Revelry, food; singing, and finally:
"Are you leaving? I really don't know how to thank you..."
"Gahahaha, I forgot my head is quite valuable..."
Facing the farewell of Roman, Luffy, and the others, the two hosts of the island 'Little Garden' didn't try to keep them, but stood up with their weapons and watched the group leave.
"Old buddy, our friends are setting sail—"
"Yeah, there's 'that thing' nearby, let's send them off."
"Your wounds..."
Facing the bearded giant's concern, the long-bearded giant calmly shook his head.
"It's nothing."
————————
"Look closely, my lizard won!"
Although they had gone through an 'adventure,' Sanji still remembered his bet with Zoro. So:
"Huh? The rhino I hunted is enough for all of us—even the two giants to have a feast. I should be the winner!"
"Alright, alright, you two seem to be on the same level."
This kind of comment, which sounded like an insult at first, could only come from Luffy. Naturally, the response was:
"Shut up!!"
"Aren't you two bored?" Nami looked at the two arguing over the size of their prey with a headache. "Anyway, our ship can't hold that much meat, let's set sail!"
"Yes, Miss Nami."
"Hey, Usopp, isn't my prey bigger?"
Faced with Zoro's question, Usopp wisely turned away, "I'm not interested in being the judge."
"Can't we just call it a tie?"
Vivi tried to mediate carefully, but the answer was undoubtedly:
"No, there are no ties in a competition!"
"Haha, what do you think?" Roman, who was steering the ship, tilted his head towards Miss Golden Week... or rather, the little girl named Marianne.
"My companions are pretty good, right?"
Although it should have been a question, Roman's tone was a firm statement.
"Yes,"
Although Marianne seemed uninterested in everything, as a painter who could influence others' minds with 'colors,' her calm exterior hid a vibrant and colorful soul.
Yes, the little girl named Marianne was not a Devil Fruit user!
Her ability to control others' emotions through the colors mixed on her palette was a skill of a painter... no, an artist. And this was what Roman valued about her because:
"This is a natural 'Observation Haki' user, right?"
Moreover, like the Mermaid Princess, she could influence others with her soul, a special type of Observation Haki. However, unlike others' 'listening,' Marianne's ability leaned more towards 'infecting.'
So, it was very reasonable for this little girl to have a bounty of 29 million Berries.
"So, have you considered staying on our ship?"
This was the first time Roman tried to 'recruit' someone onto the ship because, for him, there weren't many people in this world who could catch his eye.
"If you agree, I'll talk to the captain—"
"No need,"
The little girl named Marianne just shook her head calmly, but her determination was unshakable.
"The Wisdom Natural Maru is just fine."
That was the name of her ship. Of course, the little girl cared more about her 'colleagues' in Baroque Works—even if most of them were heinous scum and assassins.
"Alright, I respect your decision."
—In fact, in a future without Roman, this little girl took up the mantle of 'Baroque Works' after Crocodile's defeat, rescuing many colleagues and using her ultimate ability 'Dream Rainbow' to turn everyone into their dream professions: Mr.5 as a firefighter, Miss Valentine as a model...
She was a girl whose inner self was completely opposite to her cold exterior, a breath of fresh air among assassins!
---
"Wow, Mr. giant!"
As the Going Merry slowly sailed out of the river into the sea, two tall figures stood on the shore. The sea breeze made their cloaks flutter dramatically, like two giant statues.
"Are you here to see us off?"
"Ah, yes, little humans~~~"
"You have defended our honor—"
"So your enemies are our enemies too!"
"Straight ahead! Trust us, and keep moving forward!"
The two giants, holding giant axes and swords, stared at the ocean ahead, as if there was some unknown enemy there. Luffy nodded and then looked at Roman at the helm.
"Straight ahead!"
"Aye, Captain."
Roman firmly grasped the helm, his eyes gleaming with anticipation compared to the bewildered others. It's coming...
