"Rocks, are you okay?"
"I-I'm fine."
After taking a punch that had nearly sent him to the grave, Rocks lay on the ground, questioning his life choices.
So much for being talented.
In half a year, he'd gone from a complete rookie to mastering the Six Powers and getting a feel for Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
Even in the first half of the Grand Line,
Rocks was already strong enough to make a name for himself.
But the one he'd run into was Charlotte Linlin.
A monster blessed by the heavens, the most naturally gifted pirate of all. She'd become one of the Four Emperors just by eating, drinking, and lounging around every day.
Who could compete with that?
"Rocks, you should rest. Leave Linlin to me!"
The one speaking to Rocks was Lipri, who'd just arrived. The whole village's alarm had been raised. Before leaving, the three CP0 agents had started a fire, and flames threatened to consume half the village.
After discovering the children had been abducted, three of the stronger giants had gone after the CP agents. The rest were either trying to put out the fire or driving away the animals caught in the crossfire of Mongge and Rona's battle.
They simply couldn't spare anyone.
Looking at Charlotte Linlin, who'd completely lost control, Lipri's expression turned grave.
She actually knew a little more than Rocks did.
She knew Charlotte Linlin had Gluttony Disease and could lose control if she got too hungry. Though young, Linlin was incredibly strong, matching a grown giant, and had an iron defense that could shrug off any attack.
Fortunately, young Linlin still couldn't make full use of her advantages.
"Rocks, can you still move? Go to the food storehouse right away. Bring out all the prepared food, bring some here, and hand out the rest to everyone."
In the current situation, they couldn't worry about the Winter Solstice Festival.
Linlin was rampaging because she was hungry, and the giants couldn't fight at full strength while hungry.
Only once their stomachs were full could they defeat their enemies!
"Okay!"
Though Linlin's punch had left Rocks feeling like his whole body was falling apart, this was where his mastery of the Six Powers paid off.
At the critical moment, he'd used Kami-e to avoid the full force of the blow. So even though he was hurt, his injuries weren't too serious.
"And the children from Home of Lambs..."
"I'll take care of the children."
Woken from her sleep, Sister Garumoro had brought the children to a safe place. After giving Charlotte Linlin a worried look, she chose to escort the children to safety first.
After watching Garumoro leave, Lipri turned to Charlotte Linlin.
"Sorry, Linlin."
When Mongge had asked her to look after Charlotte Linlin, he'd told her one thing.
If anything happened to Linlin,
knock her out first and ask questions later!
"Armament Haki!"
Lipri took her stance, an invisible force swirling around her hands. Though Mongge had focused on training her Observation Haki over the past six months, Armament Haki was the first one she'd mastered.
Maybe giants just weren't naturally suited to Observation Haki.
"Hero's Spear!"
She went all out from the start. If she were facing another Giant Tribe child, Lipri would have worried about shattering them with a punch.
But Charlotte Linlin was different.
"Samura... ice cream..."
A sinister smile spread across Charlotte Linlin's face.
Bang!
Lipri's fist collided with Charlotte Linlin's. A terrifying shock wave burst from the point of impact. Faced with Lipri's Armament Haki–reinforced strike, Charlotte Linlin didn't give an inch.
"What!?"
Only then did Lipri truly understand why Mongge wanted Charlotte Linlin to join his pirate crew.
She was only five years old.
She didn't know a single fighting technique.
And yet, relying on instinct alone, Charlotte Linlin could fight her to a standstill.
"This is trouble."
Lipri couldn't bring herself to truly go all out against Charlotte Linlin, but the frenzied girl didn't care about that at all.
For a moment, Lipri found herself holding back.
Just then, an icy gale erupted in the forest. Lipri was already a considerable distance away, but the terrifying aura still made her breathing quicken.
"That's the captain's Conqueror's Haki!"
As one of the newest members of the White Wolf Pirates, Lipri had never doubted the strength of her captain's Conqueror's Haki.
It was just that Mongge usually used it only to scare Charlotte Linlin. Lipri had never experienced what it was like when he unleashed his Conqueror's Haki at full strength.
But now, she saw it.
A storm of red-and-black lightning shot into the sky, spreading outward in rings from the forest. It even sent the branches and leaves of the Adam Tree swaying overhead.
And Charlotte Linlin, who'd been rampaging just moments ago, seemed to regain some clarity in her eyes after feeling that aura.
"Huh? What am I doing?"
Charlotte Linlin sucked on her finger and stared at Lipri in confusion.
"Big Sister Lipri, I think I just saw some people run into our home. They seemed to be bullying Geruz and Hajrudin. Are they bad guys?"
As expected of the captain!
Seeing Linlin come to her senses, Lipri couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
At her question, Lipri nodded. "That's right, they're bad guys. They took Geruz and Hajrudin."
At Lipri's words, Charlotte Linlin came fully to her senses, a murderous aura rising from her that was no weaker than before.
"Bad guys? I'll beat up the bad guys! I'll rescue Geruz and Hajrudin!"
"It's okay, Linlin. The others have already gone after them. Geruz and Hajrudin will be fine."
Seeing the aura around Charlotte Linlin, Lipri hurried to calm her down. She wasn't Mongge; she couldn't get Charlotte Linlin to listen to her.
She wasn't asking Linlin to help. She just hoped she wouldn't cause any trouble.
"Lipri, I've brought the food."
Rocks came running from nearby with a huge basket full of desserts. As soon as Charlotte Linlin saw the food inside, she forgot all about everything else.
But Lipri and Rocks still couldn't relax.
The real battle wasn't over yet.
The shock wave from the Conqueror's Haki couldn't have come from just one person. Besides Mongge, there was another enemy capable of releasing Conqueror's Haki just as powerful.
In the forest, the ground formed by the roots of giant trees had collapsed in huge sections. Many of the roots were covered in ice and snow, while others had been cleanly sliced apart.
In a few places, they could even see the Underworld thousands of meters below.
Mongge, in his Giant Wolf form, stood facing off against Rona.
But while Mongge remained calm, Rona looked utterly incredulous.
"You old geezer, you have Conqueror's Haki!?"
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