The coast of Hachinosu was unusually lively.
A considerable number of pirates had gathered there, including several members of the Rocks Pirates.
If Rocks had simply returned by himself, naturally nobody would have made such a big deal out of it.
Over the past year or two, Rocks had frequently left the island.
His departures and returns were nothing unusual anymore.
Who had the free time to welcome him home every single time?
But this time, Rocks had brought someone back.
“Whoa!
That guy’s huge!”
“A kid?
Is that an enormous kid?”
“Hey, seriously?
Even for a giant, judging from his face he’s obviously still a child, right?”
“How can a kid be that enormous?!”
“Why are his eyes covered in bandages?”
“Did Hua Ye go with Rocks?”
“…”
Countless pirates craned their necks upward as they stared at the giant child stepping off the raft alongside Rocks and Hua Ye.
Naturally, the oversized child was Loki.
The moment he set foot on the island, countless eyes locked onto him.
Loki looked around just as curiously.
“So this is Rocks’ territory?”
Like a young beast leaving its den for the first time, Loki was fascinated by everything in the outside world.
So far, however, Hachinosu had given him only one real impression.
There were a lot of people here.
“Rocks, why did you bring this guy back?
What did you do?”
Newgate approached them.
“Newgate, you came to welcome me?
How formal.” Rocks laughed.
“It was Hua Ye’s idea.
He insisted on bringing Loki along.”
“Don’t be ridiculous.”
Newgate snorted.
Still, after hearing that Hua Ye had been the one to push for it, he looked at Hua Ye a little more carefully.
Hua Ye gave him a small nod.
Newgate naturally returned it.
Thinking about it, since Hua Ye appeared on Hachinosu, the two of them had never actually spoken to each other.
“Are you insane, Rocks?
Did your brain finally rot?” Shiki tilted his head back to stare at Loki, who towered countless times higher than everyone else.
“Who the hell are you expecting to raise this kid?”
“The Giant King is going to kill you when he finds out!” Captain John burst into laughter and immediately followed it with another gulp of alcohol.
“Harald and I aren’t friends anymore.”
Rocks looked around.
“Linlin isn’t here?”
At that, Shiki laughed so hard tears appeared in his eyes.
“Linlin got into a fight with that brat Kaido!
No idea what happened!”
“Oh?
I missed something entertaining?
What a shame.”
Rocks looked genuinely disappointed.
Hua Ye’s thoughts shifted.
He could guess what had happened.
Before Hua Ye left the island, Kaido had secretly gone to meet him.
Charlotte Linlin must have found out.
She had probably warned Kaido to stay away from Hua Ye.
What a touching sibling-like relationship.
Those two would eventually die together too…
“Hey, Loki!
Want to come drink with us?
Are you even old enough?”
Ochoku was present as well and jokingly called up toward Loki.
“What did you say?!
Who are you looking down on?!”
Loki swung his enormous iron club several times, clearly trying to show he wasn’t someone to provoke.
Instead, the surrounding pirates burst into wild laughter.
Obviously, nobody took Loki seriously.
Even though his body was two or three times larger than that of an ordinary giant, he was far too young.
With Loki’s talent, how many people here could confidently claim they would always be stronger than him?
Shiki?
Newgate?
Rocks?
But right now, none of that mattered to them.
Loki had grown up in a very particular environment and had become extremely sensitive to the emotions of the people around him.
He had inherited the blood of both his parents, yet from the moment of his birth, his own mother had abandoned him because of his monstrous eyes and cast him down into the Underworld.
Even until the moment of her death, she had blamed every misfortune Elbaph suffered on Loki’s curse.
That was why people called him the “Accursed Prince.”
And Loki himself had been a little demon throughout the land of giants.
He rarely did anything good.
He caused plenty of trouble.
“Damn it!”
Loki’s huge body trembled with anger.
“Loki.”
Hua Ye called his name softly.
“Go defeat everyone looking down on you.”
His tone remained calm.
“Respecting strength and despising weakness is part of a pirate’s nature.”
Hm?!
Loki’s ears practically perked up.
The idea immediately tempted him.
And that wasn’t merely pirate nature.
Loki himself believed much the same thing.
He was different from his father.
Elbaph was a nation of warriors!
