"Of course!"
Compared to the other giants, Jarul's presence and condition had not been affected all that much.
After all, he was an old man who had weathered countless storms.
At the age of 345, his ability to accept any situation far surpassed that of others.
Only, when faced with Moria and the pirates behind him, even he could not help but feel a sense of awe toward the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates.
It could be said that, in his entire life, this was the first time he had ever seen a force on such a massive scale.
And more importantly…
This force was not even the full strength of the Straw Hat Pirates!
The true power of the Straw Hat Pirates was still hidden within the Pokémon Sea!
How was the scene before him any different from the World Government, whose rulers sat high above in their halls and conquered the world merely by dispatching a handful of subordinates?
No wonder a mere pirate crew had been able to force the World Government into such a corner.
This level of capability had already far surpassed the Pirate King Roger's crew of old!
At Jarul's signal, the nine defenders representing Elbaf walked out from the giants' formation one after another and arrived directly across from Moria.
Among them were none other than the former Emperor of the Sea, Red-Haired Shanks, and the Pirate King's Left Hand, Gaban.
The instant he saw Red-Hair, a dark gleam flashed deep within Moria's eyes, though his face curled into an eerie, wicked grin.
At the same time, the live broadcast abruptly turned toward the giants' formation. From a slanted forty-five-degree angle, the camera swept across the faces of the defenders one by one.
When it passed by Shanks and the other two humans, the camera suddenly widened and lowered by a section, highlighting the difference between them and the giants.
Naturally, this scene instantly left viewers across the world stunned on the spot.
In a certain plaza equipped with a giant screen, someone immediately cried out in shock:
"Wait a second! Did I see that right!? Those three figures that just flashed past looked like ordinary humans!?"
Because the camera had to account for the giants' size, the broadcast footage was basically framed around showing the giants' full bodies.
Shanks and the other two ordinary humans did not even reach the giants' heels. Combined with the image quality not being especially high-definition, it was very easy for people to overlook their existence.
But that sudden dip in the camera just now immediately made the public notice them.
"You didn't see wrong! Those really were three human figures!"
In the plaza, someone knowledgeable immediately began explaining.
Only, the speaker's voice was clearly trembling slightly at this moment as he stared excitedly at the giant screen overhead.
"And those three figures are absolutely not ordinary people. Although they only flashed by for an instant, if I'm not mistaken…"
"Two of those three humans are Shanks, captain of the former Emperor crew, the Red Hair Pirates, and his vice-captain, Benn Beckman!"
"What!? The Red Hair Pirates!? Why would they join the giants' side?"
"Who knows~ Maybe they don't want to see the Straw Hat Pirates subdue the giants and become the sole dominant force. Or maybe they already had some cooperation with Elbaf to begin with?"
"Hey!? Isn't this cheating? They're actually making the Straw Hat Pirates' subordinates fight a former Emperor… How are they supposed to beat that!?"
"Who cares? Either way, today's battle is definitely going to be amazing!"
"Damn, to think I'd actually be lucky enough to watch an Emperor make a move. My life is complete!"
"…"
"…"
With Red-Hair and the others appearing, discussion across the world suddenly surged.
Even within the Pokémon Sea, many citizens who were watching the live broadcast expressed strong emotions at the appearance of the Red Hair Pirates.
However, compared to the indifferent attitude of the outside world, they were far more direct. All of them were cursing Red-Hair for having no shame and saying things like, as a human, how could he join the giants' side?
After all, as subjects under the Straw Hat Pirates' rule, they naturally hoped that the Straw Hat Pirates would become stronger and stronger. That way, their safety and lives would have greater protection.
Even Red, who had taken a glance at the broadcast during the gap while his companions were taking turns grinding levels, was startled by the appearance of Red-Hair and the others.
"What's going on? Why did Red-Hair run over there?"
Red, who had originally thought that subduing Elbaf was only a minor incident, immediately grew serious, his gaze focusing on the screen.
At the same time, he used the Personal Terminal in his hand and had the intelligent AI Little Uta help him organize the entire chain of events.
The information shown in the live broadcast was limited, but that did not mean the information Red received was equally limited.
