Jack raised his hand and gave an order to the ability users behind him who were still fighting the Guardians.
Stop fighting! Withdraw!
The ability users felt as if they had been granted a pardon and quickly withdrew from the battle, retreating to the rear.
The members of the Guardians wanted to give chase, but were stopped by Cat Viper raising his hand.
The battlefield fell silent.
The Artificial Devil Fruit army retreated behind Jack, and the remaining members of the Guardians and the Musketeer Squad also retreated to Inuarashi and Cat Viper's side.
The two groups were separated by a large open space that had been ravaged by the battle, with only three people standing in the center of the open space— Jack, Inuarashi, and Cat Viper.
Jack looked at the enemy before him and gave orders to those behind him.
"Go to the Whale Tree and bring out the Road Poneglyph."
The pirates behind him immediately echoed his sentiment.
Inuarashi and Cat Viper's expressions changed simultaneously.
They finally confirmed it— the Beasts Pirates knew the exact location of the Road Poneglyph from the very beginning.
"How do you know the Poneglyph are inside the Whale Tree?!" Inuarashi demanded sharply.
Jack put away the Den Den Mushi, a meaningful smile appearing on his rugged face.
"Do you think Captain Roy, after operating in the New World for so many years, couldn't even find this much intelligence?"
Roy.
When Jack uttered that name, Inuarashi and Cat Viper's eyes narrowed simultaneously.
They certainly knew Roy of Hachinosu—
Kaido of the Beasts's ally, and now the sole ruler of the New World.
If the Beasts Pirates are a rampaging wild beast, then Roy is the one standing behind that beast.
Don't think about it too much.
Jack took the two curved swords off his shoulders, the tips pointing at Inuarashi and Cat Viper respectively.
"What you two should be worried about right now isn't that rock—it's whether you can survive tonight."
As soon as he finished speaking, Jack began to change.
Thick gray hide emerged from beneath his skin, his ears stretched upwards into two enormous elephant ears, and his trunk also extended forward.
In just a few seconds, Jack transformed into a giant mammoth.
Inuarashi and Cat Viper exchanged a glance and charged forward simultaneously.
There was no communication, no plan, only the tacit understanding cultivated over twenty years of fighting side by side.
Inuarashi charged forward, his broken longsword crackling with Electro as he slashed at Jack's elephant leg.
The Cat Viper circled to the side, its claws snapping out, targeting Jack's hind leg joints.
The two worked together perfectly—one facing forward and the other from the side, attacking two different vital points simultaneously.
But Jack didn't care at all.
The elephant's trunk swept across.
The thick, elephant-like trunk, shimmering with the dark luster of Armament Haki, slammed towards Inuarashi like a battering ram.
Inuarashi parried with his sword, but the broken sword shattered upon impact with the elephant's trunk, sending him flying.
At the same time, the Cat Viper's claws had already gripped Jack's hind leg.
The Electro clashed with Armament Haki, producing a piercing metallic scraping sound.
Jack's hind legs were left with only a few shallow white marks, without even breaking the skin.
"What--?!"
The Cat Viper's pupils contracted violently.
His all-out attack couldn't even break through the defense?
Is that strange?
Jack's voice came from above, carrying a condescending sarcasm.
The elephant raised its leg and stomped down on the Cat Viper.
The Cat Viper leaped backward at the last second, narrowly avoiding the kick.
The elephant's leg slammed into the ground, creating a crater several meters in diameter, and the shockwave sent him flying backward.
The two kings, before Jack, were like two mantises trying to stop a carriage.
Your courage is commendable, but the gap in ability cannot be bridged by courage alone.
·········
Just as Jack was locked in fierce combat with Inuarashi and Cat Viper, another group of adventurous pirates arrived at the foot of the Zou giant elephant.
The Thousand Sunny slowly came to a stop on the sea.
After two years of adventure, the small sailboat, crafted from the Treasure Tree Adam, bore many marks of battle.
As the captain, Luffy stood on the bow of the ship, looking up at the towering black shadow before him, his mouth agape enough to fit a fist.
"What is this?!"
The others weren't much better off.
Nami covered her mouth, her eyes wide open.
Usopp's legs were trembling.
Chopper flipped off the ship's side, but Robin swiftly used her Flower-Flower Fruit to pull him back.
Only Zoro leaned against the mast, drinking his beverage with an indifferent expression.
"This is Zou."
Robin closed the book, stood up from the recliner, and his tone was filled with undisguised amazement.
"A giant elephant that has lived for over a thousand years."
Zou is not an island, but rather the back of this giant elephant.
The Mink Tribe lived there.
"This is way too big--!!!"
Luffy's eyes were already sparkling.
"I want to go up! I want to go up and see!"
How do we get up there?
Franky crossed his arms, a rare look of distress appearing on his otherwise stern face.
"That elephant must be tens of thousands of meters tall, and the Thousand Sunny can't fly."
Sanji a cigarette and took a deep drag:
"Should I kick you guys up?"
"Who do you think you are? This is ten thousand meters tall." Zoro rolled his eyes at him.
Just when everyone was at a loss, Robin walked to the side of the ship and crossed his arms in front of his chest.
" Cien Fleur."
Petals grew out of thin air from the skin of the giant elephant's legs, piling up one after another.
Soon, a vine staircase made up of countless arms was formed.
The vine snaked its way up the giant elephant's leg, stretching to an unseen height.
"This is all I can do."
Robin lowered his hand, a fine layer of sweat beading on his forehead.
"You'll have to climb the rest of the road yourself."
Without saying a word, Luffy was the first to jump onto the vine-covered steps.
" Gum-Gum-- "
He stretched out his arm and grabbed a vine above him, launching himself upwards like a slingshot.
"Hey! Luffy! Wait for us--!!!"
Before Nami's shout had even faded, Luffy had already disappeared into the clouds.
"That idiot."
Sanji stubbed out his cigarette on the gunwale and then jumped onto the vines.
" Robin-chan, thank you for your hard work."
At this height, I took turns with that Moss Head to clear the way, while the ladies walked in the middle.
Zoro snorted, tucked his three swords into his waistband, and began to climb up the vines.
The group began their long climb up the giant elephant's legs, following the vines that Robin had created.
Fortunately, the vines were strong enough, and Robin's abilities continuously replenished their arms, preventing them from falling halfway down the mountain.
This climb took most of the day.
By the Luffy was the first to climb onto the giant elephant's back, the sun was already setting.
"They're up here--!!!"
Luffy stood on the edge of the giant elephant's back, hands on his hips, taking a deep breath.
"Is this Zou? What a huge forest!"
Just as he was about to run forward, a violent tremor came from afar.
Immediately following was a deafening explosion, and flames shot into the sky from the distant forest.
"There's fighting over there!"
Without saying a word, Luffy stretched out his arm and grabbed the trunk of a large tree in the distance, then sprang towards the direction of the explosion with a whoosh.
"Hey-- Luffy --!!!"