Giant Village.
Mother Carmel returned fully loaded from her shopping trip.
She had gone to great pains to ensure she could sell the brats from the House of Lambs for a good price.
Just as she reached the village entrance, she heard the continuous shouts of giant warriors coming from inside.
Carmel was puzzled.
Usually, the village wasn't this lively. had something happened today?
Curiosity drove Carmel towards the source of the noise.
"Hahahaha... Hulk, show these little brats the power of our Giant Race! Beat her!!"
"Hulk, the opponent is just a little girl. Take it easy, don't hurt her."
"Exactly! No matter what, they are Hajrudin's saviors!!"
"That's enough! Leave these kids some dignity. They're friends of our Giant Race now!!"
"Just stop when the point is made!"
The surrounding giant warriors had mixed opinions, but most hoped Hulk would show mercy.
Reno and Linlin were friends of the giants now; there was no need to get serious.
Having squeezed her way through the crowd, Carmel looked at the scene before her, confused.
"What's going on??"
She patted the thigh of a giant warrior next to her and asked.
The giant warrior looked down. "Oh, it's Mother Carmel. You're just in time to watch a match."
"A match?!"
Carmel was even more confused.
The giant warrior succinctly explained the situation to Carmel.
"What did you say?!!"
Hearing this, Carmel gave Linlin a meaningful look, waves of shock rippling in her heart.
Decades of child trafficking had given her a unique set of standards for judging children's talent and potential.
Verified time and time again, she could now tell if a child had talent just by looking at them.
Of course, exactly how strong that talent was required closer inspection.
The first moment she saw Linlin, she was captivated by her size.
Most of the children she sold were humans. She had handled countless human children, but never one who grew this large at just five years old.
In the world of pirates, size and talent were directly proportional. Generally speaking, the larger the size, the better the talent.
For a normal human to grow this big... even she had never heard of such a thing!
"But competing with a giant warrior... the odds of winning aren't high."
Especially after seeing that Linlin's opponent was Hulk, Carmel didn't think Linlin had any hope.
However, eager to see the result, she didn't leave immediately and stayed to watch.
Linlin paid no attention to the doubts surrounding her. She simply grabbed the rope with both hands, her posture very casual.
To onlookers, it seemed like Linlin had no desire to win at all.
"Linlin is ready."
"I'm ready too."
Both signaled their readiness.
"Both sides are ready!"
"Then I announce!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Begin!!"
As the countdown ended, the tug-of-war officially began.
The moment the words fell, Hulk unleashed a portion of his strength. gripping the rope tightly with both hands, he attempted to pull Linlin directly over to his side.
In his opinion, this amount of force should have been enough.
But very quickly, he discovered he was wrong. Dead wrong.
Under his strength, the rope was pulled taut, but Linlin on the other side stood firmly in place, not moving an inch.
"What?!"
Hulk was horrified, disbelief plastered across his face.
Refusing to accept it, he exploded with strength once more. Leaning his body back, he used nearly seventy percent of his strength to pull the rope, but Linlin still didn't budge an inch.
She looked incredibly relaxed and casual.
"I don't believe this!!!"
His intense desire to win made Hulk lose his reason, abandoning all reservations.
All the power in his body erupted completely—one hundred percent of his strength.
"RAAAAAHHHHH!!!!"
Using his full power, Hulk's eyes were bloodshot and his face contorted ferociously, but...
Linlin stood in place, still unmoving!
Throughout the entire process, Linlin maintained an expression of utter calm, as if this were nothing.
If not for the taut rope, everyone would have thought Hulk was performing a one-man show.
How is this possible?!!
This scene fell into Mother Carmel's eyes, causing them to widen instantly. A storm of shock raged in her heart.
Her lips felt dry, and an inexplicable emotion began to spread from the bottom of her heart.
The surrounding giant warriors also stood frozen in place, utterly shocked.
"Hey, hey, Hulk! What the hell are you doing?? Quit playing around, will you??"
"We asked you to go easy on Linlin, not to lose! are you going to throw away the pride of the Giant Race??"
A giant warrior who refused to believe what he was seeing shouted angrily.
"Exactly! The dignity of the giants is at stake here! Finish the match quickly!"
"I have to say, you're putting on a good act. I didn't know your acting skills were this good before."
"Alright, enough with the games already!"
"Calm down, all of you! Hulk isn't playing around. He's using his full strength!!"
Chieftain Jorul spoke in a deep voice.
"What?!!"
The giant warriors harbored no doubts about the words of the highly respected Jorul.
"It's actually true?!!"
"How is that possible?!! Hulk is one of the best among the giant warriors; even I'm no match for him. Linlin is just a five-year-old girl, and the size difference is massive. I don't believe Hulk would lose!!!"
"Holding the rope casually with both hands, standing at the starting position the whole time without moving a step... Is... Is she really just a human??"
"Why do I feel like Hulk has reached his limit? Can he even win??"