After killing the great pirate Ochoku, the Straw Hat Pirates left Hachinosu Island and headed straight toward their next destination.
Along the way, after eating the Reduction Paramecia Devil Fruit, Shirahoshi finally managed to reach the size of a normal person, shrinking from her original ten meters to around two meters.
The little mermaid princess became extremely happy about being able to walk freely around the deck. Unexpectedly, she ended up getting along quite well with Perona.
Perhaps because Perona had been the first to help her awaken her ability.
"Luffy, aren't you going to take over Hachinosu Island?" Nami asked curiously while handing him a drink.
Luffy was sitting at the edge of the ship, holding a fishing rod. He took the drink and replied:
"A new pirate ruler should emerge there…"
She rolled her eyes and said:
"Speak properly."
"Without Hachinosu, another Beehive Island or some other pirate hideout would appear anyway. On the contrary, Hachinosu controls a large portion of the New World pirates in that territory, so it still has some value in existing."
The root of the problem was the spread of pirates.
As long as the pirates of the New World were not completely eliminated, the issue of Hachinosu would never disappear.
Even if he forcefully occupied the island, the result would practically be the same.
The pirates would simply find another place to gather.
"Well, thinking about it that way, there really isn't much we can do right now."
Nami bit her straw and took a sip of juice while picking up a permanent Log Pose.
"The next destination is Elbaf, right? Could the fourth Road Poneglyph really be there?"
The Straw Hat Pirates were no longer just a small pirate crew.
It could be said that the Straw Hat Grand Fleet was currently the strongest force in the New World.
For an organization of that scale, obtaining something like a permanent pointer was extremely easy.
Whether it was a pointer to Hachinosu or Elbaf, everything could be acquired without difficulty.
Of course, much of that information had been provided by Big Mom.
Speaking of which, Elbaf's prince, Loki, had always been in love with Charlotte Lola and had even asked Big Mom for her hand in marriage.
Unfortunately, Lola did not want her mother controlling her marriage, so she ran away.
She formed the Rolling Pirates and left the New World for Paradise, where her shadow was eventually stolen by Gecko Moria.
After Moria joined Luffy's fleet, all the shadows were returned, including Lola's and those of her companions.
It was just unknown where they were now.
"The fourth Road Poneglyph really could be there."
Snapping out of his thoughts, Luffy still wasn't completely certain.
Before leaving, he had asked Shyarly for a prediction, but he had not received a concrete answer.
After all, fortune-telling was not perfect.
"If it's not in Elbaf, then it's probably in the hands of the World Government."
Hearing that, Uta ran up to him, snatched the drink from his hand, and drank it with a triumphant smile.
"If it's in the hands of the World Government, are you going to steal it?"
"We'll see when the time comes. First, we're going to Elbaf."
Luffy pinched Uta's cheek as he spoke.
"Shouldn't you drink your own? Why do you have to take mine?"
"But I like yours more!"
Uta replied proudly while finishing the drink.
Robin could not hold back her smile.
"If you want, I can give you mine too, Luffy."
While they chatted, the Thousand Sunny sailed toward Elbaf.
Elbaf, known as the "strongest country in the world," was located deep within the New World, very close to the end of the Grand Line.
It was practically the second-to-last stop.
Beyond it, only Laugh Tale remained.
By the time the Sunny finally reached its destination, it was already noon the following day.
[You have arrived at the new island Hachinosu. Reward: 10,000 adventure coins.]
[You have arrived at the new island Elbaf. Reward: 10,000 adventure coins.]
As soon as they stepped off the Sunny, everyone saw several giants gathered along the coast.
More precisely, two giants were fighting while the others merely watched.
"Kabababababa!"
"Gababababa!"
Upon hearing those familiar laughs, Nami and Vivi's eyes widened immediately.
The two looked at each other before simultaneously turning toward Luffy.
"That laugh... Luffy, aren't those two the giants from Little Garden?"
"They finally returned to Elbaf?"
The two looked quite surprised.
Luffy smiled.
"They just changed battlefields and kept dueling."
As he spoke, he walked toward the giants.
The moment they noticed the group approaching, Dorry and Brogy immediately stopped fighting.
The two looked at Luffy, and their eyes lit up.
