Lovers Finally Become Family

The Holy Land, Mary Geoise.

Located at the very top of the Red Line, it was established 800 years ago when the 20 kings formed the World Government and relocated their entire families here, making it the residence of the Celestial Dragons.

Pangaea Castle, as the center of World Government power, serves as the venue for the Reverie and the daily office and resting place of the Gorosei.

Watching Kizaru leave, Saint Saturn rubbed his brow.

It had taken five Devil Fruits to ransom Saint Elaine, the descendant of Lord Imu.

"Gentlemen, I propose raising the bounty on Beelzebul. The Op-Op Fruit user was taken by her and has vanished without a trace. She may have already attained immortality."

"As for whether to issue a Buster Call..."

Saint Warcury, with his mustache, cut him off:

"Beelzebul is not of the D Clan, and from what we've seen so far, like the rest of the Roger Pirates, she hasn't leaked the secrets of the Final Island."

"We can try to win her over."

"The priority now is to contain the information and minimize the impact of this incident. If word spreads, the pirates on the seas... will become a huge problem."

If everyone started kidnapping Celestial Dragons, it would absolutely disrupt the World Government's plans.

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

Saint Saturn shifted the topic: "Do we need to placate Saint Elaine? Or should we keep him from leaving Mary Geoise for the time being?"

"Ground him."

"Agreed."

"Agreed."

Sabaody Archipelago, on the sea.

On the deck of a luxury cruise liner, Seven casually pocketed the ransom and tossed the pig-like Celestial Dragon toward Kizaru.

"Pleasure doing business."

With that, Seven shot straight up into the sky.

The idea of having a good fight with Kizaru would have to wait. Right now, Seven urgently needed to find a quiet place to list the ransom on the Trading Platform.

Watching the direction Seven had disappeared, Kizaru muttered to himself, "How terrifying."

Though he had no idea what Seven and the Gorosei had discussed, judging by the Gorosei's attitude afterward, this matter was settled.

Since when had the Gorosei become so easy to deal with?

Or was it that the Gorosei's harshness... was only aimed at the Marines, while they turned lenient toward pirates?

No wonder Brother Seven had said: From another perspective, the Marines are the World Government's lackeys.

"Moshi moshi." Kizaru reported the progress to both the Gorosei and Fleet Admiral Sengoku.

"Saint Elaine has been successfully rescued."

Sengoku: Good work. I'll write you a promotion report.

Gorosei: Escort Saint Elaine safely back to the Holy Land, Mary Geoise, and we'll approve your promotion report.

Hanging up the Den Den Mushi, the expression on Kizaru's face became extremely interesting. It seemed he had found a way to get promoted and a raise at Marine Headquarters.

Too bad he'd met Beelzebul too late.

If he'd known her a few years earlier, he might already be a Marine Admiral by now.

Still, Admiral was the top. A job like Fleet Admiral, which works you to death, wasn't something just anyone could handle.

Kizaru tossed Saint Elaine onto the deck, sat down casually, and waited for the unconscious Marines to wake up. Going back to Marineford meant meetings anyway, so he might as well take the chance to slack off openly.

On the other side.

Seven returned to the hotel room, grabbed Tesoro and Stella, and flew off toward Skypiea.

The harvest from this trip was astonishingly rich.

Five Devil Fruits, five Good Fast Swords, and the most valuable treasure of all: the Tesoro couple.

The only thing Seven regretted was that among these five Devil Fruits, aside from the Door-Door Fruit and the Mythical Zoan he'd specifically requested, there were no strategically significant abilities.

The five Devil Fruits were:

Paramecia · Door-Door Fruit.

Paramecia · Power-Power Fruit.

Bear-Bear Fruit, Mythical Zoan · Thunder Giant Bear Form.

Zoan · Ox-Ox Fruit, Ox Form.

Zoan · Bird-Bird Fruit, Owl Form.

Back in Skypiea, Seven instructed Shani to arrange accommodations for Tesoro and Stella, then teleported alone to the dome of the Thunder God Palace.

