The Strongest Lunarian in One Piece

"Heh heh heh..."

Before long—

After Gerd had created the reindeer homies and set them up to continue searching for the Devil Fruit…

Under the awe-filled, relieved gazes of the Drum Kingdom's citizens, the enormous homie island-cloud, Atlantis, slowly rose from the sea and began to ascend into the air. The movement stirred up a massive spray of seawater, churning the waves wildly as it prepared to depart Drum Kingdom and head toward its next destination.

"Please wait a moment!"

At that moment—

A figure hurried toward them, panting heavily.

"I am an official of Drum Kingdom, here under orders from the World Government to negotiate with the Fallen Angel Pirates..." A middle-aged man wrapped in a thick coat, dressed in relatively fine clothing, called out in a loud voice, holding up a Den Den Mushi to capture El and Linlin's attention.

"Oh?"

El raised an eyebrow, intrigued as he looked down at the man. "Three ordinary Celestial Dragons were worth twenty Devil Fruits. Now, for the highest commander of the Holy Knights, what price can the World Government offer?"

"Well..."

Under El's towering, imposing gaze, the Drum Kingdom official began to sweat profusely, clearly overwhelmed by pressure and shivering nervously. He whispered into the Den Den Mushi, then quickly replied, "One Mythical Zoan or one Logia, along with five regular Devil Fruits."

"Because," he explained hurriedly, "you've already taken so many Devil Fruits, including several rare top-tier ones... Even the World Government doesn't have that many valuable fruits left to spare!"

"Tell them," El said calmly, a faint, almost pitiful smile crossing his face, "if they want to save the Holy Knights' Commander, they can have him back... for three Logia, three Mythical Zoans, six Ancient Zoans, and an additional ten Devil Fruits of any kind."

He may have sounded like he was negotiating, but El wasn't so reckless as to let greed cloud his mind or lose sight of the real risks.

At this point, the Fallen Angel Pirates didn't exactly lack Devil Fruits, nor were there that many uniquely skilled people worth cultivating. Even if they obtained the fruits, most would likely be stored away for future use.

Nonetheless, the potential threat of a powerful force like the World Government, especially one led by a former admiral-level commander, was serious enough to warrant caution. Especially since the Fallen Angel Pirates were not yet fully established and constantly faced the threat of a large-scale World Government siege.

Releasing the Holy Knight would only strengthen the World Government's hand, providing them a formidable weapon that could endanger the Fallen Angel Pirates themselves.

Furthermore, the World Government would never again make the mistake of handing over high-value abilities so freely. Any trade carried great risk, and El had no intention of easily allowing Saint Howard's return, regardless of whether the Munch-Munch Fruit possessed the rumored power to seize others' Devil Fruit abilities.

Even if stripping the Holy Knight Commander of his Mythical Zoan Angel form wasn't feasible, Gerd could still use her Soul-Soul Fruit powers to extract part of the commander's soul.

That would allow them to create another powerful homie, one with strength well above an average vice-admiral, to bolster their own forces.

More importantly, there was little chance the World Government would accept such steep terms. Even if they somehow did, El would only consider the release once the Fallen Angel Pirates had fully established Totto Land in the New World, standing strong and beyond the reach of the World Government's threats or the Navy's attacks.

And even then, it was only a remote possibility. Weakening the enemy while strengthening themselves remained a priority.

"Hiss—..."

Hearing El's demands, the Drum Kingdom official couldn't help but take a sharp breath, while the World Government representative on the other end of the line turned pale with anger. The message was quickly relayed to the Five Elders.

"Bang!"

"This is outright extortion!"

"Such greedy bastards... Are they dreaming?"

"Damn Fallen Angel El, why doesn't he just come rob us outright?"

"Why not just open the Government's vaults and let him help himself?"

A coffee table was nearly split into pieces as the Five Elders' faces twisted with fury. Already, losing so many top-tier Devil Fruits to the Fallen Angel Pirates had been an excruciating blow. They hadn't depleted their stock entirely, but most of the remaining ones were elite Devil Fruits, some so rare they hadn't even been made prizes in the three-yearly contests.

Now El's demand—three Logia, three Mythical Zoans, six Ancient Zoans, plus ten more Devil Fruits—was impossible, even if they did have such a collection.

Although the Holy Knights' Commander was valuable, he was not irreplaceable. If the other side refused to budge, they would continue their attempts to rescue him, but under no circumstances would they agree to these ludicrous terms.

"Tell him," Saint Mars said with a stony expression, speaking into the Den Den Mushi, "one Logia, one Mythical Zoan, and one Ancient Zoan—this is the World Government's final offer. We will not make any further concessions."

"Yes, sir."

Back at Drum Kingdom, the official relayed the World Government's counteroffer.

"Oh?"

"One Logia, one Mythical Zoan, and one Ancient Zoan?"

"Tsk, tsk... the World Government's reserves really are something else," El mused, shrugging as he continued his workout with his giant dragon hammer, sweat dripping down his face. "After that last deal, I thought they'd be drained, but they can still afford more high-level Devil Fruits as ransom..."

Hearing the Government's response, Tsuru, Lillian, Linlin, Nef, and Gerd couldn't help exchanging surprised glances. The World Government's resources were indeed more vast than they'd imagined, and there were likely even more elite fruits in their vaults.

A homie sea swallow swooped down, taking the Den Den Mushi from the Drum Kingdom official and bringing it to El.

"El-sama," the voice on the other end began, "this is the World Government's best offer. You know the last deal was only made due to special circumstances, but now, given recent events, you should understand that no matter what you do to Saint Howard, the World Government is beyond threats."

"We could simply deny his identity—no one in the world even knows of the Holy Knights' Commander... Whatever you try next might dent the Government's reputation, but it will only provoke our unrestrained vengeance."

"Spare me the speeches," El replied evenly. He didn't intend to push the World Government too far, at least not now. The recent negotiations had already achieved his original goal of stockpiling Devil Fruits, and there was no need to go to extremes.

Pushing the Five Elders too hard now might force their hand, leading them to launch a costly, all-out attack against the Fallen Angel Pirates before they had fully secured their plans for Totto Land—a situation that was better avoided.

"Tell the Five Elders they can have him back," El said, calmly adjusting his terms, "for two Logia, two Mythical Zoans, four Ancient Zoans, and six additional Devil Fruits."

"Not one less. Or there's no deal."

With that, he ended the call, tossing the Den Den Mushi back to the Drum Kingdom official. There was no need to finalize anything now. It was better to keep them on edge, to keep the negotiations dangling, fostering both wariness and faint hope.

In the meantime, he'd have Gerd extract half the Holy Knight Commander's lifespan just in case. As for the CP0 agents, the World Government wouldn't bother offering real ransom for mere "loyal hounds." Better to simply take fifty years of their souls and turn them into sturdy homies down the line.

"Atlantis! Move out!"

"Yes, El-sama!"