Elbaf Spear

By the inland river on Little Garden's east coast, beside the Going Merry.

"You guys aren't much either."

Reiner teasingly looked at the ground, where a triceratops and a tyrannosaurus lay sprawled—the prey Sanji and Zoro had hunted.

"Bastard, you cheated with the undead!"

"Putting the undead aside, you didn't even hunt that on the island, did you?"

Zoro and Sanji bared their teeth and grumbled indignantly.

"What are you talking about? How could Devil Fruit powers count as cheating?" Reiner immediately took offense and started cursing.

"And besides, I caught that giant turtle on the island. Who says turtles can't come ashore? I want my lawyer!"

"Damn blondie!"

"Who are you calling Marimo?"

"I wasn't talking about you, curly brows!"

Zoro changed his insult. "Damn four-eyes!"

Bang! Bang!

Just as the three were arguing fiercely, a tremendous sound came from behind them. When they turned around, they saw Dorry and Broggy.

"It's the giant uncles."

"They must be here to see us off."

"Hey, uncles! Goodbye!" Everyone looked up and waved farewell to the giants.

Dorry and Broggy stood with their hands on their hips and laughed heartily. "Gahahaha! Goodbye, boys!"

"No matter what you encounter later, just keep going straight ahead!"

"Straight ahead? Ah, okay! We got it!" Luffy shouted with a wide grin.

One after another, everyone boarded the ship. Reiner summoned the undead, pulled up the anchor, and began steering the vessel.

The Going Merry sailed down the river. Lush primeval forests lined both banks, while layers of shadows and tangled green vines slowly drifted backward. The ship entered the ocean and left the island behind.

Less than a few kilometers out, the calm sea suddenly surged with waves. The tiny boat on the vast ocean rocked violently atop the raging swells as a huge, terrifying shadow gradually emerged.

Splash—!

A gigantic sea monster burst from the water. Its savage maw opened like a dark, bottomless abyss, and seawater poured backward into the endless bottomless pit.

Nami panicked and collapsed onto the deck, screaming nonstop. "Aaaah! What kind of monster is that?!"

"We're going to die! We're going to die!"

"No, I can't steer the ship at all!"

The Going Merry lost all control and slowly sailed toward the abyss with the backflowing seawater.

The Island Eater Goldfish was a legendary giant sea monster recorded in historical tales and passed down through the ages. It fed on islands, and rumor had it that its droppings were as large as land.

Faced with a monster that could churn the seas merely by moving its body, everyone felt a trace of despair just from looking at it. Even Zoro, who was usually calm and composed, frowned and clenched his teeth with a grave expression.

Looking at the Island Eater Goldfish before him, whose single tooth was larger than the Going Merry, Reiner could not help clicking his tongue.

He turned back to look at the two giants, who had already assumed stances to gather power. An unprecedentedly terrifying aura emanated from them.

"Since it's the uncles' kind gesture, let's leave it to them."

Reiner gave up on summoning the Blue Ogre and Red Ogre. If they used a combined attack on the ship, the recoil would probably damage the Going Merry badly.

The tension between Reiner's brows gradually eased, and the corners of his mouth unconsciously lifted. He faced the abyss before him without flinching.

"Everyone! Go straight ahead!!"

Luffy sat cross-legged on the sheep figurehead and shouted. There was not the slightest fear in his eyes, only unwavering trust in the giants.

"Straight ahead, my ass! We're about to die!"

The Going Merry gradually sailed into the savage mouth. Their vision slowly darkened until they could not see their own hands.

Suddenly, two rough voices rang in their ears, filled with immense pride.

"The only thing that can stop us!!"

"Is that bloodstained serpent!!"

"Please witness the strongest technique of the land of giants!"

Their legs bent as both giants tightly gripped their sword and axe, assuming the stance of swinging a bat. Their violent aura sent chills down everyone's spine, and a ferocious roar shook the heavens.

