"Brrr, so cold, so cold!"
Perona hopped around in place, performing what she called her "warm-up exercises."
Moses collected two F+-grade Soul Crystals.
With swift and precise movements of his scalpel, he skinned and deboned the two elk. The prepared meat was stored by Crow Dabao in the castle kitchen, while the fresh offal was shared among Crow Dabao's family of seven, who now resided within the castle.
Moses carefully stored the two high-quality elk hides.
"Moses, are you keeping these elk hides?" Robin asked curiously. Since opening up, she had become noticeably livelier.
"Yes. They can be made into warm coats or boots. We'll drop them off at the tailor in town on our way back later—I'll have clothes made for both of you."
Elk-hide coats? Elk-hide boots?
Robin's lips curled into a smile as she glanced at the stylish short boots Moses wore.
With the morning hunt completed, they stopped by the tailor's shop on their way back to the treehouse.
Panda Chef officially took charge.
Moses helped prepare a large pot of medicinal elk stew served with flatbread, making for a hearty lunch.
After the meal, Moses formally began teaching Robin the Breath technique. The entire process took quite some time, but by the end, Robin had officially taken her first steps into Breath training.
Now that she had begun, she would need to persist in her practice.
Time flew by, and before they knew it, another month had passed.
On February 6th, Moses took Perona to Kestad Town early in the morning.
At the tailor's shop...
"Hahahaha~"
Perona stood before a full-length mirror, her eyes sparkling with delight as she admired her reflection.
She wore a white sweater underneath a lined elk-hide jacket with symmetrical faux pockets on the chest. Below, she had on an elk-fur skirt, black-and-white striped fleece-lined leggings hugging her slender legs, and a pair of dainty elk-hide boots.
Her pink twin-tails, a red cotton scarf around her neck, and her rosy, delicate little face radiated an irresistibly cheerful charm.
The shop owner clasped her hands to her cheeks and said to Moses, "Little brother, your sister is just adorable!"
Perona, preening at the compliment, giggled behind her hand. "Hahaha! Moses, call me 'big sister'! Your big sister is right here!"
Moses rolled his eyes and glanced at the bags of clothes beside them—these were their outfits.
After settling the final payment, Moses and Perona, now dressed in their new clothes, strolled through the streets.
They leisurely browsed the shops, picking up various snacks and dried fruits. Crow Dabao perched on Moses' shoulder, happily munching on dried fruit—utterly content.
Once their shopping was done, the two entered the Castle Space.
Residential Area
Next to Moses' room was Robin's.
Perona had decorated Robin's room, despite Robin's initial insistence that something simple would do. Perona wouldn't hear of it.
"If it's your own room, it has to be pretty!" she declared.
The room featured a pink bed identical to Perona's.
The layout was similar, but it also reflected Robin's personal tastes.
Three walls were lined with bookshelves, already filled with numerous books.
By the window stood a desk, neatly arranged with books, paper, and writing tools.
Upon entering, Moses saw Robin standing by the windowsill, now dressed in new clothes made of deerskin.
The style was the same as Perona's.
However, her scarf was black, and her cotton leggings were pure black.
With her black straight bangs, shoulder-length hair, deep blue eyes, delicately sculpted nose, and slightly tanned skin, she exuded the refined aura of an intellectual young woman.
Moses looked at her and smiled. "Happy fourteenth birthday. The new clothes are beautiful—they suit you well."
Robin's eyes widened slightly, surprised that Moses had remembered her birthday from a casual conversation. Unconsciously, her eyes reddened.
"Mmm~" At that moment, Perona's small fist thumped against Moses' lower back. He turned to see her puffing her cheeks and glaring at him. When he met her gaze, she spoke:
"You didn't say I looked pretty earlier."
Moses chuckled and patted her head. "Well, Peipei is the cutest, the most adorable in the whole world."
Perona's face flushed pink, and she lightly kicked Moses' shin with her right foot. "Shameless liar."
But Moses could already see the corners of her lips curling upward, nearly reaching the sky.
Robin watched their playful interaction, a faint smile gracing her lips.
Crow Dabao soared through the sky, climbing higher and higher, ascending without end.
After some time, Moses moved beside Robin, gazing down from the window.
The entirety of Drum Island had shrunk to a tiny speck, no larger than a pellet.
Eight thousand meters above sea level.
With Crow Dabao shielding them from the frigid high-altitude temperatures, Moses and the two girls felt no trace of cold.
"It's so high up," Robin murmured, leaning beside Moses, her beautiful eyes fixed on the view below.
"Dabao, how much higher can you fly now?"
The rock on the ceiling shifted, and Crow Dabao emerged, landing on Moses' shoulder.
