"You said you want to attack Elbaf!?"
Wano Country.
Because the "Infinite Tsukuyomi" plan had been proceeding far too smoothly, Red had no intention of returning to the Pokémon Sea anytime soon. As he listened to Moria's report, an odd expression suddenly appeared on his face.
No, wait.
It was true that once a man held a weapon, murderous intent would naturally arise.
But you'd only gotten the Ancient Weapon Pluton a few days ago, and now you already dared to target the "strongest nation in the world"?
Old Mo, you're starting to feel like a stranger to me...
"I'll think about this some more first."
Red neither rejected nor agreed to Moria's plan.
The main reason was that when he had transmigrated, the anime storyline still hadn't progressed to Elbaf yet.
Of course, that didn't mean Red knew nothing about Elbaf.
After all, he had a whole group of giant warriors under his command. Gathering some basic information about Elbaf from them was no problem at all.
For example, Red already knew that Hajrudin, captain of the New Giant Warrior Pirates, was the son of Harald, king of Elbaf.
It was just that because Hajrudin's mother had been an utterly ordinary giant commoner, and because giants were by nature straightforward and loved to fool around, he had never inherited any so-called prince status.
Then, six years ago, Hajrudin's half-brother murdered their father in order to obtain the power of a certain Devil Fruit, causing Elbaf's ruling class and political system to regress once more to its original primitive state.
The former king of Elbaf, Harald, had been determined to open Elbaf to the outside world and bring it properly into step with the rest of the world.
Everything had originally been progressing in an orderly fashion.
Through Harald's efforts, Elbaf had even established compulsory education.
At Harald's request, Saul—who had been rescued and brought to Elbaf—founded a school called Walrus Academy in one corner of the country, where he was responsible for educating Elbaf's children.
If everything had gone smoothly, then perhaps a few decades later, the warriors of Elbaf—once known for war and savagery—would have completely transformed, overturning the world's stereotype of them.
But before Harald could live to see any of it bear fruit, he was murdered by his own son.
Having lost its guiding ideology and its leader, Elbaf was now once again showing signs of reverting to a primitive village-based system.
Originally, Red had planned to wait until matters on this side were mostly settled, then have Hajrudin bring him to Elbaf.
The body of Elbaf was a gigantic Treasure Tree Adam. Thanks to the growth of that precious tree, the entirety of Elbaf had naturally been divided into three layers from top to bottom: the Heaven World, the Sun World, and the Underworld.
Among them, the Sun World and the Underworld were where the vast majority of giants lived.
However, because the Underworld received far too little sunlight, the entire lowest layer was filled with a damp, gloomy, frigid atmosphere. As a result, aside from being Elbaf's point of contact with the outside world, the Underworld also served as Elbaf's prison.
Prince Loki of Elbaf, who had murdered the previous king, was currently imprisoned in the Underworld.
As for the mysterious Heaven World, even Hajrudin—someone who possessed royal blood—knew very little about it.
It was almost as if the giants of Elbaf had consciously or unconsciously forgotten the existence of the Heaven World. Very few people ever sought to investigate it.
And Red guessed that if the final Road Poneglyph really was hidden in Elbaf, then the mysterious Heaven World was the most likely place for it to be.
"So Elbaf isn't entirely without enemies either."
Although Hajrudin still held a trace of goodwill toward his half-brother, believing that his brother wasn't the type to do something foolish for no reason.
After all, from the day Loki was born, a prophecy had spread throughout Elbaf:
The current prince of Elbaf would one day kill the king—his own father!
And after Loki's birth, Elbaf really had suffered a series of ominous signs and disasters.
Over time, the giants blamed all of it on Loki and called him the "Cursed Prince."
He was basically a pirate-world Naruto Uzumaki.But unlike Naruto, who endured rejection without turning against everyone, Loki ended up believing that the one at fault was not himself, but the world.
At the same time, the one and only goal of his life became to become the "Sun God who would bring about the end of this world"!
