Chapter 508: The Preacher, Linlin
Seeing Charlotte Linlin standing there, Haki still crackling faintly around her, Kafno could not hide his shock.
For a moment, he completely forgot that he had only wanted to test her strength.
To think that someone from such a small race could possess this kind of power.
She had more than passed the test.
"Powerful friends are welcome in our land," Kafno rumbled at last. "But how can you prove that you truly come as friends to the giant race?"
As Kafno spoke, the other giant who had stepped in earlier also opened his mouth.
He was known as Blue Soul, Tikkau, his vivid blue hair the origin of his title.
"Prove I am your friend?" Charlotte Linlin smiled faintly.
"The land of giants is going to be dragged into the storms of the sea sooner or later," she said. "I have come with enough sincerity, and enough information, to be worth listening to."
"If you insist on blocking my path…"
"Then we can leave right now."
Her tone cooled as she spoke, each word calm and measured.
Anyone who only knew the doting, gluttonous "Big Mom" might have mistaken her for a muddle headed old woman.
But back in the days of the Rocks Pirates, Charlotte Linlin had been known as one of their most frightening tacticians.
A woman who possessed both terrifying strength and a razor sharp mind.
"T… that is not what we meant," Tikkau replied quickly. "However, please wait a while."
"This is not a matter that the two of us, as guards, can decide. We must return and report to our superiors."
"Please forgive the discourtesy."
Charlotte Linlin gave a soft laugh and sat down where she stood, folding her hands on her knees.
"I will wait here," she said. "If there is no answer within an hour, we will leave."
She closed her eyes as if bored, her expression becoming indifferent as she pretended to drift toward sleep.
Seeing this, Tikkau and Kafno exchanged a glance, then turned and strode away.
Every step they took made the ground tremble like an earthquake.
To them, it was no more than the normal vibration of a run.
…
"Mom, what are you planning?"
Perospero looked at Charlotte Linlin, utterly confused.
He was her eldest son, yet he almost never managed to guess her intentions.
Most of the time, they did not receive real information about her plans until the final moment of an operation.
"Mom, they will be back soon," Katakuri said, stepping to her side. "And the answer will be yes."
"Oh?"
"I see."
"In that case, we simply wait."
Charlotte Linlin was very satisfied with Katakuri's words.
On the surface she looked completely relaxed.
In truth, she was still afraid of being turned away.
If they were rejected here, there would almost be no way for her to ever see the leader of this land.
Even the main combat forces of her pirate crew would not be enough to storm an island like this without paying a horrible price.
Those two giants had already identified themselves as mere guards.
They possessed that kind of strength.
What level of power, then, would the main fighters, the captains of the guards, or the leader himself possess?
In a race that placed absolute value on strength, those who stood at the top could only be even more terrifying.
…
Half an hour later.
"Miss Charlotte Linlin, this way please."
"The rest of you are also welcome to visit our Island."
Kafno's voice boomed out as he returned.
Just as Katakuri had predicted, they had been invited in as guests.
What exactly that would mean once they were inside remained to be seen.
They walked forward together for what felt like tens of minutes.
To giants, it was no more than a light jog.
Their speed was astonishing.
Some of them covered dozens of meters with a single stride.
Any ordinary person would have been left far behind.
Fortunately, everyone in the Big Mom Pirates' escort was strong enough to keep pace, even if they had to exert themselves to do so.
Soon, a kingdom unfolded before them.
"This… this is the land of giants?"
Looking at the structures around them, even the simple thatched houses were the height of skyscrapers.
And beyond the city, a single massive tree dominated the world.
In truth, calling it a tree felt wrong.
It was like a wall that rose from the earth to support the sky itself.
The canopy could not be seen at all.
It just vanished somewhere beyond the horizon.
No one could begin to guess how wide or how tall that tree truly was.
Even for giants, measuring that monstrous thing would be nearly impossible.
"Our leader is waiting in Big Square," Kafno said, turning back to them with a grin. "Please follow me."
They soon reached a vast open plaza.
"Welcome, Miss Charlotte Linlin," a thunderous voice called. "I am Big."
"The current leader of the land of giants."
"Now, tell me. Why have you come all this way?"
A living mountain of flesh loomed in front of them, with golden hair and a golden beard cascading over his immense chest.
Compared to the giant named Big, Kafno was nothing at all.
Even San Juan Wolf would have been considered a junior here.
Big's size was on a level beyond a normal human sense of what a living creature could be.
His name, like that of every leader before him, was the same.
Every generation, the one who carried the title of leader carried the name "Big."
"Both the Guardians and the Evictors have mobilized," Charlotte Linlin said directly.
"I know a little about what happened in the past. I want to know whether you plan to step onto the stage again."
She deliberately left the details hanging in the air.
"Guardians. Evictors," Big repeated slowly.
"These people…"
At those names, his expression turned thoughtful.
As the leader of the land of giants, he had heard these stories before.
Even now, after more than two hundred years, he could still recall what his father had told him about those forces.
"It seems Chief Big understands why I came," Charlotte Linlin continued.
"I have a very good relationship with the Dragon Hunter Pirates, the strongest force on the seas at present."
"And I can guarantee this:"
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates have enough power to confront both the Evictors and the Guardians."
"So, will you walk out into the world with us?"
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates?" Big frowned. "What kind of crew is that?"
He knew who Charlotte Linlin was.
He knew of the Big Mom Pirates, the Whitebeard Pirates, the Beasts Pirates under Kaido, and the Red Hair Pirates.
These great rulers of the sea were names he understood, even if he did not leave this island often.
Their information on the world outside had been updated less than ten years ago.
Normally, the land of giants only refreshed their intelligence once every twenty years.
In their eyes, that was the span of a single generation in the outside world.
But this time, things had changed too quickly.
What Big did not know was that the Dragon Hunter Pirates had risen to their current level in barely five years.
"The Dragon Hunter Pirates are a miraculous crew," Charlotte Linlin said, her eyes gleaming. "A legend already in the making."
She began to describe them in detail.
Some of what she said came from her personal experience.
Some came from rumor.
Some was embellished on the spot.
In truth, she did not know every detail about the crew or all of its members.
She filled in the gaps with her own imagination.
But that did not stop Big from understanding the critical point.
The Dragon Hunter Pirates were strong.
Strong enough to be worth his attention.
When she finished speaking, the giant leader sat in silence for a long time.
If what Charlotte Linlin said was true, then gaining the friendship of the Dragon Hunter Pirates would be the best possible outcome for the land of giants.
But if she was lying…
Then the choices before him would become far more complicated.
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