In fact, all of Morgans's subordinates were now equipped with a convenient little eavesdropping gadget Vegapunk had made out of boredom.
To put it simply, it could automatically collect nearby information and then transmit it into a large database.
After learning that such a convenient thing existed, Red had directly chosen to mass-produce it and send it to Morgans.
Although Morgans, as a disciplined writer, had never once said anything about joining the Straw Hats, in truth, he had long since become tied to the Straw Hat Pirates a very long time ago, and had done no small number of things to speak and act on the Straw Hats' behalf.
Naturally, Red would not forget the existence of this great contributor.
And with this little gadget, Morgans's ability to gather intelligence directly broke through the heavens.
Although the most official edition of the World Economy News still reported only major events at the national level or above each day, the small tabloids under its newspaper agency had all kinds of news flying everywhere.
Futures resources, underworld wars, celebrity gossip, official corruption…
With the assistance of intelligent AI, work that had once been complicated became incomparably simple and procedural.
All kinds of news were divided by region, categorized by type, and distributed to the suitable areas for that news, forming a unique big-data traffic flow.
As a result, nowadays, no matter how outrageous or crooked a name the best-selling newspapers or media channels on the market had, the true boss behind the scenes was actually Morgans, president of the World Economy News Paper.
And this also made Morgans earn money hand over fist.
In fact, if Morgans were not truly disciplined—someone who might greatly exaggerate facts to attract attention, but would not fabricate false news—then, with the sheer scale of his current control over public opinion, he could completely start one terrifying war after another using public opinion alone!
Only those who had truly experienced it would understand just how important public opinion was.
Otherwise, Red would not have supported Morgans so heavily.
And the benefit brought about by all this was…
As long as Red wanted to, he could likewise receive extremely detailed intelligence from all over the world.
As early as when Morgans's people were setting up various equipment, they had actually already recorded all the conversations between the giants into the database through the eavesdropping devices.
In the blink of an eye, the intelligent AI Little Uta finished organizing the intelligence from Elbaf.
And Red also came to understand the entire sequence of events that had led to Shanks appearing in Elbaf.
"Seriously, you stirred up something like this for no reason just to tease Luffy a little? You and Luffy really were carved from the same mold."
After learning the reason Shanks had joined Elbaf's side, Red felt speechless.
He really had no way of dealing with people who lacked any sense of logic like this.
Sometimes, he truly wondered whether Luffy was really Dragon's biological son.
He did not look like him at all.
Instead, he seemed to be in the same lineage as Roger and Shanks.
"Forget it. It's not that big a deal. I just hope Moria can withstand the pressure from Shanks."
After confirming that there were no unexpected circumstances, Red stopped paying attention to Elbaf's affairs.
Compared to the starry sky they were about to set out and explore, such trivial details could no longer enter their eyes.
Recently, the entire Straw Hat Pirates had been full of enthusiasm. In order to set out into outer space, each and every one of them had been putting in every ounce of effort, afraid of holding everyone else back.
On top of that, Red had also increased the dosage, using all the game currency he had accumulated previously to buy Poké Balls, helping his companions gain as much experience as possible.
Soon, Nami, Robin, and Jinbe, who were responsible for the handover, sent Red messages one after another saying that everything was ready.
Red then lay directly backward into the fully enclosed machine behind him that resembled a massage chair, sinking his consciousness into the game world.
In order to accelerate their growth, the members of the Straw Hat Pirates had practically not left their rooms recently. Even their three daily meals were distributed by intelligent robots.
Although only three people entered the game world each time, in order to deal with the various situations that might arise in outer space, the Straw Hats were now desperately studying all kinds of knowledge related to outer space.
Although very few people in the pirate world looked up at the starry sky, over so many years, they had still accumulated quite a bit of relevant knowledge, enough for Nami and the others to study for a while.
…
…
At the same time.
On the battlefield of Elbaf.
"Interesting! This is just too interesting!"
"When did Elbaf start having giants this short!?"
Seeing Shanks and the others appear, Moria immediately split his mouth into a grin and mocked them with a laugh.
