Ganan's Request

Shanks then explained the Devil Fruit's abilities to Yelena in detail. His crewmates couldn't help marveling at her incredible luck.

However, Yelena's words left them all silent. "We found it among the fruits and vegetables you gave us."

"..."

The Red-Haired Pirates exchanged glances, at a loss for words.

At last, after a moment of silence, Shanks smiled and said, "We don't have any Devil Fruits on our ship..."

"Maybe the previous user died, and the Devil Fruit just happened to reincarnate among the fruits and vegetables we brought!"

Yelena raised an eyebrow. She hadn't really understood what he meant.

Then she held out the fruit to Shanks and said, "Something so amazing and precious should be returned to you!"

But the Red-Haired Pirates just smiled and waved their hands. "There's an unwritten rule among those who sail the seas: whoever finds a Devil Fruit can do whatever they want with it."

"Since you found this one, Yelena, it belongs to you!"

Shanks nodded emphatically and smiled as he pushed the fruit back toward her. "You should keep it, Yelena!"

"We've all decided not to eat any Devil Fruits!"

Yelena looked at the fruit in her hands, then at the Red-Haired Pirates and their sincere smiles. She didn't know what to do.

Louis, meanwhile, looked thoughtful. If he remembered correctly, the Five Elders had mentioned in the original story that Zoan Devil Fruits housed the wills of their own abilities.

People online in his previous life had also said that some Devil Fruits chose their own users. But according to the Five Elders, the only fruit that evaded the World Government's search and chose its user seemed to be the Nika Fruit.

So, in this situation, was Yelena simply lucky, or had the fruit chosen her?

In the end, Louis couldn't come up with an answer and gave up thinking about it.

But at that moment, Yelena did something no one could have expected.

Under everyone's gaze, she walked over to Louis and held out the Devil Fruit in her hands once more.

Louis stared at the Devil Fruit that had appeared in front of him, utterly baffled.

"What are you doing?"

"For you." Yelena's red eyes met Louis's, and her cracked lips moved slightly.

The cold wind lifted a few strands of Yelena's white hair and brushed past her sallow face, where a gentle smile appeared. Anyone could see how serious she was.

Louis froze, instinctively repeating her words. "For me?"

"Yes. I want to give it to you."

"..."

The scattered townspeople nearby instantly perked up. They pulled their families over to watch, crowding around without hesitation.

When Louis didn't respond, Yelena added, "If you hadn't intervened in that battle, my people and I would have died. The women and children living on this plateau would have been found and killed, too."

After the Jacobites poisoned the river, Yelena understood that even if she died after taking that king down with her,

her people still wouldn't stand a chance against those despicable Jacobites. In other words, without Louis, Canaan would have truly perished.

"That's why I want to give you this fruit."

The townspeople who had gathered around stiffened, looking a little disappointed as they exchanged glances. Clearly, this wasn't the spectacle they had hoped to see.

Louis took a deep breath, then pushed the fruit back toward her. "Someone who has eaten a Devil Fruit can't eat a second one."

Yelena's smile turned to confusion, and she looked at Shanks. Only after he nodded to confirm that Louis was right did she awkwardly lower her hand.

The bonfire crackled. Sparks rose with the heat, glittering like stars, while the orange glow stretched their shadows long across the ground.

Amid the crackling flames, Louis looked at the fruit in her hand and suggested, "I think you should eat it yourself."

Yelena shook her head. "I'm going to die soon. Eating a Devil Fruit would be a waste."

She had already decided to launch a surprise attack on the town below by herself in the dead of night, killing as many Jacobites as she could.

Even if a Devil Fruit could make her stronger, it would be a waste for it to die with her.

So she planned to give it to Louis and ask him to help her people leave the island.

Louis considered this. "Not necessarily. Zoan Devil Fruits can strengthen the body. Maybe it could ease your illness."

Just then, Shanks adjusted his straw hat and put an arm around Hongou as he came forward. He grinned and cut in, "Don't worry. Hongou can definitely cure your illness!"

"Right, Hongou?!"

His words brimmed with faith in his crewmate. He clearly thought Yelena's illness would be easy for Hongou to treat.

Hongou, too, changed his tune from earlier. He nodded calmly and said, "Leave it to me!"

Yelena froze, unable to find the words. Ever since learning that even Louis's incredible ability couldn't do anything for her illness, she had lost hope of surviving.

She hadn't expected that now, suddenly, she might have a chance to live and keep protecting her people.

Before Yelena could react, the townspeople, who had been sheltered and supported by the Canaan Royal Family for generations, could no longer hold back.

They surged toward Hongou like a tide, their faces pleading and tears glimmering in their eyes.

"Please, save Her Majesty!"

"She's not even fifteen. She shouldn't have to die like this!"

"Thump..." Someone in the crowd fell to their knees. Then a second person did, and a third.

Before long, all two hundred remaining people of the Kingdom of Canaan were kneeling before Hongou and the Red-Haired Pirates.

Even the Red-Haired Pirates were stunned.

Yelena quickly snapped out of it and stepped forward to pull her people to their feet. The Red-Haired Pirates also recovered from their shock and joined her in helping the kneeling townspeople up.

"What are you doing? Get up!" Yelena was afraid of hurting her people, so she didn't pull very hard.

When she saw that her words had no effect, she dropped her usual gentle manner and pretended to be angry. "Are you really going to disobey me?"

"Or do you no longer recognize me as Canaan's last king?"

Her words made the people shudder. They fell silent, but still remained on their knees.

After a long while, someone turned to her and said in a hoarse voice, "Your Majesty Yelena, we've all seen how kind the Canaan Royal Family has been to us."

"If generations of kings hadn't protected us with their lives and sacrificed their health to secure the food we needed to survive, we would have died long ago!"

"Ever since we were driven up to the plateau, not one king of the royal family has died peacefully. Now that there's a chance you might live, how could we bear to let it slip away?"