Heir Joseph

"Open the descriptions for the Art-Art Fruit and the Change-Change Fruit."

Carl knew the general effects of the other Devil Fruits just by hearing their names; only these two remained a mystery to him.

"Art-Art Fruit: Can turn drawn objects into reality, though they lack a soul. After awakening, the user can bestow souls upon objects and seal certain inanimate items within paintings.

Change-Change Fruit: Can transform into any animal, plant, or shaped object seen, though it does not possess their specific traits or power. After awakening, the user can perfectly inherit the strength of the transformed object."

If he understood the Art-Art Fruit correctly, it could store items, much like Ma Liang's magic brush.

The Change-Change Fruit should allow for transformations into various animals or even plants—could he even turn into Zunesha? It was a pity, though, that the strength of the transformation could only be accessed after full awakening.

Wait, that wasn't right. If he thought about it, wouldn't it be silent and seamless if a Change-Change Fruit user carried an Art-Art Fruit user to infiltrate God Valley?

The value of these two Devil Fruits had just skyrocketed; he had to keep them safe.

With that, Carl stored the Devil Fruits into his system inventory one by one.

The journey back to Hachinosu was quick, and they encountered no trouble along the way. After all, no pirate with eyes would dare provoke the Rocks Pirates.

By the time they returned to the island, John, Wang Zhi, and the others had already arrived back with their spoils.

After handing over seventy percent of the Beli, Carl's system balance reached 5.9 billion Beli. However, there had been no distribution of Devil Fruits from the Giant Warrior Pirates this time.

That made sense; after all, the Giant Warrior Pirates hadn't been there, so the rest must have remained with Rocks.

At the same time, Rocks decided to hold a grand banquet that night.

"Awoo!"

"Lord Carl, you're back."

As soon as Carl returned to their base, he saw White Tiger running toward him.

Long Yi and Long Er followed closely behind.

Carl first patted White Tiger's furry head, then lowered his gaze to the two boys.

"How is it? Have you been practicing properly?"

"We've definitely been studying hard, Lord Carl, look."

Long Er was the first to extend his right hand. A cluster of lightning flickered and faded on his palm—it was clearly the Lightning Method, and he had already mastered the basics.

"Hmm, you two have improved quite quickly."

"By the way, Lord Carl, we did something bad today."

Long Yi said with a hint of embarrassment.

"Oh? What happened? Tell me about it."

Carl walked over to a large boulder and sat down.

It turned out that after they set out today, Long Yi and Long Er had a verbal altercation with some pirates stationed on the island. They were clever enough not to engage in physical combat, knowing they were still weak; despite their long training, they were no match for those pirates.

So, they resorted to a wagered duel, as Hachinosu had a fighting arena.

After all, pirates didn't have much in the way of entertainment.

The terms of the wager were that each side would buy a slave and have them fight to the death in the arena. The loser would have to kneel, kowtow, and call the winner "Grandpa."

As expected, they fell for it. After buying a slave, they realized the pirate they were betting against had chosen a giant.

Naturally, they lost the wager.

But the two of them refused to play fair and started fighting the pirate directly. They hadn't expected the pirate to be so weak; he died after just a few blows.

Afraid that the incident would be exposed, they simply brought the giant slave back to their base and hadn't stepped out since.

Carl chuckled after hearing the story.

"Don't worry. In the Rocks Pirates, you don't need to be polite to other pirates; we aren't the same kind of people."

"Besides, the captain won't care about the killing within the Rocks Pirates, so don't worry."

Carl carefully explained the situation within the Rocks Pirates to put their minds at ease.

Hearing this, they immediately relaxed. The incident had scared them so much that they hadn't dared to leave the house, fearing they would bring trouble to Carl.

"A giant? Take me to see him."

Carl felt a bit of anticipation. While he wasn't a collector, it would be quite prestigious to have a giant on his own ship.

"Lord Carl, he's over here."

Long Yi led the way.

Behind their base was a massive cave, and Heir Joseph was inside.

Because of the giant's immense size, they hadn't had time to build a house, so they had to settle for keeping him in the cave for now.

"What is your name?"

Carl walked to the entrance of the cave and saw the giant sitting inside. The pitch-black space could not hinder Carl's vision.

"Heir Joseph."

A dull, echoing voice came from the cave.

"Do you want to join the Rocks Pirates?"

"As long as I don't have to be a slave, I'll do anything."

Joseph no longer wanted to be a slave.

"Very well, come on out."

"Thump, thump, thump!"

With a series of heavy, muffled footsteps, the giant Joseph walked out from within.

"You're quite tall."

As Joseph emerged, Carl estimated he was at least twenty meters tall.

Joseph wore a long beard and a massive collar around his neck, his entire demeanor appearing incredibly dejected.

"You can join my crew. From now on, I'll look after you. Walk the seas under the name of Carl, and no one will ever treat you like a slave again."

"Th-thank you, My Lady Carl."

The giant Joseph was moved to tears as he spoke to Carl.

The giants were straightforward by nature; he would only remember who treated him well and who did not. In Joseph's eyes, Carl was now the savior who had rescued him from a sea of misery.

"Alright, lower your head and stay still. I'll help you take that collar off."

Just as Joseph lowered his head, Carl stepped forward and used her hand, coated in Armament Haki, to snap the collar directly. She then coated both ends of the collar in Armament Haki and hurled it with all her might into the depths of the sea.

"Boom!"

A massive splash erupted, and Joseph reached up to touch his neck where the collar had been.

"It's gone, it's gone! That's wonderful, it's really gone."

Joseph looked at Carl with tear-filled eyes.

He had finally been freed from that symbol of slavery.

"Hahahaha! I am free!"

Joseph stood tall and laughed heartily.

Carl felt a sense of gratification; she hadn't expected that one day, her subordinates would include a giant.

"Alright, from now on, you'll follow Clay."

"Clay, I'm leaving him in your care."

Carl looked toward Clay, who stood to the side. Clay was now effectively Carl's personal steward, primarily responsible for handling the troublesome matters Carl didn't want to deal with herself.

"Please rest assured, My Lady Carl."

Clay understood what Carl meant. Although they hadn't spent a long time together, he had a general grasp of what My Lady Carl was thinking.

Since My Lady Carl had said as much, it meant nothing more than for him to teach the giant the Five Elements Fist.

"Alright, since we're done here, you'll all come with me to the banquet today."

"After all, this is a momentous occasion for us, the Rocks Pirates, as we head into the second half of the Grand Line."

"As you command, My Lady Carl."