"Rocks, are you alright?"
"I am… I am fine," Rocks replied weakly.
Having been nearly sent to meet his maker with a single devastating punch, Rocks lay sprawled on the frozen ground, questioning his entire existence and purpose in life.
What had happened to all his supposed natural talent?
In just half a year, he had progressed from a complete rookie who had barely set sail to learning the Six Powers and even beginning to grasp the fundamentals of both Armament Haki and Observation Haki.
Even in the first half of the Grand Line, with his current level of strength, Rocks could have thrived and made a name for himself.
But then he had encountered Charlotte Linlin.
A monster blessed by heaven itself, essentially possessing the number one natural talent in the entire pirate world. Someone who could become a Yonko simply by eating, drinking, and lounging around without a care.
Who else could possibly compare to such absurd natural gifts?
"Rocks, you should rest for now. Leave Linlin to me!"
The one speaking to the injured Rocks was Ripley, who had just arrived on the scene. The entire village's alarm systems had been activated. The three CP0 agents had deliberately set a fire before making their escape, and now half the village was at serious risk of being consumed by the spreading flames.
After discovering that several children had been kidnapped, three of the strongest available giants had already departed to pursue the fleeing CP agents. The remaining villagers were either desperately fighting the fires or attempting to drive away various animals that had been disturbed and panicked by the ongoing battle between Silas and Rona.
They simply could not spare anyone else for this crisis.
Looking at Charlotte Linlin, who had completely lost all traces of rational thought, Ripley's expression became deeply grave and concerned.
She actually knew considerably more about the situation than Rocks did.
This included the crucial fact that Charlotte Linlin suffered from a severe eating disorder and would inevitably lose her reason when experiencing extreme hunger. Despite her deceptively young age, she possessed tremendous physical strength that could rival even adult giants, along with steel-like natural defenses that seemed to ignore virtually any form of attack.
Fortunately, the young Linlin could not yet fully utilize all of her overwhelming natural advantages.
"Rocks, can you still move your body? Go to the food storage area immediately and bring out all the prepared emergency supplies. Bring some here for Linlin and distribute the rest to everyone in the village."
The current dire situation meant they could no longer afford to worry about maintaining the traditional Winter Solstice Festival observances.
Linlin had gone completely berserk from hunger, and the giants could not display their full combat strength due to their own prolonged fasting.
Only by filling their stomachs could they hope to effectively defeat these enemies!
"Understood!" Rocks responded with determination.
Although Linlin's devastating punch had nearly shattered his entire body, the benefits of mastering several techniques from the Six Powers became apparent in this critical moment.
At the last possible instant, he had managed to employ "Paper Art" to avoid receiving the direct impact, so while he was definitely injured, the damage was not catastrophic.
"And what about the children from the House of Lambs…"
"Leave the children to me," came a familiar voice.
Awakened from her sleep by the commotion, Sister Carmel had already begun leading the frightened children to safety. After casting Charlotte Linlin a deeply worried glance, she made the practical decision to prioritize escorting the other children to a secure location first.
After watching Carmel disappear into the shadows, Ripley turned her full attention to Charlotte Linlin.
"Linlin, I am truly sorry about this."
When Silas had asked her to help look after Charlotte Linlin, he had given her very specific instructions.
If something serious happened to Linlin that threatened everyone's safety, there was only one solution: knock her unconscious!
"Armament Haki!"
Ripley assumed a proper combat stance, invisible spiritual energy beginning to swirl ominously around her massive hands. Although Silas had primarily focused on training her Observation Haki throughout this past half year, what she had actually mastered first was Armament Haki.
Perhaps the giant race was naturally incompatible with the subtle requirements of Observation Haki.
"Spear of Elbaf!"
She committed to using her full power from the very beginning. If this were any other giant child, Ripley would have genuine concerns about whether her enhanced punch might completely shatter their body.
But with Charlotte Linlin, such restraint was unnecessary.
"Semla ice cream…" Charlotte Linlin murmured, her face displaying a demon-like smile that was utterly unsettling on such a young face.
Bang!
Ripley's Haki-enhanced fist collided directly with Charlotte Linlin's much smaller fist, and a terrifying shockwave erupted from the center of their collision. Facing Ripley's Armament Haki-enhanced strike, Charlotte Linlin did not fall into any disadvantage whatsoever.