"At present, this is Crow's maximum altitude. To break through ten thousand meters, we'll need to wait a while longer."
High in the sky, Crow Dabao—his form agile and wings powerful—began descending.
"Break through ten thousand meters?" Robin asked curiously, immediately catching the key point in Crow Dabao's words. "Is there something beyond that altitude?"
"Clever." Moses grinned. "Above ten thousand meters in a certain stretch of the Grand Line, there are several Sky Islands.
They have plenty of local specialties that I think could be useful for us.
We could live there for a while.
If you're on a Sky Island, you wouldn't have to hide anymore—there's no communication between the skies and the seas below."
"Do Sky Islands really exist?" Robin asked in amazement.
"There's a book on the shelf at home called BRAGMEN (The Liars)—a great adventure story. It's sold everywhere—have you read it?"
"I've heard of it, but never had the chance to read it."
No opportunity as a child, no time as an adult, Robin thought to herself before asking aloud:
"Is the book interesting?"
"Very. It's a work documenting real adventures across the Grand Line and various seas. Little Garden is real, the City of Gold exists, and Sky Islands float at ten thousand meters."
"'Are my adventures real? No, they're fake—I'm lying to you. But if I say they're fake, that's also a lie.'" That's a line from the book—pretty amusing, right?"
Robin's eyes sparkled as she looked at Moses. "Do you like reading books too?"
"Not exactly. What I like isn't books themselves, but knowledge—all kinds of interesting knowledge."
"Knowledge? That makes sense. Knowledge is recorded in books after all."
Robin blinked and smiled.
"So what kind of knowledge do you like most?"
"Knowledge that can make me stronger. Most of what I've been reading is about human anatomy and medicine because strength starts with the body. Doctorine is a physician, so her home has the most books on human anatomy. You should check them out when you have time."
"Alright. I'll do that."
The two chatted until Crow Dabao flew back to the island.
A large tree with wisps of smoke rising from it came into view, and Crow Dabao landed in front of it.
A treehouse.
Pushing the door open, the rich aroma of meat wafted through the air. Moses walked into the kitchen and saw Bear Cub manning the stove.
In the wok were stir-fried bamboo shoots and sliced meat.
Judging by the color, it was almost done.
Moses grabbed a large porcelain plate nearby and poured the entire wok of stir-fried bamboo shoots and meat onto it.
The final dish was finally ready.
On the nearby cutting board were four more large plates piled high with meat dishes.
The emphasis was on hearty portions.
Moses lifted the lid of a large steamer beside him, revealing perfectly cooked white rice.
There were three steamers in total.
"Moses, time to eat."
"Got it."
He called Crow Dabao inside. Since there were more people in the household now, meals were served in the dining hall at the top of the Castle Space.
With a ripple of spatial energy, plates of food and the steamers were transported to the dining hall.
Soon, everyone gathered for lunch.
Bear Cub had prepared five dishes, all in generous portions, but with Moses and him around, there was no worry about leftovers.
They enjoyed a delicious lunch.
After the meal,
Kureha went to her room in the residential area for a nap.
Perona went to the kitchen to play with Bear Cub and help with the dishes.
Moses and Robin headed to the bookshelves to read.
Meanwhile, Crow Dabao took his family out to gather the crows on the island, aiming to become the Crow King and scout potential mates for his five little ones.
Days passed one after another.
After Robin's birthday, Moses began combat training for her, Perona, and Bear Cub.
He taught them everything from basic human anatomy to full-body power exertion, throwing techniques, hand-to-hand combat, and weapon applications.
Through daily practice, they discovered which areas to specialize in and which to pursue as electives.
Their training ground was the summit of Drum Mountain, east of the treehouse.
A truly remote place.
First, it was safe.
Second, the thin air.
It was perfect for Breath training.
Ocean Cycle Calendar 1507, January 10th.
That day.
At the summit of Drum Mountain.
"Woo—ah—yah!"
Bear Cub nimbly charged at Moses, throwing a swift jab that whistled through the air. Moses sidestepped the punch, closed the distance, and grabbed Bear Cub's right forearm with his left hand and his shoulder with his right.
In one fluid motion, he executed a brutal shoulder throw. With a thunderous crash, Bear Cub was slammed into the snow.
A shockwave rippled out across a three-meter radius.
Moses looked down at the crumpled Bear Cub and chuckled unapologetically.
"If you want to get stronger, you've got to take a few hits. Right, Bear Cub?"
He remained sullen and silent, turning his gaze away.
At that moment, Crow Dabao descended from the sky with a flock of birds, cawing loudly:
"Three hundred and sixth challenge—Moses wins!!!"
"Moses! Moses Moses!"
"Moses! Moses Moses!"