“A fight?”
Rocks heard Hua Ye and immediately burst into laughter.
“Now that sounds fun!”
Rocks certainly wasn’t a kindhearted man himself.
The first time he met Loki years ago, he had deliberately injured the child.
Loki had been much smaller back then.
Why had Rocks done it?
Because if Loki got hurt, his father Harald would surely return home.
And then Rocks would finally get another chance to meet Harald.
So when Hua Ye openly encouraged Loki to start fighting people the moment he arrived on Hachinosu, Rocks not only refused to stop him—he looked ready to enjoy the show.
Perhaps he also wanted to see how strong Loki had become.
“What fight?”
Some pirates nearby were still confused.
Then Loki raised his enormous spiked iron club and started swinging it with terrifying force.
Screams immediately followed.
Several pirates who hadn’t reacted in time were flattened into speed bumps beneath the rampaging giant child.
Loki charged through the harbor like an out-of-control beast.
He hit anyone he saw and smashed every building in his way.
In his mind, this was the best possible way to announce that he wasn’t someone to mess with.
The entire harbor instantly descended into chaos.
“You’ve got to be kidding me!
Does every drop of giant blood contain some kind of battle-crazed gene?!” Shiki stared at the destruction in disbelief.
“Ridiculous.”
Newgate looked thoroughly speechless.
The whole development had happened so suddenly that he genuinely wanted to complain.
“That brat’s pretty entertaining.
Makes me want to go play with him myself!” John laughed.
“Come on.
You want to bully a child?”
Ochoku covered his face while laughing.
One eye peered between his fingers and briefly settled on Hua Ye before shifting away.
Why had Hua Ye encouraged Loki to fight?
More importantly, why had Loki actually obeyed him?
Rocks clearly had no particular interest in recruiting Loki.
And considering it had been Hua Ye who insisted on bringing the giant prince back…
Ochoku’s instincts told him there was something going on beneath the surface.
By now, the pirates had recovered from Loki’s sudden rampage.
“What the hell is wrong with this brat?!”
“Did Rocks tell him to do this?”
“No way!
Is he throwing a tantrum or something?”
“Hahaha!
I love tender young boys like this.
Come here and let uncle give you some affection!”
“Hey, hey!
Don’t hit him too hard!”
What pirate would simply accept being attacked without fighting back?
As for why Loki had started this whole thing, nobody cared.
Before long, an enormous muscular man more than three meters tall stepped forward.
A giant blade longer than his own body rested over one shoulder.
“Giant brat!
I’m the Bloodthirsty Demon Sword!”
He stuck out his tongue with a deranged grin.
“So what?” Loki replied impatiently.
“Let me show you my enormous sword!”
The Demon Sword leapt high into the air, raised his massive blade overhead, and brought it crashing down toward Loki.
Loki lifted his iron club in front of himself.
CLANG!!
Sword and club collided with an ear-splitting metallic impact.
The two struggled briefly.
Then Loki was forced backward.
“Hahaha!
Demon Sword is famous even out on the sea!
How could some oversized weakling of a kid beat him?!”
“Boys!
Place your bets!
How many moves can the giant brat last?
I say three at most!”
“Ten thousand Berries says he goes down in three seconds!”
“OOOOOH!”
Fine alcohol, women, and gambling.
The three great loves of pirates.
The atmosphere immediately became heated.
Hua Ye, Rocks, and the others stood off to one side.
They had no interest in joining that particular game.
They were more interested in seeing how Loki performed in a chaotic battle like this.
“Should we call a doctor ahead of time?” Newgate asked casually.
“Quit worrying about things that aren’t your problem, Newgate.” Shiki glanced sideways at Hua Ye.
“Hua Ye seems awfully confident in him.”
“He’ll become stronger than all of you,” Hua Ye said calmly.
The expressions of several people nearby immediately darkened.
What kind of ridiculous bragging was that?
That kid Loki was going to surpass them?
How far was Hua Ye planning to inflate this nonsense?
“You think he’ll win?” Rocks asked.
“As long as he learns to use his true power during the fight.”
Hua Ye kept his eyes on the battlefield.
Rocks remembered what had happened aboard the ship.
Hua Ye had given Loki some kind of power.
Was that what he meant?