The strategic significance of the Door-Door Fruit is immense.

If Saint Elaine weren't a descendant of Imu, the World Government would never have handed it over.

The Mythical Zoan Thunder Giant Bear should be related to thunder—a decent combat asset.

The Owl-Owl Fruit and Power-Power Fruit have some use too; owls can fly, and the Power-Power Fruit grants a natural beast-of-burden physique.

"Ox-Ox Fruit... what the hell?!"

As everyone knows, Devil Fruits are born from humanity's desire for power—this collective longing solidifies into tangible fruits, granting abilities to those who eat them.

So... it's not that hard to understand why someone would want to become an ox.

Seven thought it over briefly, then listed the Owl-Owl Fruit and Ox-Ox Fruit on the Trading Platform.

[Owl-Owl Fruit: 3000 points. Exclusive for night owls—essential for all-night gaming sessions.]

[Ox-Ox Fruit: 5000 points. Love him? Make him plow the fields!]

Just from listing them, Seven could already see other world users complaining about the earlier Fly-Fly Fruit—

[Buying: 20,000 points for the Rumble-Rumble Fruit. Hey, Profiteer King of the seas, stop dumping your trash.]

[Buying: 20,000 points for the Tremor-Tremor Fruit. Profiteer King, what the hell is a Fly-Fly Fruit?]

[Buying: 20,000 points for the Float-Float Fruit. Digging Rat... I'm dying of laughter.]

"Tch." Seven closed the system interface. "These idiots have no idea how valuable the Fly-Fly Fruit really is."

Turning an enemy into a fly—how satisfying is that?

If he weren't short on points, Seven would have kept the Fly-Fly Fruit to shove into an enemy's mouth when the time came.

The four Devil Fruits he'd listed so far totaled 16,000 points. If sold successfully, after taxes, he'd have 14,400 points left.

Enough to buy the ship of his dreams: the East Blue Emperor.

Compared to Skypiea shells, consigning Devil Fruits for points was clearly faster. Maybe in less than two years, he could get Conqueror's Haki Defense.

Currently, Seven had in hand—

The Slippery-Slippery Fruit, the Power-Power Fruit, the Door-Door Fruit, and the Mythical Zoan Thunder Giant Bear.

Seven had already decided how to distribute these four Devil Fruits: the Power-Power Fruit could go to the Shandia warrior Calpa, and the Slippery-Slippery Fruit to Shani...

As for Gan Fall, there wasn't a suitable Devil Fruit for him yet.

The Mythical Zoan Thunder Giant Bear was best given to a crew member with a strong enough physique.

As for the Door-Door Fruit—a Devil Fruit of that strategic level—it had to stay in the hands of someone he could trust.

For now, he needed to find crew members as soon as possible.

Thunder God Palace, Side Courtyard

The evening breeze drifted past the wind chimes hanging under the eaves, their crisp ringing mingling with the sound of Tesoro and Stella leaning against each other.

The chaos of these past days felt like a dream they couldn't wake from.

Just a moment ago, they had been torn apart by the Celestial Dragons, and the next, Lord Thunder God had saved them, bringing them to this misty, heavenly place.

"Miss Shani said this is Skypiea."

Stella's voice was as light as a feather, carrying a lingering daze.

"Yeah." Tesoro replied.

This heart-wrenching experience had worn away much of the childishness in Tesoro's brow.

He understood that nothing came without a reason. Lord Thunder God had saved them because there was something he wanted Tesoro to do.

But before that, Tesoro felt there was something more important he needed to do.

"Stella, marry me, okay?"

Having faced despair, he knew better how to cherish.

If Lord Thunder God hadn't rescued them, what would have awaited them?

Stella would have been taken, turned into a plaything for the Celestial Dragons, and he would have been branded a slave, breathing his last under endless torment.

He wouldn't be standing here, making a lifelong promise to the girl he loved.

Stella looked at the light in Tesoro's eyes, tears slowly welling up. She nodded firmly, her voice choked but crystal clear.

"Yeah!"