Harald, the Giant King of Elbaf.
He was also one of the strongest warriors still living among the Giant Tribe.
Led by Aruru,
Mongge had just arrived at the castle when he met the Giant King.
"Long time no see, Mongge."
The Giant King sat on his throne, looking down at the elderly pirate.
"You've gotten old."
Ten years ago, Mongge had shown no signs of age, and his strength had been close to its peak. Harald still remembered their battle: it had lasted nearly a day and a night, and the destroyed forest and plants had covered almost a small corner of Elbaf.
But now, Harald saw only a white-haired old man.
It made him wonder
how much of his peak strength Mongge still had.
"Haha, everyone gets old, don't they?"
Mongge didn't mind Harald's remark. It was true: compared with ten years ago, he really did look much older.
But compared with two months ago, he looked infinitely better.
At least now, even when facing Elbaf's strongest Giant Tribe warrior, Mongge could still stand tall and look him in the eye without flinching.
An invisible pressure rose from the two of them.
Zzzzt~
"This is..."
Aruru, standing some distance away, narrowed his eyes.
What was he seeing?
A terrifying pressure suddenly burst from Mongge, met by an equally unyielding presence from Harald, the Giant King.
As the two forces collided, a fierce gale swept through the empty hall, and red-black lightning spread between Mongge and Harald.
"Conqueror's Haki!?"
Seeing Mongge standing in the hall and facing Harald without yielding in the slightest, Aruru's eyes flashed with disbelief.
How could Mongge have Conqueror's Haki!?
If he hadn't known Mongge, Aruru would never have believed that a Great Pirate like him lacked Conqueror's Haki.
But that was the truth.
Even though Mongge had made a tremendous name for himself on these seas,
ten years ago,
during his battle with Harald, he hadn't unleashed Conqueror's Haki even once.
Mongge had no Conqueror's Haki.
That was the main reason he was merely a Great Pirate, unable to ascend to the ranks of the Emperors and earn recognition from other pirates.
Mongge lacked the bearing of a king!
But after ten years apart, Conqueror's Haki had burst from him?
Did that make any sense?
Mongge was already seventy. By Giant Tribe standards, that was nearly three hundred years old.
An old man with one foot in the grave.
And he had awakened Conqueror's Haki right before his time was up?
Who would believe that?
Aruru finally understood why Mongge, despite his advanced age, hadn't given up and had still chosen to set sail.
It was because of Conqueror's Haki!
How could someone with Conqueror's Haki allow himself to die without ever making something of his life?
"Haha, Mongge, is this why you came to see me?"
Harald looked at Mongge, a glint in his eyes.
"After all, if I really had become an old man, I wouldn't even qualify to stand before you, would I?"
Mongge smiled too.
Whether Harald was a true Pacifista or not,
he needed enough strength to subdue the other giants and make them obey.
Strength was the very reason one became king!
"Kurururu. You're the one who wants to get your hands on the 'Divine Tree.' Without some real power, my people wouldn't agree to any deal."
One of the two clashing pressures suddenly receded. Harald smiled. "Mongge, my friend, forgive me for greeting you this way. Whenever I see you, the scar you left on my face ten years ago starts to ache."
Harald pointed to the scar on his face.
"If you'd gotten weaker, I wouldn't have been able to resist giving you a beating."
"You only got a scar on your face. You broke one of my arms back then, and it took a whole week to heal."
And Zoan Fruit users were known above all for their recovery abilities!
"Kurururu!"
"Puhahaha!"
Despite their words, Mongge and Harald both burst into laughter.
"Bring us some wine!"
Harald rose from his throne and casually sat down in front of Mongge. At over forty meters tall, he looked like a mountain.
Among the Giant Tribe were Ancient Giants born with two horns.
Ordinary giants were only around twenty meters tall.
But giants with Ancient Giant Tribe blood grew far beyond that.
"Now tell me, what can you offer?"
Having already heard from Aruru why Mongge had come to Elbaf, Harald didn't beat around the bush. He asked directly, "What do you have that could convince me to trade you a branch from the Divine Tree?"
"It's simple."
Mongge smiled.
"Peace and prosperity."
"Oh?"
At Mongge's words, Harald's expression turned serious.
If Mongge wanted to trade treasure for Adam Wood, Harald might agree, but he certainly wouldn't give him enough to build an entire ship.
Friendship was one thing.
Mongge and Elbaf weren't close enough for Harald to hand over Adam Wood freely.
"I heard you want to find a new path forward for Elbaf, Harald."
Forty years ago, after the two captains of the Giant Soldier Pirates fought over a dispute, the crew disbanded. It had now been gone for forty years.
Ordinary giants might not have noticed,
but Harald knew very well that the supplies the Giant Soldier Pirates had plundered in the past, now stored in the warehouses, were slowly running out.
Once they were gone, there would be no way to replenish them.
This filled Harald with unease. He began to wonder: was raiding the only path forward for the giants?
Was there some way besides raiding to make Elbaf prosperous?
Garumoro's arrival had given Harald an idea.
Perhaps raiding wasn't the only way.
Trading with people from the outside world might also make Elbaf flourish.
Harald's idea had already begun to show when he first met Mongge ten years ago.
But back then, Mongge hadn't cared about such things.
He wasn't Elbaf's king.
Why should he worry about Elbaf?
Things were different now. Mongge wanted to obtain a large quantity of Adam Wood from Elbaf, so he had to get Harald's approval.
Harald: "You have a way?"
Mongge: "Yes. I can help Elbaf establish ties with the countries beyond."
A Great Pirate who had roamed the seas for so many years—
what did he have the most of?
Knowledge and experience.
Connections!
"Harald," Mongge asked, "what do you think of the Merfolk?"
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