Son of the Blue Ogre

"My name is Rando, and I'm a warrior from Elbaf, the land of giants!" Rando sat down on the floor, set his weapon aside, and slowly explained to Teach and the owner.

"I was born in Warrior Village in Elbaf. Countless powerful warriors have been born in our village! My father's name is Dorry, and he was one of the strongest among those warriors! Many years ago, he served as one of the captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates! And I'm his only son, so I was burdened with great expectations from the moment I was born!"

A trace of pride appeared on Rando's face. Clearly, he worshipped his father's strength.

"But fate had other plans!" Rando's tone suddenly sank, and the pride on his face turned to pain.

"I was born with dwarfism. That meant my starting point was far below that of the others my age! Although my height was already terrifying in the outside world, in our village, I could only be compared to the young children! Because of that, I was constantly mocked by my peers when I was little!"

"Gyahahaha, so you chose to go out to sea?" Teach asked in confusion, golden light flashing in his eyes.

"That's not it!" Rando suddenly became agitated, clenching his fists as the veins bulged across his body.

"I'm the son of the strongest warrior! How could I possibly be defeated by an inborn disadvantage? So what if I have dwarfism? So what if my natural physique and strength were far inferior to those of my peers? I put in a hundred times more effort than they did, and in the end, I became the strongest among my peers despite having dwarfism!

"And I've even learned every technique that powerful warriors take pride in! Hakoku!"

"That's quite something! If your father knew about this, he'd be very proud, wouldn't he?" Teach's words left Rando stunned. He stared blankly at Teach and asked in a trembling voice, "Really? Do you truly think so?"

"Gyahahaha! Of course! With the heart of a strong warrior, you'll surpass your father one day! But, young man, the world is vast! Your father may be strong, but there are people on this sea who are even stronger than him! And there are plenty of them! Is that all you're aiming for? Answer me, young man!"

Teach looked at Rando as if he were a piece of unpolished jade—a young man with tremendous resolve and extraordinary talent. His inborn disability hadn't defeated him. Instead, it had purged the impurities from that unpolished jade. As long as he was tempered, he would surely become a dazzling treasure in the future!

"Don't underestimate me! I'm going to become the strongest warrior of the giant race in the future!" At that moment, Rando seemed to have truly become a giant who reached up to the heavens and stood upon the earth. That intense determination had completely awakened his potential!

A heart-stirring aura spread outward from him. Although it was extremely faint, it was still revealed without a doubt before Teach's powerful Observation Haki.

"Gyahahaha! Gyahahaha!" Teach threw back his head and stood up laughing. He extended his right hand toward Rando and looked at him with a broad smile. "Young man, my name is Marshall D. Teach! People call me Blackbeard! Now, as the captain of the Blackbeard Pirates, I'm inviting you to join us! Come with us to the sea and witness the vastness of this world! Knock down all those powerful people one by one, and let your name shake the world!"

"You—you're Blackbeard?" The owner, who had stood to the side like a transparent man, finally had a line. He looked at the man before him in terror. "The Blackbeard with a bounty of 1.3 billion, one of the Shichibukai!"

"Your bounty is actually 1.3 billion?" Rando stared at Teach in shock. He knew, of course, that his father also had a bounty poster, but his bounty was only 100 million Beli! In other words, the man before him was one of the people on this sea who was stronger than his father!

"Gyahahaha! Don't worry, boss! I'm just here to eat. I mean no harm! I simply took a liking to this talented young man!" Teach said cheerfully. "Oh, right, boss, prepare another fifty servings of Cherry Pie for me. I'm taking them with me!"

"Of course! Please wait a moment!" The owner walked away as if granted a reprieve. Before leaving, he cast a worried glance at Rando, who was sitting on the floor, but the latter was still deep in thought with his head lowered.

Teach didn't withdraw his outstretched right hand. He continued smiling patiently as he waited for Rando's answer.

"Lord Blackbeard, your Cherry Pie!" Making fifty servings of Cherry Pie naturally took quite some time, but when the owner tremblingly carried them out of the kitchen, the two of them were still in the same positions as before.

"Thanks!" Teach casually tossed out a stack of Beli. Judging by its appearance, it was probably around 30,000 Beli.

"Th-this is too much, Lord Blackbeard! The shop doesn't have enough money to give you change!" the owner said awkwardly.

"Gyahahaha, it's fine. Just consider the extra a tip!" Teach spoke, but his gaze never left Rando's face.

"What is the sea like?" Rando suddenly asked. "I drifted on the sea for a long time, but the only impression I have of it is that it's dangerous here!"

"The sea? Gyahahaha! It's certainly dangerous, but its meaning differs from person to person!" Teach said mysteriously. "Because of this sea, I gained a home of my own. I, who was originally an orphan, gained many brothers and sisters, and a kindly old man as my father! At the same time, this sea made me who I am today! Now I have powerful strength and reliable companions! This sea is rich and wonderful!"

"Is that so... So this is what Father felt back then, all those experiences?" Rando seemed to have caught a glimmer of light, and a spark of vitality suddenly appeared in his eyes!

"Making my captain wait this long really is impolite! So let me become one of your reliable companions and have you show me the wonders of this sea!" Rando grasped Teach's hand, and his massive body instantly rose to its feet!

"Captain, I'll be in your care!"

"Gyahahaha! Welcome to the Blackbeard Pirates!"

"Hello, everyone. My name is Rando, and I'm from the land of giants! I have dwarfism, so I'm a little short! But my goal is to become the strongest warrior of the giant race! I look forward to working with you all!" As the youngest member aboard the ship, fifty-six-year-old Rando was as bashful as a child! (Giants had very long lifespans and could live to around 350 years old, so fifty-six was genuinely very young...)

"Captain, are you sure he has dwarfism?" On the Thunder Gaba, the group stood together on the deck after relaxing and looked at the so-called dwarf standing beside their captain...

"That's right! I'm sure! Rando is a giant, and at his height, he really does have dwarfism among the giant race!" Teach nodded and said firmly.

"Fuck! I never expected that, at two meters tall, I'd be the shortest person in the entire pirate crew! You call four meters tall dwarfism? Then my two meters must be equivalent to being liquid!!"

Fuckyou's mentality completely collapsed...