By the time Little Oars Jr sprinted back toward the settlement, the adults had already spotted the massive steel battleship hanging in the sky.
Every ancient giant who could still fight had grabbed a weapon and rushed toward the shore. Among them, a burly female giant swung a bone club larger than a ship's mast over her shoulder as if it weighed nothing.
The ground shook with every step.
A dozen adult ancient giants thundered down from the interior of the island, and soon crossed paths with Little Oars Jr, who came tearing back with his rusty greatsword in hand.
"Little Oars! Where did you run off to? Are there pirates?"
The one who shouted was Wadlow, the current chieftain of the ancient giants. Since the death of Oars Jr's father at sea, he was the only surviving heir of the Boars line, and Wadlow, as the strongest warrior left, had inherited the position of leader.
The tribe's situation was dire.
There were only nine adult males left, three of whom were already old.
Fourteen adult women, four of them elderly.
The rest were children and youths like Little Oars: a mere six youngsters in total.
All together, the ancient giants barely numbered forty people.
Those who had rushed out now, men and women alike, were all true warriors. Ordinary pirates would not dare set foot on this island. A single ancient giant fifty or sixty meters tall could crush a docked pirate ship with one swing.
For reference, legends from distant lands spoke of "Ultraman" sized heroes around forty or fifty meters tall. Nearly every adult ancient giant here was taller than that. Each step they took radiated suffocating pressure.
And now, more than a dozen of them were charging forward together.
The sight was like an army of thousands bearing down at once.
"Uncle Wadlow, pirates are here," Little Oars blurted, lifting his worn blade. "But they say they can make new weapons for us. Do we have anything to trade?"
Even this rusted sword was one of the few heirlooms passed down from the Boars line, precious beyond words.
Forging a forty meter greatsword required absurd amounts of high quality metal. If the material was not good enough, it would snap like scrap. Even among ancient giants, such weapons were rare.
"Little Oars, how can you trust pirates so easily?"
Wadlow's voice rumbled like thunder.
"Pirates are all smooth talking scum. They trick us to go out to sea, make us fight and die for their crews, and in the end there is no good end waiting for us!"
"… I was wrong, Uncle Wadlow…"
The boy's excitement shriveled. His dream of replacing his broken weapon cooled with it.
He slumped his shoulders.
Right. Pirates were liars.
If that big giant really joined them, wouldn't he be another fool getting used?
"Uncle Wadlow, there is a giant even bigger than us at the shore," Little Oars insisted, suddenly anxious again.
"He can get bigger and bigger. At his largest he is over a hundred meters tall. He is there right now, and it looks like he has been tricked into becoming a pirate!"
He could still taste the salt roasted Sea King San Juan Wolf had shared with him. There was no way he could just watch that gentle giant be dragged into a pirate crew.
"A giant bigger than us?"
Wadlow's eyes widened.
"Then we will go take a look."
If new giants really existed, and could join the tribe, that would be a blessing.
If the frost giants of the Ice Kingdom were not covered in fur and obsessed with cold, the ancient giants would have already sought marriage ties with them. But ancient giants were children of summer islands, unable to tolerate deep cold.
Even their strongest ancestor, Boars the Demon of Misfortune, had frozen to death in the Ice Kingdom.
It was a humiliating death for a giant of legend.
Ancient giants could not withstand cold.
Ice giants could not withstand heat.
Despite being closest in size, the two races had almost no chance to mix, and barely any hybrid children had ever appeared.
Elbaf giants could produce children with fishmen, yet ancient giants and frost giants had never bridged the gap between snow and summer.
Little Oars, along with the other giants, stormed back toward the coast, hearts burning with the idea of "rescuing" the strange giant and driving pirates off the island.
But the closer they came, the larger the air battleship looming in the sky became.
Wadlow's face grew darker with every step.
Anyone who could own that kind of flying fortress was no ordinary pirate. That was the kind of ship an overlord of the seas would command.
"Everyone, calm down," he ordered in a low voice. "Do not act rashly."
If he misjudged and angered these people, the ancient giants really could be wiped out in his generation.
"Uncle Wadlow, are you scared?"
Little Oars stared up at him, bewildered.
Just moments ago the chief had seemed ready to charge. Now, his whole aura had shifted.
"Idiot, those pirates are not simple."
Wadlow smacked him on the back of the head with a massive palm.
He was scared, yes. Who wouldn't be? But he was still the chief. A chief could not show fear. At least give him some face.
"Why don't we go back?"
Little Oars' earlier bravado crumbled.
He remembered the feeling from before: that terrifying aura from the air battleship, and the man who had stood atop it.
Was he about to lead his tribe to destruction with his own two feet?
If so, he would be the sinner of the ancient giants for all time.
"… Too late."
Wadlow's gaze sharpened.
"They already know we are here. We will go and meet them."
