Luffy was the first to rush into the dense, primeval jungle.
Towering trees stretched endlessly in every direction, but rather than fear, his eyes sparkled with excitement.
Along the way, ferocious beasts lunged at him, but they were all sent flying with a single punch.
However—
He found them too small and too lacking in meat to be worth eating.
Lucky for them… if they were bigger, they'd be dinner.
Just then—
RUMBLE!!!
The ground shook violently, as if a volcano had erupted nearby.
Luffy scanned his surroundings before spotting something massive in the distance—
A Diplodocus!
His face lit up with excitement.
Kicking off the ground, he shot into the air with Moonwalk and landed directly on the dinosaur's head.
From his new vantage point, he took in the incredible scenery of the island.
"Wooooah!!! So cool!!!" Luffy grinned.
Then—
In the far distance, he saw it.
A volcano—erupting.
His excitement skyrocketed.
But suddenly—
The air changed.
A heavy pressure settled over the jungle, and Luffy's instincts flared.
It felt like a battle was about to begin.
And then—
BOOM!
A massive sword clashed against an equally enormous battle-axe, shaking the entire island!
Trees snapped and collapsed like twigs under the sheer force.
And standing at the center of it all were—
Two enormous warriors.
Luffy's eyes widened.
"Whoa! Those guys are HUGE!!!"
"Are they even human?!"
Excitement surging through him, Luffy immediately dashed toward the battlefield.
Meanwhile—
At the base of a mountain riddled with holes, Usopp, Jango, Nami, Tashigi, Vivi, and Igaram had also witnessed the duel.
And they were speechless.
The sheer power behind each swing of those colossal weapons…
It was beyond anything they had ever seen.
Usopp's voice trembled with admiration.
"These… These are the warriors of Elbaf!!!"
His hands clenched into fists of excitement.
Not long ago, when they were still on the Thousand Sunny, a gigantic man calling himself Brogy the Red Ogre had appeared out of nowhere, asking them for alcohol.
Seeing a giant for the first time, the entire crew was shocked.
Nami and Usopp had even pretended to faint out of fear.
But since the rest of their crew didn't play along, they had no choice but to awkwardly stand back up.
Luckily—
Despite his intimidating size, Brogy turned out to be friendly and hospitable.
So—
The Straw Hats brought the booze.
And Brogy?
He brought the meat.
Together, they held a feast.
And then—
When the volcano erupted, Brogy had suddenly stood up, his eyes burning with determination.
He looked at them and simply declared:
"A duel is calling."
After some inquiries, the Straw Hats learned the truth—
Brogy and another giant, Dorry the Blue Ogre, had been dueling on this island for a hundred years.
Every time the volcano erupted, it signaled their agreed-upon time to fight.
And in all those years—
Neither had won.
Nami couldn't help but sigh.
"They've been fighting for a hundred years… Don't they ever get bored?"
Tashigi and Vivi nodded in agreement.
For them, this kind of behavior was completely pointless.
There were so many other things they could have done in that time!
But—
Usopp shouted in protest:
"Idiot! Don't talk if you don't understand!"
"This is a duel of honor, passed down for a century!"
"They fight for glory, and their battle is sacred and untouchable! Doesn't that move you even a little?!"
The three girls simply shook their heads.
They didn't get it.
Jango adjusted his glasses.
"This duel is indeed sacred," he admitted.
"But still, isn't there more to life than just fighting? Usopp, if you and I had a duel… would we give up sailing just for that?"
Igaram also chimed in.
"Their dueling spirit is admirable, I must say… ahem…"
"But," he continued, "Giants live several times longer than us. We simply can't understand their way of thinking."
Usopp groaned, shaking his head.
"You guys just don't understand the romance of men!"
He let out a deep sigh.
"Man… I wish I could be like them…"
The others blinked.
"…You want to become a giant?"
They all burst into laughter.
"Of course not!!!" Usopp snapped.
"I want to be a warrior—someone who dares to fight! Just like the fighters of Elbaf!"