"Kababababa! Sun God, we meet again!"
"Gababababa! Today truly is a great day! My friend from distant lands, we have been waiting for you for a very long time!"
Hearing this, the other giants were shocked.
"Isn't that the Yonko Straw Hat, Monkey D. Luffy?!"
"Dorry, you know this man?!"
"We met in Little Garden!"
Dorry planted his enormous sword into the ground and walked toward Luffy.
"It's been a long time."
"It really has."
Luffy smiled.
Nami and Vivi also greeted the two giants.
Brogy stared at the group for a few seconds before commenting:
"It's been a long time since I last saw you... but it seems there are even more girls around you now. What happened?"
"Hello! I'm Uta!"
As always, Uta showed absolutely no fear of giants and immediately introduced herself enthusiastically.
"We are the Straw Hat Pirates! This is Robin, this is Perona, this is Yamato, and this is the mermaid princess Shirahoshi!"
"Ah... hello, little girl."
The giants exchanged glances before responding to Uta's greeting.
Seeing that, Uta smiled in satisfaction.
"I heard the giants of Elbaf are violent and dislike outsiders, but you all seem very kind."
"..."
Luffy was speechless.
Robin covered her mouth while laughing softly.
Violence depended on the person involved.
With Luffy's current prestige, practically anywhere in the world would treat him with respect.
Luffy then asked:
"Dorry, Brogy, you said you were waiting for me?"
"Yes."
Dorry nodded.
"After we parted ways with you in Little Garden, we built a raft and immediately returned to Elbaf. Since then, we have been waiting for your arrival."
Brogy then continued:
"Sun God, you came for the Road Poneglyph, right? Come with us, we'll take you to it."
"Eh?!"
Nami's eyes widened.
"The fourth Road Poneglyph really is on this island?! Where is it?"
"The fourth? I can't tell those stones apart, but there really is a red Poneglyph around here."
Brogy gestured for the group to follow as he began leading the way.
"It's in the Giant King's Court. Come, first we'll take you to meet the king of Elbaf!"
The girls immediately looked at Luffy.
Everything seemed far too easy.
But would this really not be a problem?
Luffy merely smiled.
"Let's go then. I'm curious to meet this giant king."
Guided by the two old acquaintances, Luffy and the others began heading toward the interior of Elbaf.
Or rather, technically speaking, Elbaf did not exactly possess a royal capital.
The country was divided into several cities and villages.
And most of the legendary giant warriors feared throughout the world came from the famous Warrior Village.
The place where the King of Giants lived was called the Giant King's Court.
A short while later, when the Giant King's Court came into the group's field of vision, Nami and the others were completely shocked.
It was a colossal city surrounded by gigantic walls.
And "gigantic" was literal even by giant standards.
For ordinary humans, those walls were easily three or four hundred meters tall.
In front of that kind of structure, human beings looked like mere ants.
The main entrance of the Giant King's Court possessed an enormous staircase hundreds of meters wide.
The city's first impression was one of grandeur and antiquity.
"Amazing..." Shirahoshi murmured, completely stunned.
"This is incredible!" Uta exclaimed excitedly, already feeling inspired to compose a new song.
"So this is the Kingdom of Giants..."
Even Robin, who was extremely knowledgeable, looked surprised.
"It truly is a rare sight."
"Kababababa! It's still too early to be shocked. Once you truly enter, you'll understand what a real royal court is!"
Brogy laughed loudly as he began climbing the steps.
When everyone finally passed through the gates and entered the Giant King's Court, even Luffy had to admire the giants' capabilities.
It was an extremely ancient city.
Old, yet far from decayed.
On the contrary, the streets were incredibly clean and organized.
Everything the eye could see was gigantic.
Soon, the giant warriors responsible for patrol noticed the group's presence and immediately approached.
After Dorry and Brogy explained the situation and revealed that Luffy was one of the Four Emperors, the soldiers immediately showed great respect.
"We shall take you to meet His Majesty, the King of Giants! Please follow us, Lord Sun God!"
The group then boarded a large royal transport vehicle and headed toward the central area of the city.
Along the way, they passed through an enormous plaza.
At its center stood a gigantic stone statue.
"Is that the god of Elbaf?" Luffy asked curiously.
