Chapter 185

Initially, Rowan had no plan of disrupting Elbaf. A simple sneaking in and... stealing the necessary items like the pirate that he was, was the only thing he had in his mind.

However, the situation demanded him otherwise. When he took a step on Elbaf,

"I sense someone strong!!!!!!"

with one giant's cry, all giants came in running toward him.

Was is that that particular giant was quite skilled at using the Observation Haki, or was it that Rowan's will has grown so much that anyone could easily feel his presence?

'Maybe both.' Rowan casually stood as the huge giants ran to him from up ahead.

*BOOM*

And in an instant, Rowan was surrounded by many giants. They towered over him with their huge-sized bodies, covering the sunlight and entrapping Rowan within the shadows.

"Kekeke..." One giant's eyes gleamed mischievously as he rubbed his hands together.

Another giant who was nearby shouted in disgust, "Did you forget to brush your teeth again, Yeager?!"

"Did I? Or did I not—"

*BOOOOM*

The giant named Yeager found himself knocked up to the sky due to the other giant's abrupt punch—and this scene was what the members of the Grimheart pirates saw from miles away.

"Gajrudin!!!" Yeager cried in anger while hovering in the sky, "You're so on!!!"

*BOOMBOOMBOOM*

The two giants began to fight among themselves all of a sudden, having forgotten Rowan's presence.

Rowan felt an urge to cover his ears, for each and every word from those giants was so loud that the air vibrated.

Disregarding the two, the other giants maintained their positions around Rowan. In the middle of them stood one old-aged giant with an immensely huge white-coloured beard that reached all the way down to the ground. He spoke with a booming voice to Rowan,

"Human!!! I sense that you are the great warrior, worthy of our attention!! What's your title?!"

Rowan didn't respond immediately. Instead, he found himself staring at the giant's incredible beard with stupefaction.

'And look at Whitebeard. He didn't even have a beard! Now, who's the real Whitebeard here?!'

He had many questions to ask. For instance, how did Edward Newgate attain his title of 'Whitebeard' in the first place? Why not this Rapun-beard?

But nonetheless, he swallowed them for the time being. Instead, he finally answered the giant's question before the giant became irritated, since there was no malicious intent in particular.

"I'm Rowan."

An awkward reply it was, but the giants seemed satisfied.

"Rowan the warrior of the sea, I see! Well, it has been quite a while since a visitor has reached Elbaf." The old-aged giant said with a sagely nod, before puffing his chest out, "And now, let me introduce myself!"

*BOOM*

Slamming his huge sword down on the ground, the giant lifted his arms up and showcased his well-built muscles,

"I am Jarul the Mountain Beard, the captain of the second-generation Giant Warrior Pirates!! In the past, I was wanted by the world with the bounty of 900 million Beli on my head!!"

Rowan wondered how Jarul the 'Mountain Beard' would react if the giant learns of his bounty, but decided against it.

From afar, the occasional sparks of electricity and flashes of light were seen; it seemed that Dan and Cavendish were doing their jobs as told.

"Cool. Anyway,"

Rowan quickly asked,

"I'm here to look for the Eternal Poses that will guide my crew and I to the next island. Can you give us some?"

If giants held an honour of their own, based on the tropes and the demeanours unveiled in front of Rowan, he assumed that telling a lie was something that they despised. In such a situation, it was likely to be better to simply request boldly.

"Hm..."

Jaruls's eyes narrowed as he stared down at Rowan, but eventually nodded in an agreement,

"sure!!"

'And of course. Judging by the flow,' Rowan thought knowingly, 'what follows next is something like fighting—'

"But," Jarul then grabbed onto his embedded longsword on the ground, before pulling it out, "you will have to prove your worthiness in order to do so!!!"

'Called it.'

The giants immediately backed off from the two excitedly.

"""Fight!!! Fight!!! Fight!!!"""

"This is how we, the giants, decide all!! The gods of Elbaf favours the strong, and the strong gets to take it all!! Rowan the warrior of the sea! If you wish to take what you want from here," Jarul stated with a wide grin, "defeat me!!!

