Meanwhile, far away in the New World, the second half of the Grand Line—lay the giant kingdom of Elbaf.
Unlike the warm winds of the West Blue or the bizarre, unpredictable weather of the first half of the Grand Line, Elbaf’s sea breeze carried a biting chill that never seemed to fade.
There was something else in that wind as well.
The unmistakable spirit of battle.
It swept endlessly across a land renowned throughout the world for producing mighty warriors.
For the past two years, the infamous Rocks Pirates had remained in Elbaf, conducting what could very generously be called “friendly negotiations.”
Their goal was simple.
They wanted an alliance with Harald, the powerful king and leader of Elbaf’s warriors.
Inside the giant royal city stood a magnificent hall carved from a single colossal mass of stone.
At its center was an enormous stone dining table built for giants.
The members of the Rocks Pirates sat around it, looking almost comically small beside the gigantic plates of food surrounding them.
Yet not a single giant present dared underestimate them.
Their bodies might have looked tiny in comparison, but the invisible pressure radiating from these pirates was enough to make even Elbaf’s proud warriors wary.
At the head of the table sat the man whose name already shook the world…
Rocks D.
Xebec.
In one hand, he held a wooden drinking mug almost as large as a barrel.
Without saying a word, Rocks repeatedly poured Elbaf’s powerful liquor down his throat.
Empty.
Refilled.
Empty again.
Judging from the slight crease between his brows, he was clearly in a terrible mood.
Only moments earlier, Harald, the mighty king of Elbaf, had once again rejected his proposal for an alliance.
Damn stubborn rock…
Rocks cursed silently.
Without Harald and the full support of Elbaf’s giant warriors, his insane ambition to overturn the existing world order and become King of the World would become far more difficult.
There were two Devil Fruits Rocks had been trying to obtain for a long time.
One of them was very likely somewhere in Elbaf.
More importantly, Rocks believed Harald himself needed to eat it in order to bring out the fruit’s true power.
In short, if Rocks wanted to fulfill his earth-shaking ambition…
Elbaf was crucial.
“Mm-hmm…
Got it.”
CLICK.
An ill-timed voice broke the heavy silence inside the hall.
A burly man dressed in a black pinstriped suit lowered the Den Den Mushi in his hand.
A thick cigar hung from his mouth, and irritation was written plainly across his face.
“Jihahahaha!”
A man sitting nearby burst into his unmistakable laugh.
Wild golden hair flowed around his head like a lion’s mane.
It was none other than the Golden Lion, Shiki.
He casually swirled the liquor in his enormous cup.
“What’s wrong, Malone?”
Shiki grinned.
“You look like you just swallowed a dead rat.”
The man called Malone was the head of the largest mafia family in the West Blue.
He was also one of the core officers of the Rocks Pirates.
Malone casually reached for a grape beside him.
Of course, this was Elbaf.
The “grape” was almost the size of a watermelon.
He took a vicious bite out of it.
“Nothing important, Shiki.”
Malone chewed before continuing.
“Just a message from those brats I left behind to manage my businesses in the West Blue.”
He snorted.
“Apparently, that pirate crew that’s been causing trouble for them finally slipped into the Grand Line.”
Nearby sat a fat man with three layers of chin and a strangely forked tongue.
Wang Zhi.
He was busy sawing through a slab of roasted meat larger than his entire body when he joined the conversation through a mouthful of food.
“Hm?
I think you’ve mentioned them before.”
He hacked off another piece of meat.
“That brat who tore apart several of your important bases and cost you a mountain of Berries?”
“Hmph.”
Malone spat the grape seeds aside.
“He’s nothing but a lucky little clown.”
His voice dripped with contempt.
“I heard the one leading them is some jellyfish that ate the Human-Human Fruit.
A ridiculous half-baked ability user.”
Malone took another bite.
“He can swagger around and pretend he’s somebody in backwater seas like the Four Blues.” The source of this chapter is g.com.
His eyes narrowed.
“But with that level of strength?
If he’s smart enough to know his place, maybe he’ll survive in the first half of the Grand Line for a while.”
“Mamamamama…”
A tall, voluptuous woman wearing heavy lipstick and eyeshadow slowly licked her lips.
“A jellyfish in human form?”
Her eyes gleamed with amusement.
“What an interesting combination…”
Then she smiled.
“I wonder what kind of children we’d have together?”
“Hahaha!”
Another pirate laughed.
“Malone, need us to lend you a hand?
Once Harald finally accepts Rocks’s proposal, crushing one little bug on the way would hardly take any effort.”
“No need, Ganz.”
Malone waved him off before lifting a slab of roasted meat larger than his torso and tearing into it.
“He’s just some rookie pirate with a pathetic bounty of sixty-nine million Berries.”
Malone scoffed.
“Someone like that isn’t worth mobilizing the Rocks Pirates over.”
His expression turned colder.
“But if he doesn’t know his place and actually dares set foot in the New World…”
A chilling light flashed through Malone’s eyes.
He didn’t finish the sentence.
He didn’t need to.
Everyone understood exactly what he meant.
Throughout the entire conversation, Rocks continued drinking in silence.
He hadn’t shown the slightest interest in the matter.
His gaze seemed to pass through Elbaf’s thick clouds and stare toward something far beyond them.
