The Fleet Admiral had been driven back. Next were those CP0 agents who had abducted the children.
"Your Majesty Harald, leave this matter to me!"
Carmel stepped forward and said solemnly.
"I will bring them back safely."
The giants still did not know who had taken the two Giant race children. But when Carmel woke up and saw the letter left at the door, she understood that this operation had not been aimed at the Giant race or Magnus, but at her.
"No!"
Giant King Harald refused without a second thought.
"Resisting invaders is our duty. Having our friends help us was already a disgrace. Now, we must wash away that disgrace!"
The Fleet Admiral had left without attacking Elbaf until the very end, which showed that the Marines had not been targeting Elbaf.
But it was also a fact that someone had taken advantage of the Fleet Admiral's invasion to abduct Giant race children.
To the warriors of Elbaf, this was undoubtedly a provocation.
"If we do not kill those little pests, I will not be worthy of thanking the sun!"
"This is Elbaf's disgrace!"
"It is time those little pests remembered the fear of being ruled by us giants!"
"..."
The giants were fired up. At this point, even if Carmel stepped forward and told them that the child abductors were World Government CP agents, the giants would not care.
They did not know who their enemy was.
They only knew that someone had abducted Giant race children.
"Those fools think they can escape our pursuit, but do not forget—this is Elbaf, the homeland of giants!"
"Batian!"
At Giant King Harald's call, a giant with his head lowered and a hoarse voice appeared before everyone.
The moment he appeared, feathers began growing from his hands and cheeks. Then he leaped from the edge of the Sun World. When he appeared again, he was a white eagle with a wingspan of over fifty meters, wearing a kindly expression.
"A Zoan Fruit user."
Rocks muttered to himself. During the past half year, he had not merely been training; he had also been cramming the maritime knowledge he had previously lacked.
For example, Devil Fruits.
That white eagle before him had likely transformed after eating one of the three major Devil Fruit types, a Zoan Fruit. Rocks had originally believed that giants like Ripley could not use Devil Fruits.
But now, it seemed his assumption had been completely wrong.
"Your Majesty, I found them."
The giant transformed into a white eagle had merely flown around less than half of Elbaf before finding a small boat that had only just sailed away from the island.
Gulz and Hajrudin were too large to fit inside the cabin, so they lay conspicuously on the deck.
"Good, then we—"
"Harald, how about you hear a suggestion from me?"
Hearing Magnus's voice, Harald looked up. While the giants had been talking, Magnus had used Geppo to return from the Underworld to the Sun World.
Though covered in injuries, not a single giant nearby dared underestimate the old man before them.
"Magnus, this is a matter for the Giant race!"
Letting Magnus help drive back the Fleet Admiral had already been humiliating enough. If they also had to let him help retrieve the children, where would the Giant race's pride go?
"Haha, I never said I was going to make a move."
Sitting shirtless on the ground, Magnus laughed heartily.
"But Harald, you cannot deny that if you pursue them too fiercely, those 'thieves' might be driven into a desperate fight, can you?"
"...So you have a way?"
"Of course."
Magnus smiled as he pulled a fruit out from behind him. Harald's face stiffened the moment he saw it, and he blurted out—
"A Devil Fruit?"
"That is right. And it is the Paramecia-type Mini Fruit. It can not only make you giants as small as ordinary humans, but even smaller. What do you think? It suits giants perfectly, does it not?"
Magnus had discovered this system reward only after his battle with Rona. It was not a reward for fighting Rona, but for fighting CP0.
Sea Circle Calendar, December 7, 1460. Having stayed in the Land of Giants for half a year, you had gradually mastered the use of Haki. However, good times did not last. You unexpectedly discovered several CP Organization members who had sneaked into Elbaf, and learned that they were CP0, the shield of the Celestial Dragons. As the world's strongest intelligence agency, every CP0 member possessed the strength to fight a thousand alone and easily defeat an adult giant. With you having only just mastered Haki, victory was absolutely impossible. Mission: Awaken the giants and assist them in repelling the CP Organization members. (Completed) Mission Reward: Paramecia-type Mini Fruit.
Magnus had not expected that he had merely killed one CP0 agent. He had not participated in the battle afterward, and the remaining CP0 agents had even escaped.
Yet when the mission was settled, it counted as completed?
Meanwhile, the much more dangerous Fleet Admiral had not triggered a mission at all. Instead, after he drove Rona back, the system had mocked him mercilessly.
Sea Circle Calendar, December 7, 1480. You, a villain guilty of every evil, beat up a retired old granny. The old granny swore that she would definitely have someone help her get even.
Now Magnus understood why the system had not triggered a mission.
In the system's eyes, Rona simply was not a threat.
Still, after living with the system for over half a year, Magnus had grown used to its stupidity. If he simply treated the reward for driving back CP0 as the reward for driving back a Fleet Admiral, would that not make perfect sense?
Magnus felt somewhat regretful. If he had not killed only one CP0 agent, but had kept all of them behind, perhaps the system's reward would have changed from a Paramecia Fruit to a Logia Fruit or a Mythical Zoan Fruit.
At the very least, it would certainly have been rarer.
After all, Paramecia Fruits were difficult to develop, and most had fairly low ceilings.
Logia Fruits and Mythical Zoan Fruits were different.
Logia Fruits were defined by stability. Unless Haki or Seastone was used, there was no way to harm a Logia Fruit user aside from finding a means to counter their natural element.
Their lower limit was extremely high.
As for Mythical Zoan Fruits, Magnus himself was proof enough. They could raise a person's growth ceiling and even allow them to touch the threshold of legend.
But that was only for ordinary people.
For the Giant race, the Paramecia-type Mini Fruit was absolutely one of the most practical fruits. Aside from the inability to swim, it could perfectly capitalize on the giants' immense strength while avoiding the drawback of their enormous size.
Seeing the Devil Fruit in Magnus's hand, Harald fell silent for a long while before extending his hand.
"Thanks. Our Giant race will remember—"
"Wait!"
Seeing Harald reach out, Magnus hurriedly drew back the hand holding the fruit.
"Who said this fruit was for you?"
"Then you..."
"This fruit is naturally for my most important crewmate!"
Magnus shot Harald a glare, then placed the Mini Fruit in Ripley's hand.
"Although Ripley is my crewmate, she is also a member of Elbaf. There should be no problem with having Ripley help rescue those two little ones, right?"
The three CP0 agents who had infiltrated the giant village were not weak, but after their continuous rush, fleeing from the giants' pursuit for half a day, and fighting several giants, they had suffered serious injuries.
They could not even exert half their usual strength now.
If Ripley ate the Mini Fruit and secretly infiltrated their ship, she would have every chance of catching them off guard and dealing with the three CP0 agents without harming the two children.
And this was also an opportunity Magnus had secured for Ripley to temper herself.
Though Ripley had always trained with the giants while living in Elbaf, she lacked real life-and-death combat.
What Magnus wanted was a companion who could fight shoulder to shoulder with him, not a greenhouse flower who needed him to worry over everything.
"Ripley, can you do it?"
Looking at the fruit in Magnus's hand and feeling his trust in her—
Ripley nodded heavily.
"I can!"
"I will bring Gulz and Hajrudin back safely!"
Before you continue