The battle ended quickly with Rocks’s victory.
The main reason was that Thor and Linlin had held their arm-wrestling match close to the coast.
With his swordsmanship that struck like a heavy hammer, Rocks sent Linlin flying into the sea with a single slash.
The moment she fell into the water, Linlin—being a Soul-Soul Fruit user—immediately lost all her strength.
Seeing the Devil Fruit user flailing helplessly as she drowned, Thor was kind enough to fish her out and save her life.
“Captain Rocks, so who won the arm-wrestling match?” one of the nearby pirates asked curiously.
“Obviously, it was a draw!”
Rocks cursed under his breath as he gathered up his enormous pile of treasure and carried it away.
Hachinosu had nearly been destroyed.
What terrible luck.
“Kukuku! Now that was interesting.”
Streusen, the chef of the Big Mom Pirates, had never seen Linlin suffer such an embarrassing defeat before.
So this was Prince Thor of the Giants—the boy Linlin had so often talked about from her childhood?
On the day Mother Carmel and the children of the House of Lambs disappeared, Streusen had witnessed what happened as well.
He had found the whole affair interesting, so he decided to join Linlin and form a pirate crew together, returning to the pirate life.
Streusen was the user of the Cook-Cook Fruit.
He could transform almost anything into food.
Only someone like him could easily keep Linlin’s enormous appetite satisfied.
Not long after Streusen and Linlin began their pirate careers together, the infamous Big Mom Pirates came into existence.
Later, Rocks heard of the Big Mom Pirates’ growing reputation.
He sought out Charlotte Linlin and defeated her crew in a Davy Back Fight, winning every member of the Big Mom Pirates and turning them into one of the crews under his banner.
And now—
Linlin had passed out after nearly drowning.
At eight meters tall, only a Giant could realistically carry her.
But the Giant warriors wanted to chop her apart with their swords.
There was absolutely no chance they would help.
Fortunately, that wasn’t a problem for Streusen.
The Big Mom Pirates naturally had something capable of carrying Linlin.
“Zeus, come over here and take Linlin back.”
“Okay~ Chef.”
A white cloud Homie slowly floated over.
All three of Linlin’s main Homies were already present—Zeus, Napoleon, and Prometheus.
Considering Linlin was currently in the prime of her youth, strong and beautiful, her combat power might actually be even greater now than Big Mom’s several decades later.
Zeus carried the unconscious Linlin away.
Meanwhile, the Giant warriors Bjorn and Sig approached Thor from behind.
“Prince Thor, the Naglfar is ready.”
“Good. We leave first thing tomorrow morning.”
The Viking Pirates planned to leave Hachinosu the next day.
Thor had no desire to get entangled with a troublesome woman like Linlin.
The Giant warriors wholeheartedly agreed.
Charlotte Linlin was a terrifying evil god!
That evening, Thor arranged to meet with Rocks.
Hachinosu had no buildings large enough to accommodate Giants, so the Giant warriors had erected a temporary camp near the shore where the Naglfar was docked and held a feast there.
“Hachinosu is seriously too small. Rocks, have you never thought about finding a bigger island to use as your territory?”
“Hahaha! Of course I have. I think Elbaph would be perfect.”
“Rocks, you idiot! Go die!”
Thor immediately began cursing. This story is hosted at g.com.
This bastard was actually setting his sights on Elbaph.
If Harald heard him say something like that, he would probably cut Rocks in half on the spot.
“I’m planning to search for the Devil Fruit I want, along with a territory suitable for development.”
“You’re not running away with your tail between your legs because you’re scared of Linlin, are you?”
“You bastard…!”
Thor almost couldn’t resist punching him.
Why did this idiot have such an infuriating mouth?
“Whatever! I’m done wasting words with you. I need to borrow someone.”
“Oh? Who do you want to borrow? Don’t tell me it’s Linlin.”
Rocks deliberately put on a surprised expression.
Thor’s fist clenched.
No…
He had to endure it.
When Lord Imu corrupted Rocks someday, Thor would personally send him on his way!
“I want to ask Big Brother Shiki for some help. I need the power of his Float-Float Fruit.”
“Oh? So this involves me?”
Golden Lion Shiki, who had been drinking with the Giants nearby, immediately floated over.
He had wondered why Thor had specifically invited him to drink today.
So the brat needed a favor after all.
“I want to go to the sky islands. The Devil Fruit I’m looking for should be up there.”
“Sky islands? What the hell are those?”
