???
No, seriously, bro?
We know you look down on Elbaf, but did you really have to trample your own dignity like this!?
Loki, the cursed prince who had never even put Emperor Shanks in his eyes and kept shouting that he would definitely take revenge, had actually surrendered of his own accord!?
The giants stared in disbelief as Loki walked farther and farther away.
Wait a second!?
Was something wrong here!?
Why had Loki followed Moria over to the Straw Hat formation!?
Holy crap!
There was a traitor among us!!!
Loki, not even bothering to put on an act, walked straight over to the Straw Hat side.
At that moment, even the people on the Straw Hat side looked at Loki in surprise as he inexplicably found himself a corner and sat down.
"Moria, what's going on here?"
Bartolomeo asked curiously.
Having read the intelligence reports, they naturally knew that Loki of Elbaf was a powerhouse second only to the Emperor level.
But they had never heard that this Loki had some kind of connection with the Straw Hat Pirates!
"Yishishishishi~"
Moria, who had long since guessed that everyone would ask, let out a sinister laugh. Then he said proudly,
"Can't you tell? Loki has been overwhelmed by my power and has decided to join the Moonlight Pirates. He already counts as one of our own!"
"What a shameless onion-headed bastard!"
Bartolomeo turned his head and spat under his breath.
He did not believe for a second that the cursed prince from the intelligence reports would be overwhelmed by Moria's power. If it had been the esteemed lords of the Straw Hat Pirates, that would have been one thing.
Still, after Moria's explanation, everyone more or less guessed the truth of the matter.
It seemed the Straw Hat Grand Fleet would soon welcome yet another terrifyingly powerful combatant!
Loki already possessed Admiral-level combat power. Once his strength underwent a leap through various Pokémon powers on top of that…
Just imagining that scene was enough to make one shudder.
Although they looked down on Moria's explanation, the battlefield was still being broadcast live to the entire world. And because of Loki's sudden defection, all the cameras were now pointed at the Straw Hat formation. For that reason, they did not go out of their way to slap Moria in the face.
On the giants' side, after letting out a deep sigh, Jarul also looked helpless as he forcefully shook the giant axe in his hand.
"Silence!!!"
Then his gaze swept lightly over Shanks and the other two, and his voice rang out old and heavy.
"I will personally take the field for the next battle!!!"
"Elder Jarul!"
The giant warriors were all visibly moved.
This was too humiliating!!!
It was not as if they had never imagined losing to the Straw Hat Pirates.
After all, the Straw Hats were now at the height of their power. Even if Elbaf really submitted to them, it was not something they could not accept.
But…
This was simply too humiliating!!!
From Dorry and Brogy, the two pirate captains who had forged the glory of the Giant Warrior Pirates over a hundred years ago, to Loki, who had just been enough to throw all of Elbaf into chaos…
Every battle the giants had fought had been stifling, and every defeat had been utterly thorough!
Even Hajrudin, who had likewise joined the Straw Hats, had erupted with power that shocked the giant race, yet he was still left in a miserable state at Cavendish's hands.
And now, when it came to Loki, he had directly pledged allegiance to the Straw Hats in front of the entire world!
Where were they supposed to put the old face of the giant race after this!?
They did not necessarily have to defeat the Straw Hats on the other side, but at the very least, they needed one evenly matched battle that could display the heroic bearing of Elbaf's warriors, right!?
But…
Looking at Elder Jarul, who had a giant sword stuck into the top of his head, the giants could not help letting out mournful cries in their hearts.
They no longer held much hope for victory.
They only prayed that Elder Jarul…
Would not die.
…
…
"So it's finally down to the last giant?!"
With the help of Perona and the others, as well as his own shadow, Moria once again imprisoned the Sea King shadows inside his body and grinned.
He tilted his head and smiled at Bartolomeo beside him.
"Barto, I'll leave this to you!"
"Yeah!"
Bartolomeo, who had just been mocking Moria moments ago, revealed a ruthless smile on his demon-like face when he saw Jarul enter the field.
He swung his arms in a full circle a few times, then raised the corner of his mouth.
"Finally, it's my turn!"
"If I kept waiting any longer, my body would've started rusting!"
As he spoke, a cloud of dust abruptly rose beneath Bartolomeo's feet. In a flash, he appeared directly in the center of the battlefield, arms folded across his chest, standing in a proud posture as he waited for Jarul, who had set off first.
