"Hiss!"
A jet-black warhorse snorted impatiently, its clear, high-pitched neigh echoing across the desolate sea, as if announcing its arrival.
Its head is topped with a cone-shaped horn, and its hooves tread on scorching flames. The intense heat has no effect on the ship's hull, as if the flames exist between illusion and reality.
Surrounded by a ghostly blue light, it was an extremely distorted dream; anyone who got close to it would be swallowed by nightmares.
How are you feeling now?
"Great Lord of Dreams, I follow the ancient covenant and have come from hell at your call to bring fear and despair to this world."
"Speak properly." Roy's lips twitched slightly.
"Reporting to Master, I have used you as a template and made this answer according to your preferences and habits. If you do not like it, I will change it."
"What a joke, using me as a template? Do you think I'm that kind of chuunibyou?" Roy thought to himself.
"I can now switch freely between illusion and reality. As the first dream creature created by my master, I also possess some Dream Power. My master can use me as a secondary clone to a certain extent."
The hellish warhorse before them was the first true life form in Roy's Dream Realm. Its true form was the low-level system that Roy originally created. Of course, it's no longer called the low-level system; Roy has named it Nightmare.
Its current form as a hellish warhorse is not fixed. In fact, as a dream creature, it has no concept of a physical body. It can be a hellish warhorse, an evil dragon, or even a peerless divine weapon.
Its essence is merely its soul, existing solely based on Roy's Dream Origin. Therefore, from this perspective, it can also be considered an immortal being, capable of infinite rebirth as long as Roy's Dream Origin remains intact.
The ability to transform illusory dream creatures into real, existing life forms is actually a sign that Roy has developed his Devil Fruit Ability to the third stage.
Roy's Devil Fruit Ability and Observation Haki level are both based on his soul. In West Wind Town, after Roy's Observation Haki broke through to the third stage, his Devil Fruit Ability naturally broke through as well.
This was entirely within Roy's expectations and not exactly a surprise. However, his strength had indeed increased further. He had now reached the third level in all aspects of his abilities. Even though his overall combat power was still no match for the big shots who had entered the fourth stage, he was at least capable of putting up a fight.
"As long as I can make up for all the defects in my body, bring my physical strength to the third stage, and then unleash Armament Haki, my true strength will also reach the top level of the Ocean Realm. I will then be able to gain more influence, and some unrealistic fantasies can be gradually put into practice," Roy thought to himself.
"Lord Roy, we've reached the Little Garden. Shall we move in with the whole army or proceed with light equipment?" Reiju asked, her eyes fixed on the magnificent Nightmare. To her, Nightmare, creatures that should only exist in legends, held a greater allure than the Giants.
Overall, the Little Garden is not very large, especially for the two giants, it is more like a family backyard.
Therefore, Roy's massive fleet could not sail in completely; at most, only small sailboats could be allowed to enter the Little Garden along the river.
"No need, we're not here to protest. Just bring a few people with you, no, we should bring more people and have them unload all the good wine from the ship."
"Hahaha, what a rich aroma of wine! Have we got new guests on the island?" Dorry, carrying a giant sword on his shoulder, lit up with his eyes, sniffed the air twice, and laughed excitedly. Few warriors from Elbaf are not fond of wine. Everything else on this isolated island was fine, but the lack of fine wine was something he found hard to bear.
"However, it's not proper to greet a guest empty-handed." Dorry turned and brandished his greatsword, cleanly slicing down a dinosaur that was about to ambush him. "Hahaha, now I have a gift."
When Dorry arrived, drawn by the aroma of the wine, he found Brogy already sitting on the ground, chatting intimately with a group of pirates.
"Haha, Dorry, you're not as fast as me this time." Brogy laughed, now wanting to compete with Dorry in every aspect.
"This doesn't count as a battle between us." Dorry laughed heartily, then looked at Roy and his group. "Guests from the sea, may I join your banquet?"
"It is our honor to encounter Great Warrior of the Giants. Let us raise our glasses and cheer together." Roy was truly adept at saying whatever came to mind, without batting an eye.
Dorry and Brogy, already craving alcohol and with their Roy watering, couldn't wait to grab the enormous barrels in front of them and start drinking.
Seeing that Dorry and Brogy were completely unprepared, Roy sighed, realizing that the Giants were far too simple-minded, no wonder they were ambushed by a few nobodys five years later.
"Wow, fine wine! It's been so many years since I've tasted such sweet and refreshing wine. My guests, let me offer you another toast." Dorry couldn't stop drinking. Luckily, Roy brought enough wine, otherwise it really wouldn't be enough for these two Big Drunkard.
"It's a pity that we can't have a good fight to celebrate after enjoying such fine wine today." Brogy was itching to fight, but he had already made an agreement with Dorry that the eruption of the central volcano on the island would be the signal for their duel. For the giants from Elbaf, an agreement was not something that could be changed at will.
"Yes, it's a bit of a pity." Dorry sighed slightly. He naturally understood Brogy's meaning. Although they were hospitable to their guests, their pride as giant warriors made them subconsciously believe that their only rival was each other.
"How about I become your opponent?"
Upon seeing Roy suddenly stand up and "make outrageous remarks," Dorry and Brogy laughed loudly, "Hahaha, little captain, what we're about to do is a battle between warriors, a duel of honor, not some child's play."
"Whether it's a joke or not, we'll know after we fight."
Thump!
An invisible wave emanated, and most of Roy's subordinates instantly fainted. Only a few were still struggling to stay afloat. Although it was somewhat embarrassing, there was nothing they could do. Roy was not yet very proficient in developing Conqueror's Haki and could not distinguish friend from foe.
However, the deterrent effect had been achieved. Dorry and Brogy looked at Roy with extremely solemn eyes. They came from Elbaf, the latter half of the Grand Line, and were no strangers to Conqueror's Haki. Naturally, they knew what Conqueror's Haki represented.
"I am Blue Ogre Dorry, the captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates from a hundred years ago."
"I am Red Ogre Brogy, and I was also the captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates a hundred years ago."
Seeing the two giants introduce themselves, Roy knew that this was a sign of respect and recognition, and that they regarded him as an opponent of equal caliber. Roy then followed suit and said, "Phantom Sword Roy, captain of the Phantom Sword Pirates, and also your future captain."