Chapter 271: My Little Sister is Built Different
"Watch out! It's burning!"
Scarlett gasped, instinctively intending to yell a warning. But reality proved her panic was entirely unnecessary. Chloe casually reached out and grabbed the blazing end of the log as if nothing were wrong. She held the roaring flames in her bare hand and turned to look at Nanamo with an utterly bewildered expression.
It looked as though she wasn't gripping a chunk of incinerating wood, but rather a soft, plush toy.
"Don't worry about it. Just keep playing," Nanamo sighed, shaking her head. "Dad told me to take a picture of you to 'record your youth' or something."
Pulling out a specialized Image Dial, Nanamo snapped a quick photo. Image Dials were incredibly convenient—far superior to traditional cameras. Although the resolution was slightly lower, they were virtually indestructible, immune to lens scratches, and infinitely more practical for chaotic family trips.
"Did I forget to mention?" Nanamo asked, turning back to Scarlett. "My little sister is completely invulnerable to blades, bullets, water, and fire. She's a bit... special."
"You call that... just a bit special?!" Scarlett stammered, staring at Chloe playing with the fire.
Scarlett knew Chloe was absurdly strong. After all, Dressrosa's strongest warrior, Kyros, couldn't even put a scratch on her. But she had no idea Chloe's physiology was this bizarre.
Even Kyros was susceptible to fire! Even if his pain tolerance allowed him to grab a burning log, his skin would still blister and char. He absolutely wouldn't look completely unfazed like Chloe.
"Ah, you'll get used to it," Nanamo waved her hand dismissively. "Anyway, this is the gift Chloe prepared for your baby. You should probably lock it up for now. Wait until she's at least eight or nine years old before letting her play with it. Seriously. Remember that."
"Chloe is twelve this year, right?" Scarlett asked nervously. "Did she bring something... strange?"
"I wouldn't call it 'strange,'" Nanamo muttered. "But if your little Rebecca doesn't possess some kind of heaven-defying superhuman talent, it's probably going to be extremely dangerous for her. The box is filled with the kind of 'toys' Chloe personally likes to play with... I'm sure you catch my drift.
"Chloe was so excited preparing this gift, I didn't have the heart to tell her no. Just... be extremely careful with it."
Hearing Nanamo's ominous warning, Scarlett somewhat understood, but Kyros—sitting quietly nearby—suddenly felt incredibly restless.
"Um... may I open it and take a look?" Kyros asked hesitantly.
"Of course," Nanamo nodded. "Rebecca is only a little over a month old. Even though it's technically a gift for her, you parents will have to handle it for now anyway. Honestly, I'm curious to see exactly what she packed in there too."
Kyros quickly cleared a space on the table and gently hoisted the massive gift box onto it.
The box was enormous. Even a heavily muscled man like Kyros had to use both arms to carry it. The sheer, dense weight of the container, combined with the ominous clanking of heavy metal echoing from inside, made Kyros acutely aware that Nanamo had been severely understating the danger.
Click...
Opening the lid, the very first item resting on top was an elegant, exquisitely crafted women's rapier. The hilt was slightly small for Kyros's massive hands, but not small enough to impede its use.
Casually drawing the blade and executing a few flawless, rapid thrusts in the air, Kyros nodded in appreciation before returning it to its scabbard. He carefully hung it on the weapons rack nearby.
That rack was built for his height. Even Scarlett had to stand on a stool to reach it, so little Rebecca definitely wouldn't be able to touch it anytime soon.
"This is a masterpiece of a blade..." Kyros murmured, genuinely impressed.
If this had been a gift for him, Kyros wouldn't have said another word. To a warrior, a high-quality weapon was essentially a second life. But currently, Rebecca wasn't even as tall as the sword's scabbard.
"Ah, about that," Nanamo explained. "As you know, Dressrosa has a deep-rooted cultural tradition of Colosseum duels. And you yourself are a legendary champion of that arena.
"When Chloe heard about that, she specifically commissioned our royal blacksmiths to forge that rapier using Fish-Man Island's exclusive techniques."
Fish-Man Island possessed an incredibly unique, highly coveted deep-sea forging process. By utilizing the unfathomable hydrostatic pressure of the abyss, the metal's density, hardness, and flexibility were altered on a molecular level, resulting in weapons of terrifyingly high quality.
"Did she... play with swords like this when she was a toddler?" Kyros asked, suddenly terrified.
