Chapter 173: The Terrifying Power of Nature
It didn't take long before Ellis slowly emerged from the trunk of the Divine Tree—like her entire body had fused with it and was now drawing itself back out.
Once out, she excitedly zipped over to Luo Han 's side, carrying with her a fragrant breeze rich with the scent of nature, instantly refreshing to breathe in.
"Well? Impressive, right?" she said, eyes twinkling like a child eager for praise, looking up at Luo Han with a proud, expectant smile.
She's adorable, Luo Han thought. He hadn't expected Ellis to sometimes act like a child—it only made her seem more human, her emotions and reactions becoming more vivid. It must be a side effect of the Human-Human Fruit, bringing her more in line with humans in both body and mind.
Even as he thought this, Luo Han didn't waste time replying, flashing a grin as he said, "It's a pretty amazing ability, but come on… that alone isn't enough to make me unable to live without you, is it, little Sister Ellis ?"
Ellis chuckled, unbothered by the tease. "Come on, I'll show you another one," she said, flying toward the tree and motioning for Luo Han to follow.
They returned to the Divine Tree's side. As Ellis pressed her palms gently against its bark, Luo Han asked curiously, "Is this ability also connected to the tree?"
"Just watch," she answered with a mysterious smile as her body began glowing once more with the now-familiar green aura.
So that glow is the visual effect when she uses her abilities, Luo Han thought, amused.
Then, right where her hands touched the tree, a bulge began to rise from the bark—like a lifeform being born from within.
Ellis kept her hands there as the bump grew, eventually cradling the spot with both palms. Soon, a golden-scaled fruit emerged from the tree and dropped gently into her hands.
"What's that?" Luo Han asked, puzzled.
It looked like one of her seed pods. Though it wasn't grown the traditional way—it had been forcefully drawn out of the trunk—there didn't seem to be anything special about it. At most, it could be used to grow another Divine Tree, but even with Ellis' powers, growing something of this scale would take who-knows-how-long.
Sensing his doubts, Ellis smiled and said, "Luo Han , you don't actually know what my Devil Fruit ability is, do you?"
"I have a guess—it's something like accelerating plant growth, right?" Luo Han replied, recalling the green light she used before. It also seemed to have healing properties.
"Then let me explain my power properly," she said, organizing her thoughts. "The main power of my fruit is something I call the 'Power of Nature.' It lets me convert that energy into life force, which gives me strong regenerative capabilities.
"It can accelerate plant growth and extract life energy from them. Back at God Valley, I drew from the life force of all the island's plants to save you."
"Also, because I was originally a tree, eating the Spirit Elf Fruit awakened unique abilities—like communicating with all plant life. I can not only draw out their energy, but also extract their seeds and use nature's power to regrow them in other places."
Now Luo Han understood. So this is a tree-planting ability—excellent for reforestation. But like all Devil Fruit powers, it came with the same problem:
"Can your stamina really handle growing trees as fast and massive as your body did earlier?" he asked.
He seriously doubted the Divine Tree's explosive growth came from the Devil Fruit alone. If Ellis could really use such a high-output ability without breaking a sweat, it'd be terrifying. More likely, the original tree already held that energy—Ellis merely activated it.
"Haha! Luo Han -nii, did you forget who I was before? What makes me different from you guys?" she teased before proudly declaring, "Here's what makes me special: I can share stamina with my true body. That means any energy cost from using my abilities gets drawn directly from the tree.
"And you've seen how massive my body is. Imagine how much stamina I can pull from it!"
Luo Han looked up—then up some more. That tree really is massive. He couldn't even see the sky past its canopy, and that didn't include the root system sprawling hundreds of kilometers beneath the sea. The sheer scale… the stamina pool… it made sense. If she could weaponize it like Wood Release from ninja stories, she'd be unstoppable.
"All I can say is… damn." It was the only word that came to him—anything more would've felt hollow.
But it turned out Ellis wasn't done impressing him.
With a sly smile, she held the golden-scaled fruit up to Luo Han and said, "And one more thing—any golden-scaled seed I create like this will be a clone of me. I can share stamina with them too! If I plant a few more Divine Tree clones, I'll basically have unlimited energy. Then I can grow entire forests instantly."
Her grin grew more mischievous.
"That's why you'll never be able to leave me."
"…Can't leave?" Luo Han blinked, confused.
Sure, it was shocking that she could mass-produce herself and achieve near-limitless stamina, but saying he'd never be able to leave her because of that? He didn't quite follow.
Sigh… Seeing his blank face, Ellis exhaled softly. She felt like she was bragging too much.
"Forget it if you don't get it!" she huffed and started flying back to the ship.
"Wait, Ellis!" Luo Han called after her. He wasn't too hung up on the whole "can't leave her" part—but he did still have something to give her.
"What is it?" she asked, hovering in place with a curious look.
Luo Han glanced nervously at the ship, then activated Kyoka suigetsu to block Aishi and the others from seeing this part of the scene.
On the ship, Aishi gasped. "Huh? Luo Han and Ellis just vanished!"
"Don't worry, Aishi ," Sister Shao reassured her. "They're still there. He's probably testing out a new ability."
She said it calmly, though her eyes narrowed slightly. She remembered Luo Han using this exact illusion trick back during the Line Island battle—but not since then. Why hide something from us now? she wondered. A creeping sense of unease crawled up her spine. She stole a glance at Sora, a shadow of concern already forming in her mind.
(END CHAPTER)
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