_________________
In the land of giants, Elbaf Country, the giants have long been accustomed to the miraculous feature of the art store that allows them to shrink from their usual size to human size.
Inside the art store, the giants who were in regular human size during off-time gathered in numerous clusters.
"These bastards... calling themselves the Giant Unit!?"
"Do they think they are real warriors?"
"They sold themselves to the World Government so easily!?"
"Shameful! They are a disgrace to Elbaf, a disgrace to our giant tribe!"
Seeing what was known as the Giant Unit in the marine attacking Little Oars Junior at this moment, the giants who supported the Whitebeard Pirates and Ace in the Summit War felt betrayed.
They did not expect to see other giants acting contrary to their cause... a few volumes ago, they witnessed what happened with Oimo and Kashii, who were exploited by the World Government, then they saw how the marine dealt with the giant Saul.
All of this made most of them hate the World Government and the Marine, which was almost devoid of honest men.
Since the giants preferred dealing with honest and honorable people, Whitebeard seemed to them like someone worthy of their respect.
Of course, Little Oars Junior, an ancient giant, had the same mindset as them.
"Little Oars Junior is trying to sacrifice himself to save Ace... I wonder what Ace did to earn the love and respect of an ancient giant," Brogy asked with a gentle smile on his face.
"He must have done something great in his eyes," Dorry replied with the same smile.
Indeed, Brogy and Dorry, the Red Ogry and the Blue Ogry, were in Elbaf at that moment, because despite being legendary hunters, Elbaf was their land where they spent most of their time.
Hajrudin looked at his idols excitedly and said, "That's because Ace made him a hat that protected him from rain and snow!"
"Why are you spoiling up events again, you scoundrel..."
…
•———•———•———•———•
Chapter's Events:
—————————
"What's this...?"
…
Little Oars Jr fell to his knees, affected by the 'Ursus Shock' unleashed by Bartholomew Kuma, causing his straw hat to fall from his head... At that moment, he remembered the origin of the hat.
…
"I learned how to make them in the land of Wano. Try it on!"
Ace replied with a smile to Oars Jr's innocent question.
"I figured you're pretty close to the sun up there, so..." added Ace.
Little Oars Jr took the huge hat and placed it on his head; his horns didn't affect it because it fit perfectly on his head.
"Ace failed twice before he managed to make it properly, you know! Burned them right up!!"
"That's what he gets for weaving straw when he's made of fire!"
The crew from Ace's division rushed to tell Oars Jr how Ace succeeded in making the hat after failing twice.
"Ahhh…! That really cools me down!"
Oars Jr smiled after putting the hat on his head, feeling comfortable and happy because he received a gift for the first time in his life.
"Really? Good to hear it!" Ace smiled in response.
…
At that moment, Oars Jr was being bombarded from all directions, being such a massive target made it easy to aim and hit him with any type of attack.
While enduring this immense amount of damage, all the ancient giant could think about was saving Ace.
…
"Stops me from getting wet in the rain, too… This is great!"
"Captain Oars! What are you doing outside!?"
…
Boom!
"Oars!!!"
"It's no good… He's just too big a target!!"
"Haa… Haa… I can take down… one shichibukai, at least…!!"
Oars raised his massive leg and targeted Doflamingo, who quickly noticed.
"Hm?"
Boom!
The place where Doflamingo stood was crushed by the immense weight of Oars, who let out a terrifying roar at that moment, "Graaaahhhhhh!!!"
"Fuffuffuffu…"
Doflamingo laughed, creating an arc in the air with his slender body before returning to the ground; Oars' severed leg could also be seen falling to the side.
"This is a riot!!! Fuffuffuffu!!!"
Doflamingo laughed harshly while some part of Oars' leg were cut.
…
"Captain, what're you doing outside again!!?"
"The snow doesn't fall on me… It ain't cold at all!"
"This is real nice…"
In his memories, whether under the rain or under the snow, he always felt warm and comfortable wearing the hat that Ace gave him.
•———•———•———•———•
Sphinx Island:
"That madman, Doflamingo... He cut off Oars' leg... Unforgivable..."
Marco felt extreme anger after witnessing this scene.
"Who would have expected that sweet kid Rob was embracing would become like this madman in the future..."
Whitebeard felt annoyed and conflicted at this moment.
"Oars…?"
Whitebeard looked to the side, followed by the rest, where they saw Oars crying at that moment.
"Sigh... It seems like the events of this scene succeeded in addressing the soul of this ancient giant."
"Just as Ace succeeded in doing with his kind gesture."
"Let's go to Wano after finishing reading this volume, we need to get a straw hat similar to Oars'," Whitebeard said with a smile.
…
Baterilla Island:
"No..."
Rouge put her hand over her mouth, restraining her tears as she saw Oars Jr being targeted as a big target, and ultimately having his leg cut off by Doflamingo.
"Sigh... This ancient giant truly loves Ace..."
Roger felt intense complexity in this moment.
Through Oars Jr's memories, the reason Oars rushed so hastily and recklessly to save Ace seemed somewhat unconvincing and loose, but upon deeper inspection, you'll find a tremendous amount of genuine emotions within.
After all, everyone knows from the Thriller Bark's Arc that the reason Oars, Oars Jr's grandfather, died was from frostbite because he wasn't wearing enough clothes and didn't care about it until he froze to death.
The reason for that was the impossibility of finding enough clothes for this type of giants who were accustomed to wearing just an apron... What Ace did was give him a precious gift that made him feel protected from the sun, rain, and snow.
This is what made Oars Jr consider the hat a symbol of his friendship with Ace.
"... This is heinous, Doflamingo is truly evil..."
Doflamingo appeared loathsome in Rouge's eyes now.
"Well, Oars targeted him out of all the Shichibukai, so self-defense cannot be considered heinous, my dear..." Roger sighed, speaking with regret but logically.
"Nevertheless..."
"This is the war, my dear... There's no room for emotions here. Oars wants to save Ace because he's his friend. Oars values his friend to the point of sacrificing his life for him, and that's commendable. He'll become a beloved character by readers, that's his reward."
"But despite his large size, he's still weak."
_________________
Upcoming chapter titles (spoilers):
_________________
Chapter 699: The Anger of the Whitebeard!
Chapter 700: What is Justice, Really!?
Chapter 701: Whity Bey. The Might of Whitebeard!
_________________
BlackStar_BH:
Join my Patreon at: https://www.patreon.com/BlackStar_BH to support me and access advanced chapters! Get ahead with 20 chapters available in advance:
5 advanced chapters for $5
10 advanced chapters for $10
15 advanced chapters for $15
20 advanced chapters for $20
30 advanced chapters for $30 (New)
[The new tier is still lacking chapters, but it will be ready by the end of the week.]
Don't miss out on this exclusive content!
Don't miss out the top-tier arc in One Piece, Marineford!
5 advanced chapters for $5
10 advanced chapters for $10
15 advanced chapters for $15
20 advanced chapters for $20
30 advanced chapters for $30 (New)
[The new tier is still lacking chapters, but it will be ready by the end of the week.]
Don't miss out on this exclusive content!
Don't miss out the top-tier arc in One Piece, Marineford!
_________________