After that... three years had passed.
Sabaody Archipelago, Grove 2.
This place was once the world's largest slave trading hub, but now, after being fully taken over by the Marines, such business had been completely outlawed.
The slavers had tried to contact the old nobility to resist together, but now those kings and nobles were struggling to save themselves.
The new Marine Governnt seed to have reached an unspoken understanding with the Revolutionary Army.
The Revolutionary Army kept the scope of the unrest contained, while the Marines turned a blind eye to the wails of those kings and nobles.
The two sides might eventually go to war, but certainly not now.
Thanks to this, the overall atmosphere on the Sabaody Archipelago was much better than before. At the very least, one no longer needed to bring a large group to dare set foot here.
At the dock, a modest little boat had not even fully moored when a small figure leaped from the deck with barely contained excitent, landing steadily on the shore amid the startled gazes of many passersby.
This small figure had two little buns on her head and wore a white dress.
Though her appearance was exquisitely beautiful, like a high-end doll, her personality was no different from the bratty kids seen everywhere. The mont she landed, she took off running wildly.
"Kousei! Wait for ! Don't run off!"
At that mont, a similarly young voice called out belatedly.
It was an adorable boy with short golden hair and heterochromatic eyes… one blue, one green.
He seed more disciplined than his companion, nad Kousei, waiting until the boat had fully docked before hurriedly running ashore.
But by then, Kousei, who had jumped off first, had long since disappeared, showing no sign that this little girl was only two and a half years old.
One could only say that certain people's genes were just too strong.
Such a child who vanished the mont you let go would be a disaster for most parents, but the golden-haired boy seed accustod to it. After only a few seconds of panic, he regained his composure.
He turned to look at the individuals beside him, whose varied appearances were striking even by Sabaody's standards.
"Michael, I leave it to you."
The man called Michael nodded slightly, then vanished from his spot with his six siblings.
It was as if they were not at all concerned about the boy's safety.
In fact, that was exactly the case.
"Honestly, I am a god! Why do I have to beco a babysitter for so brat?"
At that mont, a man with his upper body bare, a white headwrap, and strangely long earlobes picked his nose impatiently as he walked silently beside the boy.
"Uncle Enel, if you have any issues, you can tell , and I will bring it up with Father next ti."
The little boy still wore that harmless expression, but Enel, the forr Lightning God, imdiately shuddered.
"Cough... I was joking, Adam. Your Uncle Enel here loves playing with kids."
As he spoke, Enel could not help but recall the ti three years ago when he had been knocked unconscious by the aftershocks of those two monsters' battle, waking up to find himself a prisoner.
At first, Enel had clung to his 'divine pride', vowing never to yield.
But after only a week, he had completely changed his tune.
Whether it was because Naruto was too persuasive or because his 'argunts' were too forceful was anyone's guess.
"Haha, that's for the best then."
The little boy nad Adam maintained his gentle smile, while also dispersing the faint golden light that had gathered in his hand.
Enel, catching this from the corner of his eye, imdiately rubbed the back of his neck uneasily.
It seed he had forgotten that even if that monster was not around, this little brat still had ways to keep him in line.
Within the flesh of Enel's neck, strange golden markings that had begun to glow were slowly fading.
'Tch. An old fox and a little fox… both equally scheming!'
Enel only dared to mutter this to himself.
After being rescued, he had 'voluntarily' remained on Amazon Lily, serving as one of the guards for this little brat and that wild little girl.
Honestly, setting aside the inability to throw his weight around like before, life on Amazon Lily was actually more comfortable than it had been on Skypiea.
Especially since there was an abundance of fruit, which suited Enel's tastes.
—It would be perfect if he did not have to run around chasing after these two little rascals.
Enel glanced at Adam's back again, silently making exaggerated gestures for a while before finally convincing himself.
'Damn it. That monster had said he was going back ho to visit family, and it had been nearly a month now.'
Rembering Naruto's entrustnt before he left, and reflecting on his life as a babysitter over the past month, Enel found himself for the first ti actually wanting to see Naruto.
"Let's go, Uncle Enel. Michael and the others have found Kousei."
Without using a Den Den Mushi, Adam had received a transmission from Michael and the others from who knows how far away.
Enel was not particularly surprised by this.
In fact, through the mark on the back of his neck, he could also contact Adam over great distances.
The range was even larger than his lightning coverage.
"Yeah, yeah. Let's go, let's go."
He resignedly shook his head, then pulled an apple from his pocket and took a big bite.
The sweet juice slid down his throat, temporarily easing the frustration in Enel's heart.
The two walked leisurely through the streets of the Sabaody Archipelago, looking at the various shops on either side and the passersby of different races.
Longarm tribes, Longleg tribes… those common sub-races were nothing special. What was truly remarkable was that even rfolk, fish-n, and even giants could be seen here.
Of course, the giants had their own designated thoroughfares, but many people could still see their towering forms over the buildings.
This was also Adam's first ti on the Sabaody Archipelago.
Honestly, aside from when his father had taken him to Elbaf for his second birthday, Adam had never seen so many giants in one place.
This was thanks to the various policies implented by the giant prince Loki after his na was cleared and he ca to power.
—Yes, Loki was still alive.
This had even surprised Naruto at the ti.
After completely eroding Imu's body and soul, the Domi Reversi had naturally been lifted.
Naruto had originally planned to bring the prince's body back for the giants... he had never imagined that any carbon-based lifeform could survive ten thousand consecutive punches from him in his Brahma state.
But the fact was that Loki was indeed alive.
Not only alive, but his wounds were healing at a visibly rapid rate.
Naruto later learned that after being freed from Domi Reversi, the victim did not die.
On the contrary, their physical functions would rapidly recover in a short ti, almost as effective as Naruto's own healing.
