I'm Naturally Strong, My Lord!

Though Katakuri was known as the Charlotte Family's greatest masterpiece, and was steady and mature in both conduct and judgment, with outstanding, even extraordinary talent, he was ultimately only twenty years old. He had no protagonist's halo, nor any cheats.

So while his strength could be called impressive, it was only impressive for now.

The current Big Mom Pirates appeared incomparably powerful, but in reality, they were in a rather awkward position. The only one truly capable of carrying the banner was Charlotte Linlin herself.

It was under these circumstances that Katakuri met Ortolan.

If Katakuri's talent was extraordinary, then Ortolan was a monster in the truest sense of the word!

As a mixed-blood child of the Mink Tribe and Charlotte Linlin, Ortolan had inherited not only the Mink Tribe's strength, allowing him to enter the berserk state of Sulong under a full moon, but also Charlotte Linlin's mad blood.

The main reason his old father, Bane Saronis, had been unable to suppress Ortolan's berserk state on the night of the full moon when Ortolan was ten was the monster bloodline Ortolan had inherited from Charlotte Linlin.

That was right. On that full-moon night, Ortolan awakened Innate Divine Strength and Steel Bones and Iron Muscles!

This was Charlotte Linlin's power. Everyone knew that Charlotte Linlin had beaten up giants at the age of five. She later sailed out to become a pirate and had rampaged across the seas for so many years, earning herself the title of monster. The foundation of that terrifying strength was her Innate Divine Strength and Steel Bones and Iron Muscles!

Perhaps because half of his bloodline came from the Mink Tribe, Ortolan had not inherited those two monstrous talents to their fullest extent. But his strength was still enough to crush the Giant race. That was why the heavy Warhammer forged from Thousand-Ton Stone felt as light as nothing in his hands. As for Steel Bones and Iron Muscles, based on the comparisons in his memories, Ortolan could not determine whether he had reached Charlotte Linlin's level.

After all, Steel Bones and Iron Muscles was not absolute defense. During Charlotte Linlin's campaigns, she had still been wounded badly enough by powerful opponents to cough up blood. Otherwise, she would have been invincible. How could she ever have lost?

The lower limit of Steel Bones and Iron Muscles was basically being unharmed by ordinary blades and swords, and unaffected by bullets. In other words, unless the fodder on the seas had some real skill or special trick, they would not even be able to scratch the skin of this body.

After repeated research and experiments, Ortolan had confirmed that he fully possessed this ability.

Ordinary sword slashes and muskets simply could not break through his defenses, even when he was fast asleep and completely unguarded.

Beyond that, his father Saronis could break Ortolan's Steel Bones and Iron Muscles. But Saronis was a Great Pirate who had dared to challenge Charlotte Linlin. Even after growing old and frail, he was still exceptionally strong. He could not serve as a meaningful benchmark for measuring Steel Bones and Iron Muscles. After all, according to his father, he had once broken through Charlotte Linlin's Steel Bones and Iron Muscles during their fierce battle back then!

What? Saronis had been unable to suppress Ortolan's berserk state when Ortolan was only ten, so how could he be that strong?

The answer was that suppressing someone and grievously wounding them into defeat were two different things. Saronis was no saint. He would not go all out and severely injure his precious son just to avoid the destruction of an island town.

At the time, Ortolan had gone completely mad. To stop him, Saronis would have had to grievously wound him until he could no longer rise again. Saronis could not bear to go that far. So after confirming that he could no longer suppress his precious son, he gave up trying to stop him and simply watched Ortolan become pure violence, venting the terrifying power within him.

With Steel Bones and Iron Muscles and Innate Divine Strength to begin with, Ortolan's Sulong, inherited from the Mink Tribe, made his strength surge even more once it went berserk under a full moon. Young Katakuri had encountered Ortolan under precisely those circumstances. How miserable the outcome had been was easy enough to imagine.

Remembering that painful experience, Katakuri finally came back to his senses. He unconsciously touched his abdomen, as though the pain of Ortolan's heavy fist hammering into his stomach that day had yet to fully fade.