A chorus of hoarse yet resonant white-necked crows crowed from the mountaintop, cheering for Moses.
Bear Cub looked displeased, grinding his teeth as he glared at the flock of crows in the sky. "You guys looking for a beating?" he growled.
Growing increasingly irritated, Bear Cub's body began to transform. His arms turned into wings, his legs sharpened into talons, his fur morphed into feathers, his eyes grew piercing, and his mouth elongated into a sharp beak—shifting into a white-headed eagle with a wingspan of about two meters.
With a powerful flap of his wings, he soared into the sky, charging toward the white-necked crows. Soon, black crow feathers began raining down from the sky, shimmering in a dazzling array of colors under the sunlight.
This was too much for Crow Dabao to ignore. He took flight, diving into the flock to confront Bear Cub. The two birds clashed fiercely in midair.
Crow Dabao's body intermittently took on a rocky hue as his sharp talons and beak tore feathers from Bear Cub's body.
But Bear Cub was no pushover either.
Leveraging his size advantage, he occasionally sprouted a layer of steel armor and transformed his talons into heavy hammers, delivering powerful blows against Crow Dabao.
Thudding impacts echoed through the air as broken feathers drifted downward.
Moses watched the spectacle with an amused smirk.
Bear Cub's ability to transform into a white-headed eagle was thanks to Moses, who had asked Garp to capture one during his voyages. After Bear Cub devoured and digested it half a year ago, followed by six months of flight training, he could now soar freely through the skies—fulfilling his dream of flight.
Over the past year, Garp had visited twice. The first time, he wanted to take Moses back to the East Blue for fun, but Moses declined.
During the visit in May, though Moses didn't go to the East Blue, he did take the materials provided by Lieutenant Jeff and forged a Good Skillful Blade for him. When Garp's crew passed by on their return trip, Moses handed the sword over.
After Garp returned to Marine Headquarters, Bogart and others couldn't resist showing off. Soon, their colleagues learned about the Master Swordsmith whose success rate for crafting Good Skillful Blades was nearly 100%—as long as the materials were provided.
As time passed, Garp contacted Moses once more. The Marine Headquarters and several sword-wielding officers wanted to place bulk orders for Good Skillful Blades, and Moses agreed.
In July, Garp arrived again, this time on a forging mission, delivering a massive shipment of high-quality metals.
The commission—thirty Good Skillful Blades for the Headquarters and officers—took Bear Cub a month to refine the alloys, while Moses spent nearly five months completing the forging.
After Moses and Garp spoke via Den Den Mushi in December, Garp sailed over on a battleship to collect the swords and brought along a Devil Fruit as well.
This was the reward Moses had negotiated for the Headquarters' order: a Paramecia-Type Devil Fruit, with no specific ability requirements. While a single Good Skillful Blade wasn't as valuable as a Devil Fruit, this was a large-scale transaction. Given Garp's influence, the Fleet Admiral agreed without hesitation.
With Garp vouching for him, Moses had no fear of being targeted.
"Hero" Garp.
That name carried weight.
In this era of Garp's prime, no one at Headquarters would dare refuse him face.
A top-tier Devil Fruit called the "Heavy-Heavy Fruit," graded A, was refined by Moses into 50,000 merit points.
Not only that, but the various precious metals provided by Garp also left plenty of high-quality materials after forging weapons—enough to craft ten more Good Skillful Blades.
The Marine Headquarters was very satisfied.
Moses, too, had won big.
With this batch of Good Skillful Blades completed, the forging came to a temporary end.
Now, watching the squabble in the sky, Moses observed for a while before calling a stop to it.
Crow Dabao was furious that Bear Cub had "bullied the weak" by beating up his little brothers, cursing loudly through his beak. Bear Cub, in turn, was indignant, claiming they were all no-good birds who loved to talk trash and gang up on a lone bear.
However, after Bear Cub's outburst, Crow Dabao's crow underlings had quieted down a bit.
Bullying a bear on the ground was one thing, but if that bear could fly? Better to tread carefully.
They had also learned not to mess with a bear that played fair.
With the show over, Moses turned to Perona and Robin and said, "Keep up your training," before returning to the Castle Space.
Castle Space · Laboratory
Once she had resolved to undertake this project, Kureha had move
d all her home laboratory equipment here.
Now, as Moses walked down the corridor and arrived at the lab, he saw a stone door carved with the double-helix
symbol of DNA.
Pushing it open, he found Kureha standing by the lab window—clearly, she had just enjoyed a front-row seat to the earlier brawl.
Seeing her amused expression, Moses couldn't help but voice his concern:
"Doctorine, are you absolutely certain there are no issues with the human application of APTX 4869Ⅱ?"