As the Going Merry gradually left Little Garden, the sea in front of them suddenly 'bulged'! Yes, the entire sea rose like a mountain! It connected the sky and the sea, with no end in sight.
Boom, boom, boom—
In the face of the surging waves, the Going Merry bobbed up and down like a helpless leaf.
And even more helpless was that when the massive amount of seawater fell, it revealed the true face of the 'tsunami': a head as huge as an island!
"What... what is this monster?"
"A giant Sea King? But it's too..."
Too gigantic!
Just the head above the water was no less than a thousand meters, like a mountain! It was as huge as the island whale Laboon blocking the entrance to the Grand Line.
---
"It is appeared, the Island Eater!"
The two giants on the shoreline had also spotted their 'target.'
"In the name of Elbaf, we will clear the way for you!"
However, the Going Merry, already a thousand meters away, was in chaos. Faced with such a colossal beast, which could cause a natural disaster just by turning over, neither Roman, Luffy, Zoro, nor Sanji had any solutions.
"Damn, we're going to be sucked in!"
Seeing the giant beast's open mouth, Nami was the first to react. She looked at Roman at the helm.
"Roman—"
"Wow, what a huge goldfish!"
Usopp looked at the giant beast in front of them and suddenly remembered the 'tall tales' he had told Kaya.
"Never mind what it is, Roman, turn the ship!"
In response to the navigator Nami's words, Roman just turned to look at Luffy with the straw hat. If there was anyone on this ship more important than the navigator, it was:
"Keep going forward, right?"
"Luffy."
"Yeah,"
"Of course!"
"Don't be silly, this is different from the time with Laboon..." Nami, on the verge of tears, was met with Roman's hearty laugh.
"Don't worry, even if we're swallowed, as long as I have a breath left, I won't let you get hurt."
"Ahhh, don't say things like that at a time like this," Nami, with tears streaming down her face, closed her eyes, "If only you were this perceptive all the time..."
???
Snap!
"Wow, it's completely dark now~~~"
"Of course, we're inside the goldfish's stomach— not every giant sea beast has a bored old man inside planting and painting..."
As the crew of the Going Merry laughed in the face of adversity, the two giants on Little Garden shouldered their weapons and struck a pose!
"The only thing that won't let us pass here is that blood-stained snake—"
"Behold! The mightiest 'spear' of the giants from Elbaf!"
As the muscles of the two giants tightened like monstrous pythons, a wild and fierce aura rose from their bodies, filled with the iron-blooded spirit of battle, and an unstoppable might that had conquered the seas! Their weapons faintly exuded an indomitable momentum, as if they could still cut through the raging seas and fight against the heavens and the earth!
Then:
"Ha ha!!!"
The two giants simultaneously swung their weapons in mid-air! In an instant, the invisible force pierced through the air, the sea, and—!!!!
"Conqueror's Kingdom!"
The surging force, invisible to the naked eye, exceeded the decibel level that human ears could capture! A circular hole, hundreds of meters in diameter, suddenly appeared on the belly of the giant goldfish that could eat islands! Scales, flesh, bones... everything disappeared without a trace, as if it had been directly reduced to 'molecular' form!
And in this huge hole, only one thing remained intact, and that was:
"Oh oh oh, we're out!"
This was the excited Luffy.
"One strike to defeat a monster bigger than an island..."
This was the tearful Usopp.
"Heh, so this is 'Conqueror's Kingdom'?"
Indeed, it's a power that can dominate a nation. Even one of the Four Emperors, 'Big Mom', can use this move!
I wonder when I'll have such power...
"Puhahaha~~~ Safe travels!"
"Gahahaha~~~ Goodbye, friends!"
As expected of the giants. Even their way of saying goodbye is so grand—
Splash!
Under Roman's 'Paper Dance - Horizontal Wings' protection, the Golden Merry landed on the sea, riding the waves forward.
"Let's go,"
To Alabasta!
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