Chapter 231: The Archangel Pirates' Apprentices
On the new coastal edge of Terra.
Yelena, with Ulti and Page One, sat on a reef, watching the Warlord of the Sea's pirate ship slowly approach.
"He sure took a long time to recover this time!" On the reef, Ulti, half of her face covered by a mask, glared with her pink eyes, her arms crossed as she complained. "If his Vivre Card wasn't still intact, I'd have really thought he'd died in some corner!"
Nearby, Page One sat with his legs crossed, staring with his dead-fish eyes. "Just shut up, sis. If you don't, you're going to get hit again!"
"What—did—you—SAY!!"
Page One's words sent Ulti into a rage. At the speed of light, she closed in, grabbed his shoulders, and began to furiously rub his head. "I'm your cute big sister!! How could you tell me to shut up!!"
"That's enough." Just then, the nearby Yelena casually lifted Ulti up, revealing a Page One who looked as if all the love had gone out of his life. "Your father is here to pick you up."
Yelena's eyes were fixed on the figure who was covered in bandages and walking step-by-step toward them.
Hearing this, Ulti pouted.
Soon, Hanafuda arrived directly in front of the three of them. He first glanced at the disgruntled-looking Ulti and Page One. Then, his gaze fell on Yelena. He opened his mouth, which was filled with sharp fangs, and asked tentatively, "Ulti and Page One... they haven't caused any trouble, have they?"
"Not at all. They are both very cute children. I like them very much," Yelena replied casually, glancing at Hanafuda's terrifying mouth.
Hearing this, the corners of Ulti's mouth turned up slightly, and her entire being became visibly happy.
Hanafuda, on the other hand, was stunned for a moment. He then looked at Ulti again and fell silent. He found it hard to believe that the boisterous Ulti, besides himself and Page One, could actually be considered "cute" by someone else.
Then, Yelena casually glanced at the pirate ship, which bore the marks of lightning strikes, and asked, "Are you here to pick up little Ulti and Page One?"
"That's right—" Hanafuda nodded. "I have successfully snatched the Spinosaurus fruit." He then looked down at the brother and sister and said again, "Come on, it's time for us to go."
However, Ulti waved her hand, her pink eyes wide. "Ah! This little lady plans to stay here with Page One!"
"..."
Hearing this, Hanafuda was instantly stunned, a look of disbelief on his face. He had left his two children in so many places, but this was the first time they had ever asked to stay.
Nearby, Yelena also turned her head to look at Ulti and asked subconsciously, "You two... plan to stay here?"
"Mhm!" Ulti nodded, her arms crossed, and replied with a dead-serious expression. "We're staying here!"
Page One looked at their reactions and let out a long sigh. "If we go back with father anyway, the next time he gets intel on an Ancient Zoan fruit, he's just going to stash us in a safe place again. In that case, we might as well just stay here! Lady Yelena will take good care of us anyway!"
"Lady Yelena..."
Hanafuda looked at her, also a little surprised, and a subtle change came over his expression. "That title... have the two of them, just like me back then, been conquered?"
"After Kaido conquered me, did his child also conquer my children—"
For a moment, Hanafuda was dazed. The scenes from back then, when he had formed a pirate alliance with Kaido for a common goal and was finally conquered by him, appeared in his mind.
On the other side, as if she had remembered something, Ulti added with a look of disgust, "Last time, you were planning to entrust us to Kaido, right, father?"
Hanafuda came back to his senses, nodded with a complicated expression, and gave an affirmative answer. "That's right. The situation on the seas is extremely dangerous right now. Therefore, I was planning to entrust you to him. With his strength and ability, he can help you grow quickly and protect you before that."
"So, it's the same if we stay here, right?" Ulti looked up, met Hanafuda's eyes, and said bluntly, "That Louis guy—"
BONK! A punishment from behind landed.
"Ow!!" Ulti crouched down, holding her head.
After a moment, she slowly stood up, a large bump on her head. "Louis's strength can rival Kaido's!" she said, her eyes teary. "And here, Yelena can also guide and take care of us!"
