Baby-5's Return

After lunch, Gray felt a wave of boredom wash over him as he realized he had nothing left to do.

His body was constantly under the influence of his gravity field, which served to train both his physical form and his Devil Fruit ability.

This was the baseline state Gray had decided to maintain. If he were to attempt any intense physical training, his current body simply couldn't afford the stamina expenditure.

In his current state, merely existing quietly within the gravity field already counted as intense exercise; his stamina recovery and the consumption required by his fruit were perfectly balanced.

If he added running or martial arts practice to the mix, his remaining stamina wouldn't be enough to sustain his fruit's ability.

The balance between recovery and consumption would be completely broken.

Thus, he was in an awkward position where, no matter how much he wanted to train, he simply had to wait.

He had to wait for time to let his body grow, both in terms of age and current physical strength.

"Forget it, I'll go for a walk by the sea." With nothing to do, Gray decided to head to the coast to enjoy the scenery.

It was worth noting that in his previous life, he had been an inland dweller. Although he had visited the seaside once or twice, his sense of wonder regarding the vast ocean had clearly not yet faded.

Sitting in his custom wheelchair, he maneuvered it to speed along the road.

Hard stops, acceleration, sharp turns—it was smoother than an AE86.

With a simple wheelchair, Gray had reached a level of mastery comparable to a "Wheelchair Yasuo."

Time passed quietly. Every day, Gray ate, watched the scenery, observed the others training, and then meditated for an hour at night before drinking a glass of milk and going to sleep, ensuring he would wake up the next morning feeling refreshed.

Of course, he never deactivated the gravity field.

A week passed. With the help of Sea King meat, Gray's physical strength had improved significantly, and he had already adjusted his gravity mode to twice the normal force.

On this day, after playing with Shark Pepper, Gray came to the seaside once again to catch the ocean breeze.

Just as Gray thought the sea would remain as unchanging as ever, a black dot appeared on the horizon.

"Hmm? Is that a ship?" Puzzled, Gray headed straight for the nearby watchtower, where his underlings were stationed on guard duty, equipped with basic binoculars.

"Hey! Can you see what that is?" Gray arrived at the base of the tower, spinning his wheelchair around as he shouted upward.

"Lord Gray, it's the family flag! It might be the other executives returning!" As a family underling, he had initially looked down on Gray due to his child-like appearance, but after seeing Gray flying through the air a few days ago, he had been instantly won over.

Therefore, he treated Gray as a superior powerhouse and naturally showed him the respect he was due.

Ignoring the underling, Gray turned his wheelchair toward the harbor, curious to see which members of the family were returning.

I wonder if it's Baby-5 and the others. It's been so many days—I've actually missed that little girl, he thought to himself while waiting at the dock.

He didn't have to wait long. About ten minutes later, Gray could see the people on the deck with his naked eye.

"Gray-sama!" Baby-5 waved her arms excitedly from the deck.

A smile tugged at the corner of Gray's mouth. He deactivated the gravity field and switched to a flight field, causing his wheelchair to hover and fly toward the ship.

"Baby-5, Gladius, Buffalo!"

"Okaerinasai! (Welcome home!)"

Seeing Gray flying toward them, the trio was stunned. Baby-5, who liked Gray the most, was the first to react: "Gray-sama, you can fly!"

"Sugee! (So amazing!)" Her eyes were practically sparkling.

Gray thoroughly enjoyed her look of adoration. "Haha! It's my Devil Fruit ability!"

Hearing this, the envy in the eyes of Buffalo and Gladius was almost overflowing.

"Must be nice!" they both thought.

At that moment, Gladius even felt a bit of disdain for his own Pop-Pop Fruit.

As for Buffalo, his thoughts were simple: "I want a Devil Fruit ability that lets me fly, too."

"How was the mission? Did it go smoothly?" Gray asked, already chatting with the little girl and asking her to share what she had seen during their voyage.

"It went great! The pirates we ran into—besides the ones Gladius-sama took care of, I even shot one to death myself!"

"I even got praised by Gladius-sama!" For someone like Baby-5, who desperately needed to be needed, praise was just as important as being useful—it was her greatest motivation.

Hearing this, Gray patted her small head and pulled her up to sit on his lap. "Well, our little Baby-5 is truly capable!"

At such a young age, she had already begun to stain her hands with blood. Gray didn't know whether to feel sad for her or proud of her.

This world was too twisted!

For Baby-5—or rather, for all of them who had joined the Donquixote Family—killing was a necessary part of survival.

No matter where you were, if you didn't want to be killed by others, you had to become strong enough to kill them first.

There was no truly safe place in this world. Pirates, gangs, the Navy, nobles, the World Government, Celestial Dragons—someone would always disrupt your peaceful life.

Killing was a means of survival; even a child had to learn it.

This world was sick and twisted!

When did killing become a habit?

Gray had no answer to this question; being weak, he could only adapt to the rules of this place.

Furthermore, he had already steeled his heart: even if his hands were stained with blood, he would stand at the pinnacle to see the scenery of this world.

Only then would this journey be worth it!

It was at this moment that the ship docked, and the group disembarked to head toward their base.

"I've been meaning to ask, Gray, did you injure your leg?"

"Why are you in a wheelchair?" Looking at Gray, Gladius couldn't see any sign of him being injured.

"Ah! I'm not hurt, I just have a condition that prevents me from walking on the ground!"

Gladius, Buffalo: ...

"There's such a disease?"

"Since when did you have this disease? How come I didn't know?" x2

The two hecklers looked at him with faces full of disbelief.

Baby-5, however, had a different reaction: "Gray-sama, can this disease be cured?"

"Will there be any bad side effects?" Baby-5 asked, her face full of worry.

"You actually believed him!" x2

Gray stroked Baby-5's hair and said nonchalantly, "This disease isn't a big problem, and it won't have any negative effects!"

Hearing this, Baby-5 patted her small chest: "Phew, that's a relief!"

"Tch!" x2

The two onlookers gritted their teeth as they watched Gray; they felt as if they had eaten something, yet they hadn't.

"Fufufu! Stop messing around, Gray. The family has returned from their hard work, and we must welcome them back!"

"Hai, hai!"

"You've worked hard!"

"Gladius, Buffalo, Baby-5!"

"Young Master!" Receiving the acknowledgment, Gladius and Buffalo looked deeply moved.

As for Baby-5, she was nestled in Gray's arms, lost in a daze and completely oblivious to the changes in the outside world.

"Then, let the banquet begin!"

"Oh!!!"

Gray: "Can I eat delicious food again!"

Buffalo: "A banquet, I love it!"