Wendigo (Seeking Follow-up!)

In the dim world, a fear seemingly from the depths of their genes was awakened, causing most of the people present to tremble and shiver.

They all gazed with awe at the colossal figure, faintly visible beneath the night sky.

Humanoid, with a bare elk skull, scythe-like claws, and enormous, ferocious antlers. All of this combined made Louis subconsciously recall the monsters that often appeared in horror genres in his previous life.

"A Wendigo?" Louis slowly exhaled a puff of white smoke into the night air, where the temperature had plummeted below freezing.

The Wendigo, a legend from the Native Americans of his previous life. It was believed to be a monster formed when humans resorted to cannibalism and became possessed by evil spirits.

Legend had it that it often appeared with extreme cold and blizzards, possessing astonishing brute strength and supernatural witchcraft.

Its stomach was a bottomless pit, and all living things would become its prey, but it had a particular fondness for human flesh. No matter how much it ate, its hungry stomach would never feel satisfied.

In many works, it was often described as emaciated, with protruding ribs. It was a living corpse covered in rotting fur, exuding a bloody, foul stench.

But to Louis's exceptionally keen eyesight, Yelena's appearance was not that exaggerated. Apart from her overly ferocious and terrifying appearance, which could easily cause nightmares, there were no signs of foul odor or decay.

A moment later, the same question resurfaced in Louis's mind, "Legend says it's transformed from a human, so is it a Hito Hito no Mi or a Deer-Deer Fruit?"

As Louis was lost in thought, Yelena, who had transformed into a Wendigo, moved.

She subconsciously turned her skeletal head, adorned with terrifying antlers, towards the remaining ingredients around her.

Her mouth, hidden beneath the white bones, let out a hoarse voice, as if from the depths of hell.

"Powerful..."

"!!!" As the words fell, all the Ganan Remnants present trembled in unison, their faces paling as they retreated.

This had nothing to do with human emotions; it was as if it originated from human genes, an instinct driving them away from the horrifying behemoth before them.

The Red-Haired Pirates, seeing this, also snapped out of their shock, thoughtful expressions appearing on their faces.

"This..."

"Isn't this a man-eating monster rumored on islands perpetually shrouded in extreme cold?"

"A Wendigo..."

Unlike the others who still had the presence of mind to chat, the young Uta's face was now deathly pale, her teeth chattering. She had instinctively hidden behind Shanks, seeking protection.

Louis slowly stepped forward, positioning himself between Yelena and the food, and tried to call out, "Yelena?"

"..."

Louis's voice brought Yelena's rationality back.

"I'm alright..."

Yelena raised her arms, which now sported ten scythes, and examined her transformation.

"!!!" But the next moment, she was startled by her own terrifying voice and instinctively retreated. Then, she tripped over the long tail dragging behind her, falling to the ground with a thud, kicking up a large cloud of ice mist and snowflakes.

"..." Seeing this, everyone's expressions shifted subtly, and even the fear of the common people lessened considerably.

Snowflakes swirled in the air, appearing magical under the moonlight.

Yelena slowly got up, noticing the strange looks on everyone's faces. Feeling a bit embarrassed, she wished she could burrow a hole in the ground and disappear.

Louis took in everyone's expressions and then looked back at Yelena, suggesting, "Try out your abilities, Yelena!"

Yelena breathed a sigh of relief at his words, stood up as if nothing had happened, and then walked on her hind legs to an open space.

She extended a claw, and then ice began to grow from her palm, spreading rapidly. In just a moment, it formed into a massive warhammer, about three meters long, entirely azure, and radiating a chilling aura.

Then, she raised the warhammer and slammed it down onto the ground.

"Boom..." A thunderous roar, like an explosion, reverberated for thousands of meters. The ground trembled, and dust billowed dozens of meters high. Cracks appeared, extending over a hundred meters away, and countless plate-like sections of earth rose up and shattered.

The violent shaking caused many Ganan Remnants to fall to the ground unexpectedly, their faces a mixture of surprise and joy.

Yelena froze on the spot, suddenly realizing that her current destructive power could easily harm her own subjects. She immediately lowered the warhammer, abandoning any further attempts to test her abilities.

The next moment, she controlled her power to draw back the surrounding frigid air, causing the temperature to return to normal.

After doing all this, she transformed back into her human form and stepped forward to help up some of the elder subjects.

"Is everyone alright?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect even the aftershocks to hurt you."

However, the Ganan Remnants all wore joyful expressions. Seeing Yelena become stronger, they were even happier than she was.

Not far away, the members of the Red-Haired Pirates also looked astonished, exchanging glances. Such power was rare even among the pirates of the Grand Line.

Louis, at this moment, was thinking something different from everyone else. He marveled inwardly at the wonders of the Devil Fruit.

Yelena had grown from 2.2 meters to 6 meters and then back to her human form, yet her clothes were completely unaffected. In the end, Louis could only exclaim, "As expected of a shonen manga."

Because the Ganan Remnants were too fragile, Yelena's plan to test her abilities was forced to a halt. The people eventually rekindled the bonfire and hastily consumed the food that wouldn't keep.

The ship doctor of the Red-Haired Pirates suggested that Yelena return to their ship for further diagnosis.

But Yelena felt that her physique had improved again after eating the fruit, and her illness had lessened. She used the excuse that she needed to protect her subjects and postponed the matter until the next day.

Shanks, however, readily agreed to Yelena's proposal before Hongou could, and then he and his companions temporarily returned to their ship.

Late at night, Yelena donned her battle-scarred heavy armor and walked out of the stone house. After checking on the condition of the wounded one by one, she went straight to the stone house the subjects had prepared for Louis.

She paused for a moment before the stone house, took a deep breath, raised her hand, which was covered by a gauntlet, and gently knocked on the wooden door.

Soon, Louis opened the door and quietly gazed at the fully armed Yelena.

Seeing Louis looking as if he had expected this, a flicker of surprise flashed in Yelena's eyes.

But she didn't overthink it. Instead, she lowered her gaze, a look of apology on her face, and softly stated her purpose.

"Louis, could you do me a favor?"

Louis met her red eyes and said calmly, "Are you going to demand an explanation?"

Although Louis had a guess about what Yelena was about to do, he still needed to ask for clarification. If the answer wasn't what he thought, Louis wouldn't help.

Yelena shook her head, a hint of determination flashing in her eyes, and said in a calm tone, "No, right now, I just want this nation to disappear from this world..."

"..."

"Alright, then I will help you!"