The natural system started off strong, but the navy finally reached its peak!

In short, Momonosuke appears incredibly cowardly, but he is extremely adept at exploiting others' kindness, sense of responsibility, and reverence for their status to benefit himself.

Therefore, at this moment, when he discovered that the 'Skyquake' before him possessed unfathomable strength, even for whom Doflamingo had to kneel and beg for mercy

After realizing that he seemed to have a familial relationship with Nami, Momonosuke's little brain immediately started working at lightning speed.

Because, Gorn is simply a more perfect and powerful supporter than the Straw Hat crew!

If we could gain the protection of "Uncle Gurn" through Nami's connection, wouldn't Kaido and Orochi be as easy targets?

Returning to Wano Country and ascending to the throne of Shogun will be a piece of cake in the future!

Thinking of this, Momonosuke tried to suppress his fear and straightened his clothes.

He forced out what he considered to be the most obedient and pitiful expression on his face.

Taking small steps, he tried to approach Gern and Nami, preparing to begin his most proficient "performance".

"Hello, Uncle Gern, I'm not a pirate. My name is Momonosuke, you can call me Momo!"

Chapter 547 You want to eat up the childless?!

Momonosuke took a deep breath, suppressing his fear of Gern's fleeting glance, and tried his best to appear as obedient and harmless as possible.

He took small steps forward and spoke in what he thought was his most endearing childlike voice.

"Y-you...hello, Uncle Gern, I'm not a pirate, my name is Momonosuke, you can call me Momo!"

"Momonosuke?" Gern's lips curled up in an extremely subtle way, so quickly it was almost imperceptible.

He then smoothed it out, turned around, and looked at the kid with feigned indifference. "You're not a pirate."

"That's true, I don't think I've ever seen your face on any Navy wanted posters."

"That's right!" Momonosuke's eyes lit up instantly when he saw the other person respond, as if he had seen a glimmer of hope. He quickly emphasized...

"I'm still just a child, how could I possibly be a pirate!"

Before he could finish speaking, Gern slapped him across the face!

"Snapped!"

The crisp sound echoed on the shore, and Momonosuke was spun around in place by the blow before staggering and falling to the ground.

"Damn it, if you're not a pirate, then who am I?" Gern shook his hand, looking disgusted.

"I just saw you snuggling into Nami's arms. Is that how a normal child behaves?"

Who knows if you're a dwarf! After all, the ocean is full of all sorts of strange things!

Momonosuke covered his face and slumped to the ground, completely stunned.

“Uncle Gern, he really is just a child,” Nami explained.

"Oh! So that's how it is! I thought it was some kind of dwarf! You should have said so earlier!"

“However…” Gern narrowed his eyes slightly, a hint of scrutiny in his expression.

"When I was fishing just now, I seemed to vaguely hear you say... that the Mink Tribe are your servants?"

As he spoke, Gern deliberately emphasized the word "servant," his tone playful.

Luo, who had been to G-10 and witnessed Gern and Lipo being affectionate, was shocked and frantically gave them meaningful glances!

But Momonosuke was so caught up in the excitement of "showing off" that he didn't notice anything amiss.

Instead, she saw this as a good opportunity to showcase her noble birth, and immediately puffed out her little chest, saying with a hint of barely perceptible pride.

"I am a descendant of the Kozuki clan! The Kozuki clan and the Mink clan have been on friendly terms for generations and share a deep historical connection!"

He made a point about his lineage, believing it would be enough to draw the other party's attention.

"Kozuki? The shogunate family from Wano Country before Kaido's rule?" Gurn pretended to be deep in thought, lightly tapping his chin with his finger.

Then his gaze returned to Momonosuke, and he looked him up and down with undisguised suspicion.

Suddenly, as if he had heard something utterly absurd, he burst out laughing: "Pfft—Impossible! Who are you trying to fool, you little brat?"

The laughter instantly froze the smug look on Momonosuke's face.

Gern's smile faded, his eyes sharpened, and he stated in a declarative tone: "The former shogun of Wano Country, Kozuki Sukiyaki, had only one son."

