Time passed like an arrow in flight.
In the blink of an eye, three full years had already gone by.
People often said that a human life only lasted a few decades—but even a short span of time was enough to turn the world completely upside down.
During these three years, the old king of the Drum Kingdom passed away.
His son, Wapol, ascended the throne.
Wapol's coronation also marked the beginning of the slow decline of the world-famous Medical Kingdom.
At the same time, an organization known as the Revolutionary Army rose rapidly to prominence.
At the most recent World Conference, nearly every discussion revolved around this growing force.
Its leader—
Monkey D. Dragon—
was officially branded by the world as "History's Worst Criminal."
In the New World, Shanks, who had lost an arm in East Blue years ago, continued to lead the Red-Haired Pirates with overwhelming momentum.
Aside from the three other monsters ruling the New World, no one could challenge them.
Even those three monsters dared not act rashly—
for attacking Shanks would only create an opening for the other two.
Thus, over these few years, the New World gradually entered the era of Four Emperors standing in balance.
Meanwhile, the uninhabited island chosen by El and the four girls for their retreat had changed completely.
Three years ago, it had been lush and untouched—
a land of forests and wild beasts.
Now—
It was nothing more than a barren wasteland.
Not a single tree remained.
All that could be seen were cracked earth, exposed rock, and a volcano rising at the island's center.
The ground was carved with countless sword marks, intersecting in every direction.
At the shore, a medium-sized ship had remained anchored for three years, weathering endless storms without the slightest sign of decay.
September 20, Year 1514 — Sea Circle Calendar.
On this day, five figures emerged from the rocky mountains and returned to the ship as they had countless times before.
They were the ones who had trained here in isolation for three full years—
El and the four girls.
Walking at the front was a tall adolescent, standing nearly 1.85 meters tall.
He had long silver hair, a custom black robe, black boots, and a white belt at his waist—
with a sword resting quietly in its scabbard.
He was their captain.
The swordsman who had shocked the world at the age of eight.
Three years ago, his bounty had already reached 250 million Belly.
Now—
He was known simply as
El, the Young Swordsman.
At his sides walked Carina and Kuina.
Over the past three years, Carina's purple hair had grown to her waist, while Kuina's blue hair now matched El's in length.
Thanks to three years of nutritional supplements, Carina—now twelve years old—had changed dramatically.
At a height of 1.70 meters, she looked more like a seventeen- or eighteen-year-old girl than a child.
If not for certain aspects that still required time to mature, calling her an adult would not have been an exaggeration.
Yet compared to Carina, Kuina's transformation was even more astonishing.
She had turned fifteen just three days earlier.
With supplements taken at the same level as El, her height had surged to 1.78 meters, surpassing even the twenty-three-year-old Tashigi.
Three years of growth had given Kuina a striking figure—
one that El found impossible to ignore each night.
Dressed in a red-and-white shrine maiden outfit, a famous sword hung at her waist.
Her blue hair was usually tied into a single ponytail for battle.
With the overwhelming dominance of the Rumble-Rumble Fruit and Wado Ichimonji, Kuina's presence was sharp and restrained.
When silent, she radiated tranquility—
so much so that she resembled Tashigi at first glance.
As the second combatant of the crew, Kuina's fame had already surpassed El's three years ago.
Her bounty stood at 200 million Belly.
She was known as the
Lightning Sword Sorcerer — Kuina.
Compared to Carina and Kuina—who could fully digest supplements through their Devil Fruit abilities—Nami's changes were more moderate.
Thanks to Kuina's mastery of electrotherapy, Nami's intake had increased from one bottle a day to two.
Even so, her height reached 1.65 meters—close to her original manga height.
Among the four girls, she was now the second shortest.
Her orange hair matched her post-timeskip style, her fashion sense was refined, and though her face looked younger than in canon, her figure far surpassed her eighteen-year-old counterpart.
As for Perona—
At seventeen, she was only a year away from adulthood, yet she perfectly embodied the term legal loli.
Despite drinking supplements, she had long been left behind physically by the others.
Her height was 1.60 meters, identical to her canon height at age twenty-five.
Because she had joined El's crew, Perona never became the non-mainstream goth girl of the original timeline.
Instead, she wore elegant gothic dresses and red high heels, her figure well-balanced and striking.
These were the external changes over the past three years.
But compared to appearance—
Their strength was what truly defied reason.
Physique alone could no longer be measured numerically.
As Dr. Kureha once said:
"One year with nutritional supplements equals several years of ordinary growth."
Three full years of supplements had reshaped El and the four girls entirely.
With the help of electrotherapy, the girls increased their intake to two or even three bottles per day, fully absorbing the nutrients.
Among them, El and Carina were the most terrifying.
In addition to three bottles daily, they consumed dozens of Sea Beasts every day.
Their physiques widened the gap relentlessly.
Within three years, both had become outright monsters.
If physique defied data, then their strength growth could only be described as explosive.
El's Observation Haki no longer needed full release to cover a small island.
With slight effort, it could envelop most of a medium-sized island.
At full output, El believed he could sense over half of a large island.
At just twelve years old, with four months left before thirteen, he had already reached this level.
At this pace, he was confident that within a few more years—
with nutritional supplements and Life Return (Seimei Kikan)—
He would be no weaker than Monkey D. Luffy, who fought Charlotte Katakuri to exhaustion at nineteen.
Though Luffy was the Son of Destiny of the 1520s,
El was the Son of Destiny of 1519.
Before the true protagonist took flight—
El had already arrived at the finish line.
In addition to Observation Haki, El had fully mastered Emission-type Armament Haki through three years of relentless training.
With Life Return, his control over strength, reaction speed, and adaptability reached world-class levels.
If not for the lack of proper reference material and opponents skilled in Conqueror's Coating, El was confident he could already have learned it.
Even without coating, his Conqueror's Haki—fused with Shura-like mental force—surpassed ordinary users in sheer pressure.
Anyone lacking both a strong body and will would instinctively fear him, even if they did not faint.
Beyond Haki—
El's physical techniques and swordsmanship had advanced beyond measurement.
He had never stopped training the Six Powers (Rokushiki) or the Spear of Elbaf.
The disappearance of the island's forests was the result of his physical training alone.
Through adapting Elbaf techniques, he had even recreated Six King Gun-level force.
As for his swordsmanship—
Even El himself no longer knew its limits.
At five, he comprehended the Breath of All Things.
At eight, he reached supreme swordsmanship.
Now—
Like his physique,
his sword skill could no longer be quantified.
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