"No, of course not." Nanamo rolled her eyes. "She thought swords like that were way too light and flimsy. When she was little, she preferred playing with massive broadswords and battleaxes. Besides, even the world's so-called 'Supreme Grade' blades couldn't scratch her skin if she tried."
At that moment, a deeply impolite thought involuntarily crossed Kyros's mind: This entire family is completely insane.
Although Kyros was relatively young, Dressrosa was a nation located deep within the New World. His understanding of the world's true apex powerhouses was vastly superior to those in the Four Blues.
Through King Riku, Kyros had learned plenty of horrifying details about Nereus. "An absolute, unfathomable monster," "The undisputed Overlord of the Deep"—these titles were spoken with absolute reverence and terror by King Riku.
Having personally witnessed and experienced the sheer, ungodly strength of Nanamo and Chloe during their occasional visits, Kyros knew the rumors weren't exaggerated.
And although he had never met their mother, Chloe's distinctly different biological traits were enough to deduce that her mother certainly wasn't an ordinary human, either.
"What is... this?" Kyros asked, picking up a heavy, metallic cylinder from the box.
"Uh... that's an incendiary explosive shell. It creates a very pretty, massive fireworks display when it detonates. It's just... the blast radius is a bit large..."
"Are you absolutely sure it's safe for your sister to be playing with military-grade high explosives?!" Kyros sweatdropped.
"Like I said, she's special. A blast like that won't even singe her hair..." Nanamo sighed, massaging her temples. "You know what? I retract my previous statement. You two adults should just confiscate this entire box. Do not let Rebecca anywhere near this."
It was honestly a miracle that firearms hadn't become a popular hobby within Nereus's family. Given their absurd, indestructible physiques, they could have literally played real-life paintball using live ammunition. To them, taking a bullet was functionally identical to being hit by a water balloon.
Had guns been trendy, Nanamo genuinely suspected Chloe would have casually tossed a loaded assault rifle into the gift box. After all, the box was entirely filled with things Chloe personally found "fun."
Extreme sub-zero cold, volcanic heat, crushing hydrostatic pressure, absolute oxygen deprivation, and even the most lethal biological viruses—absolutely none of these external factors could pose the slightest threat to a Lunarian.
And a Lunarian who was proactively, heavily trained to grow stronger? That was a nightmare beyond comprehension. Chloe was the living embodiment of that nightmare.
"Sometimes, being completely ordinary is a blessing," Scarlett said softly, looking down at her sleeping daughter. "A peaceful, uneventful life is a beautiful choice too. But... are you sure you shouldn't go stop them? Someone is definitely going to get hurt playing rough like that!"
Scarlett pointed nervously out the window. Out in the sunflower field, Yamato and Chloe had already assumed aggressive combat stances, their Haki violently flaring as if preparing for a battle to the death.
"Just leave them be," Nanamo said, not even turning to look. "On the way here, they mutually agreed that to properly honor your local 'customs,' they absolutely had to hold a grand duel.
"They even called it a 'Fated Showdown Between Best Friends' and explicitly threatened me not to interfere.
"Neither of them can die, and they definitely won't suffer any permanent disabilities. Just ignore them."
Kyros wiped a bead of cold sweat from his forehead. Despite the chilly weather requiring a lit fireplace, he suddenly felt incredibly flushed.
He was suddenly struck by the profound, terrifying realization that he could never allow his daughter to play with Chloe and Yamato in the future.
Having friends like them would undeniably be the ultimate safety net against any external danger, but...
"Namuji Hyoga (Glacier Fang)!"
"Flame Empress!"
Watching Yamato exhale a devastating, sub-zero blizzard that violently collided with Chloe's roaring, incandescent inferno—with errant bolts of black lightning violently arcing across the battlefield...
When there was no external danger, having friends like them meant they were the greatest danger!
Little Rebecca's fragile, ordinary human limbs obviously couldn't withstand the shockwaves of apocalyptic clashes like that. In all his years of brutal Colosseum combat, this was the absolute first time Kyros had ever seen two little girls "playing" by repeatedly smashing spiked kanabo into each other's faces.
And the most absurd part? Taking a brutal, bone-crushing hit didn't affect their friendship in the slightest. They would simply laugh, toss the kanabo to the other person, swap the roles of "hunter" and "prey," and enthusiastically begin the next round of their "game."
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