Elbaf

After several days of sailing, the Little Ul finally arrived at the legendary land of war, the Elbaf, Elbaf.

"Is this the place...? This is my first time here too. Isn't Jian Shou ridiculously big?!"

The ship stopped at the port and looked inside, even former Admiral Kuzan couldn't help but sigh in amazement.

Everything here seemed to be magnified tenfold from what they normally saw, creating an immense visual impact.

"Who goes there? How dare you trespass in Elbaf!"

The giants, who were preparing to go out to sea to fish, spotted the approaching people and immediately grabbed their weapons and shouted as they drew closer.

"It seems they don't want us to land easily. But that makes sense, they are a warlike race after all, we can only defeat them one by one."

Lucci stretched his arms, seemingly ready to fight.

"Wait, Lucci! We didn't come here to fight. Robin is looking for her best friend!"

"It hurts so much!"

Chopper leaped up and bit Lucci's arm, the pain causing him to run in circles around the group.

"Kids, I don't know what your purpose is in coming here, but Elbaf isn't a place just anyone can come to!"

The giant pointed to the ship at the port, signaling Cifer and the others to leave.

"Wait! Don't make a move!"

Behind the giants, a giant covered in bandages, who was originally heading towards the village of Elbaf, was drawn by their voices and turned around.

When he saw Cifer and his friends through the crowd, his eyes instantly turned bloodshot. He then ran and shouted for his friends to stop.

"Jaindo, do you know them?"

The giants turned around, looking at him with puzzled expressions. Expelling intruders had always been a custom in Elbaf.

"They are the benefactors I once spoke of, who, even as enemies, did not kill me—the executives of Las Noches, one of the strongest forces in the world!"

The giant, wrapped in bandages, pushed all his friends aside, then knelt down before them with a thud and kowtowed heavily.

"The Las Noches?! Are they the legendary sea lords?!"

Although these giants never went to sea and did not care about maritime affairs, the fame of their name was second only to that of the Sun God in the entire Elbaf.

"So it was you. You're still alive? Oh my~ I didn't hold back on purpose, and it's just that Enel didn't wipe you all out."

Kuzan clearly recognized the person kneeling, and scratched the back of his head somewhat embarrassedly as he began to explain.

The man kneeling was John Jaindo, the leader of the Giant Vice Admiral had recently followed Saint Garin, one of the new Gorosei, to attack Hachinosu.

However, like the other Vice Admiral, he was easily defeated by this former Admiral of the Marineford and subsequently frozen into an ice sculpture.

Although they were unable to break free immediately, they were fortunate that the other party did not harm the ice sculpture.

Furthermore, due to the ripple effects of Enel's battle with the World Government, he managed to escape shortly after the battle ended and even rescued some of his still-living comrades.

"The World Government's high-ranking officials are like the monsters in the legends of Elbaf; they must be enemies of the 'Sun God'!"

"And yet we actually attacked you on their behalf, we are truly ashamed!"

Jaindo was not unconscious at that time; he clearly saw the battle between the two sides and made his own judgment.

In addition, he stopped to rest on an island near Hachinosu and learned from the locals their views on Las Noches.

That was a completely different story from what he knew. So he went around asking around and came to the conclusion that the people of Las Noches had never done anything evil. On the contrary, they had always protected the civilians on the various islands.

At that moment, the identities and status of the World Government and Las Noches were completely reversed in his worldview.

This explains why, after his lucky escape, he didn't return to Marineford but instead tried to return to his hometown of Elbaf.

"Ahem~ Alright, alright~ Let's skip the pleasantries and stuff. We want to meet Sauron, the scholar from Elbaf."

Seeing that the other party was inclined to kneel down and talk freely, Kuzan coughed twice and revealed one of the purposes of their trip.

"Oh? So you're Mr. Sauron's friends! I'll send someone to inform him right away, and then I'll take you there!"

Jaindo quickly got up and told his friends not to rush out to sea to fish, but to go to the Sunny Realm to inform them.

"Let's go, please lead the way."

Seeing that the problem could be solved without lifting a finger, Cifer simply asked him to take everyone there as well.

"Um... I was wondering if anyone would like to take a shortcut?"

Jaindo pointed to the rainbow in the sky and looked at them with a smile, though it was a somewhat creepy smile.

"No way? Does that mean you can walk on a rainbow?!"

Uta clasped his hands together, then looked up at the breathtakingly beautiful scenery on the horizon with eyes shining like gold.

"That's right! That's the Rainbow Bridge! It's a unique sight in Elbaf. Everyone, just hop on the boat; it's an experience you can't miss!"

Jaindo, wanting his group to have the best experience of the trip.

"Wait a minute~"

Suddenly, a giant child rushed out of a nearby tavern, shouting excitedly.

"Coron? What brings you here?"

Jaindo touched his big, bandaged head and looked at the little brat who was running towards him excitedly.

"You're Cifer? I've heard Red-Haired mention you! He said you're the strongest man in the world!"

Coron waved his hands, trying to get his attention.

"It's me. Is there anything I can help you with?"

Cifer stopped in his tracks as he headed back to the ship and turned his gaze toward the newcomer.

"I want to fight you! I am the bravest warrior of Elbaf's future!"

Coron was gesturing wildly.

He had just met Straw Hat Luffy who Red-Haired had mentioned, a few days ago, and now he had encountered the World's Strongest Man, as Shanks believed. He was so happy that he felt like he was about to explode.

"Wait, Coron, that's so rude..."

"I accept."

Just as Jaindo was about to reprimand him and dissuade him from his absurd and foolish idea, Cifer had already accepted the challenge.

"Hey, Mr. Cifer, children say the darndest things, please don't take it to heart..."

He tried to stop him, but Coron had already pulled out a stick from somewhere and was running towards Cifer.

"Bang!"

The stick struck Cifer's arm and broke with a bang. The recoil also sent Coron staggering backward before he landed hard on his backside.

"Wow, so strong! No wonder he's the World's Strongest!"

Coron didn't consider whether he was too weak. Red-Haired's description had already labeled Cifer as the strongest.

And since I'm still so young, it's perfectly normal for me to lose to the World's Strongest Man.