Splash!
A huge dining table, the size of a small house, was directly flipped over. Just its fall caused a small earthquake. The various giant-sized delicacies that had been on the table crashed onto the floor. Of course, the executives of the Calamity Company, who had been eating at another table on top of the main one, were almost sent flying.
"Zehahahaha! What a shame! I really love those snacks called Samra!"
While still in mid-air, Teach was licking his fingers and laughing gleefully.
"Something's wrong with your taste buds! Teach, what's so good about something that's too sweet!" Moria retorted casually.
"I think you just don't get it!" Teach's expression immediately became serious. "Dessert is a treasure of humanity!"
In that case, you'd be a better fit for the Big Mom Pirates, Doflamingo muttered to himself.
At this very moment, a gust of wind rose. King, wearing a tengu mask, simply raised his hand, and the turbulent wind acted like an invisible giant hand, catching everyone and letting them land gently.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, flipping a table while eating is not what good kids do." Roa, with one arm around Kozuki Toki, landed perfectly on the head of Yarul, who had just managed to sit up after being knocked down by his Conqueror's Haki.
"Shut up!"
Not content with just flipping the table, Loki roared at Roa and then looked at Harald with a face full of fury. "Father! What are you doing! Are you going to surrender to this guy?!"
Oh, though young, he's a true hardliner after all, Roa thought, a smile playing on his lips. But I like it.
"I'm sorry, Loki." The disappointment and anger in his son's eyes and words made Harald feel defeated. As a father, it was a huge embarrassment to expose his powerlessness in front of his own son.
"Don't be sorry, Father!" Hearing Harald's apology, Loki became even more enraged and furious. "That's not what I want to hear!"
"You, the King of the Giants, the father I admire, how can you bow your head to a human!"
"You didn't lose to him! You could still fight, so why did you compromise?!"
Oh! This is the voice of the internet's proxy! Roa's eyes were full of laughter as he looked at Loki.
He's right! Oden, Jabbah, Harald, all of you should listen to what the kids have to say. You guys have less courage than a child.
Loki's words moved Harald even more, and his eyes dimmed. But in the end, all his thoughts converged into one sentence: "Loki, everything is for Elbaf, for this country. I cannot let our country, let our innocent people be harmed."
"For... this country?" Loki's expression was stunned.
Then, "I won't accept this!!" The boy, who was as big as a small mountain, roared with all his might. "Where did Elbaf's dignity and a warrior's honor go! You put down your weapons and surrendered just to protect those inexplicable people! The weak are not worthy of sympathy!"
"Shut up! Loki!" Harald suddenly shouted in a low voice, looking at Loki with a strange expression and a tone full of disappointment. "What are you saying? You're the prince of Elbaf, one of this country's future successors! Don't you know that a king is crowned by the people and that a king who doesn't protect his people will eventually be a lonely man?"
"That's not right, Harald," Roa said with a smile. "Power is the reason to be king."
Although it sounded politically incorrect, in this world, power determined everything. A good heart alone was useless.
Loki subconsciously glanced at Roa. Power is the reason to be king? He's right, what this guy said is right!
"Roa! Are you here to cause more trouble?" Harald was already fuming with embarrassment. Did this bastard want to negotiate or not?!
"My bad, my bad," Roa said with a chuckle, apologizing. "I just spoke without thinking."
"Loki, no matter what, this cannot be changed." Harald looked at his son and said seriously, "This is my decision, and it is final."
"What a joke! What a joke!" Loki looked as if he had been betrayed, staggering backward with a pale face. He gritted his teeth, his eyes fiercely "looking" at Harald. "Father! I will never recognize this! You're not fit to be the King of Elbaf!"
After roaring this disrespectful statement with all his might, the giant boy turned and ran out of the banquet hall. Watching his retreating figure, Harald didn't try to stop him, only letting out a long sigh.
"Your relationship is very tense," Roa said with a smile. "How about a deep father-son heart-to-heart?"
Harald only sighed and shook his head. "That child has had a strange temper since he was little, probably because of his eye condition. He feels he's different from others."
Roa's lips curled up slightly. That's why I say that very few biological parents in this world are qualified.
Why else would they say 'cheap biological father, expensive adoptive father'?
The one who guided Luffy was not Dragon, but Shanks.
The one who taught Sanji was not Judge, but Zeff.
Similarly, the man Loki most admired was Rocks; his father came after.
"Alright, let's get back to business," Harald calmed down and looked at Roa. "Roa, what kind of cooperation do you have in mind?"
