Elbaf!

June, Sea Circle Calendar 1460.

Elbaf.

This was a Giant Kingdom located in the latter half of the New World.

For adventurers who had traveled from afar,

the first thing they saw upon arriving at the giants' island was that incomparably towering tree, as though it held up heaven and earth.

The Adam Tree!

"It's... it's huge!"

He had originally thought it was merely an ordinary large tree. It was not until they had sailed for an entire day and night and neared their destination that Rocks realized it was not that the Adam Tree was small—it was that they had previously been far too distant from it.

Only when one truly drew close did one understand

why the Giant Kingdom of Elbaf was said to be a nation built upon a tree.

"Haha, it scared you, didn't it? I was shocked the first time I came here too."

The current Rocks was still just a rookie pirate brat. Whether in terms of experience or strength, he was nowhere near the person he would become in the future.

As he gazed at the towering tree, a trace of nostalgia flashed through Magnus's eyes.

The last time he had come here was ten years ago.

"Let's go. If we're lucky and the rainbow appears, we can head straight to the giants' village. But if you want to have a few drinks at the tavern on the shore, I wouldn't mind either. Haha."

In this world, nations generally fell into two categories.

World Government Affiliated Nations.

And non-affiliated nations.

Affiliated Nations had to abide by the laws issued by the World Government and paid "Celestial Gold" to receive the World Government's protection.

Non-affiliated nations were those that did not pay Celestial Gold, or could not afford to pay it.

In a world where the ocean covered over ninety percent of the land, travel between different nations relied entirely on sailing ships. The flourishing maritime trade naturally attracted countless outlaws.

Although Magnus considered himself more of an adventurer than a pirate, subjective perception and objective reality were always somewhat different.

In any case, he was now one of those outlaws in people's eyes.

And the natural enemy of outlaws like them was, of course, the Marines!

The Marines were an organization under the World Government.

As long as a nation paid Celestial Gold, it would receive the Marines' protection.

Which raised the question: what about those that did not?

Such nations became lawless lands, paradises for pirates.

Of course, there were exceptions.

For instance, the Giant Kingdom, Elbaf!

The Giant Kingdom of Elbaf was a non-affiliated nation and naturally lacked Marine protection. Yet its formidable national strength meant that ordinary pirates did not dare approach it at all.

At the end of the day, most pirates were bullies who feared the strong.

"Hey, is Balde here?"

After docking the sailboat by the shore, Magnus led Rocks outside a tavern on Elbaf's coast. The tavern doors alone were a full twenty meters tall. In comparison, Magnus and Rocks, two ordinary people of normal height, looked like dwarves.

"Balde? You mean Dad?"

What answered Magnus was not the rough voice from his memories, but a girl's voice. A young woman with a round face, orange eyes, light blond hair, and freckles on her cheeks pushed open the door.

But when she looked outside, she could not see anyone.

"Hey, down here! Down here!"

Only when Magnus called out did she notice the two tiny figures waving beneath her feet. She suddenly understood. "Are you people from outside?"

The so-called young woman was only young by Giant race standards. In Magnus and Rocks's eyes, the girl before them was undoubtedly a giant.

She was over fifteen meters tall. When she pushed open the door, the gust it created nearly blew both of them away.

Suddenly, Magnus seemed to remember something.

"Hey, you're Mardo, right? It's me, your Uncle Magnus. Don't tell me you've forgotten me. If that's the case, I'll be heartbroken!"

If Magnus remembered correctly, the young woman before him was Mardo, the tavern owner Balde's daughter. When he had come ten years ago, he had spent plenty of time drinking at the tavern, and most of that time, he had told stories to the little girl before him, who had then only been twice as tall as him.

At last, Mardo seemed to recall something, and a delighted expression appeared on her face.

"You're Uncle Magnus? You've changed so much. I almost didn't recognize you."

"Puhahaha! People age especially fast once they start letting themselves go. In a few more years, forget you—I won't even recognize myself."

Magnus burst into laughter at Mardo's words.

There was a curious phenomenon in this world: people who held onto their dreams and refused to give up did not change much, even as they grew older.

But those who lost their dreams or went astray underwent great changes in their appearance and spirit.

Perhaps that was what people meant by one's appearance reflecting one's heart.

Without the system, without any hope in sight, even if Magnus had not died at Farrell's hands, he would likely have become a decrepit old man within a few years.

But now, although Magnus was still old, his vigor and bearing had become completely different.

"Uncle Magnus, come in quickly. I'll mix you a glass of Elbaf's specialty, the 'Green Fairy.' It must have been a long time since you last had one, right?"

"Hey, hey, hey, I just got here. Little Mardo, are you trying to make me lie on the ground for two days?"

Magnus laughed twice, then pulled Rocks over.

"Let me introduce you. This is my newly recruited crewmate. He's still a green little brat. I reckon I'll be staying in Elbaf for a while, so please take care of us."

"I'm not some little brat!"