That's Kozuki Oden, whom I defeated with my own hands.

As far as I know, Kozuki Oden did indeed have a son and a daughter, but…” Gern deliberately dragged out his words.

"How many years has Kozuki Oden been dead?! If his children were still alive, they would at least be adults by now!"

How could you still look like a brat who's barely out of his teens?

Gern leaned down, close to Momonosuke, his eyes, which seemed to see through everything, staring directly into Momonosuke's flickering pupils, uttering a soul-searching question, word by word.

"So tell me, how could you possibly be a member of the Kozuki clan?"

Faced with Gern's questioning, Momonosuke's small body trembled violently, and his face turned deathly pale.

He opened his mouth, only to find that his usual arguments seemed so pale and powerless in the face of the other party's irrefutable logic.

You can't exactly tell them that your mother used her Devil Fruit powers to travel through time and save you, can you?

Nami, Chopper, Brook, and even the heavily injured Sanji were all stunned upon hearing Gern's words, their minds involuntarily replaying their first encounter on Punk Hazard.

At the time, Momonosuke did indeed claim to be Kin'emon's son, while Kin'emon claimed to be a descendant of the Kozuki clan.

However, they were so shocked by Kin'emon's messages such as "Save Wano Country" and "Kozuki Orphan" that they did not think deeply about the contradictions involved.

But at this moment, under the guidance of Gern, a powerful figure who personally experienced that era and knew extensively about the past of Wano Country,

This enormous time gap became crystal clear in an instant!

The gazes of the crowd toward Momonosuke were filled with deep doubt and scrutiny.

Even Doflamingo, who had been kneeling on the ground as if walking on thin ice, subtly changed his posture, shifting from a humble kneeling position to a more relaxed slumped position.

He watched this sudden "identity mystery" drama with great interest, his face displaying the standard expression of a spectator watching a show.

"I...I...I..."

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Momonosuke felt like he was being roasted over a fire, barely managing to keep his nerves on the verge of collapse.

With a sob in her voice, she repeatedly emphasized, "I... am indeed a descendant of the Kozuki clan! It's absolutely true!"

Having said that, he seemed to have grasped at the last straw.

Pointing in the direction of Kin'emon and the others, whose whereabouts were unknown, he stammered in explanation.

"Father... no, Kin'emon! And Raizo, Kanjuro and the others!"

These retainers of Kozuki Oden can all testify to my identity! They all know who I am!

Of course, Gern knew perfectly well that Momonosuke was Oden's biological son, but his goal at this moment was to tear away this seemingly reasonable disguise.

So he shook his head, feigning contemplation, his tone carrying a cruel "rational analysis": "That's hard to say, kid."

Proof? A loyal retainer, seeking to revive his lord, finds a child of similar age to impersonate the long-deceased young master.

Such things are not uncommon throughout history, or among the royal families of various countries along the seas.

Then, the tone shifted, pointing the finger at the actual ruler of Wano Country: "Don't forget, the man who rules Wano Country now is 'Kaido the Beasts'."

Given Kaido's ruthless nature, how could he possibly spare Oden's own flesh and blood, sowing the seeds of revenge and leaving him with future troubles?

After saying that, Gern turned his gaze to Doflamingo, who was watching the show from the side: "Don't you think so, Doflamingo? You should know your 'partner' very well."

"Fufufu...that's right!" Doflamingo immediately responded with a low laugh, echoing the sentiment.

"That Kaido guy isn't kind-hearted; he's not the kind of person who would leave any hidden dangers."

Otherwise, I wouldn't have gone to such lengths to be on this island just to maintain the supply of SMILE.

Upon hearing Doflamingo's "divine assist," Guern immediately covered his mouth with his hand, feigning shock as if he had just considered some terrifying possibility.

The voice slipped through his fingers, carrying an exaggerated sense of realization: "No way! Could it be... could it be those retainers who followed Kozuki Oden back then?"

Seeing no hope of restoring the kingdom, they actually found a child to impersonate the long-dead Oden bloodline.

