On the Grand Line, on an island called Little Garden.
This is a tropical jungle island, with towering trees and continuous beast roars, a scene full of hidden dangers.
"Well, I'll go for a walk with Luffy to relax."
Seeing everyone eagerly preparing for an 'outing,' Vivi also gathered her spirits to 'take a walk.'
---
"That's too dangerous..."
Facing Nami's concern, Vivi pointed to her mount, "Fast Runner." "It's okay, it will protect me."
Hey, hey, hey, your duck is already too scared to make a sound...
But in the end, this land duck still happily carried Vivi and Luffy on an adventure. And as Sanji was about to leave, he said to Zoro:
"Bring back some food while you're at it."
For these 'little experts,' lions and tigers are just standard 'ingredients.'
"Alright, I'll bring back some prey you can't handle."
Sanji raised an eyebrow at Zoro's casual remark and jumped off the Going Merry.
"Are you saying you can catch bigger prey than me?"
"Yeah, it seems you have some self-awareness..."
"What do you mean, you moss-headed idiot!"
"Huh? What did you say, curly-browed pervert cook!"
Clang, clang, clang,
With legs on swords, the two bickered and competed as they walked away.
"Alright, let's see who wins..."
"Who's afraid of who?!"
In the blink of an eye, only Nami and Usopp were left on the Going Merry, both in tears.
"Why are they all like this..."
"Nami, I understand you."
Facing Usopp's comfort, Nami just moved aside.
"Hey, hey, hey, am I that unreliable?!"
"Well, at least we still have Roman..."
But when they turned around, they saw Roman staring blankly at the sky, eyes unfocused, looking completely lost.
...
"It's over, I want to go home."
"Hey, hey, hey, how can a man of the sea be so scared..."
"Sorry, I'm not a man of the sea," Nami waved her hand helplessly, "And your legs are shaking so fast, I'm seeing afterimages..."
Crash—!
As the two friends were teasing each other, the jungle beside the Going Merry suddenly parted, revealing a helmeted face with a big bushy beard, looking quite comical...
Of course, the fact that this face was bigger than the Going Merry itself ruined the atmosphere:
"A... a giant!?"
"We're... we're going to be eaten..."
Nami and Usopp, left on the ship, were so shocked they rolled their eyes and pretended to be dead.
"Hahaha, it's been a long time since we've had guests!"
With a thunderous voice, the giant, who stood up as tall as a dozen-story building, laughed heartily.
"Do you have any wine, little ones—"
"If you have wine, I'll trade you meat."
——————
"Hahaha,"
Even sitting down, the giant with the bushy beard was as tall as a building, and he enthusiastically handed a house-sized 'chunk of meat' to Nami and Usopp. But:
They couldn't eat it all~~
'Hey, Nami, did you see those human bones over there?'
'Yeah, I saw them.'
Beside the three of them was a pile of human bones. If Roman wasn't 'zoning out,' he would definitely sigh:
So many skeletons.
"Um... Mr. Giant,"
Seeing that the giant didn't seem to have any intention of making her a 'dessert,' Nami bravely asked.
"How long does it take for this island to store a 'record'?"
"A year!"
Faced with the giant's serious answer, Nami and Usopp instantly burst into tears.
As for Roman beside them? He was still in idle mode. — Because on the Going Merry, a new 'White Knight' version of Roman was checking the harvest of this period.
---
"Gahahaha,"
On the other side of the island, Luffy was unceremoniously devouring a huge piece of meat in response to the invitation of another giant with a beard down to his waist.
"Tastes good, Mr. Giant."
"Gahahaha, I'll accept your bento. — Though it's a bit small."
"This is food carefully prepared by my companion. If you dare say it's bad, I'll beat you up!"
"Gahahaha, it's delicious~~~!"
Watching Luffy and the long-bearded giant genuinely 'chatting and laughing,' Vivi was in awe, sweating profusely.
"...They... got along so quickly?"
"Mr. Giant, why are you here alone?" Luffy asked casually while gnawing on the house-sized piece of meat. "Don't you have a village?"
"I do," the long-bearded giant patted his knee.
"It's a place called 'Elbaf,' somewhere on the Grand Line."
"But we have a rule in our village,"
"If you have a conflict with someone and neither side will back down, you resolve it with a duel. The great god of Elbaf will protect the victor."
Simple, brutal, — but very effective.
All conflicts in the world can ultimately be resolved with violence. Whether that violence is fists, swords, or guns...
If you can't eliminate the conflict, eliminate the people causing it!
"I also had a dispute with someone, and this island is our dueling ground."
"But it's been a hundred years," the long-bearded giant laughed up at the sky, "and we still haven't decided a winner, gahahaha~~~!!"
---
"Puhahaha," on the other side, the bearded giant Nami and Usopp encountered was also laughing up at the sky.
"He's a formidable opponent. We've fought 73,465 times. It's a draw!"
"That's amazing..."
Although Nami didn't understand the giants' 'meaningless' behavior of fighting for 100 years, Usopp beside her had sparkling eyes, as if he had met an idol.
"That's right, I want to be a man like that!"
"What? You want to be a giant?"
"...."
While they were talking, Roman's body was mechanically devouring the house-sized piece of meat in front of him! Meanwhile, his 'consciousness'—
——————
"Sigh, how can we win?"
On the Going Merry, the 'White Knight' version of Roman rubbed his temples. The table in front of him was filled with various draft plans, all things he had devised to deal with the upcoming situation. But:
A clever housewife can't cook without rice,
A famous general can't fight empty-handed.
With the strength of the Straw Hat Pirates, facing a pirate worth over a hundred million now, what other possibility is there besides being instantly defeated? None...
"Although Luffy defeated Crocodile by exploiting his 'fear of water.' But... is that really reliable?"
Crocodile... also known as Crocodile, clearly has the ability to instantly drain all the water from someone, and can even turn buildings into sand in a second. How much water... or what kind of timing would it take to catch him off guard?
"Forget it, I can't figure it out."
"Devil Fruits are not something to be explained scientifically."
Or maybe I can replicate Luffy's miracle, using water... or even blood to defeat Crocodile!
"Speaking of which, it seems like Luffy and the others have been slacking off lately..."
Roman rubbed his chin. While he was training hard day and night, they were just playing around every day—no, as the saying goes, 'happiness is better when shared,' so how can I, Roman, train and get stronger alone? It's your turn next, mwahahaha!!
Feel my pain!
...
In the nearby jungle, two figures hidden in the bushes saw Roman's 'evil' smile on the Going Merry and immediately crawled back cautiously.
"Miss Valentine, did you see that?"
The man in sunglasses and a brown trench coat was sweating profusely, as if he had seen a terrifying beast!
"Mr. 5, yes, that's the demon!"
The stylishly dressed woman didn't even care about her usual exaggerated laughter or how dirty she got from crawling on the ground.
—There's no mistake!
The guard on that ship was the 'helpful citizen' they encountered outside Whiskey Peak a few days ago! Not only did he beat them up, but he also bled and experimented on them, making the two Baroque Works officers think they were going to die there.
"It seems this guy is also part of the 'Straw Hat crew.' We were careless! Who would have thought they had a puppet captain, how despicable..."
Luffy takes the blame as usual.
"What should we do? We're no match for this demon..."
"Let's find Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week."
Mr. 5, who looked like a rock star, thought for a moment but couldn't swallow his anger! Unlike their 10 million bounty, Mr. 3 and Miss Golden Week had bounties over 30 million.
They even hunted a 'great pirate' with a 45 million bounty, so they should be able to help them get revenge.
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