"If you haven't even mastered Haki, then what are you if not a little brat?"

Facing Rocks's retort, Magnus mercilessly smacked him on the head. In Mardo's eyes, however, that was clearly a sign of how close they were.

"Hehe, Dad will definitely be happy if he finds out."

Mardo smiled sweetly, then craned her head to look outside.

"By the way, where are Sister Lily and the others?"

"They?"

Magnus smiled helplessly. "A while ago, I disbanded my pirate crew. Everyone has probably gone their separate ways by now."

"Compared to the lifespan of your Giant race, ours is far too short. The time we can spend fighting is much shorter too."

"Just look at me. I'm already an old man."

Magnus raised his arm. His once-bulging muscles had shriveled, and he had become more than a full size thinner than before.

Upon hearing Magnus's words, Mardo could not help lowering her head.

"I'm sorry."

"Haha, don't worry about something so trivial. Didn't I set sail again now?"

Magnus smiled. The muscles on his body were certainly still inferior to those from his prime, but compared to a month ago, they had become far firmer.

Perhaps that was the benefit brought by increased cellular vitality.

"Oh, right."

Magnus looked around. Seeing that no one else was in the tavern, he had Mardo lower her head and asked in a furtive tone, "Little Mardo, have you cut down any branches from the Adam Tree recently?"

In Elbaf, the Adam Tree was also called the sacred tree and could not be cut down lightly.

But everything had exceptions.

For example, when rain and thunder came, lightning might set part of the Adam Tree ablaze. To prevent the flames from spreading to other branches, the burning portion would be cut off.

If they were lucky, some of it might remain.

"Well..."

At Magnus's question, a troubled look appeared on Mardo's face.

"Should I tell you?"

That expression was exactly the same as her father Balde's.

"Mardo, you've gone bad."

Seeing Mardo's expression, Magnus put on a heartbroken look.

"Go on, what do you want?"

"Hehe, whenever you have time, Uncle Magnus, just tell me more stories about what happened after you all left."

Hearing Mardo's request, Magnus pretended to hesitate for a moment, then nodded heavily.

"Deal!"

Mardo then told Magnus that Elbaf had indeed recently salvaged a batch of Adam Tree branches from a great fire.

They were branches, but anyone who knew that the entirety of Elbaf was built upon the Adam Tree would understand that even these so-called branches were much thicker in diameter than ordinary century-old trees.

However, knowing that there was a batch of Adam Wood and figuring out how to obtain it were entirely different matters in terms of difficulty.

After all, the giants never sold branches from the Adam Tree. Even the branches salvaged from fires were mostly used in their most important annual sacrificial ceremonies.

Stealing them was definitely impossible, unless Magnus wanted to make enemies of every giant in Elbaf.

If the Giant race had no desires, then even Magnus would be powerless.

But Magnus knew what the Giant race wanted now.

And as it happened, he had a way to help the Giant race achieve that wish.

"Haha, anyway, it wasn't easy making the trip to Elbaf, so I'm definitely drinking to my heart's content. Little Mardo, if the rainbow appears, remember to remind me."

All of Elbaf was divided into three layers.

The uppermost Heavenly Realm, the middle Sun Realm, and the lowest Underworld.

Magnus and the others were currently in the lowest layer.

Because the Adam Tree's canopy was too dense and blocked out the sunlight, few plants grew in the Underworld where they currently were, making it unsuitable for habitation.

Thus, the giants generally lived in the canopy that received sunlight—the Sun Realm.

To travel from the Underworld to the Sun Realm, one had to take a special rainbow bridge.

But just as Magnus had said,

it was not easy to come all the way to Elbaf, so of course they had to enjoy a good drink.

Haste made waste.

After all these years, a few more days would make no difference.

"Oh, right."

Thinking of something else, Magnus hurriedly asked, "Little Mardo, is Carmel still in Elbaf?"

The proof that the future Four Emperors still remained on this island was Holy Mother Carmel, a woman who held considerable prestige even among the giants.

However, Magnus had known Carmel far longer than the giants had. He knew very well about this woman's other side.

"Do you mean Sister Carmelo? She's still—"

Mardo had only answered halfway when the tavern doors opened again.

A valiant, wild-looking young woman walked in.

"Mardo, get me a Green Fairy!"

"Okay."

Mardo hurriedly nodded, then gestured toward Magnus and Rocks.

"Sister Ripley, be careful. There are two smaller guests here, and don't smash things around after you get drunk, or you'll get scolded."

Mardo chattered on, failing to notice that the Sister Ripley she mentioned had frozen the moment she spotted the tiny figures at the nearby table.

Magnus, sitting atop the table, greeted the young woman who had barged in. "Yo, Ripley. Long time no see!"

"Magnus?"

Ripley was stunned for a moment upon seeing Magnus. Then, in the next instant, she clenched her fist.

"You rotten old man."

"Long time no see, my ass!"

"You said you'd let me join your ship once I grew up! It's been ten years already!!!"