"Saul.
Great.
And the right wing of Pluton. Just that?"
"Heh… I really want to know—who gave you the courage?"
"You think you can challenge me with this?"
High in the air, Ghidorah's cold, cutting voice rang out, as if the two world-class fighters before him were utterly beneath notice.
No—truthfully, they were beneath notice.
Pluton or the Giant Titan Corps, it didn't matter. In Ghidorah's eyes, as long as these people weren't united as one, they could be ignored outright.
"Heh, our mission isn't to fight you to the death. We just have to hold you here."
The giant standing to the left of the massive warship drew a massive sword and shield from his back, his voice booming.
As he moved, the other giant also drew his weapon—not a greatsword, but an enormous black iron spiked club, its barbed spikes gleaming darkly.
The two of them were the captain and vice-captain of the Giant Titan Corps, and the ship beneath their feet was Pluto's right wing.
A single Pluton was made up of three parts: the main body, and the left and right wings.
The main body housed Pluton's core supercannon, while each wing was itself a massive battleship.
In the present day, no technology exists that could build such steel leviathans.
These Pluton's came from over a thousand years ago—an age when the world was at its most glorious.
In that era, the seas had been ruled by fleets of steel warships. But as centuries passed, technology was lost, and even the surviving steel ships could not escape the fate of decay.
Pluton, however, endured—because its builders had forged it from a unique alloy created through the combined powers of the Dark-Dark Fruit and the Swallow-Swallow Fruit.
With modern technology unable to decipher Pluton's materials, perhaps only Sabo could even attempt to replicate it.
At the thought of Sabo, Ghidorah's massive eyes narrowed sharply.
"Have those old men noticed something?"
The path he had shown Sabo had seemed casual, but in truth, it was calculated.
He had deliberately acted unconcerned, allowing Sabo to discover it on his own—yet even so, it had apparently drawn someone's attention.
"Who knows?" Saul replied. "Our job is just to keep you here."
He hefted the giant sword in his hand. "We may not be your equals, but with the right wing's help, holding you here is within our power."
Ghidorah silently agreed—clearly, the enemy had come prepared.
If they didn't want him going back… then he simply wouldn't.
A slow, cruel smile spread across his monstrous jaws.
"Heh… fine by me."
Saul's brows furrowed at that, a bad feeling gnawing at his gut.
"Don't tell me…"
The unease in his chest deepened. That absurd suspicion in his mind—he didn't dare speak it aloud.
The Grand Line — New World, First Half
On the island known as Germa—Sabo's forward base.
Right now, it was facing utter devastation.
Bloodied and battered, Aokiji and Sabo stared up in shock at a coastal giant over a hundred meters tall.
Especially Aokiji—his wide eyes were filled with disbelief.
Since becoming a Navy Admiral, he had always known that even if he wasn't the strongest in the world, he was still among its elite.
But never—not once—had he imagined that his strength could seem so pitiful, so childlike, before another being.
Even Sabo, fighting at full force beside him, surpassed his own output here.
"Sorry about this—inviting you to join us and then running into a mess like this."
"I've already contacted my master. He should be here soon."
Sabo wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his expression apologetic as he looked up at the towering giant.
"Sorry? Yeah, I guess I was dragged into this…"
Aokiji gave him a wry look, then added, "But I suppose I should thank you. If not for you, I'd never have seen a monster like this."
With his worldview once again shattered, Aokiji wiped the blood from his face and went on, "Forget apologies—think about how we're going to deal with this thing."
"Yeah."
Sabo gave a bitter smile. "No other choice. I'll have to use that—and hope it can stall him."
At once, black mist burst from beneath his feet, thick and inky as spilled tar.
The dense cloud of dark energy billowed out like a tide, swallowing everything around them.
"Hey—hey! I'm still here!"
Aokiji flinched, but quickly realized the fruit's power wasn't affecting him, and relaxed.
The darkness spread across half the beach in moments, soon rolling out to envelop the giant's feet.
"Damn… he's too big!"
Feeling the giant's presence in the darkness, Sabo's face darkened. The Dark-Dark Fruit absorbed inanimate matter easily, but living things resisted. Against ordinary foes it wasn't an issue—but this giant was far stronger than him.
"Heh… boy, you think you can trap me with this?"
"What a joke."
The giant's deep voice rumbled as he felt the darkness clutching at him. With a step, he tore free of the shadow's grasp.
"Pfft!"
Veins bulged on Sabo's forehead, and a mouthful of blood sprayed from his lips. He stared up in disbelief at that towering figure.
Even with his recent power-up, the time had been too short—he simply could not match a monster like this.
If he'd only had more time, he truly believed he could surpass him… but now, such thoughts were meaningless.
"Heh… boy."
In that moment of despair, an aged, metallic voice rang out behind him.
"V–Vice Admiral Garp?"
Aokiji was the first to turn—and his eyes went wide with disbelief.
"Old man?"
Sabo too stared in shock.
Neither of them had expected the retired Vice Admiral Garp to appear here—and from the look of it, this wasn't some coincidence.
Garp's stern face softened into a smile at the sight of the two.
Then he scratched his head, looking troubled. "Honestly… I'm supposed to be retired, and they're still sending me to the battlefield."
After retiring, Garp had returned to Windmill Village in the East Blue, intending to spend his days in peace.
But then his son, Dragon, had come to him—and introduced him to an old man.
When he learned the man was an ancestor of the Monkey family, Garp had realized his quiet retirement was over.
The family elder had also brought him a Devil Fruit, a gift from Ghidorah himself.
Though Garp had always resisted the idea of eating a Devil Fruit, he could not defy his family's orders—and reluctantly consumed it.
With his new powers, he was taken to an uninhabited island in the East Blue to train, only finishing his training recently.
And upon returning to the Red Line… his own son had immediately ordered him into action.
Which brought him to the scene before them now.
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