After hanging up the Den Den Mushi, Red fell into thought.
"I've heard that in order to subdue Loki, the giants practically mobilized all of their strength, and he even killed quite a few of them."
"If Moria and the others can use Pluton's power to thoroughly defeat or kill Loki, then it might save us a lot of trouble and negotiation when we approach Elbaf later."
"The only question is whether Moria and the others, with their current strength, can actually beat someone like Loki."
As everyone knew, in anime, the later a character appeared, the more extraordinary their identity or power tended to be.
And Prince Loki just so happened to have both!
Still...
"Then again, if Loki was defeated by Red-Haired Shanks after leaving Elbaf and sent back there, then no matter how strong he is, he probably can't be that overwhelmingly strong."
"He definitely can't compare to someone even more mysterious like Imu."
"In that case, I might as well let Moria and the others test the waters. At worst, they'll at least figure out what Loki's Devil Fruit ability is..."
"And with Pluton's absurd mobility, it won't be easy for anyone to keep Moria and the others there."
Countless thoughts flashed through Red's mind, and in the end, he decided to approve Moria's request to wage war.
Only, the target would change—from the giant warriors Moria had in mind to the mysterious powerhouse, the Cursed Prince Loki.
"To be safe, I'll have Hancock and the others go along and take a look as well."
"The migration work on Amazon Lily is almost finished anyway, and Moria's group just went and grabbed another island. When the time comes, we can directly hand Entertainment City over to the people of Amazon Lily so those simple folks can also experience the intoxicating thrill of being corrupted by money."
"Come to think of it, if the women warriors of Amazon Lily reopen Entertainment City, it might attract even more unexpected traffic and attention."
"After all, the legend of the Land of Women is every man's dream!"
The corners of Red's lips curled upward. He pressed the Personal Terminal in his hand and sent Hancock instructions along with the relevant intelligence.
Speaking of which, the people of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet had all grown up by now. Many things no longer seemed to require the Straw Hat crew to handle personally.
…
…
"It's useless! Useless!"
"No matter how fast your attacks are, no matter how massive they are, in front of my barrier, they're all meaningless!"
BOOM!!!!
A gigantic shell, as large as a small sailing ship, fell from the sky and smashed toward a vessel with a cartoon Luffy figurehead.
But just before the giant shell exploded, a transparent dark green barrier suddenly appeared, forming a hemispherical dome that completely enclosed the entire ship.
In the next instant, the enormous shell slammed into the barrier and instantly erupted with a deafening roar like the furious howl of a god.
The previously calm sea suddenly turned violent, transformed by the shockwave into surging waves that rolled outward in all directions.
A small black mushroom cloud appeared out of nowhere, swallowing the entire sea surface.
"D-Did they kill them!?"
At the same time, some distance away from the explosion, a massive battleship was struggling to keep itself steady amid the raging waves.
At the bow, a short old man carrying an IV stand stared at the scene on the sea in shock.
Although this wasn't the first time he had seen his younger brother Byrnndi World's power, since Byrnndi World had escaped from prison, this was the first time they had run into enemies who required him to use his full strength.
More importantly...
At this moment, aside from Byrnndi World himself, no one on the ship believed they would be the final victors in this battle.
Because their opponent was none other than the number two figure of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet, subordinate to the Pirate Emperor Sovereign Straw Hat Pirates—the man known as the Green Demon, Bartolomeo!!!
Thirty years was more than enough time to completely change the world.
Although they were still willing to continue causing havoc across the world alongside their captain, that was only on the premise that they possessed truly absolute power.
And faced with his elder brother's question, Byrnndi World remained grim and said nothing.
From that brief clash just now, he had already realized that the group on the other side was anything but simple.
After all, he had been out of Impel Down for two years already. He was no longer the ignorant avenger he had been back then.
Time diluted everything.
And it also made people grow.
In this seemingly peaceful world, some overwhelming vortex might appear at any time and grind them to pieces.
What Byrnndi World had never expected, however, was this...
