After leaving the orphanage, El stole an ordinary sword from a small town weapon shop, used his Observation Haki to avoid people, headed into the island's forest… and began three years of training.
At first, El thought he was a monster like Charlotte Linlin.
His appetite had been enormous since he was a baby. In the five years since he came to this world, he had never once felt truly full.
But when he turned five, he realized something.
He was not like Charlotte Linlin.
He had been born to an ordinary couple, and at age five, he didn't look anything like a little giant. That was when he understood—he was a different kind of monster.
Monsters also come in different forms.
Charlotte Linlin's body was naturally powerful and nearly invulnerable. At the age of five, she could break a giant's ribs with a single slap and ignore their sword attacks.
Perhaps because of that monstrous strength, her appetite was equally terrifying, and she had already grown into a little giant by the time she was five.
El, on the other hand, developed only slightly faster than an ordinary child. He was nowhere near Charlotte Linlin's growth speed.
Because his body grew more or less normally, El did not possess that overwhelming raw strength or natural invulnerability.
Instead, he had something that very few in the world could control—Life Return (Seimei Kikan).
Just like being born with Observation Haki and an exceptionally strong physique, El had also been born with Life Return.
To be born with Life Return meant being able to perfectly control one's own body from birth.
Moreover, unlike ordinary users of Life Return, who had to consciously move and control their bodies using that technique, El's Life Return worked subconsciously.
Back at the orphanage, when he ignored the punishment from the supervisors' beatings, it was thanks to his body unconsciously strengthening itself with Life Return. The area that was struck would instantly have its defense boosted to the highest level his body could achieve—like using Iron Body (Tekkai) or Paper Art (Kami-e)—either ignoring or dispersing the force of the blow.
This kind of extreme body control was a hallmark of the Six Styles (Rokushiki).
It was also this ability that allowed him to refine his sword talent at such a young age—making it possible for him to learn basic swordsmanship at just a glance.
In addition, no matter how serious his injuries were, he could recover quickly by eating, much like Monkey D. Luffy.
Observation Haki.Life Return (Seimei Kikan).And a terrifying, natural talent for swordsmanship.
El had no "system" or cheat-like golden finger after transmigrating into the world of One Piece.
But his talent alone was no different from having one.
If he had joined the Navy, he would one day reach the level of an Admiral—or even Fleet Admiral.If he had been taken in by the CP organization, he could have become the strongest shield of the Celestial Dragons.If he chose the path of a pirate, his future potential would rival that of a Four Emperor… or surpass them.
With these three overwhelming talents, El became the king of beasts in the forest by the age of six.
All the animals there became his food.
At the age of eight, El finally left the island where he had lived for eight years—by swimming.
Over the past three years, thanks to Life Return, all the food he devoured had been converted into power, giving him stamina and strength on par with a monster.
After becoming king of the forest, his opponents changed from land beasts to sea creatures.
More than once, he tested the limits of his swimming.
In the end, El found that the sea, which was so terrifying to most of the world, wasn't much of a challenge to him at all.
When he was tired, he simply slept while floating on the waves. With his Observation Haki, he could sense danger even in his sleep. Over time, he even developed a skill similar to Luffy's habit of eating in his sleep—El could swim while sleeping.
If an object was going to hit him, and the danger wasn't fatal, his body would instinctively defend itself, just like when he was whipped at two years old—Life Return unconsciously reinforcing his body.
If the danger was fatal, his Observation Haki would immediately wake him up.
However…
While drifting on the sea, El received an unexpected baptism from the Great Age of Pirates—a cannonball fired by pirates.
That cannonball tore him out of his sleep. In an instant, his Observation Haki grasped the situation, and his rage exploded.
Without even considering the possibility of taking the pirate ship for himself, El plunged into the sea, swam beneath the vessel, and with a single slash, cut the pirate ship clean in two.
After surfacing, El climbed onto a floating section of the shattered hull, sword in hand. His Observation Haki locked onto the pirates who were now flailing in the water.
Swah—!
The moment a pirate's head emerged from the sea, a crushing killing intent descended—a compressed blade of air.
A massive blue slash, nearly ten meters tall, swept over the pirate's head in an instant.
The Flying Slash carved a deep ravine in the sea, several meters wide and deep, stretching for hundreds of meters.
By the time the water calmed more than ten seconds later, the pirates who had been about to surface for air had disappeared along with the first unfortunate soul. Whether they lived or died was no mystery.
Thanks to his monstrous physique, El had been able to use Flying Slashes (Tobu Zangeki) ever since he mastered the Breath of All Things at the age of five and reached that level at six years old.
In the face of El's Flying Slashes, ordinary people were as helpless as those who stood before a Logia Devil Fruit user.
El was no ordinary swordsman. With Observation Haki that allowed him to see into people's hearts, he could perceive what others could not.
Just as Charlotte Katakuri could glimpse a short distance into the future, El could see into the hearts of people…
In his perception, evil people with filthy hearts looked like dirty figures shrouded in dark aura.
The more twisted and disgusting a person was, the darker their "breath" appeared to him—almost as if it carried a rotting stench. Sensing that foulness made El feel intense discomfort and disgust.
So when he saw those reeking men clawing their way out of the water, he unleashed his Flying Slashes without mercy, bringing their voyage to an end.
In the East Blue, his Flying Slashes were like a dimensional-reduction attack.
Every pirate who managed to swim to the surface… was cut down before El's blade.
In just a short time, the hundreds of life signs in the water dropped to single digits.
"No… don't kill me!"
El turned toward the sea behind him and was about to raise his sword again when, suddenly, his movements paused.
As expected…
A small head broke the surface of the water and shouted at him.
Seeing the little orange-haired head, El lowered his sword and looked away.
"F-Forgive… forgive me!"
A few seconds later, another small head with purple hair emerged and cried out to him.
"If you don't want to die by mistake, swim over here."
Sensing that these two little girls did not emit any disgusting aura, and that they seemed to be around his own age, El spoke calmly, then turned his attention back to dealing with the remaining trash.
From the way he wiped out all witnesses, root and branch, it was clear—
El was a very cautious person.