So, Naruto brought the 'resurrected' Prince Loki back to the Blue Sea, along with the half-dead Enel.
Co to think of it, Enel owed Loki a debt of gratitude.
When the two followed the mark's guidance to find Kousei and the seven guardians, they saw the little girl sitting in front of a takoyaki stall, devouring skewer after skewer.
The surrounding custors watched the little girl with amazent, as if wondering where all the takoyaki was disappearing to.
In terms of appetite, Kousei had perfectly inherited her father's traits.
Adam, however, paid no mind to his sister's behavior. He gently pulled out a handkerchief to wipe the grease from her mouth.
Little Kousei instinctively raised her fist to strike, but upon seeing it was her brother, her expression imdiately changed into an adorable smile.
"Brother... eat... balls..."
Her speech was still a bit unclear.
Unlike Adam, who was naturally precocious and more mature at three than most children over ten, Kousei was much more like an ordinary child in this regard.
—One had to ignore her appetite, her strength, her agility, and her devilish energy.
Faced with his sister's offer, Adam, who had been about to scold her, could only smile helplessly as her little paws left streak after streak of gri on his pristine white coat.
After eating a few takoyaki balls, Adam reached out to stop his sister from stuffing the balls into her skirt pocket.
"For Mama and Papa to eat..."
Kousei seed to think her brother did not understand her good intentions and even explained.
Adam just smiled gently and placed the balls back on the table.
"Kousei, you eat them yourself. I will bring the portions for Mama and Papa."
Hearing this, the little girl did not hesitate for a mont and imdiately stuffed the balls back into her mouth.
Adam turned to the counter and called out.
"Boss, thirty more orders of takoyaki to go."
Hearing the order, the octopus fish-man owner cautiously poked his head out.
His timidity was understandable, given the imposing presence of Kousei's guards.
The seven 'Archangels' were all people of few words and quick action. Even though they had learned to speak, they still preferred to act first.
Earlier, a drunkard had bumped into Kousei. Little Kousei, of course, was unhard, but the drunk had fallen flat on his rear.
Hearing his companions mock him, the drunk's already flushed face grew even redder.
Seeing no adult accompanying the little girl, this bully who preyed on the weak imdiately got up and raised his hand to strike Kousei.
"You little brat! Are you blind—"
He could not finish his sentence before being planted into the ground by the arriving Archangels.
Had Naruto not instructed them beforehand to avoid killing unless absolutely necessary, this drunk would have certainly died here.
But even this was enough to frighten everyone.
Soon, soone called the Marines responsible for local security.
The result, however, left the drunk's companions seeing nothing but darkness.
The clearly high-ranking Marine officer, upon seeing the little girl's face, imdiately broke into a smile, then turned to them with a dark expression, beginning a detailed investigation.
By then, even the slowest among them understood that this little girl's identity was no ordinary matter.
This included the octopus fish-man owner, who had started from a small stall and built his business into a chain of restaurants.
Hearing Adam's order, the owner cautiously approached, but upon seeing Adam's face, let out a gasp.
"Ah! You are!"
Hearing this, Adam imdiately turned his head.
"Are you Naruto-sama's child? Your na is... Adam, right?"
Even as he spoke, the owner was already eighty or ninety percent sure.
The reason was simple: Adam looked remarkably like Naruto. Apart from the eyes, he was practically a copy.
Adam, hearing his na from the man, realized this fish-man owner was likely an acquaintance of his father.
"And you are?"
"Just call Hachi."
Hachi scratched his head and smiled, the fear on his face long gone.
"You don't recognize ?"
Seeing Adam still looked unfamiliar, Hachi was not discouraged.
"No wonder. Last ti I saw you, you were probably only a month old..."
With that, Hachi sat down beside the siblings, signaling his employees to continue making takoyaki.
"Is Naruto-sama here too?"
He said this while happily looking around.
"No, Father has taken Mother and the others back to his holand. He probably won't be back for a while, but I will pass along your regards."
Adam's manners were impeccable. Hearing this, Hachi showed a hint of disappointnt, but quickly recovered, waving his hand at the two children.
"Eat up, eat as much as you want. Today is on ."
"You don't have to be so kind. How much is it? We'll pay..."
Adam tried to decline, but Hachi smiled and brought them each a bottle of soda.
"What's the big deal? Without Naruto-sama, where would I be today? Just eat..."
Without hesitation, Hachi began recounting how Naruto had guided him back to the right path after he had gone astray.
He did not miss his old life one bit. Compared to being a pirate bullying ordinary people under Arlong, Hachi much preferred being a takoyaki vendor.
...
"I never imagined Father had done so many things."
The siblings walked hand in hand through the streets of the Sabaody Archipelago.
"Brother, I want to go play with Auntie Karin."
No sooner had she finished eating than Kousei began clamoring again.
"Alright, alright. Then our next stop will be the New World. I rember Auntie Karin should be near... Totto Land. Oh, and I hear there are houses made of candy there."
"Candy..."
Hearing this, Kousei's eyes lit up, and drool dribbled down her chin.
Knowing his sister's temperant well, Adam simply smiled and wiped her mouth, then raised a finger.
"But before that, we need to visit Grandpa Rayleigh and Grandma Shakky. Kousei, do you rember them? Grandpa Rayleigh gave you lots of toys."
Hearing this, little Kousei looked up vacantly, her eyes unfocused. Adam did not need to guess that his sister rembered nothing.
"That's okay. It doesn't matter if you don't rember. Look, their house is over there. You'll see them soon."
The two little ones headed toward Shakky's Rip-off Bar.
Enel followed behind these two little masters, wanting to complain but ultimately holding it in.
'Who knew when this miserable life would end...'
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