The more El refused him, the more the Golden Lion wanted to have him.
In his eyes, El was like an uncut gem—waiting to be polished and shaped.
And he wanted to be the one to carve that gem.
He wanted to mold El into a true powerhouse, make him his subordinate, have him serve under him—and one day, rule the seas by his side!
"Hey, Shiki, didn't you hear him? He already turned you down. Why keep yapping like a shameless fool?"
Charlotte Linlin strolled over, gesturing for him to step aside.
"Oi, Linlin, I saw him first," Golden Lion said coldly.
"So what? You might've set your eyes on him, but he clearly hasn't set his eyes on you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
Linlin ignored his tone completely and instead turned her gaze to El, smiling.
"I'm Linlin—the woman who will one day become Queen of the Seas. How about it, El? Care to follow me?" she asked boldly.
El froze.
The hell? What kind of situation is this?
As soon as she walked up, she just said it—straight out like that. Wasn't that... a little inappropriate?
And besides, Rocks was still on the ship! Weren't they a bit too open about their ambitions?
But El was overthinking it.
Rocks's ambitions were far greater than mere domination of the seas. He wasn't interested in being "King of the Pirates." He wanted to be the ruler of the world!
"Sorry, but I'll pass. For now, I just want to follow Captain Rocks. I'm not interested in anyone else," El said with a helpless shrug.
He truly hadn't expected both Golden Lion and Charlotte Linlin to take such an interest in him.
And since he couldn't think of a better excuse, he simply used Rocks's name to shut them down.
Golden Lion crossed his arms, sneering. "Looks like he's not interested in you either, Linlin."
"Shut it, Shiki," Linlin shot back coldly, glaring at him.
While the two were busy bickering, a nervous-looking crewman cautiously approached. "C-Captains Shiki, Linlin… Captain Rocks sent me to bring Lord El to his quarters."
Hearing that, both Golden Lion and Linlin glanced at Rocks's departing figure in the distance and stopped arguing.
The Sage Body Reaches Mid Stage; A Special Draw Unlocked (Please Send Flowers)
Of course, they both understood what this meant.
In simple terms, Rocks was showing his interest in El—telling them, in his own way, to back off.
El also understood perfectly.
This was Rocks stepping in to defuse the situation.
So he didn't linger and followed the crewman who had been sent to guide him.
"This will be your room, Lord El," the pirate said respectfully.
Before him lay an extravagant, luxurious cabin—fully furnished with everything one might need for daily life.
"Not bad," El nodded in satisfaction.
For the past year, he had been sleeping on hard planks aboard small ships.
Now, seeing such a soft bed on a massive vessel made him genuinely content.
"Lord El, normally, only the officers are allowed to stay in rooms like this," the pirate added in a hushed tone.
Just as El had already realized, the Rocks Pirates operated as a partnership built on strength and merit.
A person's value determined how Rocks treated them.
Apprentices slept in cramped, shabby quarters. Regular crewmen had slightly better accommodations.
But officers—they had rooms like this: opulent, comfortable, and well-equipped.
By all rights, since this was his first day aboard, El should've started as an apprentice, sleeping in the most basic cabin available.
But his duel with the Golden Lion had made him stand out spectacularly.
Rocks had taken notice and immediately promoted him to full crewman—
—and now, even gave him a cadre-level room to live in.
"I see," El said with a smile.
As expected, in the Rocks Pirates, strength, talent, and potential decided everything.
And he was quite pleased with the treatment Rocks was giving him.
"Well then, I'll take my leave, Lord El," the crewman said respectfully before exiting.
El stepped inside, lay down on the large bed—and the next moment, a familiar sound echoed in his mind.
"Ding! Congratulations, Host—gained 50 points of Sage Body progress."
"Ding! Congratulations, Host—Sage Body progress has reached 1000 points. Sage Body has advanced to Mid Stage!!!"
"Ah, right—I almost forgot about that," El muttered to himself.
One of the reasons he had agreed to fight the Golden Lion was to test his newly acquired Nine-Tails power.
But another reason was to use the fight to increase his Sage Body progress.
And the Golden Lion hadn't disappointed him.
Just a few minutes of combat had earned him a whopping 50 points!
That was enough to push his Sage Body straight to the Mid Stage.
A moment later, a special energy surged through his entire body—
—washing over his limbs, bones, and muscles like a tide of power.
His body was undergoing a complete transformation.
Moments later, the energy faded, leaving El feeling refreshed and renewed.
He could clearly sense the changes within him—his bones had become denser, his vitality stronger than ever.
He clenched his fists, feeling an endless well of strength within his body.
"I wonder how strong my body is now that I've reached the Mid Stage," El murmured curiously.
At this stage, both his physical prowess and regeneration had been drastically enhanced—though he wasn't yet sure to what extent.
He glanced toward the sword at his waist.
Shing!
El drew the blade and looked down at his left hand.
Stretching it out, he placed it beneath the edge.
Then, gripping the hilt tightly, he swung down toward his wrist.
The blade struck cleanly—yet not even a faint scar appeared.
"A little harder, then."
Covering the sword with Armament Haki, El struck again—this time with greater force.
He wasn't doing this to harm himself—he simply wanted to know just how tough his body had become after reaching the Mid Stage.
Szzzt!
With the added Haki, the blade's power increased significantly.
This time, it left a shallow cut on his wrist—blood beginning to drip out slowly.
El didn't bandage it. Instead, he watched intently.
Within a second, the bleeding stopped. A few seconds later, the wound began to close—visibly knitting itself back together.
In under ten seconds, it was completely healed, without so much as a scar remaining.
"Impressive… The regeneration after reaching Mid Stage is on a whole different level," El couldn't help but remark.
If the Early Stage Sage Body had regenerative ability comparable to an Ancient Zoan user—
—then the Mid Stage Sage Body's recovery speed was only slightly below that of Marco the Phoenix, the First Division Commander of the Whitebeard Pirates!
The Phoenix Fruit's greatest strength lay in its healing power.
And yet, El's body—merely at the Mid Stage—was already approaching that level.
That alone showed just how terrifying the Sage Body truly was!
Once it reached the High Stage, there was no doubt—its regenerative ability would surpass even Marco's Phoenix Fruit.
But the Sage Body's power wasn't limited to regeneration alone.
Its physical durability, as he'd just tested, was astonishing as well.
Even without coating his wrist in Haki for defense, a Haki-imbued sword strike had only managed to leave a shallow wound.
"Choosing the Sage Body was definitely the right call."
El felt more convinced than ever that he had made the right decision back when he first arrived in the One Piece world.
Not that the Sage Eyes were weak—
—but for him right now, the Sage Body's practical power was far more valuable!
As El marveled at his own transformation, the familiar voice of the system once again echoed in his mind—
"Ding! Congratulations, Host—Sage Body has reached Mid Stage. You have gained 1 Special Lottery Draw."