To this, Ulti indicated that between a gentle, beautiful big sister and a stinky, alcoholic old man, even an idiot would know which to choose.
Hanafuda heard her and fell silent again. After a long while, he met the eyes of Ulti and Page One and knelt down.
"In that case, I respect your choice. If you want to stay, then stay!" He reached out and stroked the siblings' heads, and the corners of his mouth turned up in a smile that was both chilling and filled with love.
"Perhaps, compared to the 'survival of the fittest' Beasts Pirates, the Archangel Pirates is a more suitable place for you two to grow up."
Hearing this, the two, who had been worried that Hanafuda would refuse, gradually calmed down.
Immediately after, Hanafuda made a decision. He then turned around and shouted to his pirate ship not far away, "You! Bring that thing over!"
"Yes, sir!"
A group of faces familiar to the siblings quickly came running over, carrying a wooden box. "Here it is, Boss!!"
Hanafuda took the treasure chest and, without hesitation, handed it to Ulti. "This is the Devil Fruit I snatched this time. The Dragon-Dragon Fruit, Ancient Model: Spinosaurus. I'm giving this to you. I hope you can use it to protect your brother—"
This action left Ulti and Page One a little confused. "But... isn't this what you snatched to give to Kaido?"
To this, Hanafuda pulled a smile that would scare a child to tears. "When a child has their own thoughts and goals, as a father, I must support them with all my might! Even if Kaido finds out, with our relationship, I believe he won't say anything."
Hearing this, Ulti no longer refused, but readily accepted the Devil Fruit.
Hanafuda studied the two for a moment, then slowly stood up, his gaze falling on Yelena. "Yelena, right? I'll leave my children in your care. You should go to the Land of Wano and see, Yelena. Besides Kaido, you have other kin there. I've heard that Yamato is very lonely too."
"I will." Yelena, who had long since recovered her senses, did not say much, but simply nodded.
Then, Hanafuda turned to leave, leaving a sentence in the air. "You must work hard to become stronger, Ulti, Page One! Without great strength, you cannot protect the things you cherish! Just like me... because I'm not strong enough, I can't always keep you by my side—"
"..."
As the sailing ship gradually moved away, on its deck, a group of pirate grunts who had watched Ulti and her brother grow up, were crying their eyes out, waving goodbye to the two. "Take care, young masters!" "Don't catch a cold, young master!"
Hanafuda did not participate in their farewell. Instead, he kept his head down and strode straight into the cabin.
On the reef at the edge of the coast, Ulti and Page One looked at the gradually departing ship, and gradually realized that this parting was different from the previous times they had been stashed away. Gradually, a sadness brewed in their hearts, and their eyes also became moist.
Just then, Yelena took off her gauntlet, placed it on Ulti's head, and comforted her gently. "Don't be sad. You just chose to stay. There will be many opportunities to meet again in the future."
Ulti heard her, and the sadness in her heart gradually dissipated. But she was still as stubborn as ever. "Are you the atmosphere-killer, Yelena?!"
"Didn't you call me 'big sister' yesterday?" Yelena smiled, a hint of teasing in her eyes.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
Half an hour later, in front of the newborn Adam tree.
Uta, who was sitting on the wood of the tree and gently swinging her legs, saw the two siblings following behind Yelena and was momentarily stunned. Then, she asked tentatively, "Didn't little Ulti's and Page One's father come to pick them up?"
Yelena led the two to stand beside her. While looking up at the Adam tree, which was over three thousand meters tall, she explained casually, "Hanafuda did come, but they chose to stay in Terra."
"Is that so?" Uta heard this and nodded thoughtfully.
Nearby, Louis casually glanced at the siblings. After a moment of contemplation, he said with great seriousness, "In that case, then from today on, Ulti and Page One are the two new pirate apprentices of our crew!"
At the same time, one after another, giant snail ships docked on the other side of the coast. Vinsmoke Judge, after ordering his several sons not to leave the ships, led a few teams of soldiers and slowly disembarked. The group set foot on the land, which was covered with coral and ruins, and headed straight for the center of the continent.
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