Magnus's words darkened both Kong's and Grindwin's faces.
Grindwin barked, "Rona-daitōri, don't worry about anything else. As long as we take Magnus down, the Giant King won't matter!"
He was truly afraid of Magnus slipping away.
At this point, Magnus would lose the ability to escape completely in ten minutes at most — and at such a critical moment, there was no room for distractions.
Kong echoed, "Leave the Giant King to Vice Admiral Naz's team!"
Rona's expression cooled. "You don't have to tell me that."
She was simply irritated.
What was Magnus doing? Was he trying to sacrifice himself to save Elbaf? Or did he have some other trump card?At this point, whether or not the Giant King escaped wasn't even important — the entire giant race had already been crushed. As long as Magnus died, they could turn around and clean up the giants at their leisure.
Now Rona and the others understood.
Magnus was using himself as bait to hold their attention.
If the Giant King was rescued and Magnus escaped?
Then Magnus won.
If Magnus was killed, even if the Giant King escaped?
They still wouldn't have lost.
What they couldn't understand was where Magnus got his confidence.
Magnus was already covered in wounds, while aside from Grindwin taking a slash early on, neither Kong nor Rona had any significant injuries.
As long as they maintained their formation, how could an increasingly injured Magnus break out of their encirclement?
On Elbaf —
At the site where the Giant King was imprisoned.
In a very short time, Catro Naz's clones were reduced to just two, forcing him to fully concentrate on Ripley, Rocks, and Newgate.
But now, with only two clones remaining, their toughness and reaction speed had improved noticeably.
Even with Magnus's enchanted frost gear, the trio couldn't break through Catro Naz's defense.
Seeing this, Catro Naz finally relaxed again.
"External power is still external power," he sneered, regaining his casual demeanor.
"Being a pirate isn't child's play. Kids like you still don't know what's right and what's wrong," he lectured.
"Let me tell you: absolute power — that's real justice!"
"...Are you some lonely old granny or what? So damn naggy!"
Ripley's fists glimmered as busoshoku coated them.
"Mini Mini no Mi (Shrink-Shrink Fruit) — partial restore!"
She'd been fighting at human size all along, and while Catro Naz was wary of her fruit, he didn't expect this.
What he really didn't expect was her gloves.
"These are the captain's custom work — here, taste it! Our special tag-team move!"
"Frozen Fist!"
Because Rocks and Newgate wore gloves matched to their smaller size, Catro Naz naturally assumed Ripley's gloves had the same limited freezing effect.
But he was wrong.
Ripley's gloves had been crafted at her full giant size.
Not only had they cost Magnus a huge amount of stamina to create, they'd cost Ripley a great deal of her own energy to shrink down.
Even after two days, the frost contained in them still carried Magnus's full strength.
So when Ripley's punch landed on Catro Naz's chest, his expression changed instantly.
But it was already too late.
"You said justice comes from strength — but your strength isn't even close to my captain's!"
As Catro Naz was frozen solid, the two clones blocking Rocks and Newgate instantly vanished.
Everything happened in a flash.
By the time the vice admiral guarding Harald tried to intervene, only he and another vice admiral still engaged with Cassie and Oimo remained.
And thanks to Ripley's ability, Cassie and Oimo had also shrunk to human size — which actually let them fight much more effectively against human-sized opponents!
"Heh heh, this feels much better!""Same size now — and their speed? We can handle it no problem!"
A paramecia-type fruit like hers, once activated, couldn't be dispelled except by overwhelming haki — at least at the level of a 200 million bounty fighter.
Cassie and Oimo didn't even know haki — yet just their physical strength alone was enough to hold a capable vice admiral in place.
That was the power of the giants.
Even untrained, they were monsters.
"Ripley-neesan, leave the last vice admiral to me and Rocks!"
The biggest obstacle gone, only one thing remained.
"No — we finish him together!"
Ripley shook her head. She knew rescuing Harald was only the beginning.
If they didn't reduce the Navy's fighting power here and now, their retreat would be impossible.
Most importantly—
"I finally understand kenbunshoku. You feel it with your body, you listen with your heart."
"I can hear it now."
"Everyone's rage!"
Finally awakening her observation haki, Ripley heard the voices.
The voices of her fellow giants!
Anxiety.
Fear.
Hatred.
And — fury!
Seeing Ripley grow back to her full mountainous size, the remaining vice admiral's face darkened.
"Stay where you are!"
He leveled his blade at Harald's eyes.
"If you don't want your king to die—!"
"Harald isn't that fragile!"
Ripley kept Magnus's advice in mind — someone like Harald could take a beating.
Empty threats meant nothing.
Besides, even without Magnus's words, she wouldn't have cared.
"I admit Harald is a king worthy of respect. But ever since I joined the White Wolf Pirates, the one I respect and admire most has only ever been my captain!"
"You can't threaten me!"
The vice admiral was forced to give way — he could blind Harald, but Ripley's fist would definitely smash him down.
Besides, Harald was still bound in chains — even if he moved aside, it would take time to free him.
But the vice admiral forgot one thing.
Ripley was a Mini Mini no Mi user.
She didn't have to unchain him.
"Mini Mini no Mi — tenfold shrink!"
Ripley slapped her palm on Harald's chest, and the towering giant rapidly shrank before everyone's eyes.
"Damn—!"
The vice admiral reached to stop her, but too late — Ripley snatched the tiny Harald into her hand and tossed him behind her.
"Retreat!"
Whatever about 'defeating him first' — it was meaningless now.
At the same time, on the eastern battlefield—
The three fighting Magnus finally showed a change in their expressions.
(End of Chapter)
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