"Elbaf Spear!!"

"Hakoku!!!!!"

"BOOM!!!!!!"

A fierce gale suddenly swept over them from behind Reiner, sending his blond hair flying wildly.

A deafening sound like thunder erupted. The darkness was instantly torn apart, and blinding white light filled their vision as terrifying wind pressure propelled the Going Merry onward.

Straight ahead!

"Th-th-th-the sea!"

"It was split apart!!!"

"What the hell—!"

Everyone aboard the ship stood dumbfounded, their jaws practically hitting the deck.

Reiner gaped and blurted out something strange, utterly shocked by the sight of the sea split in two before him.

When he looked back, the two giants were rapidly shrinking into the distance, their weapons shattered into fragments.

"Despite that kind of power, they still made sure not to touch the Going Merry at all."

Reiner was secretly shocked. His understanding of Haki had changed somewhat again. Did I wrong Teacher Kaido?

He recalled Kaido's roar, followed by the sight of him immediately transforming and breathing out a blast of dragon fire.

"..."

Back on the island, the two giants tossed aside the broken handles of their weapons and picked up their round shields.

They silently watched the little ship gradually sail farther away, until the Going Merry became a black dot and vanished beyond the horizon.

Dorry gazed toward where the sea met the sky and spoke softly. "A kid who dreams in broad daylight, and another with no ambition at all."

"Many years ago, people like that seemed to have come to this island one after another."

"Seems like that happened. I can't remember it," Broggy replied simply.

"Gahahaha!"

The two giants stood there laughing toward the sky, their black capes snapping in the wind as their shadows stretched long behind them.

Boom—!

"Oh, the volcano erupted, Dorry."

"Let's duel, Broggy! Gahahaha!"

The battle that had continued for a hundred years did not end with the destruction of their weapons.

The sun set and gradually sank below the horizon. Time passed, and a crescent moon hung high in the black sky.

Yet amid the quiet sea, the Going Merry was exceptionally lively.

"Come on, Zoro!"

"The shampoo's falling, Sanji!"

On deck, everyone crowded around two figures, one yellow and one green. Zoro and Sanji were standing on their heads against the first-floor cabin.

They gritted their teeth with their eyes tightly shut, veins bulging visibly from their foreheads. Their faces were full of impatience at the heckling from the spectators.

"Damn four-eyes!"

"I'll chop you up sooner or later!"

"Stop cursing already." Reiner laughed as he carried over two wooden basins full of water, placing them on the deck and pushing them beneath their heads.

At first, the three had argued fiercely. In the end, they decided to let everyone else vote on who won.

Zoro and Sanji's prey had been nearly identical. To see one more person embarrass himself, everyone unanimously ruled that Reiner's use of the undead did not count as cheating.

"Haha, keep it up, Zoro!"

"Reiner and Sanji usually make fools of themselves all the time. Who would've thought this stone-faced guy would have his day too?"

That sounded rather targeted at Zoro.

Reiner squeezed out some shampoo and directly rubbed it onto both their heads. "All right, begin your performance."

The two gritted their teeth with impatient faces. One hand supported them on the ground while the other rapidly scrubbed their heads, as if they wanted to finish as fast as possible and crawl into a crack in the ground.

"Hahaha."

"Gahaha!!"

Everyone doubled over laughing. Only Reiner took the chance to snap a photo and quickly slipped away.

"What a shame there's no social media."

Reiner sighed with a smile, ran to the back of the ship, and climbed down along the outer hull. He summoned more than a dozen fish-men and stacked them together before lying on top like it was a bed.

"This night is destined not to be peaceful." He decided not to return to the cabin to sleep that night.

Sure enough, not long afterward, furious roars came from the ship.

"Get out here, bastard! I'll chop you up!"

"Four-eyes, I'll smash your glasses, you hear me?!"

Reiner gave a bitter smile, turned over, and lit a cigarette. "Even Shinpachi's nickname had landed on me."