"STOP! PLEASE STOP — THAT'S MY SHIPYARD!!" The old shipwright screamed in utter heartbreak, while the younger craftsmen held him back tightly to keep him from rushing forward.
Fortunately, no workers were inside the building at that moment.
San Juan Wolf had appeared in the world only a short time ago, yet he had already become a super‑criminal with a bounty of 99,000,000 berries.
His terrifying record so far included eating two entire islands and swallowing whole dozens of warships.
At present, there was no known natural land‑dwelling species anywhere in the world that could surpass him in sheer size.
Aside from a select few individuals connected to Grimm — such as Kel'Thuzad or Nico Robin — this was the first time in history such an astronomical bounty had been placed on a newcomer.
One Hour Earlier
After swimming for what felt like an eternity, Wolf spotted an island ahead. Without a second thought, he dragged his massive body out of the ocean and onto dry land.
Although his usual diet consisted of large sea creatures and even Sea Kings, he was perfectly capable of eating buildings or even entire islands.
No one knew what standard his taste buds used to judge what was "delicious", nor how his stomach was even constructed to process such things.
But in these vast seas, nothing was truly impossible.
As Wolf's hand reached down to grab the shipyard beside Grimm, he suddenly felt a sharp, stinging pain in his fingers.
Instinctively, he yanked his hand back to look — and saw that the tip of his index finger and the back of his middle finger had been pierced through with tiny, pinprick‑sized holes.
Relative to his enormous size, the wounds were like being pricked by a needle — yet blood flowed steadily from them, and the pain was intense.
"Mmm…?"
Wolf licked the injuries with his tongue and shifted his colossal body closer to inspect.
He saw Grimm holding a golden spear — and in the next instant, another spear shot out and pierced straight through the palm of his hand. It was obvious who was responsible for the earlier attack.
"YOU BASTARD! HOW DARE YOU INTERRUPT MY MEAL!!"
Wolf threw a tantrum like a spoiled child, stamping his feet furiously. Each impact shook the whole island violently.
He raised his hand again — but this time, his target was no longer the shipyard… it was Grimm himself.
A giant palm that nearly blotted out the sky descended directly over Grimm's head. The moment it slammed down, the entire dock crumbled to dust.
The resulting tidal wave swept outward in all directions and took a long time to settle.
"Gotcha! Gotcha! You're dead now, dead!!" Wolf cheered and prepared to pull his hand back.
But when he tried to move, he realized his hand felt as if it had been glued to the ground — completely fixed in place.
He looked closer and saw Grimm standing calmly right on the back of his hand. The sheer weight and force emanating from Grimm's legs were so great that Wolf could not even wiggle his fingers.
"EH?!"
Wolf's expression changed. He prepared to summon more strength, but suddenly Grimm leaped up from his hand, moving at incredible speed — rushing up Wolf's arm, across his shoulder, and straight to his face.
"GET LOST!"
Wolf raised both arms and swung his right fist directly at Grimm.
"Oh?"
A faint look of amusement appeared on Grimm's face. He summoned Guardian of Truth and thrust the massive shield forward — meeting Wolf's giant fist head‑on.
The shockwave blasted everything around them. For nearly two seconds, they stood deadlocked in mid‑air…
"OWWW!! IT HURTS!!"
Wolf howled in pain and shook his hand wildly. The bones between his index and middle fingers had been completely shattered by the impact.
Grimm pressed his advantage, drawing Ashbringer and driving the greatsword into Wolf's thick index finger as easily as if threading a needle.
"IT HURTS! IT HURTS! IT HURTS!!"
Wolf screamed continuously, but Grimm was far from done. He pulled the blade free, leaped high into the air, switched back to his shield, and smashed it straight into the bridge of Wolf's nose.
BOOM!
With a deafening crash, Wolf's colossal frame began to topple backward. His massive skull — nearly half his total body mass — slammed heavily into the cliffs behind him.
The impact triggered a landslide that flattened an entire mountain range into a plain.
Fortunately, the collapse was far from the town; otherwise, at least one‑fifth of the settlement would have been wiped out.
Grimm landed lightly on Wolf's chest. The creature's anatomy was bizarre: his head and torso merged directly together, with no visible neck at all.
"Uwaah… waaahhh…"
Wolf covered his bleeding nose with one hand and struggled to move his immense body.
Grimm walked up alongside Wolf's face and stopped right next to his eye. From Wolf's perspective, Grimm was looking down with a perfectly calm, friendly smile.
"Hmm… I've never tried to convert a creature this big before," Grimm murmured. "If the conversion fails… I wonder if you'd turn into a Ghoul… or something else entirely?"
He raised his hand, preparing to unleash his Convert ability.
"WAIT! WAIT A SECOND!!"
Just as Grimm was about to inject the viral energy into Wolf's body, the giant hurriedly raised his hands in surrender.
"I KNOW WHO YOU ARE! I RECOGNIZE YOU NOW!! YOU'RE GRIMM — THE GREAT EMPEROR OF THE NEW WORLD!!"
Grimm blinked twice and asked with interest, "So? What of it?"
"I… I have always dreamed… always dreamed… of becoming a great pirate myself! But I never had the chance! Meeting you here is the best thing that ever happened to me! PLEASE — LET ME JOIN YOUR CREW!!"
Wolf clasped his hands together and shook them desperately, as if praying to a god.
"You?"
Grimm thought for a moment, then said, "Look me straight in the eyes… and I'll let you join."
"Ah… o‑okay! Yes, of course!"
Wolf didn't understand exactly what Grimm intended, but he knew better than to refuse — this was his golden opportunity to serve under one of the Four Emperors.
But three seconds later, he realized something was very wrong. A searing, agonizing pain surged through his entire body.
"Y‑you… you bastard… what have you do—"
He never finished the sentence.
He split open. Literally.
His entire body cracked down the middle and fell apart. Thick, green, viscous liquid oozed out from the gaping wound.
"Where is this place… why do I feel so incredibly weak?"
A deep, rasping voice echoed out. Then, from within the ruins of San Juan Wolf's body, a new gigantic figure rose up.
It stood on four legs, possessed two massive arms, and bore enormous, jagged tusks.
Its overall mass was comparable to Wolf's — but its shape was different: it was wide and long rather than tall.
It stood only seventy to eighty meters high, but stretched nearly two hundred meters from head to tail.
Most importantly… just like Kel'Thuzad, it was a complete skeleton. Not a shred of flesh or muscle remained on its frame, and it glowed with a sickly green spectral light.
It was the skeletal remains of a Pit Lord… yet somehow, it was moving.
Grimm recognized the creature instantly.
"Interesting… with such a massive body, the conversion failed… but instead of becoming a Ghoul, you turned into the Skeletal Pit Lord… Mannoroth," Grimm said softly to himself.
"Who… are you?" Mannoroth growled, turning its hollow eye sockets toward Grimm's voice.
"Your Master," Grimm replied flatly.
__________________
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