"It's here! It's here! It's Barto from the Straw Hat Grand Fleet!"
"Aaaah, why is it this guy!? I want to watch Prince Cavendish!"
"Can you obsessive solo fans go die already!? This is a ring battle! Do you think this is some talent show stage!? You're actually picking and choosing now!?"
"Stop arguing, stop arguing! Just watch the war properly! Barto is the number two figure of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. In terms of rank, he's much higher than Moria, second only to the number one figure, Buggy. I wonder what kind of power Barto will display!"
"Hmph~ Just a clown and an idiot who got lucky and joined the Straw Hats early. What number one, number two? If we're talking real strength, Moria and Hancock were both former Warlords of the Sea. They're the strongest ones! Otherwise, why would the Straw Hat higher-ups hand such an important matter over to Moria to command!?"
"Idiot! There can't really be anyone who thinks the Warlords of the Sea are strong, right!? They were just a bunch of cowards who didn't have the guts to choose anything except surrendering to the World Government!"
"Bastard, what did you say!?"
"What? Not convinced? Come fight me one-on-one!"
"Fine! Who's afraid of you!!!"
"…"
"…"
In one noisy square after another, all kinds of incidents were taking place during the livestream, each just as wonderful as the broadcast itself.
But at that very moment, a huge roar suddenly came from the screen.
It turned out that while the audience had been arguing, Bartolomeo on the battlefield had already clashed with Jarul, the last elder of the giant race.
And that violent sound just now had been caused by Jarul swinging the heavy axe in his hand down toward Bartolomeo.
It was a simple and unadorned strike, yet it contained a violence ordinary people could scarcely comprehend. The entire land trembled violently, sending dust surging into the sky.
But very soon, a frivolous, mocking voice came from within the dust cloud.
"So this is the former captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates who forged Elbaf's glorious name!?"
"That strength is way too trashy, isn't it?!"
"It's so boring I don't even feel like activating my Pokémon-ization~"
Whoosh~
A breeze blew past, scattering the dust that filled the sky.
Within a dark green barrier, Bartolomeo was holding his hands in a strange gesture, arms crossed as he maintained the power of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
At that moment, a tear even seeped from the corner of his eye, while his mouth opened in a huge yawn, as if Jarul's attack just now had bored him so much he wanted to sleep.
"That's the power of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit!"
Jarul, who was already nearly four centuries old, was not so easily angered by Bartolomeo's few words like the giants behind him.
But when he looked at the barrier in front of Bartolomeo, he fell into a difficult position.
Before this, he had collected intelligence on several important members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. Naturally, he also knew just how unreasonable Barto's Devil Fruit ability was.
In truth, the moment Barto walked out of the Straw Hat formation, Jarul already knew that he was doomed to lose!
There was no helping it!
His strength was indeed impressive, but it was only slightly stronger than Dorry and Brogy's. Combined with his advanced age, even a giant's bodily functions had declined considerably.
And there was also this giant sword on his head…
Asking him to drag such a body around and defeat Barto, who held a pivotal position in the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, was truly thinking too highly of him!
But…
He had no choice but to fight!
If he did not fight, Elbaf's glory would truly be broken here!
Jarul had already prepared himself. Even if he had to stake his old life on it, he had to display Elbaf's spirit.
He absolutely could not allow the world to think that Elbaf, the mighty world's strongest nation that had looked down upon all others for centuries, was actually nothing more than this!
"Raaah~!!!"
Countless thoughts flashed through Jarul's mind.
He suddenly raised the giant axe in his hand, and his aura rose without limit.
At that moment, he was no longer the giant elder whose movements had grown sluggish.
His aged, turbid eyes blazed with endless fighting spirit and fire. In an instant, the giant axe was coated in both Armament Haki and Conqueror's Haki.
Sharp black lightning flashed around Jarul's body.
"Elbaf Glory · Hakoku Sovereignty!!!"
Boom!!!
Above the clear sky, it was as if a mysterious thunderbolt that split the heavens suddenly struck down onto the giant axe in Jarul's hand.
And Jarul took advantage of that momentum to bring the giant axe down. A vast, surging shockwave instantly flew out, charging fiercely toward Bartolomeo.
Everywhere the shockwave passed, the earth let out deafening wails as it was torn apart by the lightning spreading around it.
