My Son Enel

"By the way, who's this kid?" an officer asked curiously as the surrounding warships and Marines began to disperse.

"This is my son, Enel!"

"Your son?!"

In the living room of the Forrester family home in the residential district, Cornell and Enid cried out in surprise as they looked at Enel sitting beside their son.

"Y-you were only gone a year, and you already have a son?" Vice Admiral Cornell exclaimed from the sofa.

"How could that be? There wasn't enough time!" said Mrs. Enid, dressed in a white coat, as she gave her husband an irritated shove.

"Did you have the child before, and this time you went away to bring him back?"

"But where's the child's mother?"

Vice Admiral Cornell rolled his eyes and laughed. "And you were just criticizing me. No matter how you look at him, this child is five or six years old."

"Vidal was only fourteen or fifteen back then. How could he have had a child?"

Seeing the couple discussing such nonsense, Vidal helplessly patted the boy's little head and explained.

"Enel is actually a child I adopted on Sky Island."

"Just now, I said he was my son because I didn't want to call attention to the fact that he was adopted. Besides, I really do think of him as my own child."

He hoped Enel could become a full part of his family, rather than constantly dwelling on the question of whether he was adopted or related by blood.

"So that's how it is. I was wondering." The couple came to a realization, then exchanged a glance.

Vidal then gave them a brief account of what Enel had gone through on Sky Island.

After hearing it, Mrs. Enid immediately stood up, took little Enel into her arms, and smiled gently. "Come on, call me Grandma."

"Grandma!" Little Enel obediently called her.

Mrs. Enid was delighted. She hadn't expected to have a grandson while she was still so young. She then stood up and headed for the door.

"Come on, Grandma will take you to get something tasty!"

Vidal and Cornell watched them leave, both men speechless. Then Cornell suddenly grumbled, "She kept going on about you before, but now that she has a grandson, she's forgotten all about you."

Vidal smiled, unconcerned. In truth, he found it strange that the two of them had accepted Enel so readily.

The whole process had been so natural and smooth, as though they really regarded Enel as their own grandson.

Still, that was for the best. It saved him a lot of trouble.

In particular, after Cornell heard about his son tying that so-called god of Sky Island to a large tree, he didn't even bring him up.

As a vice admiral of Marine Headquarters and commander of a directly affiliated G-series branch fortress, he really didn't think it was a big deal.

"You'll be reporting to headquarters in three months. Will Enel be staying here?" Cornell asked.

"No, I'm taking him to Marine Headquarters with me." Vidal shook his head. "Enel is very talented. I want him to attend the Marine school at headquarters."

The island of Marineford had more than just a fortress and a plaza. Large residential districts and training grounds occupied its rear half.

The residential districts naturally had all kinds of facilities for the children of headquarters personnel, including elementary schools.

There was another reason: he hoped Enel would be influenced by the atmosphere at Marine Headquarters and that his personality could be corrected to some extent.

The boy had suffered so much bullying and disdain on Sky Island that it would have been strange if he hadn't developed any psychological problems.

Besides, he could receive the best education at headquarters.

"I see. Then Enid will be disappointed," Vice Admiral Cornell said with a wry smile. There was no telling how much nagging he would have to put up with then.

"All right, go back to your room and rest. We'll have a family meal later, and tomorrow you can come with me to watch the finals."

"You'll need to get some exercise then."

Vidal nodded and rose from the sofa to go upstairs and rest. He planned to take a bath first, then bask in the sun on the balcony.

"Oh, right. I heard there are three people worth noting among the trainees in this special training camp. Want to hear about them?" Cornell said with a smile, looking at his son's back.

"Oh?" Vidal turned around and looked at his father with interest.

"First is Vice Admiral Garp's son. I hear his name is Monkey D. Dragon. He's undergone some very terrifying training since childhood, so he should be very strong in hand-to-hand combat."

"Dragon." Vidal casually repeated the familiar name. "Did they say whether he has a Devil Fruit power?"

"No." Vice Admiral Cornell denied it outright. "Given Vice Admiral Garp's style, he's unlikely to have deliberately sought out a Devil Fruit for his son to eat."

"Oh, I see." Vidal wondered whether the Wind-Wind Fruit really was something that came later.

"Speaking of Devil Fruit users, the other two I mentioned do have powers, and both of them are users of extremely rare, top-tier Logia Devil Fruits!"

Vice Admiral Cornell's expression turned serious as he said this.

"Those two were reported by a branch in the North Blue. One is Sakazuki, who has the Magma-Magma Fruit, and the other is Borsalino, who has the Glint-Glint Fruit."

"The vice admirals and rear admirals all consider the four of you the most promising trainees!"

Vidal wasn't shocked by any of this. His expression remained as gentle as ever as he smiled and said, "It's an honor to be mentioned alongside Vice Admiral Garp's son and two top-tier Logia users."

"Hahahaha!" Cornell burst out laughing, seemingly amused. "I think you're the strongest of the four!"

"We'll find out when the time comes."

Vidal replied and headed straight upstairs. Behind him, his father watched proudly as he disappeared from view, one step at a time.

Cornell knew his son's future was bound to be far brighter than his own as a vice admiral.

Meanwhile, the moment Vidal opened his door and stepped inside, he found himself immersed in a green world he knew exceptionally well.

Rather than a bedroom, it was more like a large botanical garden, where plants of every description grew lush and dense.

It was quite spacious too, for it occupied an entire floor, and the roof overhead was extravagantly made of transparent glass.

Brilliant, warm sunlight shone directly down from the sky, providing the plants and Vidal with the best possible conditions for photosynthesis!

In high spirits, Vidal walked farther in, greeting everything around him with his eyes. Soon, he arrived at a wooden cabin woven together from branches, leaves, and trees.

This was his actual bedroom, though he usually preferred sleeping in the hammock on a nearby tree trunk rather than inside the cabin, drifting into dreams with white clouds or the starry sky as his blanket.

This time was no different. Without another word, he lay down in the green hammock and leisurely swayed back and forth, gazing quietly at the dense branches and leaves above and the specks of light filtering through them.

"Is it finally about to begin?"

A new author and a new book! I hope the readers on Qidian will give me plenty of support and encouragement. If you think it's okay, or if you have any questions, come chat with me in the book review section!