Elbaf Spear

By the inland river on the east bank of Little Garden, beside the Merry.

"You guys are pretty bad at this."

Lina looked down at the ground with an amused smile. A triceratops and a Tyrannosaurus lay there—the prey Sanji and Zoro had hunted.

"Damn it, you cheated with your undead!"

"Never mind the undead. You didn't even hunt that on the island, did you?"

Zoro and Sanji gritted their teeth and grumbled resentfully.

"What are you talking about? How can using a Devil Fruit count as cheating?" Lina wasn't having it. He immediately launched into a tirade:

"And besides, I caught this giant turtle on the island. Who says turtles can't come ashore? I want my lawyer!"

"Damn blondie!"

"What did you say, moss head?"

"I wasn't talking about your curly eyebrows!"

Zoro changed tack and cursed, "You damn four-eyes!"

Bang! Bang!

Just as the three of them were arguing fiercely, a huge sound came from behind. Everyone turned to look and saw Dorry and Brogy.

"It's the giant uncles."

"They must be here to see us off."

"Hey, Uncle! See you later!" Everyone looked up and waved goodbye to the giants.

Dorry and Brogy laughed heartily with their hands on their hips. "Gahahahaha! See you later, kids!"

"No matter what you run into, just keep moving straight ahead!"

"Straight ahead? Yeah, okay! We got it!" Luffy called back with a wide grin.

One after another, they boarded the ship. Lina summoned his undead, pulled up the anchor, and began steering.

The Merry sailed down the river. Dense primeval forests lined both banks, and layers of shadows and tangled green vines slowly drifted past as the ship flowed out into the sea and left the island behind.

They had sailed less than a few miles when the calm sea suddenly surged. The tiny boat on the vast ocean rocked violently in the raging waves, and a huge, terrifying shadow slowly emerged.

Splash—!

A gigantic sea monster burst through the surface. Its monstrous jaws gaped open like a deep, dark abyss, and seawater poured into the bottomless maw that seemed to stretch on forever.

Nami panicked and collapsed onto the deck, screaming nonstop. "Waaah! What kind of monster is that?!"

"We're going to die! We're going to die!"

"We can't steer the ship at all!"

The Merry lost all control and was carried step by step toward the abyss by the rushing seawater.

The Island Eater Goldfish was a legendary giant sea monster, recorded in ancient tales and passed down through history. It lived by devouring islands, and its droppings were said to be as large as land.

Faced with a monster that could churn the seas with a single movement, everyone felt a hint of despair just looking at it. Even Zoro, usually so calm and composed, frowned and gritted his teeth, his expression grave.

Looking at the Island Eater Goldfish before him, whose teeth were each bigger than the Merry, Lina couldn't help clicking his tongue.

He glanced back at the two giants. They had already assumed stances, gathering their strength, and their bodies radiated an aura more terrifying than ever.

"Since it's the uncles' kind gesture, let's leave this to them."

Lina gave up on summoning Blue Ogre Red Ogre. If he unleashed a combined attack from the ship, the recoil would probably damage the Merry quite a bit.

The tension between Lina's brows gradually eased, and the corner of his mouth lifted unconsciously. He faced the abyss before him without flinching.

"Everyone! Keep moving straight ahead!"

Luffy sat cross-legged on the sheep's head and shouted. There wasn't a trace of fear in his eyes, only his unwavering trust in the giants.

"Keep moving straight ahead, my ass! We're about to die!"

The Merry slowly sailed into the monstrous jaws. Their vision grew darker and darker until they couldn't see a thing.

Suddenly, two booming voices rang in their ears, filled with immense pride.

"The only thing that can stop us—"

"Is that bloodstained serpent!"

"Everyone, witness the mightiest technique from the land of giants..."

With their legs bent and their hands gripping their sword and axe, the two giants simultaneously assumed the stance of a batter preparing to swing. Their savage aura made the blood run cold, and a furious roar rang across the sky:

"Elbaf Spear!!"

