"Wow! So this is your home, Tethys?"

  They stood in an enormous garden, surrounded by t wooden houses, bridges, and flowing streams—all appearing like oversized human strus.

  Even more astonishing, massive bees, rger than humans, buzzed ceaselessly among the colorful flowers. Their sheer numbers were enough to make anyone’s scalp tingle.

  Toki’s eyes widened in disbelief. Above, a massive hawk with an impressive wingspan soared through the sky, cirg vigintly.

  Suddenly, two colossal dogs—one bd one white, their fur as fluffy as clouds—charged toward them, barking loudly. Each stood at least teers tall, as intimidating as they were awe-inspiring.

  Startled by the sight, Toki instinctively took a step back.

  "Hmm?" El smiled faintly and g the dogs.

  The two massive beasts froze mid-charge. Trembling, their ears fttened, and cold sweat dripped down their fnks.

  "El, I know you’re powerful, but don’t scare them so much," Tethys chided El pyfully, rolling her eyes.

  Turning to the massive dogs, she scolded, "Bcky, Whitey, behave! El and Toki are uests!"

  "Are all giahis... enormous?" Toki muttered, dazed by their sheer size.

  Although she had seen colossal sea kings before, this was her first enter with such gargantuan nd creatures.

  The two dogs whimpered softly, retreating to hide behihys. Even though El hadn’t unleashed any threatening aura, his mere presence radiated the intimidating power of a primeval beast, making them cower like frightened mice before a predator.

  "Beeeeeep—"

  From seemingly nowhere, Tethys pulled out a bamboo flute and blew a sharp note.

  "Buzz... Buzz..."

  A deafening hum followed as tless swarms of bees took flight, assembling into two formations. They left a wide, clear pathway in the middle, almost as though f a ceremonial corridor to wele their guests.

  "Amazing!"

  Toki gasped in awe, watg the obediently aligned bees—each rger than a human. She was utterly mesmerized.

  "This is my special skill! Ahahaha!" Tethys puffed out her chest proudly, grinning with satisfa.

  "It’s indeed impressive," El said, giving a thumbs-up.

  He had to admit, if Tethys could breed these bees in rge numbers, her skill would bee a terrifying on. Tens of thousands of massive, venomous, and incredibly fast bees swarming the sky would make even the bravest enemies hesitate.

  Fiant warrior, a siing might only cause severe pain and swelling sting weeks. But for ordinary humans, oing could easily be fatal.

  "Take a seat. I don’t have much to offer, but..."

  Leading El and Toki into her wooden house, Tethys hahem twe drinks—or rather, two gigantic barrels of hoea.

  "Have some hoea!"

  "Uh... I don’t think I finish this..." Toki stammered, cold sweat dripping down her back. The bamboo cup stood nearly half her height and wider than her waist.

  "Sorry, Toki," Tethys said, scratg her head apologetically. "I don’t have smaller cups. You’ll have to make do."

  "No problem. Use this instead."

  Raising his right hand, El summoned vines from outside the house. They stretched inward as though alive, and before long, a massive leaf morphed into the shape of a cup. El ha to Toki.

  "Here, this should do the trick!"

  "Thank you, El-sama!" Toki’s face lit up with delight.

  "What an incredible ability!" Tethys excimed in admiration, her eyes fixed on the living pnts responding so effortlessly to El’s and.

  El had seey of astonishing sights before, so this hardly surprised him anymore.

  "But, El-, why would you want to recruit a female giant?" Tethys asked curiously. "Fhting, wouldn’t Kashii and Oimo be more suited for the job?"

  "And Kashii and Oimo beat you?" El retorted, staring at her with mild exasperation.

  This silly girl cimed she wasn’t suited for bat, but iy, her abilities were far from ordinary. While she couldn’t pare to Gerd, the Soul-Soul Fruit user, she was still far superior to most giants. The average giant warrior wouldn’t stand a ce against her.