Bojajajaja!!!"

Rowan's eyes gleamed in interest upon hearing Jarul's laugh. Was it due to the laugh sounding similar to his own?

'That laugh is actually pretty good.'

Even as Jarul's huge sword was approaching him rapidly from the above, Rowan was immersed in his thought,

'...Not as good as mine though.'

*BOOOOOOOM*

The ground cracked as Jarul's sword struck onto Rowan. The cloud of dust rose and covered the view, preventing the giants from viewing Rowan.

"Huh? He didn't dodge?" One of the younger giants said with disappointment, "It's already over?"

"No, Braun." Jarul responded seriously, "He blocked it."

He could feel the restraint on his sword. Without a doubt, the small person in front of him managed to defend his attack.

Then,

"Boha!"

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

Rowan appeared in front of Jarul all of a sudden. Jarul's sword left his hand, spinning up in the air.

Just as Jarul's eyes widened, Rowan's fist slammed onto Jarul's exposed chest.

"O-ohhhh!!!"

Jarul was sent blasting backward in an instant, to the huge castle. With a boom, the cloud of dust arose, covering the view.

*BOOM*

At the same time, Jarul's sword landed on the ground with its blade embedded within the ground.

All giants were at a loss for their words. Their mouths were open wide and their eyes were popped out. Some even had snots dripping down from their noses.

The silence momentarily engulfed the area, before the huge roars of elation quickly overtook.

"""WOOOOOO!!!!!"""

The giants cried with sparkling eyes.

"You are really strong, Rowan the warrior of the sea!!!"

"Fight me next!!! Poopoopoopoo!!! I'm all hyped up now!!!"

The giants began to swing their weapons madly, unable to control their excitement.

*CLANG* *BOOM* *PUK*

Rowan found himself scratching the back of his head as the whole town engaged themselves in the act of destruction.

'...What am I supposed to do here?'

Then,

"Wait!!!" One giant cried all of a sudden, having looked back at where Jarul crashed to, "That direction is—"

Everyone froze from their spot. The chaotic brawl among them stopped, and they slowly turned their heads in a stiff manner.

Without a doubt, Jarul's crash brought ruination upon the whole castle that lied in the middle of Elbaf.

"""Ahhhhh!!!!""" The giants all screamed at once.

A giant nearby shouted at Rowan out of anxiousness, "Rowan the warrior of the sea!!! Take cover!! Hide as fast as you can!!"

Another one clenched his head in fear, "There's n-no doubt! Prince Loki... he's going to wake up!!"

"Run for your lives!!!!!"

"...What?" Rowan exclaimed in amusement as all giants began to scramble away from the area. Honestly, these people were way too funny.

When the cloud of dust cleared, Jarul was seen to be lying within the crack, unconscious.

Next to the fallen Jarul, the giant bigger than any other was standing by in a slouched posture. The giant's sheer size was unbelievable—his height was more than two-fold of Jarul's!

Rowan heard a young giant, who was cowering behind the huge house, whispering,

"P-prince Loki..."

*BOOOOOM*

Subsequently, Jarul's huge body was smashed into the ground even further, due to the giant prince, Loki, slamming his foot onto the former's exposed torso.

'Prince Loki? That dude is a prince?' Rowan found himself squinting his eyes in disbelief.

Loki was the ugliest one he's ever come across.

"Years ago..." The giant named Yeager whispered at Rowan said with a pale face, "prince Loki confessed to one of Big Mom's children with all his passion. However, he received a harsh rejection, and due to the sorrow, he began to wreak havoc!"

'Ugh...' Rowan immediately covered his nose, 'What a disgusting stench.'

Another giant carried on, "For the most of the day, he would sleep, for escaping from the reality eased him from the pain. But when he's awake... prince Loki is nothing but a disaster that no one in Elbaf can stop! It's only captain Jarul who can withstand prince Loki's wrath!"

"WRYAAAAAAA!!!!!!!"

As if proving the giants' statements, prince Loki screamed madly.