Several sharp threads of Observation Haki had been brushing against him ever since they left the settlement, like invisible eyes pressed to his skin.
The pressure made him think of another man.
When he had gone to sea in his youth, he had once crossed paths with the Ice Demon Pirates, overlords of those waters. He had even received a bit of guidance from the Ice Demon himself, learning the basics of Haki.
But his clan needed too much food. He had not been able to train more than the bare fundamentals, and so his Haki had never grown.
Now, feeling a presence on par with that old ice demon, Wadlow's unease only deepened.
"Yo ho ho ho… Little Oars, why are you charging back at me with such a scary face? Are you trying to pick a fight?"
Brook's laughter drifted down before the giants even reached the beach.
He stood casually atop San Juan Wolf's head, cane sword in hand, looking for all the world like this was his private viewing platform.
At first he had only meant to survey this ancient island, even older and larger than Little Garden.
The giant trees here were perfect ship timber.
On this island, little Brook felt like one of the dwarves of Greenbit.
He could easily imagine building houses among these colossal trunks and suspending new cities from their branches.
In fact, he had already made up his mind.
They would move the Ancient Giant Island back and add it to the new Eighteen Islands of Hell.
Not only would they bring the ancient giants under the Hell Pirates' banner, they would also turn this place into a living prehistoric tourist attraction, a forest of super giant trees.
"Are you trying to trick us into going out to sea?" Little Oars yelled, gripping his battered sword with both hands.
"We will not become pirates!"
He could feel how tense Uncle Wadlow and the others were.
He knew, deep down, that one wrong move here might doom their entire tribe.
But that did not mean he would bow his head and let someone drag them away.
"Relax."
Brook raised his free hand in a calming gesture, eye flames flickering gently.
"There are too few of you ancient giants left. I will not force you to do anything. In fact, I am willing to help you grow your tribe."
He was genuinely looking ahead as he spoke.
If Vegapunk's science could be adapted, maybe it would be possible to speed up reproduction for races like the ancient giants.
But giants, whether from Elbaf or this island, only reached adulthood at sixty years or more.
Even if a new generation were born tomorrow, Brook would not live to see them fully grown.
Could cloning technology create giant warriors quickly? Maybe.
But the time, resources, and experimental risk required to mass produce beings this large…
From a tactical and economic standpoint, it was not a good project.
--------------
Wadlow, chieftain of the ancient giants, was taken aback by Brook's words.
He just could not fathom what this pirate was really after.
"Human strong one," Wadlow rumbled at last, voice echoing over the shore, "state your purpose. If you can, leave this place and do not disturb our peace."
Curiosity stirred in him at the mention of "expanding their tribe," but he knew very well there was no free meal in this world.
No pirate would come all this way for nothing.
"I want you to move to our base," Brook replied, looking up at the towering figures with calm amusement.
"Don't worry about the logistics, we'll bring the entire Ancient Giant Island with you. As long as you don't object, that is. And I promise this as well… I will help you increase your numbers."
Staring at these Ultraman sized giants, Brook could not help imagining it: a real, disciplined giant army under his flag.
Even in the future, Kaido of the Beasts would only manage ten failed ancient giant experiments as his "numbered" unit.
What he was seeing here were the genuine article.
"What did you say?"
Wadlow's eyes widened.
"You can take our island away?"
The Ancient Giant Island was even larger than Little Garden. The idea of someone "carrying it off" was something even their legendary ancestor Boars the Demon of Misfortune had never dared to dream.
"Are you ready to join a nation where all races live together?" Brook went on.
"In that place, your lives will only get better."
Strictly speaking, he could have simply taken them. Between Pluton, Shiki and Kaido, force was not a problem.
But Brook considered himself a "good man," at least by pirate standards. He preferred to win people over by reason and benefit, not chains.
"Coexistence of all races…?"
Little Oars' eyes shone.
"Does a country like that really exist?"
In his short life he had almost never seen other races. He had never even left the Ancient Giant Island.
"Of course it exists!"
Kanna answered before Brook could.
The frost dragon princess shifted from human to dragon in midair, white scales glittering as she swooped down before Wadlow.
"My mother is the queen of All Nations, and I am its eldest princess. There are all kinds of races there. Elbaf giants, ice giants, fishmen, and more!"
In her eyes, the All Nations created by her father and mother was the most perfect country in the world.
"… Truly?"
Wadlow's stern face flickered.
If they could live alongside other races, maybe they would no longer have to fear every pirate ship that crossed the horizon.
With more allies, warmth might finally return to their dying tribe.
"Then you agree?"
Kanna's eyes lit up.
Recruiting another rare and powerful race for All Nations was the best possible outcome in her book.
"If you promise never to force us into wars with other powers or pirate crews," Wadlow said slowly, "then we are willing to join your All Nations."
