"Dare to... dare to... destroy Elbaf! Those bastards! Damn bastards! I'll kill them! Tear every single one of them apart!"
Bang!
Only halfway through the story, Big Mom became instantly enraged. Her terrifying Conqueror's Haki surged out uncontrollably like a flash flood.
Her eyes turned bloodshot, her fury no less intense than during her episodes of 'hunger pangs'.
Naruto, understanding the old woman's feelings, didn't interrupt her outburst. Instead, he used pure mental energy to isolate her Conqueror's Haki, lest the children be frightened.
—Although Big Mom's expression had already caused many of the giant children present to close their eyes in fear.
According to Hajrudin and the others' account, Elbaf's destruction wasn't entirely without warning.
The first sign was the disappearance of Elbaf's guard squads.
The mysterious vanishing of patrol squads had already raised alarms. Elder Jorul had made a judgment at that time.
He consolidated military forces while temporarily gathering giants from more remote settlements to prevent the enemy from picking off isolated individuals.
This news even reached Gaban, who was living in seclusion in Elbaf.
However, precisely because of this, Gaban was able to lend timely assistance during the subsequent attack… otherwise, Hajrudin's group wouldn't have had a chance to escape.
"Elder Jorul's judgment was reasonable. He just underestimated the strength of the attackers."
Sitting on stone stools Naruto had temporarily conjured for their giant friends, Hajrudin recounted the events with lingering fear.
There had been intruders in Elbaf before, bold enough to attack and capture giants. This wasn't new.
With so many bizarre Devil Fruit users on the sea, it wasn't impossible for one or two ill-intentioned individuals to acquire abilities that countered giants.
Elder Jorul's decision to bring isolated giants back to the city was sound, especially since even a patrol squad could vanish silently, indicating the attackers were no ordinary opponents.
But Elder Jorul, considering many factors, overlooked Prince Loki, who was bound by Seastone shackles in the Underworld.
By the time he remembered, the pitch-black demon dragon had already been freed.
It was a fatal mistake.
Because Loki alone, having consumed the Nidhogg fruit, could have destroyed Elbaf.
But Elder Jorul knew that wasn't Prince Loki's intention.
Not only because he knew the truth behind [Loki's Patricide], but also because he saw the same 'demonic transformation' on Loki that had appeared on King Harald.
It was the work of the World Government... no, of the one hiding behind the World Government!
By the time Elder Jorul realized this, it was far too late.
In fact, not only Loki was transformed into a demonic giant form by some dark influence, but also the missing giants and those stationed in the Underworld had all turned into pitch-black demonic forms.
These giants not only gained immense power but also possessed terrifying regenerative abilities.
Often, a sword thrust into a chest would be ignored, and the demon giant would simply counterattack, cutting down their own giant.
Trading wounds for lives didn't work against these creatures.
"West Village, Carpenter Village, Hunter Village were all razed to the ground. The Owl Library was burned to ashes. Even the Rainbow Bridge was destroyed..."
Gerd covered her eyes in pain, teardrops much larger than ordinary humans' falling from her chin. Sanji, captivated by the beauty of the giant woman below, seethed with rage.
His anger was no less than Big Mom's.
Making a lady cry! He would never forgive those responsible!
—Of course, given Sanji's current half-baked Haki and his not-fully-activated [Vinsmoke] bloodline, he would likely be of limited use on such a battlefield.
"Before Elder Jorul let us leave, he told us the truth about what happened back then. It was the World Government that controlled His Majesty King Harald, forcing Loki to kill his father..."
As he spoke these words, Hajrudin clenched his fists tightly. His arms, which could still grip a weapon even when bones shattered, trembled uncontrollably. Veins bulged on his neck from excessive anger and guilt.
To be honest, all these years, Hajrudin had treated Loki as an enemy, even wanting to kill him.
He had wondered about the truth back then.
But Elder Jorul, who knew the truth, and Loki himself remained silent… one tight-lipped, the other bound. Neither wanted to speak.
'If... if... I had known sooner...'
Now, the harsh words Hajrudin had hurled at Loki in his early years became the sharpest knives stabbing into his own heart.
He couldn't imagine what Loki had been thinking all those years, bound in the frozen Underworld.
And he, who had proclaimed justice and sought to 'cut off the shame of the royal family'… how ridiculous and pathetic he must have been!
As Hajrudin spoke, the other giants fell silent. After all, one of the founding goals of the New Giant Warrior Pirates had been to 'execute Loki'.
Seems they had all wronged their prince.
"Elbaf has fallen..."
Road tugged at his hair, his face filled with pain. The other giants wore similar expressions.
The wedding guests, who had listened to the whole story, reacted differently.
Those like Big Mom, who cared deeply for Elbaf, or Luffy, Ace, and Yamato, who felt compelled to help when seeing injustice, were now filled with righteous indignation, eager to rush to Elbaf and wipe out the remnants of the World Government.
Kaido, a more ambitious type, kept a thoughtful look, calculating what benefits he might extract from this event.
He certainly craved battles with the strong, but that didn't conflict with expanding his territory.
If he could recruit giants into his Beasts Pirates... giant-sized Zoan fruit users... tsk, just thinking about it made his mouth water.
Meanwhile, Shanks, Rayleigh, Crocus, and other old friends of Gaban exchanged glances, eventually looking towards Naruto.
They had no intention of backing down either. If it meant saving an old friend, they were willing to risk their old bones.
Before Naruto could speak, a giant 'child' wearing a horned helmet with pink curly hair ran out from the group, rushing straight to Naruto.
It was Colon, Gaban's son with his giantess wife.
To facilitate communication, Naruto was floating in mid-air, roughly at Hajrudin's height. Colon had to crane his neck to see this human who was taller than his own father.
His sudden silent approach startled the giants still immersed in grief, but it was too late to stop him.
However, Colon didn't blurt out anything rude or tearfully ask for help as they feared.
He silently rummaged through his small satchel for a while, then pinched a very miniature object between two fingers.
It was a meticulously polished gourd, engraved with a large character: [Naru].
"This is Father's wedding gift for you. He said he'd prepared it for a long time but probably wouldn't get the chance to give it to you personally..."
Colon tried to keep his voice calm, not showing weakness, even deliberately calling Gaban 'Father' rather than 'Dad'.
But he was still a child. No matter how strong he tried to be, facing the possibility of his parents' death was still heartbreaking.
Tears welled up in his eyes, but he forced them back.
"F-Father said he was going back to save Mother, to save everyone... he said... he owed you a drink... and would have to have it next time..."
Finally, Colon couldn't hold back and broke down sobbing.
Receiving perhaps the heaviest wedding gift of his life, Naruto traced the characters engraved on the gourd and was silent for a moment.
"That won't do..."
Colon looked up, startled, staring blankly at Naruto.
"I need to hear that from him personally. Back then, he was the one who snuck me the most drinks."
"I'll wait to have this drink with him."
Smiling at the boy, Naruto then turned to face the friends and acquaintances gathered for his wedding, a slightly apologetic expression on his face.
"Looks like just a party isn't enough entertainment for a wedding, after all—"
Hearing this, Shanks, Rayleigh, and the other old-timers all nodded knowingly, looking eager and ready for action.