“Islands ten thousand meters in the air, above a sea of clouds.”
“You’re screwing with me, right?”
Shiki took a large swig of alcohol.
His Flying Pirates traveled through the skies all the time.
How had he never encountered a place like that?
“The place is recorded in Elbaph’s history. We’ll know once we go and look.”
Thor lied with a completely straight face.
Giants lived long enough, and Elbaph’s history stretched back far enough, that Thor could invent whatever he liked without much difficulty.
“Oh? Interesting. I want to see it too!”
Rocks’s eyes lit up.
If sky islands really existed, who wouldn’t want to take a look?
“Hey, Captain. If you leave again right after coming back, there won’t be anyone here capable of keeping Hachinosu under control.”
“Tch! I know!”
Rocks was immediately annoyed by Shiki’s reminder.
The pirates gathered on Hachinosu were all vicious criminals.
Only Rocks could suppress them.
After all, Linlin, Captain John, Wang Zhi, and many of the others had been won over through Davy Back Fights.
Fundamentally, they weren’t truly loyal to Rocks.
Shared interests were enough to keep the Rocks Pirates together while Rocks himself was present.
But if Rocks disappeared?
The members of the Rocks Pirates could beat each other senseless before the day was over.
“Fine! If these sky islands really exist, I’ll go see them another time.”
“Exactly, exactly. I’ll scout the place out for you first, Captain.”
Golden Lion Shiki eagerly agreed.
At that moment, he looked less like a Golden Lion and more like a golden retriever.
Thor’s guess proved correct.
After Rocks got drunk and left, Shiki approached Thor privately and revealed his true intentions.
“Hey, brat. If these sky islands really exist, Rocks is definitely going to claim them for himself.”
“I think that would be a waste.”
“How about we work together? With my ability and the strength of you Giants, we can turn the sky islands into our own territory.”
Golden Lion Shiki had made an extremely tempting proposal.
Thor gave him an identical grin.
“I agree. But how are we going to explain it to Rocks afterward?”
“Hahaha! Don’t underestimate me. With my ability, I can easily make an entirely new sky island.”
“Good. Then that’s what we’ll do.”
The two reached an agreement.
Practically every member of the Rocks Pirates was a potential traitor.
Thor was no exception.
Golden Lion Shiki’s Float-Float Fruit was an incredibly powerful ability.
With it, traveling between the sky islands and the Blue Sea would be effortless.
And there was also Shandora, the City of Gold, up in the sky.
An excellent strategic location that came with enough gold to rival an entire nation as startup capital.
The sky islands were practically heaven-sent.
…
Early the next morning, Thor ripped an entire house straight out of Hachinosu’s ground, carried it aboard the Naglfar, and placed it on the table in his captain’s cabin.
“Big Brother Shiki, I’ll be relying on you for a while.”
“Hahaha! So this is the strength of the Giants. Working together with you really was the right choice.”
Golden Lion Shiki walked out of the house.
Captain Rocks had always wanted to ally with Harald because the power of the Giant race was something even the World Government feared.
Now Shiki had a chance to grasp that strength for himself.
If he joined forces with Prince Thor of the Giants, then once Thor became king of Elbaph, conquering the entire world would no longer be just a dream.
Everything was ready.
The Naglfar was about to set sail.
At that moment, Linlin suddenly appeared, riding atop the cloud Zeus.
“THOR! YOU STOP RIGHT THERE!!”
Linlin flew over the Naglfar, then leaped down in front of Thor.
“Linlin, what do you want?”
“I won yesterday’s match! We had a deal—you have to become my husband!”
“Yesterday’s match was a draw. Captain Rocks said so.”
Thor spoke without expression.
At the same time, he neatly tossed the hot potato named Linlin straight at Rocks.
“What?! Rocks, you bastard!!”
Thor’s misdirection worked perfectly.
Every ounce of Linlin’s anger instantly shifted onto Rocks.
Rocks had still been standing onshore seeing Thor and the others off.
The moment he realized Linlin was charging toward him, his expression changed dramatically.
“Seriously?! Again?!”
“Rocks, you idiot! Die!!”
“You’re the one who should die, you perverted woman! You’re trying to get your hands on a child!!”
Seeing Rocks and Linlin immediately begin beating the hell out of each other, Thor hurriedly shouted to his Giant crew.
“Quick! Set sail while we have the chance!”
And so, with Rocks and Linlin still cursing and pummeling each other behind them— the Naglfar departed.