Before Mongge stood a red-haired woman wearing a white Marine coat. She was strikingly beautiful and nearly as tall as he was.
She attacked Mongge as soon as she appeared. Though she was a woman, her strength was so immense that he could barely hold his own.
Mongge was already one of the strongest fighters in these seas.
But if anyone was stronger than him,
it was the current Marine Admirals and the future Pirate Emperors.
And the woman before him was one of the Three Admirals.
"The Scarlet Snake," Rona von Braun.
One of the few women ever to hold the rank of Admiral in Marine history, she was also one of the finest Great Swordsmen in the world.
She was one of the few people who had repeatedly given Mongge trouble during the chase.
In Mongge's memories, this woman had no place in the future.
But when he thought about it, that wasn't surprising.
The main story was still more than fifty years away.
There was only one Marine he recognized.
Steel Bone Kong.
The future Fleet Admiral and World Government Commander-in-Chief.
But even someone as famous as him
had yet to become a Marine Admiral at this point in time.
He was still only an Admiral candidate.
If Kong was an Admiral candidate, then who were the current Marine Admirals?
The answer stood right before him.
Time had left its mark. No matter how beautiful a woman had been in her youth, the years were bound to leave traces.
Even so, the woman before him was still beautiful.
Like fine wine, she hadn't lost her flavor with age.
"Rona von Braun, why are you here?"
Mongge regarded the woman before him with a grave expression. He never would have guessed that CP was just bait, with the real danger lurking behind them.
"Heh. A woman's intuition."
Rona von Braun's scarlet lips curved into a lovely smile. She stared intently at Mongge, like a venomous snake watching its prey.
"It's been five years. I thought you'd be old and decrepit by now, but you look even livelier than you did back then."
Rona von Braun had entered Elbaf entirely by chance. When it came to powerful Non-Government Affiliated Nations like the Land of Giants, the Marines generally chose to ignore them and proceed with caution.
Without orders, even an Admiral wouldn't casually set foot in a Non-Government Affiliated Nation.
In truth, if Mongge hadn't appeared, Rona never would have shown herself. She didn't care in the slightest whether those CP agents lived or died.
After unexpectedly finding their ship, she remembered that the Marines seemed to have some dealings with Garumoro, the "Holy Mother" on Elbaf. And there seemed to be some connection between Garumoro and Mongge.
The White Wolf Pirates had been gone for half a year, so Rona decided to take a chance and come ashore with the CP agents.
Who would have thought that fate would really hand her such a surprise?
"Mongge, surrender."
Rona smiled sweetly.
"You couldn't beat me five years ago, and you certainly can't beat me now. If you surrender, I'll arrange a special cell for you in Impel Down."
"Heh. I'll pass."
He'd finally gotten the system, and his body, once as withered as deadwood, had been restored to life. He wouldn't surrender to a Marine Admiral, and he sure as hell wouldn't surrender even if the Fleet Admiral showed up.
"In that case, I'll have to beat you down and bring you to justice!"
As she spoke, Rona's gaze sharpened. She poured her powerful Haki into her long blade, and a bone-chilling edge flared along its length.
"Flower Slash!"
A crimson, crescent-shaped shockwave hurled Mongge skyward. She went all out from the very first move, not even sparing a glance for the three CP0 agents behind him.
"Not good!"
"Get out of the way!"
Mongge, standing directly in Rona's path, took the brunt of the attack, but the lingering shockwave sent the three CP0 agents flying as well.
If Mongge hadn't absorbed most of the force of Rona's slash, that single blow would have severely wounded all three agents, Roke included.
Faced with Rona's indiscriminate attack, Roke didn't dare complain.
Everyone who knew Rona understood why.
The Marine Admiral codenamed "Scarlet Snake" had always had a nasty temper.
"Let's go!"
They'd thought the mission was doomed—and that not only would it fail, but they might not make it out alive.
Then, against all odds, their Marine Admiral had appeared.
As for why the "Scarlet Snake," Rona, was here,
Roke didn't dare wonder, let alone ask.
"Hurry! While Admiral Scarlet Snake keeps the enemy occupied, let's get on with our mission!"
Roke said in a low voice.
A Marine Admiral was among the world's most powerful fighters. Forget White Wolf Mongge—even if the Giant King of Elbaf joined him,
no one could stop Rona from leaving.
The three CP agents bowed slightly to Rona, then hurried toward the Giant village.
Seeing this, Mongge furrowed his brow.
"What, going after them?"
Rona's tone was mocking. "Ten years ago, you might've been able to keep up with me. But can you even run now?"
Mongge looked in better shape than he had five years ago, but Rona didn't believe he'd regained his former strength.
Once people passed their prime, their strength could only decline with age.
She'd never heard of anyone getting stronger as they grew older.
"Well, want to find out?"
Mongge let out a soft breath. The moment he saw Rona, he knew he'd have to fight for his life.
Strangely, the system still hadn't reacted.
She was a Marine Admiral, after all!
Mongge could only guess that, in the timeline recorded by the system, Rona had already become an old woman—either retired or no longer able to fight.
Rona's gaze suddenly turned cold.
As one of the world's most powerful fighters, she wasn't a Devil Fruit User but a pure swordswoman. Her Observation Haki was undoubtedly among the finest.
She didn't like the look Mongge had given her just now!
"Moon Slash!"
The Flying Slash was plain and unadorned, but its range was enough to cleave the forest stretching more than a thousand meters behind Mongge in two.
Mongge's answer was—
"Cold Strike!"
The forest was already more than ten degrees below freezing, but the temperature dropped even further.
Winter was his home ground.
He had the blizzard to thank—and the heavy snowfall from last night.
A Giant Wolf lunged fiercely at Rona.
Beauty and the Beast.
Not a fairy tale, but a fight to the death!
In the Giant village, Linlin had been fasting for seven days and was so hungry she could barely think. She staggered to her feet, and just as she was about to grab some snow to stuff into her stomach like cake,
three figures in white suits appeared before her.
"Limited manpower. Which one should we take?"
"One of the Giant Tribe's children. If we take a Giant child, even the 'Holy Mother' will have to negotiate with us."
"..."
Roke casually hoisted a sleeping Giant child several times his size onto his shoulder, then walked up to Charlotte Linlin.
He jumped and delivered a chop with the side of his hand.
"Go to sleep!"
Roke landed, but the feel of a blow knocking out a Giant child never came. The child before him hadn't even fallen over.
His hand hurt a little.
Roke looked up and saw Linlin, who had just taken his chop, staring blankly at him as if nothing had happened.
"What are you doing?"
Charlotte Linlin asked, sucking on her finger.
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