Karlo pointed at the gibecks sword beneath his feet. "Are we just flying over like this? It might not be a good idea to openly sail our pirate ship into Elbaf. After all, this is a country."
Rocks shook his head. "No, leave the ship here; we're jumping down."
Saying that, he took the lead, leaping from the ship floating ten thousand meters in the sky and jumping toward the territory of Elbaf.
"Hey, we're ten thousand meters up. Aren't you afraid of breaking your legs?" Whitebeard, carrying his Murakumogiri on his back, looked at Karlo. "Karlo, give me a hand?"
"Piece of cake."
Karlo smiled, and his body expanded and rose, instantly surging to over eight meters, making him significantly taller than Whitebeard.
He reached out and grabbed Whitebeard's shoulder. With a flap of the three pairs of wings on his back, his figure instantly tore through the air and disappeared from the gibecks sword.
Golden Lion was the last to fly off the ship, drifting lightly toward the ground below.
A few minutes later.
Elbaf, the roots of the adam tree, the Underworld.
With a loud boom, a bottomless human-shaped hole appeared on the ground frozen with ice and snow.
At the edge of the hole, wind and thunder surged, and several silver-bright electric arcs leaped out as two tall figures appeared simultaneously.
Karlo set Whitebeard down, his body rapidly shrinking back to three meters.
"Thanks." Whitebeard tidied his wind-blown clothes and looked back at the hole behind him. "Rocks, you didn't fall to your death, did you?"
A frustrated voice came from inside the hole.
"Damn! I forgot Karlo and Shiki could both fly. I'm such an idiot."
Rocks jumped out of the hole, covered in dust and dirt, looking quite disheveled.
However, he was not injured.
His Physique was clearly freakishly strong as well.
"Hehehe, we thought you were just trying to look cool," Golden Lion chuckled as he floated down from above.
Just then, a muffled trampling sound suddenly echoed from the nearby frozen pine forest, drawing the attention of the four.
Although this was the base of the adam tree...
...the trees growing here were also exaggeratedly tall.
Even with their sizes, which were considered giant among humans, they appeared extremely small beneath these frozen pines that were easily a hundred or several hundred meters tall.
At that moment, however, these tall frozen pines suddenly began to collapse one by one, snapping and falling to the sides like wheat being trampled.
Vaguely, a behemoth over a hundred meters in size could be seen rapidly approaching, seemingly attracted by the commotion Rocks made when he hit the ground.
These collapsing trees were precisely the work of this giant beast.
The ground rumbled and trembled.
The momentum was indeed a bit terrifying.
However, Karlo and the others remained indifferent.
Karlo even let out a yawn.
"Roar!!"
A deafening roar suddenly exploded.
Amidst splashing ice crystals, a hundred-meter-tall beast resembling a giant elephant—but with a pair of broad wings on its back and limbs like sharp claws—roared as it burst out of the frozen pine forest, exposing itself to Karlo and the others and howling at them.
This giant elephant was over a hundred meters tall, like a small mountain.
Karlo and the others were as tiny as four little ants in front of it.
The giant elephant roared, wanting to see the four weak prey before it wail in front of its massive body or be scared to death.
However, after roaring seven or eight times at the top of its lungs, it didn't see even a hint of fear emanating from the four tiny prey.
The giant elephant's dull brain was somewhat confused.
This was the first time it had encountered such a situation.
Were these poor little guys scared witless?
Forget it, might as well just eat them in one bite.
Although there wasn't much meat, it could at least fill its stomach.
Lately, that little monster in the Underworld had been bothering these Underworld beasts every day for no reason.
Many fierce beasts had already been beaten into submission by that little monster.
Now, it was also hiding and being chased around, barely finding enough to eat.
As these thoughts crossed its dull mind, the giant elephant opened its tusked maw and lunged to swallow Karlo and the others in one gulp.
Foul-smelling saliva sprayed toward them.
*Swoosh!*
A thin black line suddenly flew out from the heavenly dragon halberd in Karlo's hand, passing through the lunging giant elephant.
The giant elephant's movements stopped instantly, its massive body freezing in place.
Behind it, the towering frozen pine forest cracked and collapsed.
Several hundred meters away, the upper half of a pointed iceberg flew off without warning.
Only then did the hundred-meter giant elephant before Karlo and the others crash down.
Its mountain-like body was cleanly split into two, revealing the fat-rich flesh inside.
Whitebeard smiled and pulled a flint from his robe. "Elbaf is truly hospitable; knowing we're hungry, they sent over ingredients as soon as we arrived."
Ten-odd minutes later.
Each of the four held a large piece of roasted meat skewered on a wooden stick, eating as they walked deeper into the Underworld, toward the main trunk of the adam tree.