"It's simple," Roa said. "I'll help Elbaf establish contact with all the countries in the New World. It's very easy."
Harald's eyes instantly lit up. The entire New World?
"I can even," Roa said with a smile, "make them blood brothers with Elbaf."
"That's not necessary!" Harald quickly waved his hand, implying, "You can't get true friendship through forceful means. You just need to help us establish contact with those countries."
"Whatever you want," Roa shrugged. "Your request has been met, so now listen to mine."
"As you know, I'm going to conquer all the countries in this sea, so I need a fleet of giants."
"Dorry and Brogy will be the leaders, but that's not enough," Roa raised a finger. "I need a thousand giant warriors."
"Are you kidding me, Roa?!" Harald shot up as if his tail had been stepped on. "A thousand? How many warriors does all of Elbaf have combined?!"
Roa thought about it. He's right. Although Elbaf is known as the world's strongest country, its population isn't very large. They rely on the quality of their individual soldiers.
In the original story, when the God's Knights invaded Elbaf, not many giant warriors were sent out either.
A thousand does seem a bit too much.
In that case...
Roa opened his right hand, turning his raised index finger into a five-finger spread. "Then five hundred."
"There aren't that many!" Harald shook his head repeatedly, also raising a hand. "Fifty! We can only give you fifty warriors!"
You're giving me a 90% discount? You think you can get rid of me with fifty? Are you RNG?
"Three hundred!" Roa retracted his thumb and pinky finger.
"Impossible!" Harald still shook his head. "The total population of Elbaf is only a few tens of thousands. How many actual warriors are there after removing the old and the young? And many of them are already out at sea. You're asking for too much, Roa."
Hiss... Roa took a light breath, his eyes narrowing. "So, I've already backed down twice, Harald. Are you still trying to negotiate with me? This makes me lose face."
The undisguised threat in his tone made Harald's face flush, and his beard trembled with anger. But after meeting Roa's calm, un-wavering gaze, Harald could only let out a long sigh. He dejectedly sighed. "Three hundred it is then."
If Roa doesn't get what he wants, he'll definitely explode. Then all of Elbaf will be turned into a sea of fire.
This was not a fair negotiation from the very beginning.
"Very good, a win-win situation!" Roa nodded repeatedly in satisfaction. However, he didn't forget to remind him. "But Harald, don't try to pull a fast one. I need true warriors."
"I'm not that short-sighted," Harald said. He paused.
"But you have to promise, Roa!" The giant king's eyes suddenly became sharp. "You must treat the warriors well! Otherwise, Elbaf will not let it go!!"
Isn't it a bit weak to threaten me now? After seeing your weakness, it's hard for me to believe you'll launch any decisive counterattack.
While that was what he was thinking, Roa smiled and said, "Don't worry. Even for me, the giant warriors are a very valuable fighting force."
Before Judge could create a sufficient number of disaster knights, the giant mercenaries were the strongest group fighting force under Roa.
"Don't look at me like this. I'm actually a person who cherishes my weapons." Roa said with a smile.
Weapons? Harald sighed inwardly. How disgraceful.
No matter what excuse he found, this was a betrayal of his own people. Just as Roa said, he was selling his own people to him like weapons. Harald felt great pain about this, but pain was useless.
His people might not be mistreated under Roa, but if he refused Roa's deal—Harald looked at Dorry and Brogy. The two giants who had grown up with him both nodded solemnly. Harald felt a little relieved. With Dorry and Brogy going with them, everything should be fine.
And so, the negotiation was complete.
Roa didn't want to push the giants too hard. Three hundred warriors were more than enough for now. How many countries were there in this region he was about to conquer, after all?
"It was a pleasure doing business, Harald." Roa's lips were indeed curved into a happy smile, and his tone was unusually cheerful.
Pleasure? How can I be happy in this situation?
Harald just gave a bitter smile. In the past, he had always believed that he was better than the former kings of Elbaf—his ancestors. But after today, he no longer felt that way. Elbaf had never had such a humiliated king as he was.
At the same time, the beautiful woman in Roa's arms, Kozuki Toki, had a strange look in her lowered eyes. The Pluton, the Poseidon, the Fishmen, the Lunarians, and now the Giants... Roa was close to gathering all the forces that Joy Boy had gathered eight hundred years ago!
Could he really be the Joy Boy of this era?
How is that possible! Joy Boy was a liberator, the Sun God who brought laughter to everyone! But Roa is a calamity who can only bring pain and despair to people and to this world!
