The fierce battle between the two giants, Brogy and Dorry, raged on, but as time passed, their stamina began to fade, and their frustration grew. At one critical moment, both narrowed their eyes and simultaneously swung their shields at each other's heads.
A loud "clang" echoed twice.
"The 73,466th duel..." Brogy growled.
"The 73,466th match!" Dorry echoed.
Then, both giants collapsed backward, exhausted. After about ten seconds, they burst into laughter, but the laughter had a strange, almost eerie, quality to it.
From above, Kai watched this scene and noticed Luffy on the ground. He steered his Somersault Cloud down to join him.
"Sugoi! That giant fight was so intense!" Luffy exclaimed, eyes wide with excitement.
"It sure was," Kai said with a smile.
Hearing the voice, Luffy whipped around and spotted Kai and Vivi casually sitting on the yellow cloud. His eyes immediately sparkled with curiosity.
"(✧∇✧)!" Luffy darted over to Kai, circling him energetically. "Kai! Kai! How come you're sitting on a cloud? Where did this come from?" He poked at the cloud, fascinated by its soft, bouncy texture.
Kai saw the eager look in Luffy's eyes and sighed. "This is from my ability. No, you can't have one."
"Ahh?" Luffy's excitement drained visibly, and in an instant, his usual boundless energy turned into disappointment.
Kai chuckled, ignoring Luffy's sulking. He knew the rubber captain well enough—he'd be back to his usual self in no time. But no way was he letting another guy ride his cloud! He reserved that for the ladies.
Suddenly, a loud "boom" echoed, accompanied by the rumbling of the ground. Brogy, the giant, appeared before them.
Kai tilted his head upward, getting a close-up view of the massive warrior. Seeing a giant from the sky was one thing, but standing before them on the ground was something else entirely.
If the average giants were this large, he mused, how colossal must Oars and other legendary giants be?
"Luffy, is this your friend?" Brogy's voice rumbled like thunder.
"Yeah, Uncle Giant, they're all my nakama!"
"Ahaha, if they're your nakama, then they're welcome to share in this feast of dinosaur meat!" Brogy bellowed with a grin. "Oh, and I just got some barrels of ale from Brogy—said it was given by a long-nosed lad and an orange-haired girl."
"Oh, those are my nakama too!" Luffy beamed.
"Is that so? Then I'll take that as a gift from you. No need to be shy!" Brogy laughed as he pulled out several barrels of ale, preparing to gulp them down in one go.
Kai's eyes sharpened. In a flash, he disappeared from where he stood and reappeared in front of Brogy, kicking the barrels out of his hand before the giant could drink.
Brogy frowned, glaring at Kai. "Friend, what do you think you're doing?"
"You'll see soon enough," Kai replied coolly.
Before Brogy could question further, the barrels exploded in midair, sending a fiery shockwave across the sky.
Luffy's face was a mix of shock and confusion. "Why did the ale explode?"
"The Baroque Works agents tampered with it," Kai explained calmly. "They're here on the island too, and they're targeting you."
"You...you'd be dead by now!" Luffy's expression turned serious as he processed what had just happened.
"How do you know all this, Kai?" Luffy asked curiously.
Kai gave a small smile. "When you've seen as much as I have, you just know."
In truth, Kai had almost forgotten about this part of the plot until his Observation Haki picked up something off in the barrels. Acting on instinct, he recalled the incident and kicked them away just in time.
Brogy, however, still glared at him, unconvinced. "What kind of game are you playing?"
Luffy stepped forward, addressing the giant. "Didn't you hear him, Uncle Brogy? There are people after your head on this island! Baroque Works is dangerous!"
"Blue Ogre Brogy!" Kai called out, using the giant's title. Hearing this, Brogy's eyes narrowed, his expression darkening.
"You know my title, so you've seen my wanted poster. Does that mean you're after my head too? My 100 million berry bounty is tempting, isn't it?"
"One hundred... a hundred million?!" Luffy gasped, his eyes lighting up. "Uncle, you've got a bounty of 100 million? That's amazing!"
"A hundred million is impressive, but I'm not interested in your head," Kai said, arms crossed. "If I wanted to kill you, I wouldn't have stopped you from drinking the poisoned ale."
Brogy scoffed. "Of course. You knew you couldn't beat me even if I was poisoned, so you're trying to earn my trust before striking. I can see right through your pathetic scheme!"
Hearing this, Kai paused, his mouth slightly agape in disbelief. The giant was proud and confident in his strength, but this level of paranoia was... unexpected.
Shaking his head, Kai pulled out his wanted poster and tossed it at Brogy. "Then let the Marines tell you whose head is worth more!"
Brogy caught the poster, his eyes widening as he saw the bounty: 300 million berries.
"So now do you think I need any tricks to take you down?" Kai said, a smug grin spreading across his face. He could now see why Luffy and Zoro took so much pride in their bounties. It was a simple but powerful way to show dominance.
Brogy stared at the poster in disbelief. "Three... three hundred million?!"
"You think I need to go through all that drama to deal with you?" Kai's hands rested behind his back, his aura oozing superiority.
But Brogy wasn't convinced. "This can't be you. You're using someone else's bounty poster to deceive me!"
Kai's eye twitched in annoyance. "You blind or something? Of course that's me!"
"It looks a bit like you, but something's off..."
Kai took a deep breath, calming himself. "You doubt it's me? Then I'll prove it."
He locked eyes with Brogy, his voice turning cold. "I was planning on fighting you anyway."
With a calm but dangerous tone, he whispered, "Demon Form, activate."
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Power Stones would be appreciated if you liked the story