Rocks said there was an entrance leading to the upper Sun World.
At the entrance, there were giant warriors of Elbaf standing guard.
They could contact Harald through those guards to have him come down or let them go up.
At the same time.
In front of a treehouse at the roots of the adam tree, a child of the Giant Race with bandages wrapped around his eyes and a pair of pitch-black curved horns on his head sat on the ground. He held a newspaper, reading it with great interest through the gaps in the bandages.
He couldn't help but mutter the content he had read dozens of times to himself in an excited voice.
"The strongest pirate group in the world currently is the Rocks Pirates."
"Captain Rocks D. Xebec, with a bounty of five billion Berries, is the world's most evil criminal who has destroyed over a dozen kingdoms, killed a Marine Admiral, and attacked the Holy Land Mary Geoise."
"Under his leadership, the Rocks Pirates are centered on Hachinosu Island and dominate the waters for hundreds of kilometers around Rocky Port. They are a behemoth that even the Marines dare not provoke."
"Under the Rocks Pirates, there are four major Division Captains, each powerful enough to rival a Marine Admiral!"
"first division captain, Edward Newgate, with a bounty of 3.3 billion Berries, nicknamed Whitebeard. He possesses the world-shaking Paramecia-type Tremor-Tremor Fruit ability and is Rocks' strongest right arm!"
"second division captain, Shiki, former Underworld king of the West Blue, with a bounty of 2.666 billion Berries, nicknamed Golden Lion. His ability is the Paramecia-type Float-Float Fruit, capable of sending islands within a dozen kilometers into the sky ten thousand meters up. He is Rocks' left arm!"
"Third Division Captain, Charlotte Linlin, nicknamed Big Mom, a natural-born demon who destroyed an Elbaf village at age five. With a bounty of 1.998 billion Berries, she is a Paramecia-type Soul-Soul Fruit user with the unbreakable Iron Balloon defense!"
"Fourth Division Captain, Sorus Karlo, nicknamed 'The Challenger,' 'Sky King,' and 'Uranus.' With a bounty of 2.9 billion Berries, he is a Mythical Zoan-type Bird-Bird Fruit, Model: Garuda user. He is the only pirate in the Rocks Pirates, besides Rocks himself, to have slain a Marine Admiral!"
"In addition to the four major Division Captains, there are many powerful Senior Combatants in the Rocks Pirates."
"Kaido, Silver Axe, John, Wang Zhi, Maron, Babel, Black Charcoal Cicada, Gloriosa, Byrnndi World, Kilpstad..."
The captivated giant child didn't even notice when the treehouse door behind him opened. A giant over fifty meters tall, like an ancient Titan god, walked out and looked at him with a smile.
"Loki, reading the Rocks Pirates' newspaper again? It seems you really admire Rocks."
The giant child named Loki reluctantly put down the newspaper and looked up at his father. "Father, when will Rocks... come to Elbaf again? I want to go to sea with him! I want to be a pirate too!"
"Hahaha, you want to be a pirate too? Do you want to be a pirate like Rocks? That won't be easy. I don't object to you becoming a pirate, but you're still too young right now."
The giant knelt down, affectionately patted Loki's head, and looked forward with a smile. "As for when Rocks will come again... he's already here."
"What? Rocks is here?"
Loki looked up in surprise, pulled down the bandages over his eyes, and widened his demon-like vertical pupils to look ahead.
In his sight, a few tiny figures indeed appeared.
The man in the lead was exactly the one he had been longing for.
Rocks!
And behind Rocks, the other three following him were also pirates Loki often saw in the newspapers and remembered vividly.
Whitebeard, Edward Newgate!
Golden Lion, Shiki!
Uranus, Sorus Karlo!
Seeing Rocks, Loki shouted with joy, "Rocks! Are you here to see me?"
To his surprise, Rocks didn't even spare him a glance, instead looking at the giant behind him.
"Harald, it's been a long time. I heard you attacked World Government ships and sank Marine warships. Are you planning to rebel against the World Government? In that case, join my pirate crew! I'll make you my Vice-Captain! Wahahahaha! As long as the two of us join forces, there will be no more rivals in this world!"
Harald stood up, his massive body moving in front of Rocks and the others like a giant mountain, as majestic as a god.
"You know I won't join you, Rocks. I am the sovereign of Elbaf and will never become a pirate. As for the matter you mentioned, there were hidden circumstances. I have already clarified it with the World Government and made reparations..."
"Stop all this nonsense..."
His voice was suddenly interrupted.
A figure stepped past Rocks, raising the weapon in his hand and pointing it at Harald.
"Come and fight me first, Harald! I and the halberd in my hand have long been thirsting for battle!"