“Caramel puff tower...”

  “Where is my caramel puff tower?!”

  Heavy footsteps echoed across the dreamlike isnd as a tall, slender figure, about seveers high, emerged through the blood-red mist. It was a stunning girl with a giant-like stature, but her eyes glowed blood-red with bloodlust, and her fierce aura sent shivers through everyone present. “Hand over the caramel puff tower now!”

  Suddenly, she raised her head, grittieeth as she struggled to maintain trol. “No... Everyone, get out of here, quickly!”

  Eight years had passed sihe once chubby little girl had transformed into a slender, beautiful young woman. Through El's strict training, the now thirteen-year-old Linlin had undergone a plete transformation from the girl she once was.

  “Please calm down, Linlin-sama!”

  Above her, a floating cloud, Hera—a gift from Gerd—desded, attempting to soothe her.

  “Did you hide the caramel puff tower?”

  Linlin’s blood-red eyes fixated on Hera, sending chills through the cloud-like creature.

  “No, no, I haven’t seen any caramel puff tower...” Hera quickly denied, retreating in fear, knowing that in her madness, Linlin wouldn’t hesitate to devour it. The vampire form's powers inflicted excruciating pain on Hera, and any injuries caused were slow to heal. The st time Linlin lost trol, Hera was torn to pieces and almost ed like cotton dy.

  “Raaahhh—”

  Linlin suddenly let out a furious roar, her body rapidly transf. Her human form shifted into a beastly one, covered in purple-bck fur. Her face torted with sharp fangs, and her blood-red eyes gleamed like gems. A pair of devilish wings sprouted from her back, and her limbs turned into deadly cws, making her appear like a terrifying demon.

  “Whoosh…”

  A powerful figure desded, wings fpping. El nded in front of Linlin, pg a hand on her shoulder and staring into her blood-red eyes with a calm expression. “Linlin, calm down...”

  “El-onii...”

  At the sound of El's voice, Linlin trembled. A brief moment of crity fshed in her eyes as she struggled, her face twisted with anguish. “I ’t trol it... It’s so painful... I’m about to lose trol...”

  She gritted her teeth, her body trembling as she ched her fists. Tears of frustration welled up in her red eyes. “I don’t want this... I don’t want to hurt anyone!”

  Before she could finish speaking, her expression ged. With a vicious gre, she broke free from El’s grip, her face torted in fury as she threunch at him. “Give me the caramel puff tower... now!”

  “Boom!”

  A violent force swept through the air as El caught her punch with one hand, his expression calm and unreadable. He looked at the frenzied Linlin and spoke coldly, “There is no caramel puff tower. I ate it. If you want it, you’ll have to cut me open to find it.”

  “Then I’ll cut you open...”

  Linlin, her eyes glowing red and her expression crazed, grinned maniacally. “A caramel puff tower mixed with blood would be delicious!”

  Despite El easily catg her punch, Linlin fiercely kicked at him, her eyes filled with killing i.

  “Sorry, Linlin...”

  “If your willpower still ’t overe this huhis destructive urge, then I’ll have to use more forceful means.”

  El’s eyes turned cold as he unleashed an overwhelming strength that far surpassed Linlin’s. In a fsh, before Linlin’s kick could nd, El grabbed her like a ragdoll and smmed her into the ground.

  “Boom... Boom...”

  The ground cracked and shattered as El repeatedly smashed Linlin into the earth, showing ation. He wasn’t ed about killing her, knowing she, like him, was a monstrous force of nature.

  “Linlin—”

  “El, what are you doing—”

  “Big Sis Linlin!!!”

  “Is he trying to kill her?”

  “Of course not, idiot... Linlin is immortal!”

  The brutal se left the onlookers—members of the Fallen Angel Pirates and the stronger, older members of Dreamnd who hadn’t passed out from the earlier queror’s Haki—speechless. Even though they knew Linlin couldn’t die easily, the sight of her being smmed repeatedly by El left them trembling.

  Suddenly, Linlin’s body burst into a swarm of bats, swarming toward El.

  “It’s useless. Even though we’re both monsters, my strength and defense far exceed yours, Linlin.”

  El’s eyes remained indifferent. Even among monsters, there were levels of superiority, just as there were differences in power among Devil Fruits. Though all Logia fruits were immensely strong and seemingly invincible, there was no paring lower-tier fruits to top-tier ones like the Ice-Ice Fruit or the Rumble-Rumble Fruit.

  In terms of ialent—whether physical strength or mental acuity—El was not inferior to Linlin. In fact, he surpassed her. His releraining had honed his natural gifts into overwhelming power, while Linlin, still only thirteen, had much growio do.

  “Whoosh…”

  Fmes erupted around El, engulfing his entire body in bzing fire.

  “Crackle...” The intense heat distorted the air, and the ground around him began to melt. Even though Linlin’s bats were resistant to most physical attacks and ued by normal fire, the seari still caused her disfort.

  “Whoosh...” The bats reformed, and Linlin’s monstrous form appeared behind El, her eyes gleaming.

  “g... g…”

  Blood-red spears materialized and shot toward El with terrifying power. But El, without even using Haki, didn’t bother to dodge. The spears, imbued with Haki, struck his skin but failed to pierce his steel-like body.

  “Not bad. Your trol over your powers and Haki has improved,” El said calmly, stepping back slightly from the impact. “But it’s not enough.”

  “Damn you!”

  pletely losing her mind, Linlin screamed furiously, her queror’s Haki surging as she roared, “Caramel puff tower—hand it over!!! Ahhh!!!”

  “Boom... Boom…”