Luffy, carrying the golden key, walked to the first chain.
The key made a crisp "click" sound as it was inserted into the lock, echoing through the depths of the Underworld.
"Splash~"
The chains fell to the ground.
It was a very heavy sound, like an entire stone pillar crashing to the ground, making the pebbles beneath their feet jump.
Loki's fingers twitched again, visibly curling as if grasping something and then releasing it.
Then, Luffy continued.
Article 2.
Article 3.
With each chain unlocked, a subtle change would occur to Loki.
It wasn't the kind of change that could be immediately seen with the naked eye, but rather a change in aura.
A very faint aura seeped from his body, like something that had been dormant for a long time slowly awakening.
By the fifth time, Nami had retreated more than ten meters away.
Her face was deathly pale, and her legs were trembling slightly.
She didn't know why she was so scared, even though Loki was still looking down, and he looked like he was having trouble breathing.
But his aura was terrifying.
The feeling was like something—like an ancient, ferocious beast gradually awakening.
Zoro also placed his hand on the hilt of his sword.
He narrowed his eyes, watching Loki's every move warily.
Just as Luffy was about to untie the last chain binding Loki's feet.
"Boom boom boom~"
The ground in the distance suddenly began to shake violently.
The sound of several giants running down from above pressed down like a drum pounding on everyone's head.
Hajrudin was the first to charge down.
He leaped onto the ground of the Underworld, creating a large crater, with debris exploding in all directions.
His hair was disheveled, his face was covered in dust, and his eyes were bloodshot, making him look like a demon crawling out of hell.
He saw the key in Luffy's hand immediately.
Then his gaze swept over Loki —the few chains that had been untied from Loki's body, and the Seastone chains lying on the ground, curled up like dead snakes.
"Stop--!!!"
Hajrudin's roar sent boulders crashing down from the cave ceiling.
Luffy stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Hajrudin.
Zoro and Nami also turned around.
One by one, members of the New Giant Warrior Pirates rushed out of the darkness, surrounding Luffy and his companions.
Some of them landed on the ground, while others were still crouching on the rock face, their weapons all drawn and pointed at Luffy and Loki.
Hajrudin stepped forward, his chest heaving violently, his voice urgent and angry:
Do you know what you're doing?!
Releasing Loki will bring disaster to the entire Elbaf!
"Huh? Is that so!?"
Luffy looked at Hajrudin and scratched his head.
Just then, a very low laugh came from behind him.
The laughter was intermittent, like a broken bellows leaking air, but the moment they heard it, all the giants froze in their tracks.
Hajrudin's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
Luffy slowly turned his head.
Loki had already sat up at some point.
He leaned against the tree trunk, his head bowed, his messy purple hair obscuring half his face.
But everyone could see that a slight smile was playing on his part.
Beneath the bandages, eerie golden vertical pupils gleamed through his hair, half-open and half-closed, carrying an indescribable meaning, staring directly at Hajrudin.
"Hahahaha!"
The surrounding air froze completely.
The moment Hajrudin met Loki's gaze, the hairs on his body stood on end.
He was all too familiar with that feeling. From childhood to adulthood, every time Loki looked at him with those eyes, nothing good ever came of it.
"Stop him! Don't let him stand up!" Hajrudin roared hoarsely.
The giants of the New Giant Warrior Pirates snapped out of their daze and swarmed forward.
They coordinated perfectly, flanking from all directions, the wind pressure generated by the massive weapons whipping up rubble from the ground.
But as soon as they took a step, Loki stood up.
Indeed, the chain on his feet restricted his movement; he could only stand a few steps away from the tree.
But the moment he stood up, it was as if all the air in the entire Underworld had been sucked out.
Loki, who possesses the blood of the Ancient Giant Tribe, is several times taller than Hajrudin and others.
A fierce aura erupted from his body.
All the giants moved a beat slower, as if some invisible force was holding their bodies down.
Loki didn't look at the giants.
He didn't even look at Hajrudin.
He turned around and reached his hand toward the enormous, boundless Treasure Tree Adam behind him.
There is a protrusion on the tree trunk covered by a burl, which looks integrated with the tree body, like a naturally grown deformed lump.
Loki's fingers touched the burl and he yanked it off sharply.
The sound of tree bark cracking echoed through the Underworld.
When the giants saw the warhammer Loki pulled from the tree trunk, every face turned pale.
A gigantic warhammer, entirely black, with a head as big as a house, crackling with lightning.
" Iron Thunder!"
Hajrudin's voice was forced out through clenched teeth, trembling uncontrollably.
"So that thing was always here..."
Loki, gripping the Iron Thunder, glanced down at Hajrudin, his tone full of mockery:
"Of course it's here."
Lightning spread from Loki's arm to his entire body, enveloping him in a blinding dark red electric light.
He easily swung the Iron Thunder, spinning it overhead, the resulting wind pressure tearing the surrounding ground apart.
"Don't let him swing the hammer!" Hajrudin roared until his voice was hoarse.
But no one dared to step forward.
Loki's aura had expanded to a terrifying degree. Even without Conqueror's Haki, his sheer pressure made the legs of all the giants present feel like they were filled with lead, unable to lift them at all.
Loki didn't hit anyone.
He turned around, raised the Iron Thunder high, and slammed it down hard on the Treasure Tree Adam behind him.
"Stop—!" Hajrudin lunged forward.
It's too late.
The hammer struck the tree trunk.
What exploded wasn't wood chips, it was lightning.
Dark red lightning poured from the Iron Thunder into the tree trunk, like a released thunder dragon, and surged wildly upwards along the fibers of the Treasure Tree Adam.
The ground of the Underworld was shaking, and the entire giant tree was emitting a teeth-grinding roar, as if something ancient and enormous was being torn apart from within.
The bark exploded off the surface of the trunk, and wood chips, crackling with lightning, flew in all directions.
A piece of bark the size of a house hit the ground, bounced, and rolled a long distance, knocking a giant who couldn't dodge it away.
The thunder dragon pierced through the tree trunk, rushing from the roots to the crown, and then soaring into the sky from the top of the crown.
Those in the upper realm only saw a blood-red pillar of lightning erupt from the giant tree Adam, splitting the entire sky in two.
At that moment, everyone in Elbaf looked up at the sky, and whatever they had been doing before stopped.
After the lightning bolts disappeared, plumes of thick smoke billowed out from the cracks in the tree trunk.
Flames erupted from within the giant tree, crackling and spreading outwards at an utterly irrational speed.
The fire, crackling with black and red lightning, exploded wherever it touched, igniting flames throughout Elbaf.