A few days earlier, after the Vinsmoke siblings came into contact with the Straw Hat Pirates—
Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji explained Sanji's background to Luffy and the others, along with the deep-seated conflicts within the Vinsmoke family.
Amidst the group's shock, they finally understood why Sanji would claim to be from the North Blue, yet regard the East Blue as his true home.
Growing up in a family like that, it was nothing short of a miracle that Sanji could become the principled, kind-hearted man he was today.
The Vinsmoke brothers openly admitted to the wrongs they had committed in the past—back then, they had been nothing more than heartless war machines, victims themselves of the family's cruelty. Even Luffy and Zoro found it hard to hold their former mistreatment of Sanji against them.
"If Sanji chooses to forgive you, then that's good and all. But if he can't... then Sanji's enemies are our enemies!"
That was how Luffy put it—and the entire Straw Hat Pirates agreed.
But when the Vinsmoke brothers unveiled their resplendent Sacred Flames—
This was no longer just about being "allies"—this was clearly a direct testament to their bond with Fleet Admiral Wright!
"Uwaaah… Fleet Admiral-sama once said he couldn't grant me his powers because I was already a Devil Fruit user…"
Chopper was crying with jealousy:
"Aaahhh~~ If only I didn't have a Devil Fruit, maybe I could've gotten powers this cool too, right? Right? Uwaaaah…"
"Oi, oi! Chopper… If you hadn't eaten a Devil Fruit, you'd still be just a normal reindeer, y'know?"
Usopp's blunt comment dragged Chopper back to reality.
"That's right… uuuu… So powers this cool were never meant for me anyway!!" Chopper sobbed.
"This kind of power isn't something Fleet Admiral Wright just hands out casually…"
Ichiji said smugly.
"In this world, only the five members of the Vinsmoke family possess abilities granted by Fleet Admiral-sama!"
"Please, keep it a secret," Niji reminded them seriously. "We're only telling you because you're Sanji's crewmates. If word gets out… well, you know what could happen. Even in battle, we normally never reveal this."
Everyone nodded hastily. Zoro scratched his chin, feeling that his senpai was becoming even more unfathomable—this kind of ability seemed far beyond the realm of ordinary Devil Fruit powers.
Glancing over at Merry…
Forget it. Thinking too hard was exhausting.
"Come to think of it, I've always been curious…"
Brook, after some pondering, asked:
"You guys… aren't the world-famous Germa known for your 'Battle Suits'?"
He eyed the sharply dressed Vinsmoke brothers up and down.
"I heard Germa's scientific Battle Suits are unrivaled across the world—dashing, stylish, and packed with combat enhancements!"
"Oh? Skull-san knows quite a lot, doesn't he?"
Yonji gave Brook an impressed look.
Brook chuckled, tipping his top hat:
"Yohohoho… When you've lived as long as I have, you tend to pick up a few things."
"Well… of course we have Battle Suits,"
Yonji said, exchanging glances with his brothers.
Let's give these country bumpkins a little scare!
"…"
Agreed.
The three brothers simultaneously flashed their left wrists, revealing wristwatches with red, blue, and green bands respectively.
"Hmm? I remember Law has something similar too…"
Franky began, but before he could finish, the trio shouted in unison:
"Transform!"
Blinding light engulfed the three of them as the wristwatches liquefied into strange, wave-like fluids that coated their bodies.
"Waaaah!! A real transformation!!"
Luffy, Chopper, Usopp, Franky, and Brook immediately lost their minds with excitement, their eyes sparkling like stars.
"So cool!!"
Nami and Robin sighed expressionlessly and carried a dazed Merry away. Zoro's mouth twitched slightly as he thought about how Sanji was part of this same Vinsmoke family…
Hiss...
Swish!
As the light faded, the three Vinsmoke brothers stood before them clad in dazzling, overwhelmingly stylish Battle Suits!
Flame-red, long, sweeping hair covering his right eye, iconic curly eyebrows, crimson shades, a red combat suit snugly fitting under a white cape marked with the number "1," white gloves and a customized belt featuring the "Germa 66" insignia, along with uniquely designed battle boots—
"Sparking Red" Vinsmoke Ichiji!
Blue, wave-like hair, curly eyebrows, black combat goggles with matching earmuffs, a black cloak with the number "2," yellow metallic gloves, a belt emblazoned with a lightning bolt, and a sleek blue combat suit—
"Dengeki Blue" Vinsmoke Niji!
Green spiky hair, curly eyebrows, headphones and sunglasses, an orange scarf, a black cloak marked "4," and a green battle suit—
"Winch Green" Vinsmoke Yonji!
With their ultra-cool Battle Suits and their already off-the-charts good looks—
"SO COOOOOOL!!!"
—the Straw Hat crew's enthusiasm exploded on the spot!
...
Meanwhile, in Totto Land—the kingdom ruled by one of the Four Emperors, BIG MOM, Charlotte Linlin.
BIG MOM's dream was to create a utopia where all races, and indeed all beings, could coexist without discrimination.
Centered on Whole Cake Island, her empire spanned 34 surrounding islands, each governed by one of her 34 children. This vast maritime realm was known as "Totto Land"—the territory of the Four Emperors, an idealistic country of dreams!
Even rare races like the Mink Tribe and the Tontatta Tribe lived here. In Totto Land, no matter how strange the sight, nothing seemed out of the ordinary.
The Thousand Sunny was now following the guidance of their invitation, heading toward this fantastical sea.
Sanji had prepared a sumptuous feast for everyone. He never expected that during his brief secret meeting with Reiju, a bunch of idiotic idiots outside had already hit it off splendidly…
Now that Sanji had resolved his inner turmoil, it was only natural for the Straw Hats to accept these powerful "allies" without hesitation.
Unlike Sanji, who had spent much of his life away, the Vinsmoke siblings were true princes and princesses. Although the princes had, shall we say, vivid personalities, Reiju perfectly embodied everything they'd ever imagined a princess to be.
Beautiful, gentle, kind, elegant, gracious—and, of course, overwhelmingly strong—Reiju had just demonstrated this by "testing" Sanji's strength earlier, pinning him effortlessly to the ground.
"How nice it must be to have an oneesan like her~"
Perhaps thinking of Nojiko, far away in the East Blue, Nami smiled softly, her eyes sparkling into heart shapes:
"Well, Sanji-kun~ So you're a prince, huh~ Since Germa is so rich, are you going back to inherit the throne~?"
"Waaa~~ Nami-chan, don't listen to him! Whatever you want, we'll give it to you!!"
Ichiji, Niji, and Yonji immediately lost all composure.
"Enough already, you three idiots!!"
Sanji roared in exasperation, then floated dreamily over to Nami's side.
"Hiii~ Nami-chaaaaan~~"
Bam! x4!
With a graceful motion, Reiju blew on her knuckles and sweetly smiled as she kicked all four of her moronic little brothers under the table:
"You four... are you pretending your oneesan doesn't exist?"
—————————
Want to read ahead of schedule? Head over to my Patreon ——— patreon(.)com/JuanPiece [remove the parentheses ( )]
Note: This fanfic has been completely translated and is available on my Patreon.