"What in the world!?" Ripley exclaimed in shock.
Only now did she truly begin to understand why Silas was so determined to have Charlotte Linlin join his pirate crew.
She was only five years old.
She knew absolutely no formal combat techniques or training.
Operating purely on raw instinct alone, Charlotte Linlin could fight an adult giant warrior to a complete standstill.
"This is genuinely troublesome," Ripley realized with growing concern.
When facing Charlotte Linlin, Ripley could not possibly resort to lethal force, but the completely irrational Charlotte Linlin would not be bound by such moral considerations.
For the moment, Ripley found herself somewhat restrained and unable to commit fully to the battle.
Just then, a bone-chilling cold wind erupted violently from the direction of the forest. Although Ripley was positioned far enough away from the main battle, the terrifying spiritual pressure still made her breathing become labored and difficult.
"This is… the Captain's Conqueror's Haki!" she realized with a mixture of awe and relief.
As the newest member of the White Wolf Pirates, Ripley had never doubted her captain's possession and mastery of Conqueror's Haki.
It was simply that under normal circumstances, Silas used his Conqueror's Haki primarily to gently intimidate Charlotte Linlin when she misbehaved, so Ripley had never actually experienced what it felt like when Silas unleashed his full spiritual power without any restraint.
But now, she was witnessing it firsthand.
Red-black lightning storms shot dramatically skyward, spreading outward in ever-widening circles with the forest as their epicenter. The supernatural display was so intense that it even caused the massive branches and leaves of the Adam Tree high above to rustle loudly in response to the spiritual pressure.
Most remarkably, Charlotte Linlin, who had just been in a complete rampage state, actually began to show some clarity returning to her young eyes after feeling this overwhelming pressure.
"Huh? What am I doing?" Charlotte Linlin asked in confusion, biting her finger in a childish gesture and looking at Ripley with a genuinely puzzled expression.
"Sister Ripley, I think I just saw some people run into our house. They seemed to be bullying Gertz and Hajrudin. Are they bad people?"
Worthy of being our Captain! Ripley thought with profound admiration.
Seeing Linlin regain her normal senses, Ripley could not help but breathe a deep sigh of relief.
After hearing Charlotte Linlin's words, Ripley nodded seriously. "That is absolutely right, they are bad people. They took Gertz and Hajrudin away from us."
With Ripley's confirmation, Charlotte Linlin completely snapped back to full awareness, her entire small body beginning to radiate a murderous aura that was no less intense than her previous rampage state.
"Bad people? I want to fight the bad people! I want to rescue Gertz and Hajrudin!" she declared with fierce determination.
"It is going to be okay, Linlin. Others have already gone after them. Gertz and Hajrudin will be perfectly fine," Ripley assured her quickly.
Seeing the dangerous aura beginning to emanate from Charlotte Linlin once again, Ripley made every effort to calm the girl down. She was not Silas and did not possess his particular ability to make Charlotte Linlin obediently listen to instructions.
Right now, she did not need Charlotte Linlin's assistance in battle, just for the girl not to cause additional problems.
"Ripley, I brought the food!" came Rocks's voice from the distance.
He came running with a large basket completely filled with various sweets and treats. The moment Charlotte Linlin's eyes fell upon the food contained in the basket, she immediately threw every other concern to the back of her mind.
But Ripley and Rocks could not allow themselves to relax just yet.
The real battle was far from over.
The massive wave of Conqueror's Haki impact could not have originated from just one person. Besides Silas, there was clearly another enemy present who was capable of releasing equivalent levels of Conqueror's Haki.
In the jungle battlefield, large sections of the ground formed by the massive tree root systems had collapsed entirely. Some root systems were completely covered in supernatural ice and snow, while others had been cleanly severed as if by the sharpest possible blade.
In several areas, observers could actually see clearly down to the Underworld thousands of meters below the surface.
Silas in his giant wolf form and Rona stood facing each other across the devastated battlefield.
But compared to Silas's current state of calm composure, Rona appeared somewhat incredulous and shaken.
"Old man, you actually possess Conqueror's Haki!?" she exclaimed in genuine disbelief.
[Chapter Complete]
***
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