One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 296 The Gift of the World Tree
Listening to what Hajrudin said, it was the final resting place of the previous generation of giant kings.

Wu Ma didn't say anything for a moment.

He never expected things to turn out this way.

Just as Lockes had guessed—Harald was not one to listen to advice.

The choice he ultimately made was by no means the choice of a mediocre person who would choose to 'protect himself'.

But what puzzled Wu Ma was...
"If Prince Loki was the one who ate that fruit, then why now?"

He looked at Haldin and Yaruru in front of him.

According to them, Harald had hoped that his two sons would jointly manage Elbaf before he left.

If one absolutely had to choose a king and leader for Elbaf, then Harald clearly preferred the more powerful Loki—the fact that he made Loki consume the national treasure passed down through generations of Elbaf is proof of that.

But now, it is Haildin who is in charge of managing Elbaf.

Loki, on the contrary, became the hidden ruler of the underworld, which is obviously strange.

"Yes, I did receive His Majesty Harald's orders, and for some time now, the two princes have indeed been jointly governing the country."

At that moment, Yaruru also answered in a deep voice.

"but."

"Twenty years ago, an accident occurred."

At this point, Wu Ma also noticed that Haildin behind Yaruru had clenched his fists tightly.

"Twenty years ago?"

Wu Ma murmured to himself, and then he recalled a certain scene from the original work.

"Yes."

Aruru nodded gravely: "At that time, Ida, the mother of Regent Haldin and the foster mother of Prince Loki—she was poisoned."

Upon hearing this, Wu Ma secretly thought to himself, "Just as I thought."

He naturally knew this story as well—Halding's mother, Ida, was not a giant native to Elbaf, but an 'overseas giant' from Samwanai Island in the South China Sea.

She met and fell in love with the then-young Harald in the human kingdom, and gave birth to Haldin.

However, due to her bloodline, she was not recognized by Elbaf and could not become Harald's true 'princess'. Harald's nominal true princess was Loki's biological mother, the wicked woman who once threw her newborn child into the underworld, whose name was 'Estrida'.

In the original story, it was the village where the queen lived that believed that 'Ida,' a woman from overseas, becoming a queen would bring shame to Elbaf's ancient traditions, so they poisoned her to death.

And it is quite obvious.

Although the storyline of Elbaf has changed dramatically.

But it still happened—after all, in the original story, the people of that village dared to kill Ida while Harald was still alive, let alone now that Harald has disappeared.

But the difference lies in
“My brother killed the people who poisoned the wine with his own hands, and I ordered all the other people who knew about it to be exiled—now there is no ‘brewing village’ anymore.”

Haildin's voice was cold.

obviously.

For the two brothers, their mother was a taboo.

They will never forgive anyone who dares to lay a hand on their mother.

But
"The poison in Mother's body is an incurable deadly poison, and her physical condition is still very bad. My brother can use his abilities to save Mother's life, but he must also go to the place where the World Tree's blessings are most concentrated."

"Therefore, my elder brother chose to go to the underworld to become the guardian of 'Hyvigelma'."

This is the reason.

Upon hearing this, Wu Ma was no longer surprised.

He knew very well that although Loki and Ida were not biological mother and son, their bond was no less strong than that of biological mothers and sons.

In the original story, Loki destroyed the entire brewing village because of Ida's death and claimed that "Ida was my only mother."

That was the embodiment of his familial affection—since it was to save her life, it's not surprising that Loki went to the Underworld.

After his elder brother went to the underworld, Haldin could only serve as the 'Regent'.

Only then did Wu Ma finally understand what had happened in Elbaf over the years.

But then again, "the 'gift' of the World Tree?"

Wu Ma naturally noticed the word that Haildin had just used in his words.

He is now almost certain that the power of the fruit Loki ate is likely related to the source energy of his bloodline factor.

Loki needed to be near Hevigelma to save his mother's life, and the Sunstone was also found near Hevigelma.

The answer is obviously self-evident.

"The source of Elbaf's bloodline factor energy is near the Netherworld Spring 'Hevigelma'!"

Thinking of this, Wu Ma was naturally tempted.

"Before my father passed away, he mentioned that he and my brother both trusted the people Lox had chosen, so..."

At this moment, Haildin also looked at Wuma: "Elbaf is a friend of the twelve constellations, and has been for thirty years."

"You have come from afar. Please let us know if you need anything. We will not refuse any assistance that Elbaf can provide."

Upon hearing this, Wu Ma was taken aback, then thought to himself, "Good heavens!"

'Lox, you did a good job, you did a good job!'

Although he had never actually met this maritime overlord, Wu Ma had already deeply felt his influence.

You should know that Elbaf is the world's number one superpower.

If the number of strong individuals among them were to be formed into an army, it would be a force that Im himself acknowledged was comparable to the 'Naval Headquarters'.

Now, however, the one in control of this force has stated that Elbaf will stand on the side of the Twelve Constellations.

This is undoubtedly a powerful asset.

"I"

But Wu Ma had not yet spoken.

"Boom!"

The next moment, the entire castle began to tremble violently.

"Ouch!"

The tremor caused Aruru to clutch his waist and grip his cane tightly.

The tremors stopped after a short while.

The falling rocks continued to rain down, but Halding had already realized: "An 'earthquake'? It's happened again in such a short time!"

Not only him, but Wu Ma's expression was also solemn at this moment.

The tremors that were happening now were exactly the same as those that had occurred when he had just arrived in Elbaf a few hours earlier—the only difference being that the tremors seemed to be much stronger.

"Is there no information from Elbaf regarding the earthquake?"

Now that Elbaf is known to be a 'friendly party,' he naturally has fewer reservations about what he says.

And when it comes to this, Haildin certainly didn't hide anything.

"It has been confirmed—the source of the earthquake is in the 'underworld'."

“Two days ago I inquired about my brother’s situation and even asked Mr. Shan to go to the underworld to investigate.”

"But my brother said he didn't find anything unusual, and Mr. Shan's investigation is still ongoing with no news coming back."

At this point, Haildin frowned slightly.

"Mr. Shan? Jaba?"

Upon hearing this, Wu Ma immediately realized that the so-called "Mr. Mountain" was none other than Skobard Jabba, the "Mountain Devourer," who was the third-ranking member of the Roger Pirates.

After the Roger Pirates disbanded, this legendary pirate married a female giant and lived in Elbaf under the alias "Mr. Mountain".

Even he participated in the investigation into the earthquake disaster, and he hasn't returned yet.
"If it's convenient, please let me go to the underworld as well."

Therefore, at this moment, Wu Ma also spoke up decisively.

"If possible, I would like to pay my respects to Prince Loki and also visit 'Hivegelmar'."

(End of this chapter)