Grandpa.

"Long time no see, Avani," said a male, standing not too far from a female with bruises all over her body.

Observing the vicinity spread with the dead bodies of humanoid creatures, he looked up to Avani, a smile forming on his rough face.

"Seems you didn't lose your edge," as he said this, he crouched down.

"You!!!" Avani could feel her blood boiling with rage and hatred for the man before her. Holding back her urge to attack, blood dripped from her fist as she clenched tightly.

"Don't be mad at me… I did it for our lineage," he said in a sober tone, looking at the earth's surface closely.

"You liar! You only thought of yourself…! No one else…!" Cleaning the blood off her lips, she breathed deeply.

"She brainwashed you," said the male, raising his head to observe Avani's perplexed expression.

"..."

"I knew this would happen," he said, his expression pained. "The moment you left with her."

"..."

Avani couldn't understand what the man was driving at… more like she didn't care about understanding.

The earth rumbled slightly as she glared hatefully at the crouching male.

"You're more feisty. Come to Papa," rising from his position, he opened his arm wide, gesturing for a hug.

Vrrrr

Moving at a high speed, using the earth as a catalyst to improve her pace.

Arriving at the man's location, she punched out, aiming for his head. 

Successfully dodging her blow, he twisted his body performing a turning kick with a successive hit on her face, sending her kilometers away.

"Ahhh!" As her face ached in pain, she released a shriek, colliding with the hard surface of the ground.

Not bothering to follow, so as to keep his current advantage, he stood at a distance, observing Avani. "You can't win… Just come with me… peacefully."

Not minding his pleas, which she considered fake, she stood up slowly. "I always wanted to end your old life," she said, cracking her bones.

"Hmmm…? I didn't have any idea about that," shrugging, he also performed a series of motions, his body producing cracking sounds.

"You know… I had to join an alliance with these bastards to get here," he said, solemnly. Looking at all the dead bodies. "Even the Emperor gave up on your entire group."

Pacing to and fro, his hands behind his back. "Big Mom's death is certain."

A smirk appeared on his facial expression. "And you'll come with me."

"..."

Avani wasn't that surprised by everything he just spat out, she always saw him as an evil and greedy man. She was just baffled by the fact that a common enemy can bring people with different ideologies together.

Though she immediately reconciled with that fact, after recalling that their group was similar in a way. People from different backgrounds join together for the sake of a common goal.

Smiling, she looked at the man before her. "You planned well."

'It's time to change the method of approach,' she thought, cooking up an idea.

"What?!" Asked the male, alarmed by her sudden change.

"Nothing much… why don't you tell me?" She said, moving toward him. "Who do you think is behind the attacks?"

With steady steps, she arrived a few meters from him, an impeccable smile on her bruised face.

His expression was infuriated, he eyed Avani as he sneered. "I'm not a child and don't forget the fact that I raised you," he said, taking her talks as a prank.

"You guys are all fools. Infighting when your borders are being attacked," giggling, she covered her mouth, increasing her charm.

"Nice move. Maybe, if I had an interest in protecting this empire your trick would have… maybe, done tiny damage to my mental fortitude… but…" smiling, he scrutinized Avani from head to toe, sending chills down her spine. "I'm only interested in you my dear."

As he said those last words, the earth trembled, cracks forming on its surface. 

"Our tribe prided ourselves in the manipulation of earth and its resources," he said, proudly as the earth twisted and untwisted like an elastic quantity.

"We always saw ourselves as descendants of Titans… that was what I worked hard for… to create something perfect," a silly smile on his face. 

"Come with me, Avani. Together we can make our world real. You won't need anyone… you can achieve all your dreams," he said, gesturing that Avani takes his hand.

But to his dismay, she didn't take a step forward, only looking at him in contempt.

"I see," saying this, he redrew his hand, clenching his fist. "You have decided already."

The earth trembled, devouring all matter in the vicinity as if it were a monster. "You will always be a child in my eyes dear, but… our people had a belief," saying this, a brownish orb materialized.

Eyeing the orb, Avani could feel a sense of crisis. A horrific pressure emanated from the orb, producing wailing sounds.

"W-what?!" Her voice was shaky as she watched ethereal lifeforms slip off the dead bodies in horror.

Looking at the orb, she observed the shape of faces wildly screaming as if fighting to break through the barrier the orb manifested.

"M-mom?!" She called out, stretching her hands in the orb direction.

"I worked so hard to create you… risking the extinction of our whole race."

As if triggering a phenomenon, different shapes of faces appeared on the exterior of the orb, pressing their facial structure further as if to carve their faces on the orb.

Avani could recognize many of them, most she remembered from the horrible incident that occurred years ago.

After going through a lot of situations in life, she learned to doubt what he had told her which due to some string of events led her to Big Mom.

She had discovered that her goals and Big Mom's group goals had a similar ideology, causing her to join their endeavors.

"Y-you killed them all?!" Moved backward, her scalp going numb. 

"Finally got it right… after all the years of your naivety," sneering at her naivety.

"I'll show you my through power… the power of this continent's future leader… Amrish Puri."