Garling Makes His Move!

Ignoring the ugly look on Rocks's face, Linlin immediately chose to leave the battlefield after seeing the Paw-Paw Fruit.

She moved incredibly fast and was about to rush up to Ivan when Gigue suddenly raised his right hand, now pitch-black, and aimed it at Ivan. A black vortex appeared in his palm.

"Banshō Ten'in!"

Powerful attraction erupted through the dark vortex. Ivan, along with the Paw-Paw Fruit in his hand, was violently pulled toward Gigue. Linlin lunged at empty air, a baffled expression appearing on her face.

The big shots in the distance all reacted differently. Rocks stared at Gigue in disbelief, his gaze fixed on the dark vortex in Gigue's hand.

"Was that the brat from before?! That ability... could it be?!"

A rare look of shock appeared on Saint Saturn's face. What stunned him was not the Dark-Dark Fruit's power, but Gigue's face.

"That child... who is he?"

He suddenly turned to look at Saint Garling, who had remained silent nearby. Garling's expression was complicated as he murmured,

"He was clearly already dead. He merely happens to look alike..."

Everyone had their own thoughts. After her brief confusion, Linlin turned toward Gigue with an amused look and said in a flirtatious tone,

"I didn't expect a little brat like you to be an Ability User too. It looks like a pretty decent ability. Mm, you're quite handsome as well, but you stole my prey. Be good and hand that fruit over to me. How about following me from now on?"

Linlin had not yet put on weight. She was a gorgeous beauty with a fiery figure, and there was even a trace of seduction in her voice.

Even so, the image that surfaced in Gigue's mind was of the later Big Mom: a drooling, bloated madwoman. He could not help shuddering.

Linlin assumed Gigue had been frightened by her. With a chuckle, she slowly walked toward the "terrified" Gigue.

Just as Linlin thought the Paw-Paw Fruit was about to fall into her hands, Gigue clenched the hand holding Ivan tightly. Ivan immediately cried out in pain, his mouth stretched wide.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, Gigue grabbed the Paw-Paw Fruit and tried to stuff it into Ivan's mouth, but he had still underestimated Linlin's speed.

In the span of a single breath, Linlin had already rushed in front of Gigue. The unlucky Ivan was kicked away like a ball.

She crouched down and pinched Gigue's arm, which seemed impossibly slender to her, between her fingers. Her tone turned unfriendly.

"Little brat, you're not very honest, are you... Hmm?!"

Linlin's expression abruptly changed. She fiercely raised an arm already coated in Armament Haki. At the instant she completed the motion, a sword-wielding black shadow appeared and slashed at her arm.

"Clang!"

It was Saint Garling. After delivering that slash, he immediately used the recoil to retreat, landing some distance away as his cold eyes fixed on Linlin.

Linlin withdrew her arm, and the Armament Haki faded. A clear red mark had appeared on her pale skin. Even with her terrifying defense, her arm throbbed faintly with pain.

With her brows tightly furrowed, she had not expected the Commander of the Divine Knights to abandon the main battlefield and come deal with her. She immediately felt that this was troublesome and thought,

It seems the Celestial Dragons value this Paw-Paw Fruit too. Then I have to get it even more. And that Azure Dragon Fruit as well!

The information Ginny had sent out specifically mentioned the Paw-Paw Fruit and the Azure Dragon Fruit. Before coming to God Valley, Linlin had already consulted a Devil Fruit encyclopedia. Her primary purpose in coming to God Valley this time was to obtain the Azure Dragon Fruit.

Since she already possessed the Soul-Soul Fruit, she naturally was not taking it for herself to eat. She intended to use it to entice Kaido, who had stubbornly refused to "submit."

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Linlin had never sincerely submitted to Rocks in the first place. She had long wanted to leave the Rocks Pirates and strike out on her own. Kaido was someone she had set her sights on, and she had planned to use the Azure Dragon Fruit to keep Kaido by her side and have him work for her in the future.

Originally, she had only wanted to use the Paw-Paw Fruit as a substitute, but Garling's attack made her take the fruit more seriously.

However, she had the wrong idea. Garling had no interest whatsoever in the so-called Paw-Paw Fruit. He turned his head to look at Gigue, whom Linlin had ignored, and his gaze lingered briefly on Gigue's exposed chest.

When he saw the crisscrossing scars, his eyes flickered as he asked,

"Hey, what's your name?"

Gigue froze for a moment. Of course, he knew who Saint Garling was: the Commander of the Divine Knights, an absolute elite among the Celestial Dragons with terrifying strength.

Why would a figure like that pay attention to a child like him?

Was it because of the Dark-Dark Fruit ability he had just displayed?

Thoughts aside, neither Linlin nor Saint Garling was someone Gigue could resist right now. Besides, Saint Garling did not seem to harbor any ill will toward him.

"My name is Gigue."

Upon hearing Gigue's name, Garling's body trembled almost imperceptibly. He asked eagerly,

"What's your full name?"

Gigue was stunned. From the looks of it, Garling knew him—or, more precisely, knew the person he had been before. But Gigue had none of that person's memories, so he could only answer honestly,

"I can't remember what happened before. I only know that my name is Gigue now. Gigue is my full name!"

Gigue said it with utter sincerity, as if every word were pure gold.

Garling nodded thoughtfully and murmured,

"Amnesia? You remember your given name but forgot your surname..."

Seeing this, Gigue asked tentatively,

"You know me? Then can you tell me what my full name is?"

As the two traded words, Linlin was reduced to a mere backdrop. Veins bulged on her forehead as she roared,

"Enough! What's with all this name nonsense? What do you take me for?!"

She roughly snatched away the Paw-Paw Fruit and lifted her foot to leave.

Just as Gigue thought the Paw-Paw Fruit was about to be taken away, Garling moved again.

He merely raised his sword and swung it, sending a slash bursting forth with red-black lightning crackling around it, aimed directly at Linlin.

Linlin did not dare underestimate it. She could only cross her arms over her chest and take the slash head-on. However, the Paw-Paw Fruit slipped from her hand and rolled to Gigue's feet.

Ivan had already been kicked several meters away by Linlin. Gigue immediately kicked the Paw-Paw Fruit at Kuma and shouted,

"Kuma! Eat the Paw-Paw Fruit, now!"

Kuma and Ginny were still dumbstruck. Gigue's shout jolted them awake, and Kuma stopped thinking altogether. He opened his mouth and lunged at the incoming Paw-Paw Fruit.

His mouth was much larger than Gigue's. The Paw-Paw Fruit went straight down his throat, and soon, a pair of adorable-looking paw pads appeared in Kuma's palms.