The Full Moon Approaches, and I Am Troubled.

"Is that so? This period passed too quickly; I barely noticed it myself. But I did grow a little taller. The last time I saw you, I was only 2.8 meters tall. Now I'm just over three meters, so that probably makes me look a lot sturdier, right?" Ortolan tossed the towel onto the table and said casually.

As his words fell, Katakuri happened to push open the door and walk in. Behind him followed a man Ortolan did not recognize, one who looked rather mature, as though he were already in his forties.

There was no doubt that this man following behind Katakuri in a biscuit disguise was Cracker. However, Ortolan did not care about his identity in the slightest and did not even bother asking.

"I thought you'd grown quite a bit taller. I wonder if you'll ever surpass me? Or Mother?" Katakuri said with a smile. He then sat on a stone bench in the courtyard, gesturing for Cracker to sit as well while introducing him to Ortolan. "His name is Cracker. He's a younger brother, one year younger than you..."

"Cracker?" Only then did Ortolan pay attention to the man. A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes, followed by a look of understanding, as though he had recalled something. He did not ask any further questions and merely nodded in greeting.

Cracker had just been about to say something when he saw that Ortolan seemed to have already lost interest in him. Ortolan turned his gaze back to Katakuri and said, "Forget it. I think my current height is more than enough. If I keep growing, it'll be beyond what I can accept. I hope I don't get any taller in the future..."

Katakuri was over five meters tall, while Charlotte Linlin was even more outrageous—8.8 meters, nearly nine. Although Ortolan admired a burly, masculine build, there was no need to take it that far. He respectfully declined!

"That isn't something you get to decide. Bloodline determines these things. You inherited Mother's bloodline, perhaps..." Katakuri trailed off when he saw that Ortolan did not seem interested in continuing the subject. He changed the topic with a smile. "Were you forging just now? Using the materials I brought you last time?"

That immediately caught Ortolan's interest. He said eagerly, "That's right. You came at just the right time today. I happened to finish it, and I was just hammering down and gathering up all the leftover scraps..."

As he spoke, Ortolan picked up the object that had originally been resting on the forging table.

It was unmistakably a long-handled warhammer!

Ortolan stood just over three meters tall, yet even in his hands, the warhammer gave off an overwhelming sense of sheer size. Its hammerhead was a square rectangular block with ridged edges, while integrated studs protruded from both faces and all four sides. Katakuri roughly estimated that the warhammer was nearly four meters long!

The entire warhammer had a dark color scheme, matte black from end to end. On the hammerhead were engraved dark-gold patterns. Looking closely, they seemed to form the horns of a bull.

At the end of the handle were two overlapping square pyramids, likewise engraved with patterns set against dark gold.

Overall, the warhammer was not flashy. It was simple and imposing, understated and somber.

"Thanks to you. Otherwise, I really wouldn't have been able to find such suitable materials, especially Thousand-Ton Stone..." Ortolan said gratefully to Katakuri.

Seeing that Ortolan seemed to be in a good mood, Katakuri said, "Mother was the one who found those materials for you. I was merely the messenger..."

Ortolan froze for a moment, then clicked his tongue and said somewhat unwillingly, "Fine. Then thank her too."

Perhaps seeing Ortolan's attitude finally change, Katakuri's expression softened with a hint of relief. He smiled and asked, "By the way, how much Thousand-Ton Stone did you add?"

"Not much. Exactly five pieces!" Ortolan said casually.

Katakuri's expression stiffened slightly at those words. He then looked at the warhammer Ortolan held so effortlessly, and the savage corner of his mouth beneath his scarf twitched a few times. "As expected of you..."

Thousand-Ton Stone was exactly as its name implied—heavy as a thousand jun. Though its name contained the word "stone," it was actually a very rare metal with terrifying density and, naturally, terrifying weight. Katakuri had originally delivered five Thousand-Ton Stones to Ortolan, each the size of a gold brick. Transporting just those five stones had nearly made his flagship too deep in the water to sail. One could only imagine how horrifyingly heavy they were.

