant or slave but as an ally. Though she wasn't as free as before and had to adhere to the rules of the Fallen Angel Pirates, her strength had increased.
Even if the Vampire Zoan ability didn't grant true immortality, it extended her life significantly—enough for another century or two. As long as Linlin, the Vampire Zoan user, remained alive, Irene's lifespan could be perpetually extended, keeping her youthful forever.
With the massive potential of the Totto Land Kingdom, even if they couldn't overthrow the World Government and seize control, dominating the New World would still be easily achievable. As a cadre of the Fallen Angel Pirates, she enjoyed substantial power and status. Considering that her time had already been running out before, she saw this as a clear gain. There was little to complain about.
"And it's not just what we gained here," said Sally, the Shapeshifting Witch.
She approached with a cheerful grin, holding a small mirror the size of an average human fist. "It looks like Barry and his group had quite the haul, too!"
"Oh? Could it be...? Did they raid the World Government's treasury?"
Hearing this, Tsuru, Linlin, Moss, and others were visibly surprised. Their curiosity was piqued as they widened their eyes. Even Francis Bangi, Irene, and Cyril Oka—prisoners of Impel Down's Eternal Hell—couldn't help but wonder, especially given the Fallen Angel Pirates' previous feat of emptying the Marine Headquarters' treasury in secret.
"Not quite," Sally explained with a helpless shrug and a smile. "Because of what happened to the Marine Treasury, the World Government has been extremely cautious. Their treasury is under constant guard by numerous CP0 agents and even members of the Holy Knight Corps, leaving no chance for infiltration.
"However, the private treasuries of the Celestial Dragons are a different story altogether."
"The private treasuries of the Celestial Dragons?"
"Heh, I was involved in that," Ryan, the Munch-Munch Fruit user, grinned wickedly. "Over the past few weeks, even though the World Government has begun guarding against the Mirror-Mirror Fruit, we've used Uthan's Door-Door Fruit to infiltrate the estates and villas of the World Nobles.
"We quietly looted their treasuries, stealing their prized Devil Fruits without a trace—around 20 or 30 of them in total. I imagine that during our large-scale attack on Mary Geoise, Barry's team seized the opportunity to empty even more Celestial Dragon vaults!"
"Exactly!"
~~~
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