And then, he plans to use this title to steal the position of Shogun of Wano Country?!

He lowered his hand, his gaze fixed on the trembling Momonosuke, and uttered that extremely hurtful word, slowly and deliberately.

"They're trying to eat up the family's entire offspring!"

The words "eat the childless" struck Momonosuke's fragile mental defenses hard, and also caused the Straw Hat crew members watching to have different expressions.

Nami frowned slightly, Chopper looked serious, Brook tilted his head, and Sanji's brows were furrowed due to his serious injuries and complicated emotions.

Momonosuke was utterly devastated by this blatant accusation that shattered the very foundation of his existence.

She burst into tears, unable to maintain any semblance of composure, and collapsed to the ground, sobbing uncontrollably.

Chapter 548 Momonosuke's 'Sophistication'

It's important to know that, in the original trajectory, Momonosuke was in the relatively safe Zou.

Shocked by the Mink Tribe's vow of undying loyalty, he finally revealed his identity as the son of Kozuki Oden.

At this moment, with the future of their restoration project uncertain, he had no idea whether the Straw Hat crew truly possessed the ability to achieve their goals.

And he was willing to challenge Kaido, who was entrenched in Wano Country, for him.

Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for someone to reveal their secret of "time travel" when the situation is unclear, especially when facing an unfathomable powerhouse like Gern.

If things had gone according to the usual pattern, the loyal Kin'emon would surely have stepped forward at this moment.

He used his composure and logical explanations to extricate him from the predicament and uphold the dignity of the young master.

But now, Kin'emon is gone!

Isolated and helpless, Momonosuke faces Gern's relentless questioning, which nearly pushes him to the brink of despair. His heart is filled with unspeakable grievances and immense panic.

Unable to reveal the truth or provide a reasonable explanation, under extreme tension and emotional breakdown...

The power within him, gained from the artificial Devil Fruit, was uncontrollably activated!

"puff!"

A puff of pink smoke flashed by, and to everyone's astonishment, the little devil who had been slumped on the ground crying vanished.

Instead, there was a dragon—a creature that was not large, pink all over, and looked somewhat comical, but whose shape was extremely similar to a certain legendary creature!

Doflamingo stared at the small pink dragon before him, his previously amusement vanishing instantly, replaced by a grim expression tinged with shock and rage.

He glanced at Caesar as if to say something with his eyes.

"The most perfect artificial Devil Fruit that Vegapunk painstakingly researched... was actually eaten by this brat?!"

Caesar Courland, who was standing to the side, also forgot his own predicament and nodded.

“That’s right…ve~ It’s that…the key sample that originally belonged to Lord Kaido, used to create the perfect Devil Fruit user army…”

It's important to know that Vegapunk invested an immense amount of time, effort, and astronomical sums of money back then, relying on Kaido's bloodline.

That's how they finally created this artificial Devil Fruit, which is almost comparable to the real Azure Dragon form and can be called a miracle.

This fruit is the core sample that Kaido has been dreaming of, hoping to achieve quantification!

And now, this precious sample has been eaten by this crying little brat... just like candy?!

Even Gern frowned slightly as he looked at the little pink dragon that was flapping around and seemed a bit lost.

He wasn't surprised by the existence of artificial Devil Fruits, but rather it made him think of something.

He uttered a sentence in a tone that conveyed confirmation, speaking calmly.

"This is... Kaido's Devil Fruit ability?"

"!!!"

These words were like a thunderclap, exploding in the ears of the remaining four members of the Straw Hat crew (Nami, Chopper, Brook, and Sanji) and Law!

All they knew before was that Momonosuke, due to hunger, accidentally ate a failed artificial Devil Fruit created by Caesar, thus gaining the ability to transform into a dragon (albeit a weak one).

But they never expected that the source of this fruit, the sample that Vegapunk considered a masterpiece and Kaido regarded as the cornerstone of his army, was...

It's actually imitating... the Azure Dragon form of Kaido, one of the Four Emperors of the Beasts?!