"Impossible! A warhammer forged from Thousand-Ton Stone, and you can hold it around like it's a toy? Do you think you're Mother?" Cracker suddenly jumped in, voicing his doubt.

Perhaps it was because he was only seventeen this year, an age when one was naturally rebellious. Or perhaps he was suspicious of this older brother who had suddenly appeared a little over half a year ago. Of course, it might also have been because, over the past half year, both Mother and Brother Katakuri had constantly mentioned this man named Bane Ortolan, making him feel jealous. In short, Cracker instinctively found Ortolan unpleasant to look at.

Faced with his doubts, Ortolan did not acknowledge him at all. He casually set the warhammer back onto the solid, heavy forging table, then sat down across from Katakuri.

Cracker grew even more annoyed and was about to say something else when Katakuri called his name with slight displeasure, making him quiet down.

Then Katakuri smiled helplessly and said to Ortolan, "His personality is somewhat unpleasant, but..."

"I don't care about him. No need to explain," Ortolan said magnanimously, waving a hand.

"Sure enough, whether it's your appearance or your personality, you don't seem like someone your age..." Katakuri remarked.

"Hahahaha, coming from you, that's funny. I've never thought you looked like a twenty-year-old either, so it's perfectly normal," Ortolan laughed.

"That makes sense... Still, thank you," Katakuri said with a smile after thinking it over.

"Thanks to you, I was able to forge a weapon I'm satisfied with using my own hands. I should be thanking you. What are you thanking me for?" Ortolan waved a hand as he picked up the farmer's kettle on the table and, treating it like a teapot, poured Katakuri a large mug of boiled water.

Though Katakuri was the son of a pirate, he was unquestionably considered noble in the New World. Theoretically speaking, he was also a prince of Whole Cake Island, and everything he ate, drank, and used was luxurious and top-tier.

Yet at this moment, facing the large mug of plain boiled water Ortolan had given him, he showed no disdain whatsoever. He even casually pulled down his scarf, revealing his savage mouth, and took two drinks.

Only then did Katakuri continue, "Thank you for not having such a bad temper this time—not beating Cracker up and throwing him out."

After all, when Katakuri first met Ortolan, the scene had not been nearly as harmonious as this.

Hearing that, Ortolan sighed with some frustration, then shook his head. "The full moon is approaching, and I'm deeply troubled. So during this period, I've been deliberately controlling my temper... Just think of it as a form of spiritual cultivation."

"Oh? Spiritual cultivation? Do you have any good secrets? Would you mind sharing them with me? You know, I'm quite talented in Observation Haki, and Observation Haki training happens to require..." Katakuri asked curiously.

"Ahem... Forging, fishing, and in the next stage, I plan to read more books..." Ortolan said with slight embarrassment.

Katakuri was first stunned by Ortolan's answer, then smiled. "That really is... a blunt answer in your style."

Though the answer was simple and blunt, he did not ask about its effectiveness. After all, the fact that Cracker was still able to sit here was already proof enough... Clearly, Ortolan's temper had been relatively stable lately.

Thinking of this, Katakuri could not help glancing at Ortolan's temples again. There stood a pair of horns that rose toward the sky, like those of a mighty bull!

That was right, Ortolan was not a pure-blooded human. He was the mixed-blood child of Charlotte Linlin and a Bull Species member of the Mink Tribe!

The full moon was approaching, and as a Mink Tribe hybrid, Ortolan would enter his Sulong form that day!

For the Mink Tribe, this was merely a berserk state brought on by bloodline power. Although most Mink Tribe members could not resist this berserk state early in life, losing their reason and going out of control, the vast majority could control this power after experiencing Sulong a few times.

But Ortolan could not... It was not because he was a Mink Tribe hybrid. In truth, he was not the only Mink Tribe hybrid in this world, and those hybrids could also control the power within them after undergoing Sulong berserking a few times.

The reason he lost control was because he also possessed the blood of Charlotte Linlin, known as a "monster."

For some unknown reason, after entering the Sulong state, Ortolan would completely lose his rationality just as Charlotte Linlin did when her Food Addiction suddenly flared up, turning utterly into a crazed monster!

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