“Woohoo—”

  Out at sea…

  Three figures spread their wings and flew off into the distance.

  “Dad, you’re absolutely incredible!~”

  Thor’s face was filled with excitement; he was still brimming with energy.

  “Heehee, I’ve already snapped pictures of Dad’s uable style!” The third son, Dal, grinned widely, waving around a camera Den Den Mushi along with a few photos.

  “So, the two of you must keep w hard!”

  Eyeing his two exceptionally talented sons, El smiled and said, “Among all your brothers and sisters, you two are among the most gifted. One day, you’ll also be able to reach this level!”

  In terms of talent, perhaps Thor and Dal aren’t the stro out of the entire Kukulkan Family’s children. After all, leaving aside Ares, who’s an absolute natural-born monster—his innate power possibly surpasses even Linlin’s—there are also the first daughter Sif, the ninth son Hyde, the tenth daughter Athena, the eleventh son Arcas, and others whose abilities might be on par with, or eveer than, theirs.

  But given Thor and Dal’s age adva’s highly likely they’ll be the first among the Kukulkan Family to rapidly grow stronger in the near future.

  “Yes, Dad, I will do my best!”

  “Dad, I’ll work hard too!!”

  The two teenagers, eyes full of longing, nodded firmly. Such extraordinary strength was indeed mesmerizing.

  “Dad, shall we send these photos to the Totto Land Daily?”

  Dal fluttered over, blinking pyfully, and asked with a grin.

  “Sure, that’s no problem. Once we reach the stronghold in the first half of the Grand Line, we’ll send them back by fax…”

  El patted Dal on the head. With a meaningful look, he added, “And while we’re at it, let’s give those three a little ‘surprise’!”

  Chatting idly, the Dad and sons picked up speed. In no time, they silently crossed the t Red Line and arrived at the Calm Belt in the first half of the Grand Line.

  Following the pre-arranged Vivre Card, they touched down at a hidden outpost of the Hell Trading pany in the Calm Belt. It was a rge ons factory, stantly busy with “Homies workers” who had no human rights. Only a small number of people were on-site to supervise and guide, saving on both bor and resources—and, of course, there was o pay those Homies workers any wages.

  This sort of factory wasn’t uo this location: across the resource-rich isnds uotto Land’s rule and various secret factories set up in the Calm Belt, they were everywhere—produg snacks, clothing, medie, mining operations, steel, firearms, and all sorts of oods. The cruelty of the capitalist model was taken to the extreme.

  As for where the souls for creating Homies came from? They were sourced from the isnds and towns uhe Totto Land Kingdom, as well as from nations and isnds not formally ruled by the Fallen Angel Pirates but who flew the Fallen Angel fg for prote against pirate attacks.

  Typically, “prote fees” meant paying money if you had money, or handing over resources if you had resources. If you had her… that was fioo. The popuce of thions would each forfeit two years of their lifespan or soul to cover the en years’ prote fees for their nation or isnd. Though heartless, such measures were unavoidable for Totto Land Kingdom’s rapid development. If they didn’t do this, with so maories to manage and so many expeotto Land’s finances would have colpsed long ago.

  After all, the size of the Totto Land Kingdom gs far behind that of the Wover, which rules over half the world. The Wover collect the “Heavenly Tribute” from tless kingdoms, occupies numerous resource-rich isnds, and create endless streams of wealth. Surpassing them eically without employing “unventional methods” would be o impossible.

  “El-sama, Yhnesses… You must be exhausted from your journey. Please, e inside a!”

  Having received word in advahe on-site supervisors hurried out to greet them. Most of them were orphans inally rescued from sve markets or from around the world by the Home of Dreams project. Raised uhe care of the Fallen Angel Pirates, they grew into adulthood; after a series of evaluations, even if they weren’t very strong, they were at least loyal and dependable. Those who cked talent in bat but had aptitude for ma were assigned as officials ito Land Kingdom or appoio managerial positions in the Hell Trading pany.

  Seeing El—King of Totto Land—arrive in person, along with Prihor and Dal, they were visibly moved. To those who had once been abandoned by fate, destio have no future, El—leader of the Fallen Angel Pirates—was their savior, the one who had given them everything, transf them into valuable individuals, perhaps even people of status. Grateful aed, they would y down their lives for Totto Land’s grand vision if required.

  “o rest just yet… Are there any other isnds nearby?” El waved his hand dismissively, cutting to the chase.

  “Yes. Tain-sama has already given instrus… we also have seeds of the Yarukiman Mangrove ready!” one of the supervisors answered respectfully.

  “Take me there now!” El had always been swift in a and disliked dawdling.

  “Uood!”

  Somewhat startled, the supervisor immediately arranged for a ship to depart. These newer-model vessels have Seastone embedded in the hull, emitting an energy akin to the sea, thus minimizing attacks from the giant Sea Kings dwelling in this so-called Sea King ir, the Calm Belt. They also carry powerful ons specifically desigo fight Sea Kings, along with well-trained guards. With such preparations, Hell Trading pany’s armed mert ships generally navigated the Calm Belt smoothly, with few is.

  “Spsh—”

  Ihan ten minutes, a mert ship gradually left the harbor, heading for a nearby isnd that had already been scouted. At the stern, the sce division had installed numerous artificially cultivated Jet Dials—creatures nearly extinct otherwise—ensuring the ship could move quickly yet quietly, so as not to attract the Sea Kings’ attention.

  “Dad, how long are we going to be out this time?” asked Dal, a figure over five meters tall, brimming with excitement as he peered around from the bow. Thor, who stood as tall as a young Giant, also gazed at El with anticipation.

  “Since we’re already out here, we might as well look around a bit!” Sensing their enthusiasm, El ruffled the two young rascals’ hair and smiled. “When we’re finished here, I’ll take you both to see a real Sky Isnd!”

  “Yay! That’s awesome!”

  “Hooray for Dad!!!”

  The two youths beamed from ear to ear, poung forward to hug El in delight.

  Bleam