"Hakoku!!!!!"

"BOOM!!!!!!"

A fierce gale rose, blowing from behind Lina and tossing his golden hair wildly.

The deafening roar was like a raging thunderclap. The darkness split apart in an instant, and a blinding white light flooded through as terrifying pressure propelled the Merry forward.

Straight ahead!

"Th-the sea!"

"It's been split open!!!"

"Holy crap—!"

Every single person aboard stared with their mouths agape, utterly dumbfounded.

Lina's mouth hung wide open. He couldn't help blurting out a strange exclamation as he stared in utter shock at the sea split in two before him.

Looking back, he saw the two giants rapidly growing smaller in the distance, their weapons shattering into pieces in their hands.

"With power like that, they still managed not to hit the Merry at all."

Lina was secretly astonished. His understanding of Haki had shifted a little. Had I misjudged Teacher Kai?

He thought of the furious roar Kaido had let out, then how he'd immediately transformed and spat out a blast of dragon fire.

"..."

On the island, the two giants tossed aside the broken handles of their weapons and picked up their round shields.

They silently watched the small ship move farther and farther away across the sea, until the Merry dwindled to a speck and disappeared on the horizon.

Dorry gazed toward the point where sea met sky, his voice faint. "One kid who dreamed of becoming a great man, and another with no ambition at all.

"Many years ago, I think people like that came to the island, one after another."

"Maybe they did. I can't remember," Brogy replied simply.

"Gahahahaha!"

The two giants stood there laughing up at the sky. Their black capes fluttered behind them, and their shadows stretched long.

Boom—!

"Oh! The volcano's erupting, Dorry."

"Come on, Brogy! Let's duel! Gahahahaha!"

Their century-long battle didn't end just because their weapons had broken.

The sun sank slowly beneath the horizon. The stars shifted, and a crescent moon hung high in the dark sky.

The sea was silent, but the Merry was anything but quiet.

"Keep it up, Zoro!"

"Your shampoo's falling off, Sanji!"

A crowd gathered on the deck to watch two figures, one yellow-haired and one green-haired. Zoro and Sanji were doing handstands, leaning against the ship's cabin on the first floor.

Both clenched their teeth and squeezed their eyes shut, the veins bulging visibly on their foreheads. They looked thoroughly annoyed by the crowd's heckling.

"You damn four-eyes!"

"I'll cut you down sooner or later!"

"Come on, stop cursing." Lina laughed as he brought over two wooden tubs filled with water, set them on the deck, and pushed them beneath the two men's heads.

At first, the three of them had argued incessantly. In the end, they'd decided to let the others vote on who won.

Zoro and Sanji's prey had been more or less evenly matched. Since everyone wanted to see one more person make a fool of himself, they unanimously ruled that Lina hadn't broken the rules by using undead.

"Hahaha, keep it up, Zoro!"

"Lina and Sanji embarrass themselves all the time. I didn't expect this poker face to have his day, too."

That sounded a little like they were picking on Zoro.

Lina squeezed out some shampoo and smeared it over both their heads. "There you go. Let the show begin."

Both men gritted their teeth, looking thoroughly impatient. Supporting themselves with one hand, they quickly scrubbed their heads with the other, wishing they could hurry up, finish, and crawl into a hole.

"Hahaha!"

"Gahaha!"

Everyone doubled over laughing. Lina took the opportunity to snap a picture and make a quick getaway.

"Too bad there's no social media."

Lina laughed ruefully, ran to the back of the ship, and climbed down the outer hull. He summoned more than a dozen Fish-Men and stacked them together, then lay down on them like a bed.

"Tonight's bound to be anything but peaceful." He decided he wouldn't sleep in the quarters tonight.

Sure enough, it wasn't long before angry shouts came from the ship.

"Come out, you bastard! I'll cut you down!"

"Four-eyes! You think I won't smash those glasses of yours?!"

Lina smiled wryly, rolled over, and lit a cigarette. "Now they're calling me Shinpachi, too."