"That's right! May the God of Elbaf bless the giants!"
Luffy carefully observed the statue.
It was surrounded by flaming clouds carved from stone.
The figure kept its right foot resting atop a rock while raising its right fist forward.
"..."
It was the form of his awakened Zoan.
At that moment, a group of soldiers appeared in the distance.
At their center was a giant wearing a crown.
From a human perspective, he appeared to be around fifty years old.
"The King of Giants!"
Dorry and Brogy immediately knelt respectfully.
The king merely raised a hand slightly while his gaze fell upon Luffy.
"So you are the Yonko Straw Hat?"
"Yo, King of Giants. I'm Monkey D. Luffy."
The king burst into laughter.
"Wahahaha! So you are Joy Boy? The Sun God? I can finally witness the Nika form with my own eyes?"
After a brief pause, he continued:
"I already understand the reason for your visit. The Road Poneglyph will be handed over to you."
For such a simple request, Luffy naturally agreed.
With a single thought, he immediately entered his Nika form.
The white-silver body of the Sun God reflected within the giant king's eyes.
"As I thought... it truly is Nika. That appearance is recorded in our people's history."
The king sighed emotionally.
At that moment, Robin stepped forward and asked softly:
"King of Giants... is there a giant named Saul here?"
"Saul?"
The king looked surprised for a moment.
Then, after looking at Robin, he seemed to understand everything.
"I see... so you are Nico Robin, the survivor of Ohara."
He smiled faintly.
"Saul is here. In fact, Ohara's books are also inside the royal court's great library."
As he spoke, he looked back toward Luffy.
"Come. The Road Poneglyph is there as well. I will personally take you to it."
Leaving the plaza, everyone headed toward an enormous building.
That was the Great Library of the Giants.
And it was there that Robin finally reunited with the friend she had believed dead for twenty years.
The former Marine Vice Admiral, Jaguar D. Saul.
"Dereshishishi! Robin!"
Saul appeared to be working as a librarian.
The moment he saw Robin, he began laughing while tears streamed down his face.
"It's been twenty years! Looks like you finally found companions capable of accepting you! I knew it... the sea is vast!"
"Saul... you're really alive!"
Robin covered her mouth as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Luffy then reached out and gently patted her head.
"Don't make my archaeologist cry all of a sudden like that."
"So you are Monkey D. Luffy..."
Saul turned his gaze toward Luffy and spoke seriously:
"The Road Poneglyph you seek is here."
As he spoke, he pulled away a huge black cloth located at the center of the library.
Beneath the cloth stood the final red Road Poneglyph.
Luffy looked toward Robin.
Robin quickly wiped away her tears before walking toward the stone and beginning to carefully analyze it.
At the same time, Luffy asked:
"This is the Fish-Man Island Road Poneglyph? You were the one who brought it here?"
"That's right."
"But why?"
Saul then explained:
"When Roger reached the final island, he eventually turned himself in to the World Government. That's how the Marines discovered the existence of the red stones."
"Roger never revealed their locations, but the World Government's intelligence capabilities are terrifying. Two years after his death, the Government managed to locate one of the stones—the one from Fish-Man Island."
"At that time, I was already involved in the Ohara incident. After being defeated by Kuzan, I survived by sheer luck. Later, while returning to Elbaf, I passed through Fish-Man Island and brought the stone with me."
In short, Saul simply did not want the Road Poneglyph to fall into the hands of the World Government.
Because he had good relations with Kuzan and had once served as a Vice Admiral, he managed to discover the Government's movements and intercept the stone before they could obtain it.
"I see..."
Luffy nodded slightly.
The logic truly made sense.
But there was still one question.
"And what was your motivation?"
As if understanding Luffy's question, Saul burst into loud laughter once more.
"Dereshishishi! Monkey D. Luffy... now you possess all four Road Poneglyphs. With Robin's help, you'll soon reach the final island and become the new Pirate King!"
"I'm not interested in the title of Pirate King."
"Then do you intend to defeat the World Government and liberate the world?"
"Defeating Imu is inevitable."
Luffy smiled calmly.
Now, the four Road Poneglyphs had finally been gathered.
Laugh Tale no longer seemed so far away.
(End of Chapter)