"What? Lillian is pregnant?"

  Not long after sending off Shimotsuki Taro and his retinue—uhe stern gaze of her father, the relut and unwilling Furiko was finally made to leave with him—El was caught off guard by Gerd’s ued “good news.”

  "Yes, it happened shortly after you started f the sword. Nef checked and firmed it, and she couldn’t be more jealous," Gerd said with a smile, her own belly now visibly rger as her pregnancy progressed.

  She g Linlin, who outing with puffed cheeks, and teasingly added, "Of course, that includes someone else, too!"

  "Damn it..."

  Linlin ched her fists, her cheeks puffing out even more as she gritted her teeth in frustration.

  "Those witches are too much! They all sneak ahead of me!"

  "Alright, don’t be upset..." El patted Linlin on the head, soothing her with a smile. "No matter who’s pregnant, all the children will still call you 'Mama Linlin'!"

  This had been one of El’s long-standing rules.

  While Lillian’s or the other women’s children wouldn’t necessarily be raised by Linlin as the "official wife," and they could call their birth mothers "Mama," they were still required to address Linlin as "Mama Linlin."

  "That’s true, but it’s still so frustrating!"

  Feeling ahat Lillian, a member of the Three-Eye Tribe, had beateo it again, Linlin looked at Gerd. Her gaze lingered on Gerd’s increasingly voluptuous and radiant figure—a natural result nancy—before she lowered her eyes to g herself.

  Her shoulders slumped, and her voice was full of disappoi as she murmured, "I want to grow up already..."

  "e now, Linlin. Don’t be childish," Gerd said, gently stroking Linlin’s cheek and smiling reassuringly. "You know one of El’s greatest wishes is to revive the Lunarian race! We’ve all e to terms with this, haven’t we? If you keep getting jealous every other day, we’ll never hear the end of it!"

  "I know, but it still feels unfair..." Linlin’s pretty face twisted into a pout, her toinged with grievance.

  Despite being the official wife, everyone else seemed to be getting ahead of her in having children. And, to top it off, she hadn’t even fully matured yet. It was infuriating!

  "The best is saved for st, so there’s o rush," El said as he pinched Linlin’s cheek with a smile.

  "Hmph! Once I grow up, it’s going to be all three hundred and sixty-five days of the year!" Linlin pouted, throwing her arms around El’s ned ging to him like a koa. "Gerd and I will each get one hundred ay days. The other five days be left for those shameless witches to fight over!"

  Gerd chuckled, her crest-shaped eyes twinkling with amusement. Although Linlin’s outburst yful banter, it was clear that the two shared an inseparable bond as best friends. Even in her indignation, Linlin still thought about sharing the good things in life with Gerd.

  "...Fine, e down now," El said helplessly, his hands resting lightly on Linlin’s shoulders.

  Regardless of Linlin’s antics, El couldn’t deny that he was genuinely excited about the prospect of having a child with both Lunarian and Three-Eye Tribe bloodlines.

  "No! El Onii has to make it up to me!" Refusing to let go, Linlin tightened her hold around his neck.

  El sighed, ping her cheek again. "Didn’t I already promise to upgrade Napoleon for you? Besides, apart from you and Gerd, no one else gets such special treatment!"

  "Hmph! Fine, I’ll let this slide. Hehe!" Finally appeased, Linlin’s pout transformed into a mischievous grin.

  …

  Time passed quickly.

  Nearly half a month ter, El pleted the process of ref Gerd’s scythe. He melted it down and added a rge amount of rare minerals and alloys, f a neon: the Bloodstained Crest Scythe.

  This cursed on could amplify the user’s Haki just like Enma. Although it was not as fearsome as the Barbaric Dragon Broadsword, it still qualified as a Supreme Grade on.

  Ordinarily, Gerd’s current strength would have made it difficult to wield. However, El instructed her to imbue the scythe with her own soul, transf it into the highest-level Homie on. She Hades.

  Hades could perform multiple transformations, morph autonomously, and amplify Gerd’s Haki to strike her targets with terrifying power. This allowed Gerd to use the Bloodstained Crest Scythe freely, unleashing its full potential.

  It could even bih Prometheus and Zeus, creatiating teiques like the Thundering Light on and other powerful binations.

  "Whoosh..."

  Outside the fe, a sharp whistle tore through the air. The blood-red three-bded scythe, with its menag demonic face, spun like a crimson whirlwind, slig through the terrain.

  "Boom... BOOM!"

  A massive hill was shredded and pierced pletely through. Gerd, her belly now promily showing, expertly wielded the scythe. She flicked its long handle lightly, pulling the ed, blood-red bde batrasp.

  "Hades!" Standing tall and proud, Gerd anded, her voice strong aermined.

  "Yes, Gerd-sama!" Hades responded immediately, its demonic face curling into a sinister grin. It synized with Gerd, enveloping itself in a powerful coating of Armament Haki, exuding an overwhelming aura.

  "Hmm..." With a sharp gleam in her eyes, Gerd swung the eerie blood-red scythe. A massive crest-shaped ssh tore through the air like lightning, r toward its target.

  "BOOM! BOOM!"

  The dense forest ahead was ripped apart. Tree after t tree was cleaved ly in two, their cuts smooth and precise. The sheer force of the attack left observers wide-eyed and drenched in cold sweat.

  "Zeus, Prometheus, Hades..."

  "At your and!"

  At Gerd’s call, Zeus and Prometheus desded, taking on their bat forms. They fused with Hades, the blood-red scythe adorned with its devilish face.

  "Thundering Light on!"

  A blinding blue beam shot out with incredible speed, obliterating everything in its path.

  "BOOM! BOOM!"

  A massive mountain was torn asunder, reduced to rubble and debris. Fmes roared, and thick smoke billowed into the sky.

  "Whoosh—"

  With a metallig, the rattled as the three-bded scythe detached from its handle. In its bined form with Zeus and Prometheus, Hades rampaged like a demon, firiating Thundering Light ons in all dires.

  "BOOM! BOOM!"

  Explosions echoed endlessly, redug the ndscape to ruins. The earth, scorched and cratered, y in shambles—a harrowing sight that made one’s scalp tingle.

  "Incredible..." Shimotsuki Kouzaburou stared in shock, his mouth agape. He never imagihat a on could be “alive” like a living creature—capable of speed w in tandem with other Homies to unleash such devastating power.

  "Hehe, the power’s almost on par with when El and I used to bine!" Linlin, from afar, couldn’t help but marvel. With the addition of the Bloodstained Crest Scythe—Hades—Gerd’s bat abilities had soared to terrifying new heights.

  "Hehe, El, this scythe is amazing!" Disassembling the three Homies, Gerd carried the blood-red scythe over her shoulder and ran toward El, her face shining with excitement. "Thank you so much!"

  She had longed for such a top-tier onized Homie. Although El had previously urged her to wait, promising something far superior iime, the result clearly did not disappoint.

  "This success is as much yours as mine," El said, arms crossed, smiling warmly. "Only you, as a wielder of the Soul-Soul Fruit, could tame it in this unique way and unleash its true potential!"

  El had held off on allowie her own onized Homie because he wao provide her with something truly extraordinary—a on worthy of her strength.

  "El Onii! It’s my turn to upgrade Napoleon nht?" Seeing how powerful Gerd’s new scythe was, Linlin eagerly unbuckled Napoleon from her waist and thrust it toward El, her eyes brimming with anticipation.

  "Don’t worry, Linlin, I haven’t fotten you!" El chuckled, amused by her impatience.

  Bleam