For a hundred years, the remnants of Canaan watched helplessly as generation after generation of kings fell in battle across the plains, or suffered through illness before dying in misery.
When one king died on the battlefield, the next immediately took up the mantle. They defended the borders between the plateau and the plains, or scaled cliffs to dive into the deep sea to gather food for their people.
When the responsibility fell to Yelena's generation, she was only five years old. Yet day after day, year after year, she bore the duties of royalty without a single complaint.
Yelena was the youngest person ever afflicted by this disease, but rather than burdening her people with fear or despair, she comforted them gently every day.
The remnants of Canaan were far from cold-hearted. They understood gratitude. Even those without extraordinary talent followed the royal family to protect the plateau.
Yet they lacked the strength to climb thousand-meter cliffs or fetch food from the ocean like the royals could.
Some ancestors might have harbored resentment against the royal family, for allowing the Jacob people into their lands, resulting in the loss of their homes.
But those who survived under royal protection had no complaints.
No member of the Canaan royal family ever died peacefully. The talented perished violently in battle or during hunts. The less capable sought help outside, yet because the Jacob Kingdom was a member of the World Government, the navy ignored them.
Pirates, cruel bullies preying on the weak, mocked their plight. Over the years, only the compassionate Roger Pirates had extended a helping hand.
Most other kingdoms remained indifferent. Only a major West Blue nation and a desert kingdom on the Grand Line offered minimal assistance, distant and symbolic at best, limited to verbal condemnations in the World Assembly.
Ultimately, the royals who ventured out met their end at sea. Among them was Yelena's mother, the previous princess.
After returning from the Grand Line, she gave birth to Yelena, who carried the blood of the Oni clan. Years later, she embarked on another journey, attempting to rescue Yelena's father from the navy and gain his help, but disappeared along the way.
Yelena met the gaze of those eyes, desperate and searching as if for a lifeline. Her hesitation began to dissolve into resolve.
Louis watched silently. The connection between the Canaan remnants and the royal family was stronger than even the ties between the Moon People of Bal and the Sky Islanders.
The probability of Yelena leaving them was practically zero.
Nearby, the Red-Haired Pirates were silent. Shanks paused briefly, then smiled with relief.
Doctor Honggu hadn't yet reacted, his thoughts interrupted by movement within his sleeve.
He lowered his head and met the tear-filled violet eyes before him. "What's wrong, Uta?" he asked gently.
Uta, with her dual-colored long hair, fixed her gaze on Honggu, her small face serious. "You can cure Yelena, right?"
Honggu was momentarily speechless.
Shanks patted Uta affectionately on the head, smiling. "You must trust your comrade!"
Honggu drew a deep breath and loudly declared to everyone, "Don't worry! I will cure Yelena! We are friends, and we cannot ignore this!"
The crowd lifted their heads in astonishment, eyes filled with gratitude as they looked at Honggu.
They quickly rose to give Honggu the space to examine Yelena.
However, Honggu scratched his head. "There's no medical equipment here. We need to return to the ship to use our facilities."
He had initially prepared the medicine for diving-related illnesses under Shanks' guidance. He never imagined that Yelena's condition would surpass any previous king's.
Her ability to continue fighting was thanks to her powerful Oni lineage. The Oni clan was one of the strongest human subspecies. Honggu even believed that if Yelena had taken on this responsibility in her adolescence, she might never have contracted this disease.
Hearing this, Shanks suggested again, "Yelena, you should eat that Devil Fruit first."
"Louis is right. Zoan-type Devil Fruits can greatly enhance your physical abilities, which will ease your suffering."
"Perhaps it will also help with subsequent treatments."
The Canaan remnants' eyes lit up. After witnessing the events of this night, they no longer doubted Louis or the Red-Haired Pirates and began to persuade her.
"Your Majesty, Yelena, eat it!"
Yelena lowered her gaze silently, staring at the Devil Fruit in her hand, shaped like a deer's skull.
She raised it gently, parted her cracked lips, and bit off a small piece.
The strong odor and slimy, revolting texture twisted her face. She turned pale and greenish, gasping for air.
The taste was nearly unbearable, almost nauseating.
Still, under the anxious eyes of everyone around her, she picked up the fruit again, ready to continue.
Louis, recalling unpleasant memories, couldn't help but frown with sympathy, urging her, "You only need to bite once to gain the ability!"
Yelena froze, staring blankly at the fruit. After a moment of hesitation, she turned to Louis. "So all this fruit flesh… isn't it a waste?"
Finally, she closed her eyes and ate the entire Devil Fruit, piece by piece.
Even Louis, who had eaten a Devil Fruit himself, admired her determination. It made his teeth ache just watching.
Moments later, Yelena opened her eyes slowly, placing her hand over her chest to feel the changes. A joyful smile spread across her face. "Breathing… it doesn't hurt as much anymore!"
Her words made the Canaan remnants' eyes well with tears, their noses prickling. Among them, some women and children sobbed uncontrollably.
The disease that had plagued the Canaan royal family for a century was on the verge of being conquered. The heavy burden weighing on their hearts began to crack.
Louis stepped forward gently, guiding Yelena to activate the ability she had just acquired.
"Focus. Feel the new power inside you and use your will to awaken it!"
Yelena closed her eyes, following his instructions.
Meanwhile, Shanks and his crew began guiding the crowd to spread out and keep a safe distance.
The next moment, under everyone's gaze, Yelena's body began to change dramatically.
She grew taller, from roughly 2.2 meters to 3 meters. Her skin disappeared, revealing a pale skull, and fangs extended from her mouth.
Louis froze. "Isn't that a deer?"
The Red-Haired Pirates held their breath, trying to identify the creature.
Their reaction didn't stop Yelena's transformation.
Her body continued to expand, surpassing 4 meters. Snow-white fur sprouted over her, her feet became hooves, and her legs bent backward at the joints.
Her slender arms grew thick and elongated, her fingers tipped with sharp claws.
From her exposed skull, enormous, pointed antlers sprouted alongside her Oni horns.
Simultaneously, ice and snow seemed to appear out of nowhere, extinguishing the campfire. A chilling cold spread.
A burly, sharp-toothed man from the Red-Haired Pirates shouted, "Ice and snow! It's a Mythical Zoan!"
Looking up, the darkness enveloped the six-meter-tall beast. Under faint moonlight, Yelena's form disappeared, replaced by a terrifying creature standing upright, with a long tail and four prominent horns.
Its face had no flesh, the skull bare. Giant antlers gleamed in the moonlight like twisted branches. Its eye sockets, where her eyes once were, glowed faintly red.
Finally, an indescribable emotion, almost directed at humans, began to spread among the crowd…
Louis' lips twitched. A question formed in his mind: is this a Human-Human Fruit, or a Deer-Deer Fruit?