If not for its violation of the World Government's taboos, Ohara would undoubtedly have been a paradise for tourists.
Leaving everything else aside, the Tree of Knowledge—a colossal tree that had stood for over five thousand years—was itself a living monument.
Within its trunk and roots lay five millennia of recorded knowledge, forming the largest and oldest library in the entire world.
With that alone as its selling point, Brian thought Ohara could easily qualify as a world-class tourist attraction—guaranteed to draw visitors from every corner of the seas.
Yet he knew all too well that not just the Tree of Knowledge, but every flower and blade of grass on this island, was destined to be erased.
With a soft thud, Brian landed lightly on the beach. Scanning the sand beneath his boots, he noticed something—no footprints, no traces of human passage.
"Looks like Saul isn't here. Did I arrive too early?"
In Brian's memory, Jaguar D. Saul had washed ashore on Ohara's beach, injured, and was found by a young Robin while she was wandering alone.
The lack of any sign of human activity meant Saul likely hadn't drifted to this part of the coast—or had already left it.
"Forget it. I'll look around."
Brian frowned slightly, then stepped into the air with Moonwalk, soaring upward.
From the sky, he began sweeping the island below with a hawk's precision.
Meanwhile, among a ring of small hills, a giant was teaching a little girl how to laugh.
Behind them stood a half-finished raft and the skeletal remains of a massive fish.
"Robin, when you're happy, you laugh. So if you laugh, you'll become happy! That's why you should laugh loudly—like this! Dereshishishishi!"
"De… reshishishi…"
Following the giant's example, the girl raised the corners of her mouth and forced out a smile.
"Yes! Just like that! Dereshishishishi!"
The giant's broad grin was so exaggerated that the wrinkles on his face deepened, and tears welled up at the corners of his eyes.
"Dereshishishishi!"
Robin mimicked his laughter, trying to make her smile even bigger.
To her surprise, it worked—she really did feel happier.
For a brief moment, she forgot the cruelty of her foster relatives and the bullying from other children.
But then—
A chilling laughter rolled down from the sky.
"Hahahahaha!"
The laugh was steeped in arrogance and malice, sending a wave of dread through Robin's heart.
Even Saul's expression hardened.
As a giant who had sailed the Grand Line, he had encountered countless powerful beings.
His senses were far sharper than those of ordinary humans—and what he felt now was a presence no weaker than his friend Kuzan's.
"Who's there?!" Saul roared, seizing a nearby tree he'd been using for shipbuilding and hefting it like a club.
"What an amusing sight," a voice drawled. "I didn't expect a giant like you to have a taste for little girls."
With a soft thump, Brian descended onto a nearby peak, less than a hundred meters from Saul—well within striking range for a giant.
Saul narrowed his eyes at the sight of the Marine cape fluttering behind the man, and the Rear Admiral's insignia gleaming on his shoulders.
"You're a Marine from the West Blue. What are you doing here?"
It was a fair question.
In the eyes of most officers from Marine Headquarters, the navies of the Four Seas were little more than small fry.
The Buster Call on Ohara was an operation far beyond their jurisdiction.
Brian smiled faintly.
"Oh? You don't recognize me? That's rather disappointing—it hurts my pride, you know."
"Wait… You're Brian!"
Saul's eyes widened as realization struck.
"Mm, mm. Finally caught on." Brian chuckled. "Still, my fame really doesn't spread far enough… No matter. After this incident, my name will—"
Whoosh!
A gale roared past.
Saul had swung his makeshift tree-club with terrifying force, smashing the mountain where Brian had been standing into rubble.
But the attack hit nothing.
When Saul looked up, Brian was standing on the branch of the very tree he had just swung, grinning.
"Such a direct attack," Brian said lightly. "You really have no regard for the camaraderie between fellow Marines."
"Kuzan told me what kind of man you are," Saul growled. "He said you're the worst kind of scum the Navy's ever produced—and I've heard the same from others!"
Saul remembered it clearly: Kuzan's words—'Brian is the most despicable man in the Navy.'
And before his defection, Saul had heard the rumors himself: of Brian standing idle while his subordinates were slaughtered, all to secure his own survival.
"Ah, so that's what my dear junior said about me." Brian chuckled mockingly as he danced nimbly around Saul's furious strikes.
For over ten minutes, Saul attacked relentlessly—but he couldn't so much as brush the hem of Brian's uniform.
Even a fool could tell the gulf between their strengths was enormous.
"Robin, run! It's too dangerous here!" Saul bellowed.
But Robin didn't want to run.
For the first time in her lonely life, she had a friend—someone who made her laugh.
"Go, Robin! If you stay, I can't fight at full strength!"
His voice thundered, but Robin saw through him instantly.
As a bright child who'd grown up amid cruelty and deceit, she knew Saul was only trying to protect her.
"No! I'm staying! I want to help you!" Tears streamed down her face as she activated her Hana Hana no Mi powers, determined to fight alongside him.
"Dereshishishi! Robin, I'm glad I met you! Don't worry—no matter what happens, I'll protect you!"
"Dereshishishi!"
Watching the two of them—one giant and one child—forcing smiles through tears, Brian raised a hand to his forehead, shaking his head with a faint smirk.
"What a touching scene of friendship. Truly heartwarming…"
Then his smile vanished.
"…But in the face of absolute power, your sentimentality is nothing but a joke."
Brian dropped to the ground, twisted his body, and drove a single punch forward.
In the blink of an eye, a massive shockwave exploded from his fist, slamming into Saul's chest.
The giant was hurled through the air like a mountain torn from the earth, crashing through ridge after ridge until his enormous body finally skidded to a stop hundreds of meters away.
The ground quaked. Dust filled the air.
Brian lowered his arm slowly.
"In the face of overwhelming strength, all your emotion… is just comedy."
He glanced toward Robin, who had been about to unleash her powers.
Before she could even react, her eyes rolled back—
and she fainted on the spot.
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