In the Kingdom of Giants, within a certain warrior village.
The civilization of this country is still relatively primitive, with few cities and more villages scattered across the land.
Some villages, known for producing warriors and having once birthed giant heroes, are called warrior villages.
This particular village is close to the sea.
"Ian! Accept my challenge!!"
At this moment, Ian was sitting in front of a massive bonfire, waiting for the large mountain-sized piece of meat to cook.
Hearing the voice coming from behind, he turned around with a slight headache.
Standing before him was, of course, a giant.
Wearing a helmet, with his strong upper body bare, the lower half of him was only dressed in a battle skirt and shoes. His hands were covered with gauntlets, with a shield embedded in the gauntlet of his right hand.
"Ga ba ba ba ba! Hajrudin! Are you still not giving up?"
Brogy, sitting nearby, laughed heartily.
"Ian is not an easy opponent to defeat!"
Dorry also chuckled, "You still have a long way to go!"
"I'm going to become the strongest giant! Then, I'll take the throne as the King of Giants!"
The giant named Hajrudin laughed loudly, "How could I possibly surrender!"
"Ga ba ba ba ba! The King of Giants, huh?"
Brogy's laughter grew louder, "That's not something easily achieved, you still have a long way to go!"
Just listening to it made Ian want to laugh.
This was the Giant Kingdom, a place where a little-known giant would constantly shout about becoming the King of Giants, and yet none of the others thought anything was wrong. Instead, they all thought this kid had great ambition.
"So, Ian!"
Hajrudin looked at Ian with fiery enthusiasm. "Come, let's fight! If I can defeat you, it will prove that I have acquired enough strength!"
Ian smirked.
The Giant Kingdom had everything—it was beautiful, with unique scenery, and the giants were friendly and warm.
But the problem was, they were too friendly.
The giants' thirst for battle could only be described as fanatic. After Ian arrived here and toured the Giant Kingdom, he had received the warmest of welcomes from them.
Almost every place he visited, someone would challenge him.
Even in the royal capital, the giant prince Loki and the king couldn't resist inviting him for a duel.
It couldn't be helped. After all, the name "Ian the Skyfire" was simply too famous. Even in this Giant Kingdom, many giants knew his name and recognized him as a rare powerhouse of the seas.
Thus, the entire journey had turned into a series of battles.
"Surtur," Ian said calmly. "You go have fun with them."
Them.
Hajrudin wasn't alone.
He had several companions with him.
They were the ones who would later form the new Giant Warrior Pirates with him.
Stansen, Road, Goldberg, and a beautiful giantess named Gerd.
Of course, the prestige of this new Giant Warrior Pirates was far lower than that of the original Giant Warrior Pirates.
Hajrudin's strength was simply too lacking. In the original story, he had to exert all his effort just to fight a small underling of Doflamingo's.
"Me?"
The fire spirit, who had been perched on Ian's shoulder, shuddered, cautiously glancing at the giants. It instinctively shrank behind Ian's back. "Master! They're so scary!"
Ian casually grabbed the little creature and tossed it toward the giants. "Battle mode."
"Oh!! Battle mode!!"
Raging flames surged uncontrollably as Surtur instantly transformed into a towering beast, matching the giants' size.
Even though it had entered battle mode, Surtur's personality immediately flipped as well, along with the color on its body.
"You stupid, old giants! How dare you provoke the great master? I'll burn you all to ashes!"
Ian casually reminded, "No need to turn them to ash, just beat them up."
With Surtur's flames synchronized with his own, the likes of Hajrudin and the others, who lacked any Armanent Haki, had no chance of defense. They could only turn to dust in an instant.
"Did you hear that? Foolish giants!" Surtur roared. "You should be thanking my great master!"
"Hahaha! Enough talk! Come on! As long as I defeat you, I'll get to fight Ian, right?" Hajrudin was beyond excited.
Mainly because, aside from Ian's already established reputation, his travels through the Giant Kingdom had made him well-known in this land.
Along the way, the number of giant warriors Ian had defeated was overwhelming. The strongest warriors from each village and even those legendary warriors with heroic names fell effortlessly to him.
Invincible—no other word for it!
The excitement of facing such a powerful warrior made Hajrudin wave his flag in anticipation!
As long as he could defeat this fiery giant—
Boom!!
The Fire Spirit's sharp claws clenched into a fist, and in the next instant, it shattered Hajrudin's shield, then sent him flying with a punch.
Surtur's golden fist left a deep burn mark on Hajrudin's face.
Even without releasing flames, the natural heat emanating from Surtur's body was terrifying enough.
In fact, under Ian's guidance, Surtur had even learned techniques like Akainu's, compressing the solid flames within his body and releasing a burst of power.
After all, if molten lava with form could do it, why couldn't the physical form of Surtur?
In terms of raw power, Surtur had grown significantly since his birth.
Hajrudin was knocked unconscious in a single punch, his massive body hurtling like a cannonball through the air, then crashing heavily into a distant house.
Instead of causing any chaos, the surrounding people erupted in cheers.
The fight was exhilarating!
Seeing Hajrudin sent flying, his companions didn't show any concern. Instead, they laughed and charged toward Surtur.
Especially the beautiful giantess named Gerd, who swung her enormous battle axe, her face wild with excitement, looking like she had stepped out of a chaotic scene from a neighboring "Sea Tiger" set.
But their attacks had no effect on Surtur at all.
Surtur had a physical form, but in essence, he was still just a mass of flames.
As long as the flames couldn't be extinguished, no matter the type of attack, it was all meaningless.
With just a few simple punches and kicks, the remaining four giants were sent flying.
"Next, are we leaving?"
Over here, Dorry looked at Ian.
Ian nodded lightly. "We've stayed in the Giant Kingdom long enough. It's time for me to go back."
It was time to return to Hive Island.
It felt a bit embarrassing; although he had treated it as a temporary base, he hadn't really stayed on Hive Island for more than a few days.
**********
Support me on my patreon and read upto 30 early chapters.
patreon.com/PirateKing24