To true monsters like the people gathered around this table—pirates whose bounties had long since crossed one hundred million, and in some cases several hundred million—
A sixty-nine million berry rookie who had just crawled out of the West Blue and entered the Grand Line was nothing.
At most, he was a tiny ripple appearing for a moment across the endless sea.
Not even worth turning their heads to look at.
…
By this time, the Jellyfish Pirates had already finished resting and resupplying at Whisky Peak.
The Swordfish was once again at sea, carrying an excited crew toward the mysterious island known as Little Garden.
Unfortunately…
The Grand Line had decided to remind these newcomers from the West Blue exactly why it had such a terrible reputation.
“AAAAAACHOOOOO!”
A thunderous sneeze erupted from Captain Sammy, loud enough to nearly shake the icicles hanging from the rigging.
He was wrapped in so many layers of clothing that he looked less like a pirate captain and more like an oversized polar bear.
“Boss, did you catch a cold?”
Aldo asked from beside him.
He was bundled up just as heavily, with only half his face visible beneath layers of winter clothing.
A wooden snow shovel rested in his hands.
“Bullshit!”
Sammy rubbed his bright red nose.
His voice came out muffled through the thick scarf wrapped around his face, but his irritation remained perfectly clear.
“Your captain is strong as an ox!
How the hell could I possibly catch a cold?!
This is obviously because-”
“AAAAAACHOOOOO!”
Another enormous sneeze violently interrupted his defense.
Sammy froze.
Then he slowly raised his head.
Beyond the railing, which was buried beneath a thick layer of snow, the sky remained a miserable gray.
Huge snowflakes continued pouring down without the slightest sign of stopping.
Sammy stared at it.
His eye twitched.
The frustration he had been holding back for the entire day finally exploded.
“HAAAAAANS!!!”
Sammy’s furious roar tore through the blizzard.
“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING?!”
The crew shoveling snow nearby immediately lowered their heads.
“Didn’t you swear yesterday that we’d PERFECTLY avoided the heart of the blizzard?!”
Sammy pointed furiously at the storm raging around them.
“THEN WHY HAS THIS DAMN SNOW BEEN FOLLOWING US FOR AN ENTIRE DAY?!”
His voice rose even louder.
“AND WHY THE HELL IS IT GETTING WORSE?!”
“ARE YOU NAVIGATING US AWAY FROM THE BLIZZARD OR FOLLOWING ITS DAMN ROUTE?!”
He threw his arms wide.
“WHAT, ARE WE BEST FRIENDS WITH THIS STORM NOW?!
DOES IT MISS US WHEN WE TRY TO LEAVE?!”
At this point, the Swordfish looked nothing like the clean vessel that had sailed out of Whisky Peak.
Snow buried the deck.
Snow covered the masts.
Snow clung to every rope and railing.
From a distance, the ship probably looked like a floating mountain of ice drifting across the sea.
Every crewman was bundled beneath layer after layer of clothing.
They worked desperately with shovels, clearing the snow that continued piling onto the deck faster than anyone wanted to admit.
Every breath became a cloud of white mist before instantly disappearing into the storm.
And Hans, the navigator whose name Sammy had just screamed loud enough for half the Grand Line to hear, was curled up beside the helm where the wind was slightly weaker.
Snow covered his head and shoulders.
He looked less like a navigator and more like a badly built snowman.
Hans adjusted his glasses.
They had nearly frozen solid.
“B-Boss!”
His teeth were practically chattering.
“Trust me one more time!
I’m serious!
This time I’ve definitely got it!”
Sammy stared at him.
Hans swallowed.
“Based on the changes in wind speed, cloud thickness, and seawater temperature…”
His confidence visibly weakened for half a second.
“We just need to…uh…”
Hans hurriedly looked over his calculations.
“Lower the mainsail and the forward triangular sail!”
He pointed toward the rigging.
“Leave only one staysail up so we maintain enough speed!”
Then he grabbed the helm.
“Hard to starboard!”
His voice suddenly grew more confident.
“Adjust our heading to east-northeast!”
Hans pointed through the blinding snow.
“If we do that, we should be able to ride along the edge of this wind current and cut our way out of the blizzard!”
Sammy stared at the pathetic, snow-covered navigator.
For a moment, he couldn’t even find the words.
He sucked in a deep breath of freezing air and desperately resisted the urge to throw Hans overboard so the man could “cool his head.”
Finally—
“FINE!”
Sammy roared.
“LOWER THE MAINSAIL AND THE FORWARD TRIANGULAR SAIL!”
The crew immediately moved.
“LEAVE ONE STAYSAIL UP TO KEEP OUR SPEED!”
Sammy pointed toward the helm.
“HARD TO STARBOARD!”
Then he thrust a finger toward the storm.
“CHANGE COURSE TO EAST-NORTHEAST!”
Hans frantically nodded.
Sammy’s eyes narrowed dangerously.
“And Hans…”
The navigator stiffened.
“If this doesn’t work again…”
Sammy’s smile became terrifying.
“I’M TYING YOU TO THE BOW AND USING YOU AS THE SHIP’S FIGUREHEAD!”
“…”
The surrounding crew quietly watched the heartwarming exchange between their captain and navigator.
Then, without saying a word, every single one of them lowered their heads…
and began shoveling snow twice as hard.
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