Roa didn't know what Kozuki Toki was thinking. He just noticed that the dark aura emanating from her had become even thicker.
See? This is the benefit of having this woman with me.
Roa affectionately kissed the woman's smooth cheek and smiled at Harald. "The banquet probably can't continue, so Harald, the last time I was here, the captain was in a hurry to leave and didn't have a chance to take a good look around. Can we have a tour of Elbaf this time?"
Harald paused, then looked at his old friends. "Dorry, Brogy, you two take them on a tour. I'll go prepare to gather the warriors." The two giant captains' faces were also full of bitterness, and they nodded gently. "Alright."
And so, the group from the Calamity Company followed behind the two, ready to take a good look at this country.
But, as soon as they stepped out of the castle gate.
"Oh! Something's come up. You guys go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later." Roa immediately entered his beast-man form, flapped his wings, and flew away in a certain direction.
Dorry and Brogy didn't even have time to shout and stop him. They could only watch as Roa disappeared into the distance. They turned to look at the executives of the Calamity Company. Except for the kid with the long earlobes who was a bit surprised, the others were mostly expressionless. It seemed to them that whatever Roa did was perfectly natural.
Doesn't that guy worry that we'll seize this opportunity to kill all his subordinates? Dorry thought.
Then he suddenly smiled bitterly. He probably doesn't.
To that madman, what are these executives under him anyway?
"Follow us then." And so, the tour began.
At the same time, Roa had already flown down from a giant tree branch and was rapidly plummeting toward the "hell" below. Soon, he was back above this frozen land.
"Tsk, very much like Big Brother Kaido's style." He looked at the ground below and said with interest. A human-shaped hole had been smashed into the hard frozen ground, and there were also marks left by two big horns. This was left by a certain guy who had jumped down from the "heaven" and smashed into the ground.
In the forest ahead, the screams of monsters and a slightly young roar were heard non-stop. Roa leisurely flapped his wings and flew over. In the forest, a giant child holding a spiked club was furiously hitting a huge bear's head. The bear, which was over twenty meters tall, had its head smashed by a single blow. Its blood and brains splattered all over the ground, and it fell to the ground, only twitching.
"Father! I'll never accept this!!" The boy named Loki's voice was sharp. "To surrender to a human, I'll never accept that!"
"Don't say that, Harald was powerless, you know. As his son, you should at least have some sympathy for him."
A leisurely laugh came from behind.
Loki was instantly shocked and turned around to see a person standing on the top of a big tree, with his arms crossed, looking at him with interest—
"Roa!!"
Without hesitation, the giant prince leaped up and swung his club at Roa!
Roa didn't even move. He just leisurely stood with his arms crossed, watching Loki attack him. Two huge, pitch-black Haki arms suddenly condensed. One hand opened and grabbed Loki's club, while the other hand pressed down on the back of Loki's head, holding him down in the snow.
"Damn you! Let go of me!!" Loki struggled desperately, but how could he, who didn't even know how to use Haki yet, break free from Roa's Haki Manifestation?
"Seriously, Loki, come join me." Roa looked down at Loki, who was trying to squirm like a caterpillar. "This was our agreement from eight years ago."
"Pah!" Loki tried to raise his head and "look" at Roa, while also saying fiercely, "I don't remember any damn agreement!"
"Roa! The only person I admire is Rocks! I don't recognize you as any damn successor!"
As he spoke, he oddly started to laugh again. "All you want is my power, you think I'll give it to you?! I may not be able to beat you, but you'll never get what you want!"
Oh, unlike the simpleton he was eight years ago, his personality has become a bit eccentric.
I have no choice. It looks like I have to use my ultimate move!
"Speaking of which, can you really see things with a cloth over your eyes?"
The topic shift was very stiff and deliberate.
But Loki didn't notice anything was wrong. He was already uncontrollably panicked. "W-what are you going to do!"
But no matter how panicked he was, it was useless. Roa's Haki formed another hand, reaching out and grabbing Loki's eye covering.
"Roa! You bastard!!" Loki's fury burned hotter than ever. "No! You can't do that!"
"Of course, I can," Roa said with a smile, and he used his Haki hand to pull gently. The cloth came off.
"You son of a bitch!" Loki roared, but his tone was also a bit resigned. "You want to see? I'll let you see to your heart's content!" He even tried to open his eyes wide, so Roa could see clearly.
"Oh?" Roa looked at the pair of eyes that could only be described as ferocious and couldn't help but say, "This is pretty cool, isn't it?"
Sanji, help me! Loki was stunned.