"Wow—"
"Those footprints are huge!"
"They're even bigger than those of adult giants..."
Under El's lead, the group disembarked and approached several "giant pits." Each massive footprint, varying in depth, left everyone in awe.
"Wait, there are human footprints here as well..."
El quickly noticed something unusual: numerous dense human footprints. "Quite a few people have been here, but it seems like it was a long time ago."
He furrowed his brow slightly, and in an instant, his advanced Observation Haki, now honed to an impressive degree, spread out, covering the entire island. Soon, he sensed a powerful presence, and his expression relaxed slightly. It seemed their efforts hadn't been in vain.
"Huh?"
"Someone's been here?"
Linlin, Gerd, and Hajrudin were all surprised. Even Streusen was a bit stunned. The island, near the edge of the Calm Belt, was extremely remote. He himself had only come here a few years ago to escape pirates pursuing him.
"There are signs of battle..."
As they ventured further, El and the group discovered craters, impact marks from cannons, and deformed bullet shells and cannon fragments. "Judging by the damage, this must have happened two or three years ago."
"It seems likely that the World Government discovered the Ancient Giants living here and sent the Navy."
"The World Government? The Navy?"
"Why would the World Government want to capture Ancient Giants?"
Upon hearing El's explanation, Linlin, Gerd, and the others were filled with confusion and surprise. Even Streusen was baffled. Why would the World Government bother sending people to capture Ancient Giants, especially if they were just living quietly and not causing trouble?
"I've heard that the World Government has long coveted the power of the giants. They've been secretly conducting experiments to create giant soldiers, attempting to transform humans into giants or even Ancient Giants..."
El remained unsurprised and spoke calmly. "So, they've been capturing rare species like these for secret experiments."
"And, of course, our Lunarian tribe is among those targeted."
"What!?"
"Those World Government scum…"
"That's terrible!"
Everyone's eyes widened in shock at El's words. Gerd and Hajrudin, both giants, were particularly outraged, their anger evident as they clenched their teeth.
"Boom... Boom..."
At that moment, the ground began to shake.
A massive figure charged toward them from the forest—a hulking, green-skinned form swinging an enormous bone club, roaring as it rushed forward. "You despicable humans, die!"
"Boom!!"
The massive bone club was stopped by El, who calmly caught it with one hand.
"What?"
The green-skinned, horned creature, towering at least ten meters tall—around the height of a normal giant—stared in disbelief. He hadn't expected this winged figure, smaller than himself, to possess such strength, effortlessly blocking his attack. After all, he could easily smash even the fearsome Sea Kings with a single blow.
"Thud..."
With a slight flick of his wrist, El sent the giant flying, crashing onto the ground and raising a cloud of dust.
"Hmm?"
"Is this..."
"A young Ancient Giant?"
Linlin, Gerd, and Streusen all examined the figure curiously. The green-skinned, horned humanoid wasn't as large as they had expected, even smaller than some adult giant warriors. Yet, despite his ferocious appearance, it was clear from his youthful face that he was still just a child.
"Hey, charging at us without even a greeting isn't very polite!"
El spoke calmly as he approached the massive figure lying on the ground. "Can you tell me what happened here?"
As he spoke, he placed his right hand on the giant's head and quickly probed his memories.
As El had suspected, this young Ancient Giant was none other than Little Oars Jr., the future captain under the Whitebeard Pirates. He was a descendant of the legendary Oars, the Devil who had rampaged through the North Blue over 400 years ago, infamous for relocating entire countries and islands at will.
In Little Oars' memories, he had lived here peacefully with his parents until about two or three years ago when a group of armed government agents and a large naval force arrived by warship. They had attempted to capture his parents. After a fierce battle, due to the Navy's use of heavy artillery and powerful tranquilizers, his parents—who were not skilled fighters and relied mostly on brute strength—were eventually overwhelmed, captured, and taken away by the World Government. Little Oars, however, had been hidden in a cave by his parents, thus managing to avoid capture.
"The descendant of Oars, huh?"
El withdrew his hand and smiled. "Don't worry, we're not the Navy. We mean you no harm..."
Judging by the World Government's track record and their relentless pursuit of giantification experiments over the centuries, it was highly likely that Little Oars' parents had been taken as test subjects. Most likely, they had already met a grim fate.
"Really?"
Little Oars looked up, scanning the smaller figures before him, still wary but beginning to trust them.
"Of course! Gerd and I are giants..." Hajrudin stepped forward, hands on his hips. "We're basically your kin, fellow giants!"
"Is that so?"
Hearing this, Little Oars instinctively relaxed and sat up, scratching his head sheepishly. "My name is Little Oars... Sorry, I thought you were with those awful Navy people!"
"My name is Kukulkan El, a descendant of both the Lunarian and Giant tribes. Like you, my parents were killed by the World Government and the Navy when I was young..."
El pointed to Linlin, Gerd, and Hajrudin. "These are my companions."
"Huh? You were attacked by the Navy too?"
"Yes, we're the same..."
~~~
Oars!!!! I really don't like the ending of Oars in the Marineford Arc. But now we got Oars!!!! Please do justice to the my boy!!!
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