Meeting the Giant King!

Harald, the Giant King of Elbaf.

He is also one of the strongest warriors currently alive among the Giant Tribe.

Under Aruru's lead.

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 aging pirate.

"You've gotten old."

Ten years ago, Mongge hadn't shown signs of aging and his combat power was near its peak. Harald still remembered their fight, which lasted nearly a day and a night, destroying so much of the forest and vegetation that it covered a small part of Elbaf.

But now, Harald only saw a white-haired old man.

It made one wonder.

How much of his peak combat power did Mongge still possess now?

"Haha, everyone gets old, don't they?"

Mongge didn't care about Harald's words, because it was the truth. His appearance had indeed become much more weathered compared to ten years ago.

However, this aging was infinitely better than it had been two months ago.

At least now, even facing the strongest warrior of the Giant Tribe in Elbaf, Mongge could still stand tall and meet his gaze without any fear.

An invisible aura surged from both of them.

Zzzzt~

"What is this..."

Aruru, standing not far away,'s pupils constricted.

What was he seeing?

A chilling pressure suddenly erupted from Mongge, and in response, the Giant King Harald's aura rose, not showing any signs of weakness.

As the two auras clashed, a fierce gale swept through the spacious hall, and red and black lightning spread between Mongge and Harald.

"Conqueror's Haki!?"

Seeing Mongge standing in the hall, facing Harald head-on and not losing an inch in terms of aura, a flicker of disbelief flashed in Aruru's eyes.

How could Mongge have Conqueror's Haki!?

If Aruru didn't know Mongge, he would never have believed that Mongge, a Great Pirate, didn't possess Conqueror's Haki.

But this was the reality.

Even though Mongge had made a huge name for himself on this sea.

Ten years ago.

During the battle between Mongge and Harald, he hadn't unleashed Conqueror's Haki even once.

Mongge lacked Conqueror's Haki.

This was the biggest reason why Mongge, as a pirate, and only a Great Pirate, could not ascend to the level of an Emperor and gain the recognition of other pirates.

Mongge lacked the presence of a king!

But after ten years without seeing him, Mongge had actually erupted with Conqueror's Haki?

Was this even possible?

Mongge was seventy years old, which, for a Giant, was nearly three hundred years old.

An old man on the verge of death.

Actually awakened Conqueror's Haki before he died?

Who would believe such a story?

Aruru finally understood why Mongge, at such an old age, was still unwilling to give up and had chosen to set sail again.

Because of Conqueror's Haki!

How could someone who possessed Conqueror's Haki allow themselves to die in obscurity?

"Haha, Mongge, is this the confidence you bring to see me?"

Harald looked at Mongge, a sharp glint in his eyes.

"After all, if I truly became an old man, I wouldn't even have the right to stand before you, would I?"

Mongge also wore a smile.

Regardless of whether Harald was a true pacifist or not.

He had to possess sufficient strength to subdue the other giants and make them obey him.

Strength was the reason for becoming a king!

"Kurururu, who told you to set your sights on the 'Divine Tree'? If you didn't have some skill, no matter what kind of deal it was, my people wouldn't agree."

One of the two clashing auras suddenly retracted. Harald smiled, "Mongge, my friend, forgive me for greeting you this way. After all, the moment 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 had grown weaker, I definitely would have been unable to resist attacking you and beating you up."

"You just got a scar on your face. I had an arm broken by you back then, and it took a full week to recover."

One had to know, the most outstanding ability of Zoan Fruit users was their recovery power!

"Kukukuku!"

"Puhahaha!"

Though they said such things, both Mongge and Harald burst into laughter.

"Bring the wine!"

Harald descended from his throne and casually sat before Mongge. His height of over forty meters made him look like a mountain.

Among the Giant Tribe, there were ancient giants with two horns growing from their heads.

Ordinary giants were only about twenty meters tall.

However, giants with ancient giant bloodlines would far surpass this height.

"Speak, what can you offer?"

Having already learned Mongge's purpose in Elbaf from Aruru, Harald didn't beat around the bush. He asked directly, "What do you have that can impress me enough to exchange a branch of the Sacred Tree?"

"It's very simple."

Mongge smiled.

"Peace and prosperity."

"Oh?"

Hearing Mongge's words, Harald's expression immediately turned serious.

If Mongge wanted to trade treasures for Adam Wood, while he wouldn't necessarily refuse, he absolutely wouldn't trade enough for Mongge to build a complete ship.

Friendship was friendship.

Mongge's relationship with Elbaf wasn't good enough for him to casually give away Adam Wood.

"I heard you're looking for a new path for Elbaf, Harald."

It had been forty years since the two captains of the Giant Soldier Pirates dueled due to their discord, and the Giant Soldier Pirates had been disbanded for forty years.

Perhaps ordinary giants didn't notice.

But Harald knew very well that the supplies plundered by the Giant Soldier Pirates in the warehouses were slowly dwindling.

Once they were depleted, they could no longer be replenished.

This gave Harald a sense of crisis. He began to wonder, was raiding the only developmental path for giants?

Besides raiding, were there other ways to make Elbaf prosperous?

Garumoro's arrival had given Harald inspiration.

Perhaps raiding wasn't the only way.

Trading with people from the outside world might also bring prosperity and flourishing to Elbaf.

Harald's idea was already evident when he first met Mongge ten years ago.

It was just that Mongge hadn't cared about such matters back then.

He wasn't the King of Elbaf.

Why should he worry about Elbaf's affairs?

It was different now. For Mongge to obtain a large amount of Adam Wood from Elbaf, he needed Harald's approval.

Harald: "You have a way?"

Mongge: "Yes, I have a way to help Elbaf establish relations with other countries."

A Great Pirate who had roamed the seas for so many years.

What did he have the most of?

Knowledge, experience.

Connections!

"Harald," Mongge asked, "what do you think of the Merfolk?"