The vortex that had appeared before him was at once so tiny, and yet so enormous.
Before the smoke had fully dispersed, a wild laugh suddenly rang out from within the pitch-black cloud.
"Hehahahaha..."
"I told you already, your attacks are completely useless against me!"
"So just surrender and join the Straw Hat Grand Fleet. With your status and your ability, you'll definitely have a place at the top of the future world!"
Bartolomeo, who had likewise grown stronger, wasn't simply mocking the other side for the sake of it.
Judging from the strength Byrnndi World had just displayed, if anyone other than him had come today—even one of the other pirate crews under the Straw Hat Grand Fleet—they probably would have taken quite a beating.
Fortunately, his power happened to perfectly counter Byrnndi World.
Or rather, his power countered ninety-nine percent of the world's strong fighters!
Under the power of Bartolomeo's Barrier-Barrier Fruit, the completely unharmed Going Luffy Senpai slowly emerged from the black smoke and steadily approached the World Pirates.
In an instant, the people aboard the World Pirates' ship grew tense.
Naquin, who had once been considered a beauty but had now become a little old woman, anxiously looked toward World.
"What do we do, Captain? Are we really going to fight them!?"
Even though they knew full well the ending wouldn't be good, they had only just managed to establish themselves in the New World. How could they possibly bow so easily just because of a few casual words from someone else!?
Even if that person was a subordinate of the world's strongest pirate crew.
"Of course!"
Faced with Naquin's question, World didn't hesitate in the slightest.
Because he had been imprisoned for thirty years in extreme cryogenic suspension, World's physical condition was actually almost no different from what it had been thirty years ago.
The only real difference was that, after suffering betrayal from his comrades, he now found it very difficult to trust anyone wholeheartedly ever again.
Step!
World planted one foot on the ship's railing and shouted loudly at Bartolomeo in the distance:
"Hey! You little brat over there! Enough with the nonsense!"
"This world belongs to the strong. What qualifications does someone hiding inside a turtle shell have to act arrogant in front of me!?"
As he spoke, World picked up another pitch-black shell and clenched it tightly in his hand, but he did not immediately activate his Devil Fruit power.
He was waiting!
He refused to believe Bartolomeo's stamina would allow him to maintain that fruit ability forever.
The moment the Barrier-Barrier Fruit showed even the slightest flaw, he would blast straight through their ship with a shell accelerated to one hundred times speed.
And then they would be able to escape these lunatics.
That's right!
Even someone as proud as World, after rampaging through the New World for over two years, no longer dared to talk casually about defeating Bartolomeo.
Whether you could beat someone was one thing.
Whether you dared to fight them was another.
Faced with the Straw Hat Pirates—a blazing sun hanging over the heads of all pirates—even World did not dare provoke them lightly.
Right now, he only had one thought:
Get rid of Bartolomeo and find a quiet place to hide for a while.
But what World never expected was...
That idiot-looking guy on the other side instantly saw through his thoughts.
"Hehahahahaha... thinking about waiting until I run out of stamina so you can break through my barrier!?"
Bartolomeo grinned wildly while maintaining the hand gesture needed to sustain his Barrier-Barrier Fruit ability, exposing sharp fangs like a demon.
"What a naive idea!"
"As expected, people like you who can't see the situation all share the same brain."
"In that case, out of the kindness of my heart, I'll let you witness what true power really is today!!!"
"Bartolomeo, Dark-type evolution!!!"
Maintaining his barrier, Bartolomeo suddenly roared at the top of his lungs.
Even though he had learned from talking with the other members of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet that Pokémon-ization didn't actually require shouting like this...
Bartolomeo always felt that if he didn't yell it out loud, his momentum wouldn't be enough to support the transformation.
In an instant, a holy light of evolution enveloped Bartolomeo's body.
But at the very moment the light of evolution appeared, a strange energy radiating an ominous aura emerged once more and instantly spread throughout the entire barrier world.
(End of Chapter)