The Marine Admiral had been driven off. Next were the CP0 agents who had abducted the children.
"Your Majesty Harald, leave this matter to me!"
Garumoro stepped forward and said solemnly.
"I'll bring them back safely."
The Giants still didn't know who had abducted the two Giant Tribe children. But when they awoke and saw the letter left at the door, Garumoro realized the operation hadn't been aimed at the Giant Tribe or Mongge—it had been aimed at her.
"No!"
But Giant King Harald refused without a moment's hesitation.
"Fighting off invaders is our duty. Having our friend help us was already a disgrace. Now we have to wash away that disgrace!"
The Marine Admiral had left without ever attacking Elbaf, which meant the Marines hadn't been targeting Elbaf.
But it was a fact that someone had taken advantage of the Marine Admiral's invasion to abduct children from the Giant Tribe.
In the eyes of Elbaf's Giant Tribe warriors, there was no doubt that such an act was a provocation.
"If we don't kill those little people, I won't deserve to thank the Sun!"
"This is a disgrace to Elbaf!"
"It's time to remind those little people of the fear of being ruled by us Giants!"
"..."
The Giants were in an uproar. At that point, even if Garumoro stepped forward and told them the abductors were CP agents from the World Government, the Giants wouldn't listen.
They didn't know who their enemy was. They only knew that someone had abducted children from the Giant Tribe.
"Those fools think they can escape our pursuit, but they'd better not forget: this is Elbaf, the homeland of the Giants!"
"Batiyan!"
At Giant King Harald's call, a Giant appeared before them, head bowed and voice hoarse.
As soon as he appeared, feathers began to grow on his hands and cheeks. At last, he leaped down from the edge of the Sunny Realm, and when he appeared again, he had become a white eagle with a wingspan of more than fifty meters and a kind, benevolent look.
"A Zoan Fruit user..."
Rocks murmured to himself. During the past six months, he hadn't just been training; he'd also been cramming in all kinds of knowledge about the sea that he hadn't known before.
Devil Fruits, for instance.
The white eagle before him must have transformed after eating one of the three great Devil Fruits, a Zoan Devil Fruit. Rocks had originally thought that Giants like Lipri couldn't use Devil Fruits.
But now it seemed his assumption had been completely wrong.
"Your Majesty, I've found them."
The white eagle, transformed from a Giant, flew a short loop around Elbaf and spotted a small boat that had just sailed a short distance away from the island.
On the boat, Geruz and Hajrudin were too large to fit inside the cabin, so they were lying on the deck, where they stood out conspicuously.
"Good. Then we—"
"Harald, how about hearing me out?"
At Mongge's voice, Harald raised his head. While the Giants had been talking, Mongge had used Geppo to return from the Underworld to the Sunny Realm.
Though he was covered in wounds, none of the Giants present dared look down on the old man before them.
"Mongge, this is a matter for the Giant Tribe!"
It had been embarrassing enough to ask Mongge to help drive off the Marine Admiral. If they asked him to help retrieve the children too, what would become of the Giant Tribe's pride?
"Hahaha, I never said I was going to get involved."
Sitting on the ground with his upper body bare, Mongge laughed.
"But Harald, you can't deny that if your people pursue them too relentlessly, those 'thieves' might get desperate and do something reckless, can you?"
"So you have a solution?"
"Of course."
Mongge smiled as he pulled a fruit from behind his back. At the sight of it, Harald's expression tightened, and the words slipped out of his mouth.
"A Devil Fruit?"
"That's right. And it's a Paramecia-Mini Fruit. It can make you Giants the same size as ordinary people, or even smaller. It's perfect for the Giant Tribe, isn't it?"
Mongge had only discovered it after his fight with Rona. It wasn't a reward from fighting Rona, though—it was from fighting CP0.
[Marine Era, December 7, 1460: You have been staying in Elbaf for half a year and are gradually mastering Haki. But your good fortune doesn't last. You accidentally discover several members of the CP Organization who have sneaked into Elbaf, and learn that they are CP0, the shield of the Celestial Dragons. As the world's strongest intelligence agency, every CP0 member is capable of taking on a thousand opponents and easily defeating an adult Giant. You have only just mastered Haki. You have no chance of winning.] [Mission: Awaken the Giants and help them drive off the CP Organization members. (Complete)] [Mission reward: Paramecia · Mini Fruit.]
Mongge hadn't expected that killing one CP0 agent, without taking part in the rest of the battle, while the others escaped, would count as completing the mission.
And yet, after the mission results were tallied, it actually counted as complete?
For the Marine Admiral, whose threat level was clearly much higher, the system hadn't even given him a mission. Instead, after Mongge drove Rona off, it had mocked him mercilessly.
[Marine Era, December 7, 1480: You, who have committed every kind of evil, beat up a retired old lady. She vowed to get someone to help her get even.]
Now Mongge understood why the system hadn't given him a mission.
Apparently, in the system's eyes, Rona wasn't a threat at all.
But after dealing with the system for more than half a year, Mongge had gotten used to how stupid it was. If he just pretended the reward for driving off CP0 had actually been for driving off the Marine Admiral, wouldn't that make a lot more sense?
For the Giant Tribe, the Paramecia-Mini Fruit was undoubtedly one of the most useful fruits around. Aside from the inability to swim, it allowed Giants to make perfect use of their great strength while avoiding the drawbacks of their enormous size.
Seeing the Devil Fruit in Mongge's hand, Harald fell silent for a moment, then reached out.
"Thanks. Our Giant Tribe will remember—"
"Wait!"
When Harald reached for it, Mongge quickly pulled back the hand holding the fruit.
"Who said I was giving you this fruit?"
"Then..."
"This fruit is for my most important crewmate, of course!"
Mongge shot Harald a glare, then placed the Mini Fruit in Lipri's hand.
"Though Lipri is my crewmate, she's also one of your people in Elbaf. It should be fine to let her help rescue those two kids, right?"
The three CP0 agents who had infiltrated the Giant village were no weaklings. But after a long journey, half a day spent fleeing from the pursuing Giants, and a fight with several of them that had left them badly injured, they were in rough shape.
They couldn't even manage half their usual strength.
If Lipri ate the Mini Fruit and sneaked in to catch them off guard, she'd have a good chance of taking down all three CP0 agents without harming the children.
And that was why Mongge had given Lipri this chance to train.
Though Lipri had always lived in Elbaf and had trained with the Giants, she lacked real combat experience.
Mongge wanted a companion who could fight alongside him, not a hothouse flower who needed him to worry about everything.
"Lipri, can you do it?"
Looking at the fruit in Mongge's hand and feeling how much he trusted her, Lipri nodded firmly.
"I can!"
"I'll bring Geruz and Hajrudin back safely!"
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