"Huh? Look, everyone! It's Luffy!"
At that moment, all attention immediately shifted to Luffy, who was now charging straight toward the battlefield.
Usopp's words?
Completely ignored.
His shoulders slumped.
Why does this always happen to me…?
Luffy raced toward the edge of the dueling grounds—
But he didn't interfere.
Instead, he stood at a close distance, watching the giants' battle unfold.
However—
The fight's intensity was constantly escalating.
With each mighty swing, their massive weapons tore through the jungle, sending shockwaves across the battlefield.
And occasionally—
The giant sword or massive axe would slash dangerously close to Luffy!
Yet—
He effortlessly dodged each one, grinning as he adjusted his straw hat.
Naturally, his presence didn't go unnoticed.
Both Dorry and Brogy caught sight of him.
But—
As long as he didn't interfere, they didn't care.
Then—
With a final, earth-shaking clash, the two giants crashed to the ground.
Their weapons—
A giant sword and an equally massive axe—
Flew from their hands, landing with a thunderous boom.
Looking at the devastation around them, it was easy to imagine just how brutal the battle had been.
Amidst the wreckage, Luffy grinned and walked up to the two fallen giants.
"You two uncles are amazing! Are you even human?"
He praised them without hesitation.
Dorry, the Blue Ogre, burst into booming laughter:
"Kiakiakiakia! (There's no homonym for this laughter!) We're giants, of course!"
"You're pretty impressive yourself, little human! Not many people dare to watch a battle this close!"
Brogy, the Red Ogre, also laughed heartily:
"Ka ba ba ba! I actually have a few other humans here as well.
Shouldn't they be your companions?
They gave me some excellent wine—I finally got to drink after a hundred years! Not bad at all!"
Luffy's eyes lit up.
"Hee hee hee! That must be them! But we don't just have great wine—I also brought some delicious bento!"
"Bento? Well, I grilled some dinosaur meat—want to eat together?"
"Dinosaur meat?! I want it!!!"
And just like that—
Luffy immediately bonded with the two giants.
Meanwhile—
Deep within a dense forest, far from the Straw Hats' sight—
A strange little house, shaped like a matchbox, sat unnaturally among the trees.
Made entirely of candles.
Inside, a small girl with twin pigtails and a light red hat sat leisurely munching on biscuits.
Across from her, a middle-aged man with hair styled into the shape of a "3" was sipping tea.
"Ahh… Darjeeling really is the best tea," Mr. 3 sighed in satisfaction.
The girl—Miss Goldenweek—simply continued gnawing on her biscuit, her big eyes staring blankly at Mr. 3.
A long silence passed—
Then, without a word, she held out her empty cup.
Mr. 3 blinked, sighed, and begrudgingly poured her another cup of tea.
"Miss Goldenweek, you should really pour your own tea!"
He looked tired already.
After taking a sip, Miss Goldenweek finally spoke.
"Mr. 3… Miss All Sunday said that an unknown pirate crew was escorting the princess and that they took out Mr. 5 and Miss Valentine.
But I didn't expect it to be the Straw Hats.
What are you going to do?"
She casually popped another cookie into her mouth.
Mr. 3 gave a sinister smile.
"A smart criminal always uses clever tactics to commit crimes.
The newspapers claim the Straw Hats are strong… but can we really trust everything we read?"
He adjusted his glasses.
"We don't rely on brute force.
We rely on strategy.
First, we'll find someone alone.
If their strength is nothing special, then we pick them off one by one."
His smile widened.
"And don't forget… if we take down Dorry and Brogy, that's a bounty of 1.3 billion right there."
Miss Goldenweek lazily repeated:
"One billion three hundred million…"
Then, without looking up, she held out her teacup again.
"Mr. 3, another cup."
A vein twitched on Mr. 3's forehead.
"I told you, pour your own tea!"
Miss Goldenweek simply kept eating her biscuits.
For her, work wasn't exciting.
She just wanted to finish early and go back to resting.
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