As Charlotte Linlin, Shiki, and the other top combatants descended one by one, Wadlow's heart sank.
There were too many monsters among this group.
But that also meant one thing: they did not need the ancient giants as cannon fodder.
"Yo ho ho ho… I promise," Brook said, tipping his hat.
"From now on, your people can live and grow in peace under the banner of All Nations."
Another powerful race had just joined the Hell Pirates.
Even if he never marched them to war, their presence alone could guard one of the Eighteen Hell Islands and deter any pirate with thoughts of rebellion.
"Oh my goodness! I almost forgot about the ancient giants!"
Linlin clapped her hands together with childish delight.
"Wonderful! Now the races in our All Nations are almost complete. A true country of ten thousand races!"
"Shiki," Brook called, turning to the blond swordsman with the wheel blades in his legs, "how difficult will it be? The Ancient Giant Island is enormous. Let Kaido help you."
Between Shiki's Float Float Fruit and Kaido's flame clouds, they already had two of the three ultimate tools for moving an island.
If he could someday track down a Gravity Fruit user, the three piece "island relocation set" would be complete.
"Oi, Brook," Shiki clicked his tongue, brows twitching, "you really know how to heap trouble on a man."
"Shouldn't we be going after Rocks already instead of doing moving work?"
He complained, but he still reached up with one hand.
The force of his power rippled outward, testing the weight of the island beneath their feet.
"It's almost time, Shiki," Brook said.
"We just need one more trip to the Ice Kingdom. Once that is done, we will have nothing left to fear. We will gain another powerful army, and then we can challenge Rocks… even if the Navy Headquarters jumps in."
"Fine, fine," Shiki sighed, spinning one of his blades impatiently.
"Then leave this to Kaido and me. If we waste any more time, I'll cut this island in half and call it a day. You go handle that old man in the Ice Kingdom."
He would do the work, but after this, he expected war.
"Good work, Shiki."
Brook's tone grew more serious for a moment.
He knew he had been using Shiki like a tool these past years.
But what could he do?
The Float Float Fruit was simply too useful.
So the forces split once more.
Brook, Kanna, Kuzan, and the Pluton battleship set sail for the Ice Kingdom, while Shiki, Kaido and the others remained behind to handle the "moving."
The second generation and the students stayed on the Ancient Giant Island as well.
They wanted to explore this primeval land and spend more time with their newest comrade, San Juan Wolf.
It did not take long before the golden ship and the steel fortress drifted away, and the island began to tremble under Shiki and Kaido's combined power.
Ancient Giant Island itself was being uprooted from the sea.
In the end, when they regrouped with the main forces, they would bring it back to Doragonzo Island and fold it into the Eighteen Hell Islands.
The kids were half thrilled, half terrified.
Part of the reason was simple.
The Ice Kingdom was too cold.
Even the legendary Boars had frozen to death there. Just how terrifying must that cold be?
Still, Brook insisted on taking Kanna and Kuzan with him.
Both possessed ice related powers.
Experiencing true natural cold might help them push their Devil Fruit abilities to a new level.
Thanks to Shiki's Float Float Fruit, Pluton would not lose its ability to fly even while he stayed behind on Doragonzo Island.
Under the combined drive of the lightning engine, the wind shell system, and the Wind Wind Fruit of the Kirin lion, the ancient weapon turned warship sliced through the sky toward the Ice Kingdom.
Even the Seven Star Demon Sword in Brook's hand shifted into Quetzalcoatl, the feathered serpent, whipping up a roaring storm to further accelerate Pluton's advance.
…
In such a tense New World, the Hell Pirates suddenly vanished from Doragonzo Island with Pluton.
Panic rippled across all the territories under Rocks' flag.
Those who could flee, fled.
Those who could not, searched desperately for someone to shelter under.
Even the naval forces garrisoned around the Valley of the Gods grew uneasy, constantly glancing up at the sky.
Without the Celestial Dragons' "national treasure" to back them, who among them would feel safe if Pluton appeared overhead?
Under Commander in Chief Kong's orders, the Marines split their forces and fortified every island around the Valley of the Gods, overlapping lines of fire to form a crude pincer.
They could not allow Pluton to get close enough for a surprise strike.
At the same time, Kong urged the Celestial Dragons again and again to unleash their "national treasure."
By now, everyone knew that treasure's true name.
Uranus.
If Uranus did not take the field, how were they supposed to fight the Hell Pirates' flying Pluton battleship?
And Brook, was he really not afraid of Uranus attacking while he flaunted Pluton so openly?
Even with Shiki's help bolstering its flight, Pluton's maneuverability was still far inferior to that of Uranus.
What was he planning?
A man holding such a weapon did not just frighten his enemies.
He made the entire world nervous.
No one truly wanted to see the seas plunge into a real, global war.
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Title: In the Ordinary Streets of Tokyo, I Awakened as a Player
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