Although there had once been an enormous gap in status between the two sides, now that he had boarded the Straw Hat Pirates' starship, his status had naturally risen along with the tide.
Moria had always been arrogant to begin with, and now, aside from people like Luffy and Red of the Straw Hat Pirates, he could be said to look down on absolutely everyone.
Even if the other party was stronger than him.
Because Moria had confidence. As long as he was given enough time…
He—or rather, everyone in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet—would definitely possess the power to stand above the world!
They had already become existences from two different worlds!
"Do the terms of your wager include a clause forbidding anyone other than giants from joining?"
Faced with Moria's mockery, Shanks did not get angry. He merely asked back in a calm tone.
And Moria, who had known of his existence long ago, naturally would not dwell on this point. After all, his goal was not to force Shanks out of this battle.
"No! Of course not!"
Moria's smile was overflowing, but his tone abruptly sharpened.
"Only, since you have the qualifications to represent Elbaf in battle, does that mean you are also a member of Elbaf!?"
"If Elbaf's side is defeated, then you, as well as the Red Hair Pirates behind you, must also submit to the Straw Hat Pirates and become members under the Straw Hats!"
"Are you truly prepared for that!?"
Submit, huh…
Hearing that word from one of Luffy's underlings, Shanks felt a strange sense of indescribable emotion.
But now, countless camera lenses were pointed right at his face, so naturally, he would not say anything else.
"Naturally! Since I've appeared here, do you think I'd be afraid of you?!"
Shanks shook the black cloak behind him.
To be honest, although he also knew that the power of Pokémon or whatever might have all sorts of effects, he truly did not think that Moria and this group could do anything to him with Pokémon power alone.
Just look at the other side. Almost all of them were people who had been out at sea for less than five years~
The only two old-timers were former Warlords of the Sea that Shanks had not even bothered to glance at back then.
Aside from Mihawk, in Shanks's eyes, not a single one of the other Warlords could withstand one move of his Divine Departure. He really did not think anyone on the opposing side could defeat him.
Moria, however, had a strange gleam flash through his eyes when he heard Shanks's answer.
"Good! Since you dare admit it in front of the entire world, I hope you won't go back on your word when you lose!"
After saying that, Moria raised his head again and fixed his gaze on Jarul's face.
"You're Elder Jarul, the one Hajrudin mentioned, right? On Elbaf's side, you should be the one responsible for overall coordination, correct?!"
"Since both our sides' personnel have now arrived, shouldn't we begin the battle?"
"Don't be in such a hurry, little one~"
Looking down at Moria, whose height barely reached his knee, Jarul's gaze darkened.
"Since our defenders have already appeared, shouldn't you also send out your challengers and let us have a look?"
"Hmph! Pointless."
Moria snorted lightly. But after his words fell, he still suddenly waved his hand.
In an instant, eight figures slowly walked out from the Straw Hat Grand Fleet's camp.
Red Flag—X Drake;
Mad Monk—Urouge;
Pirate Prince—Cavendish;
Surgeon of Death—Trafalgar Law;
Cannibal—Bartolomeo;
Wet-Haired—Caribou;
Big Eater—Jewelry Bonney;
And the one who appeared last, yet directly stood level with Moria…
Former Seven Warlords of the Sea, Pirate Empress—Boa Hancock!
Eight figures, plus Moria, made exactly nine people in total, forming an evenly matched contrast with Elbaf's defending camp on the opposite side.
Seeing this scene, many giants immediately turned their gazes toward Hajrudin.
For the other side to be able to immediately find challengers equal in number made it very hard for them not to suspect that the opposite side had already known the defenders' information from the start.
In response, Hajrudin immediately gave an awkward chuckle and lowered his head guiltily.
At this moment, Moria took the initiative to speak:
"Alright, according to the rules of this arena challenge, shouldn't you send out a defender first, and then we choose someone to challenge them?"
In order to ensure the greatest possible chance of victory, Moria had to set the tone from the very beginning. They absolutely could not allow random matchups.
Otherwise, if he really had to fight a former Emperor like Shanks…
What was he supposed to fight him with, his head!?
(End of Chapter)