Chapter 291: Elbaf Has Waited for Thirty Years
Elbaf, Orst Castle.
The legend among warriors, 'Mountain Beard' Jarul, was standing outside the castle.
A raven named 'Munin' perched on his shoulder—it had been by his side since the days when he roamed the sea as the captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates.
"Mm... I understand..."
At this moment, listening to the news from Dorry and Brogy relayed by Munin, Jarul nodded and waited quietly.
"The Zodiac..."
He muttered the name softly.
Although most Giants living in Elbaf were unfamiliar with this organization, Jarul was clearly not among them—his age and status were enough for him to understand many things from overseas.
Especially his experiences from thirty years ago, which made him deeply anticipate the arrival of this Zodiac member.
And in fact, he didn't have to wait long.
VMMM!
At a certain moment, Jarul suddenly saw the scene within his field of vision change.
He saw illusory objects emerging out of thin air—massive heavenly palaces among them, an island floating in the sky, pyramid-like buildings, clusters of pitch-black mist, and even an inverted sky.
Before him, only three figures appeared out of thin air.
They were Dorry, Brogy, and Uma.
"This is truly..." ×2
The expressions of Dorry and Brogy clearly showed astonishment.
Even for them, veterans who had once roamed the sea, the scenes they had just witnessed could only be called 'unbelievable'.
"As expected of a member of the same organization as 'Saru'... to actually have such an ability."
"Who is stronger, you or Saru—how about we have a fight after you meet Prince Regent Hajrudin?"
They couldn't even bother to greet Jarul before exclaiming in admiration.
Especially Dorry, who couldn't help but rub his hands together.
Since returning to Elbaf, he and Brogy hadn't fought an opponent other than a Giant in a long time.
"Just some minor tricks for traveling."
Uma calmly closed the book emitting starlight in his hands.
The next moment, all the illusory shadows in the surroundings vanished without a trace.
Or more precisely—all the illusions seemed to have been absorbed directly into the book.
"As for fighting, there's no need. I serve as an 'administrator' in the organization and am not skilled at combat."
He politely declined their invitation.
"Eh?!"
Dorry and Brogy were greatly disappointed.
"Don't say that—how would we know without fighting?"
"Gababababa—that's right! After Brogy and I were defeated by Saru, we've developed a new move recently!"
They wouldn't take Uma at his word—judging from the abilities they had just seen, the other party's combat power was absolutely astonishing.
Although they didn't dare assert the other party was stronger than Saru, he was definitely the kind of monster that would turn heads even in Elbaf.
"Dorry, Brogy."
But exactly at this moment, Jarul walked over.
"Chief Jarul!" ×2
Dorry and Brogy immediately stopped talking and turned to face him.
"Prince Regent Hajrudin has agreed to Lord Uma's request for a meeting. This old man will take him in—and you two, forcing a guest to fight is not how we treat guests."
Jarul said sternly.
"Huh? It isn't?" ×2
Dorry and Brogy both widened their eyes, looking genuinely surprised—in Elbaf, isn't fighting the best way to treat guests?
Jarul: "..."
The old Giant's beard trembled with anger, and he finally swung the wooden staff in his hand fiercely, cracking it against their heads.
Bang!
Bang!
The massive force and violent Armament Haki instantly drew two cries of pain from Dorry and Brogy, and two large bumps immediately sprouted atop each of their heads.
"..."
Watching this scene, the pupils beneath Uma's mask shrank slightly.
Good heavens...
Very strong.
He made this judgment immediately—although it wasn't a real battle, the power this old Giant unleashed in that single strike was extremely astonishing.
"Although I've long heard that 'Mountain Beard' was the 'strongest warrior' of the era three hundred years ago, can he still possess this level of strength at over three hundred years old?"
Even Uma found it somewhat hard to believe.
He clearly remembered that during her childhood, Big Mom had defeated the other legendary hero of the Giant race, 'Waterfall Beard' Jorul, who was equally famous as this 'Mountain Beard', causing the latter's death.
If Jarul still had this level of strength at three hundred, the childhood Linlin didn't look like someone capable of killing a powerhouse of this caliber, no matter how you looked at it.
But Jarul naturally didn't know Uma's thoughts.
He merely said in a deep voice to Dorry and Brogy: "You two, obediently go back to the village and inspect the damage caused by the earthquake just now."
"Yes!" ×2
Dorry and Brogy, sporting large bumps on their heads, looked at each other, then could only weakly agree before turning to leave.
However, judging by the way they winked at Uma before departing, the meaning was still very obvious—let's have a go another day, brother?
Uma: "..."
While Uma was feeling helpless toward the two belligerent Giants—
"Lord Uma."
He heard Jarul's voice.
He turned his head and saw Jarul looking at him with a serious expression.
"Please follow me into the castle. Prince Regent Hajrudin is waiting for you."
Whether it was Uma's imagination or not, the old Giant's aged eyes seemed to carry both anticipation and solemnity.
"Mm."
Uma took a long look at this legend of the Giant race.
Then he followed him into the castle.
Just as mentioned before, Orst Castle was built by the previous King Harald, and even for Giants, it was considered an incredibly massive structure.
Unlike in the original story, this castle had not been abandoned due to Harald's death; on the contrary, it was very well-maintained.
Ancient and massive Giant race decorations hung everywhere throughout the castle.
But inside, there wasn't a single guard—completely at odds with what Uma had heard from Brogy and Dorry on the way here.
According to them, the most elite 'Royal Giant Guards' should be stationed in this castle year-round.
"Having all the guards withdraw in advance... as expected, there's an important matter to discuss."
Looking at this clearly abnormal 'treatment', Uma became even more certain of his guess.
And sure enough—
Rumble!
When Jarul pushed open the massive doors before him, accompanied by a heavy sound, Roy saw the Giant sitting inside the castle.
Long, dark brown hair, a black beard, and massive metal arm guards—the appearance of Elbaf's Prince Regent 'Hajrudin' was exactly the same as the captain of the 'New Giant Warrior Pirates' from the original story that Uma knew.
The only difference was that right now, Hajrudin was not wearing the metal helmet from the original story.
Instead, he wore a crown resembling double wings.
And this was exactly where the problem lay.
[Discovered Source Energy of Lineage Factor creation 'Crown of Wisdom']
[When performing important thinking, it can enhance one's wisdom to make relatively 'correct' decisions]
[It contains Source Energy of Lineage Factor]
The moment he saw Hajrudin, this prompt had already appeared from the Fruit Encyclopedia at the bottom of Uma's vision.
But before Uma could react—
"Lord Uma, The Zodiac."
He heard Hajrudin's voice.
This Prince Regent slowly rose from the throne, his gaze burning as he looked at Uma.
"My elder brother, myself, and Elbaf have waited for thirty-one years... now, you have finally returned to this sea."
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