At the same time, he was glad that Ortolan had not possessed a suitable weapon back then.

"How are you planning to handle this full moon?" Katakuri drew his gaze away from those imposing horns and looked into Ortolan's eyes.

Ortolan answered casually, "How else would I handle it? Same old routine. Once the time comes, I'll go into seclusion on that deserted island..."

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Katakuri nodded first, then continued, "You can't keep going on like this forever, can you?"

"That's true." Ortolan agreed with that sentiment, smiling as he said, "Before, it was because the old man didn't have long to live. I owed him my life, after all, and I couldn't ignore the kindness of him raising me into an adult. That was why I stayed here to keep him company in his final years. Now that he's gone, and I've forged a weapon that suits me, I plan to leave Tyrean Island after this full moon..."

To be honest, Ortolan was an incredibly patient person. He had been transported into this world for more than a decade and had somehow never gone out to explore. The main reason was that he could not let go of his old father. Now, those restraints were gone. It was time to see this world of pirates, this beautiful yet cruel and violent world!

"Where do you plan to go?" Katakuri seemed to have something he wanted to say, but he held it back and merely asked softly.

Ortolan stroked his chin and pondered for a while before shaking his head. "To be honest, I've been busy blacksmithing lately, so I really haven't given it much thought. But broadly speaking... the world is so vast. I want to see everywhere."

"You want to see everywhere? Then Cake Island should count as one of those places, right?" Katakuri's eyes lit up, and he said expectantly, "Mom has been talking about you all this time. If you haven't decided where to go yet, why not come back to Cake Island with me?"

The moment he heard that, a look of distaste appeared on Ortolan's face.

To be honest, although Charlotte Linlin had abandoned "him" and his old father back then, perhaps because his soul had originally come from another world, Ortolan had repeatedly questioned his own heart and reached this conclusion... he did not actually feel much disgust or hatred toward Charlotte Linlin.

Toward this mother connected to him by blood, he felt more as though she were a stranger.

As for his old father, that hopeless simp, though he too had been abandoned... he really could simp. Even on his deathbed, he had never hated Charlotte Linlin. He had even looked as though he wished he could be buried on Cake Island, so that he could watch the woman he loved every day even after death.

When the person involved himself had that attitude, Ortolan had even less reason to meddle and force some family drama of grudges, love, and hate into the matter.

The main reason he wore that disgusted expression was that, given his current situation, he did not see Cake Island or the Big Mom Pirates as the direction he wanted to take.

Although he rarely left home and had basically never ventured far from the waters around Tyrean Island, Ortolan still had a general understanding of the New World's current situation. The New World was in an era where heroes rose together and powerful figures battled for supremacy.

Take Tyrean Island, for instance. It had originally flown the flag of Golden Lion Shiki's Flying Pirates, but now it had been taken by the Big Mom Pirates. That showed that Charlotte Linlin and Shiki had already come into direct conflict over their interests.

And it was not just Shiki. Charlotte Linlin claimed that she wanted to become King of the Pirates. Given her ambitions, every one of the New World's great figures could be considered either her actual or potential enemy.

If he joined the Big Mom Pirates, then what came next was easy to foresee. He would surely become trapped in the endless chaos of war in the New World, unable to get away... But right now, Ortolan wanted to see just how vast the world was. He had no strong feelings about war and did not particularly reject it, but there had to be an order to things, right?

Seeing the look of distaste on Ortolan's face, Katakuri smiled. "Not long ago, Mom personally went out to sea to find the gift you've been hoping for..."

Ortolan's expression shifted slightly, and he took on a thoughtful look.

Then Katakuri continued, "Mom also said that she might have a way to deal with your Sulong, which inevitably goes out of control after every full moon."

As soon as those words fell, Ortolan's eyes lit up. "Even if I go, I never said I have to join the Big Mom Pirates!"

"Don't worry. Mom just wants to see you. If you want to leave, you can leave anytime. I guarantee it!" Katakuri said earnestly.

Ortolan did not care about Charlotte Linlin's credibility, but Katakuri... this real man was still worth trusting.

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