"Run, Rowan the warrior of the sea! Get out of—huh?"

"...Huh?" Rowan muttered at the same time.

In front of the prince Loki, one man was seen to be walking leisurely. He was holding what seemed to be the gigantified Eternal Pose above his head.

"Elbaf~!!! Here I am, the greatest prince of the world, Cavendish!"

'Cavendish?! What are you doing over there?' Rowan almost burst out in laughter.

Loki too seemed to have noticed Cavendish. Stopping his howl, Loki lowered his huge face to the two of them. Then, his eyes burned in wrath greater than any other, as he noticed just how good-looking Cavendish was.

"Welp, that's Cavendish for you, captain."

"Wha—?!!" Yeager jolted up in shock as he saw Dan standing next to Rowan all of a sudden, with a huge Eternal Pose, similar to what Cavendish was holding, above his head.

Dan immediately clenched his nose, "The f*** is this smell?!!"

Rowan, on the other hand, said with a sweatdrop, "...That clumsy Cave is going to end up having the Eternal Pose destroyed at this rate."

Then, he turned to Yeager with his nose held by his fingers and asked,

"Is it fine if I kill your prince Loki?"

Yeager immediately retorted with a visible confusion, "What? No!"

"How about knocking him out then?"

"What?! But—"

"That's a yes to me."

*SWOOSH*

Right after hearing Yeager's 'affirmation,' Rowan vanished from his position.

Prince Loki, who was about to stomp onto Cavendish, saw another small human, Rowan, abruptly appearing right in front of his face.

Everything happened too quickly. Loki couldn't properly assess what was going on all of a sudden—even as Rowan's punch slammed onto his cheek.

*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

"WIEUIGUBWEI!!!!" Surprised by the sudden pain that invaded his nerves, Loki sprouted a cry that made absolutely no sense. As he did so, his body was tilting, having lost its balance.

The giants found themselves shocked once again. Prince Loki was the biggest of them all, and due to such size, he towered over the whole Elbaf as the ruler. But in the hands of one tiny man, such ferocious individual was knocked out in one blow.

Yeager unconsciously shivered upon remembering what Rowan said.

*BOOM*

Now, prince Loki finally fell—on top of the already-unconscious Jarul. His eyes were swirling and a drool was exiting from his opened mouth; he won't be able to stand back up for a while.

"Oof!" Another giant, whose name was previously revealed as Gajurdin, grimaced upon sighting the scene, "Captain Jarul's face is crushed under prince Loki's butt! If prince Loki farts, captain Jarul is screwed!!"

A young giant was a young giant, indeed.

Rowan, on the other hand, landed back on the ground, next to where Cavendish was standing.

Upon seeing Rowan, Cavendish grinned confidently,

"Aren't I amazing, captain?"

"Yeah yeah, you surely are." Rowan answered half-heartedly with a casual smile, "You two found some huge Eternal Poses, eh?"

____________

From the deck of the Prominence, which was floating high up in the sky at some distance away from Elbaf, the Grimheart pirates were now staring at the two huge Eternal Poses that they placed in the center.

"The one on my left leads to Hachinosu, while the right one leads to Lodestar." Rowan said seriously, before pointing at the map on the table nearby, "This is what we will do.

First, reach Hachinosu and gain the accurate direction in which the 'eyes' are pointing at. Then, reach Lodestar and start travelling in a perfectly straight direction, parallel to the Calm Belts."

All members of the Grimheart pirates grinned in anticipation.

"The point is to reach the intersection between two lines at noon. The precise time is necessary, and we are to do this as swiftly as possible." Rowan stated, before letting out a smile,

"But come on. Swiftly? Such a word means nothing to us. When it comes to speed, no one can beat us, right? This should be a piece of cake."

Rowan gently tapped the rail of the Prominence, before reaching for the captain's hat that Carina was holding for him. He placed it on top of his messy black-coloured hair, and stood proudly with the purple cape draped around his shoulders.

"Enough talking from me. Let's go."

After having brought forth a mess upon the Elbaf, the Grimheart pirates disappeared without any trace.