  "Those two big oafs? Of course not!" Tethys pnted her hands on her hips, radiating pride. Her fair, massive figure exuded fidence, drawing every eye.

  "Exactly." El chuckled. Gazing at her stunningly beautiful face, he asked directly, "Tethys, would you be willing to bee a Devil Fruit user?"

  He reached into his pocket and produced a peculiar, tiny fruit, presenting it to Tethys. "This is the Paramecia-type Ripe-Ripe Fruit. One of the main reasons I came here is to cultivate a giant Devil Fruit user."

  "Huh? A Devil Fruit?" Both Toki ahys blinked in surprise.

  "The Ripe-Ripe Fruit corrode and age any target it touches. It also allows living creatures to groidly or even age prematurely," El expined with a smile. "For example, it could accelerate the growth of bee rvae, juvenile birds, wild animals, or sea beasts, helping them mature in no time."

  "And if the user is a giant, the effects would be at least ten times greater than those of an ordinary human!"

  "The Ripe-Ripe Fruit?" Tethys’s eyes lit up with excitement as she accepted the small, peculiar fruit, iing it closely. "So it really has such powers?"

  "If you don’t want to bee a Devil Fruit user, that’s fine," El said casually. "I always find another female giant for the role."

  "Of course, I want it! This ability is just too fasating—it’s perfee!"

  Without hesitatiohys tossed the fruit into her mouth, swallowing it with a gleeful grin. "This will make raising bees so much easier!"

  Her eyes sparkled with excitement. "I’ve been pnning to breed a special swarm of hors and s to assist the rest of the hive!"

  Turning to El, her enthusiasm brimming, she said, "By the way, El-, you came at the perfect time! I found several gigantic beehives in the forest. you use your queror’s Haki to knock them out for me? I want t them all back!"

  "No problem."

  Soon after, El followed Tethys into the forest.

  Upon seeing the so-called "gigantic beehives," El’s mouth twitched involuntarily.

  "This is the hive you were talking about?"

  His forehead creased in disbelief, while Toki, following behind, was frozen in shock, cold sweat dripping down her back.

  Today, she had truly withe unimaginable.

  "They’re a bit big, but it shouldn’t be an issue for yht?" Tethys asked nontly, her expression calm and fident.

  "You call this 'a bit big'?" El poi the hive, which spanned one or two kilometers in diameter. Even from a distahey could see tless massive horhe size of small vehicles. The sight of these enormous venomous is clustered around the hive was enough to make anyone’s skin crawl.

  These hors were so dangerous that even Elbaf’s giant warriors dared not provoke them lightly. Eae was formidable, and any misstep could be deadly.

  Of course, El wasn’t worried. Knog them unscious with his Haki would be easy, and their venom couldn’t harm him. But for anyone else, the situation would be far less reassuring.

  "Yep," Tethys nodded early. "And this is the smallest ohe others are at least twice as big."

  El: "..."

  Toki: "..."

  "If you want to take these things back, we’ll o summontis," El said helplessly. "And I’ll have to ask Saul to create a dedicated isnd for you using his powers."

  Despite his exasperation, he didn’t refuse. These hives might prove immensely valuable iure, potentially serving as key resources for a variety of pns.

  With proper stifihas, they could cultivate hors with more potent venom or unique abilities. If they also obtaihe legendary IQ pnt from Merveille Isnd—known ter violent growth in animals—the bees might grow even rger and more fearsome.

  One day, if tensions with the Wover boiled over, he could send Carlos, the user of the Mark-Mark Fruit, to drop a few enormous hives onto the Navy’s headquarters—or even Mariejois. Watg the ensuing chaos would be far more eaining than hurling mere boulders.

  And with pns to cultivate sea beasts, wild animals, and predatory birds on a massive scale, creating a dedicated isnd for this purpose in Totto Land seemed increasingly prudent.

  Why bother transp these resources from elsewhere when Saul could simply struct a new isnd right in their owory? It was more effit and far less spicuous.

  El’s decision was made.

  Bleam