However, if the World Tree and the land of Elbaf truly had spirits, they were probably already used to this feeling.
After all, from morning until now, although not much time had passed, this land had already been thoroughly plowed over who knew how many times.
The terrifying attack arrived before Bartolomeo in the blink of an eye, then expanded once more in force, erupting with even greater power.
However…
Boom!!!
It was still only a fierce collision.
Jarul's attack landed on Bartolomeo's barrier like a wild rabbit running forward at full speed only to suddenly crash into a tree stump. It abruptly came to a halt and could not advance even an inch.
Inside the barrier, Bartolomeo revealed a crazed and cruel laugh, mocking him mercilessly.
"Useless! Useless!"
"An attack of that level won't have any effect no matter how many times you try!!!"
The barrier, which could ignore any attack from the material world, caused Bartolomeo's confidence to swell without limit.
If someone wanted to defeat him, ordinary attacks were useless!
Even an attack at the Emperor level could be easily blocked by the power of the Barrier-Barrier Fruit.
On land, there was only one way to truly harm Bartolomeo. That was to use a spatial ability or an overwhelming Conqueror's Haki shock to crush his mental defenses in one move, thereby preventing him from using his Devil Fruit ability.
Presumably, Shanks in the original timeline had used precisely such a method to break through Barto's barrier ability.
However, the current Bartolomeo, who had joined the Straw Hat Pirates early, could no longer be compared to the version of him in the anime timeline.
With his Pokémon template level raised, his mental resistance had naturally improved greatly as well.
Although it was not to the point where he could contend with someone like Shanks, who had tempered his Haki to the extreme, ordinary Conqueror's Haki below the Emperor level would no longer affect him at all.
At the very least…
Jarul's mere Conqueror's Haki was absolutely incapable of making his mind waver!
Boom!!!
Before Jarul's offensive had completely faded, a massive axe immediately descended from the sky, slamming down beside Bartolomeo.
"Hm?"
Sensing the whistling wind beside him, Bartolomeo clearly knew that the giant axe's flight path did not overlap with his own position, but he still cautiously used the power of his barrier to form a square cube, firmly protecting himself inside.
This was to prevent Jarul from attacking him from the side or from behind.
Sure enough, just as Bartolomeo's attention was drawn by the giant axe, Jarul used the momentum of the attack to suddenly arrive in front of him.
Just as Bartolomeo was wondering what Jarul was preparing to do, a huge palm abruptly reached toward the earth. It dug a massive pit out of the ground and lifted Bartolomeo, who was wrapped in his barrier ability, up all at once.
"Old man, what are you doing!?"
The sudden change left Bartolomeo slightly startled.
But just as he was wondering what was happening, Jarul closed his hand, tightly gripping Bartolomeo in his palm, then rapidly shook him.
"Elbaf Glory · Great Turning Wheel!!!"
Clang, clang, clang, clang…
Under the violent shaking, Bartolomeo's body instantly began smashing around inside the barrier.
He hurriedly shrank the range of his barrier, wrapping it tightly around his body so that he would collide as little as possible.
What he had not expected was that Jarul, who had always fought with broad, sweeping attacks, would actually choose to attack him in such a playful manner.
But this was also because Bartolomeo himself had no real experience fighting giants.
Among ordinary strong fighters, who could shake a living person like a toy the way giants could?
And very soon, Bartolomeo's counterattack came!
After stabilizing his body, he immediately controlled the barrier, forming it into a spiked sphere.
This caused countless scratches to appear on Jarul's palm every time he shook it.
Unfortunately, as a giant, Jarul did not care at all about such minor injuries. He was even too lazy to use Armament Haki.
The calluses on his hand had been tempered for more than three hundred years. How could they be cut open by a few mere spikes!?
And this also made Bartolomeo, who was in a severe state of weightlessness, realize something…
He had truly underestimated these giants.
"No choice, then. You forced me!"
A mysterious light of evolution bloomed from Bartolomeo's body. Even Jarul's tightly closed palm could not conceal that bright white radiance.
Although the evolutionary light vanished in a flash, Jarul noticed it with precision, and his heart instantly grew twelve times more vigilant.
But at that moment, a furious roar that seemed to pierce the heavens suddenly erupted from his palm.
"You bastard!!! Are you ever gonna stop shaking me!!!?"
(End of Chapter)