In this operation, Silas was the bait.
No matter what, as long as he appeared, even knowing it was bait, the Marines and CP0 would definitely take it.
Because the ones who truly held the initiative had always been the White Wolf Pirates, where Silas belonged.
Even if the Marines had conquered Elbaf, as long as Silas did not come, all their preparations would be meaningless.
But Silas still came.
Just like the Great Sage who trampled the Southern Heavens and shattered the Celestial Palace.
If he did not return, then he would not return!
"Come fight!"
Silas's roar echoed across all of Elbaf, accompanied by the thunderous sound of four powerful fighters clashing.
Earlier, in Elbaf's Midgard, where the giants were hiding.
"Stop!"
Two giants hiding in a tree hollow heard footsteps and nervously raised their weapons, but what appeared before them was not those damned Marines but a rather familiar figure.
"Ripley!?"
"Ripley, you are back?"
Seeing Ripley, the two giants were overjoyed but then showed worried expressions.
"No good. Ripley, why did you come back?"
"That is right! Elbaf has already been occupied by those little people. Even His Majesty Harald has been captured by those despicable bastards."
The hunchbacked giant ground his teeth.
"If only Captain Dorry and Captain Brogy were here."
If the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates were here, even if they could not defeat those Marines, they could at least repel them.
Harald would not have had to fight two-on-one.
Not knowing there was also a CP0 Supreme Action Commander hidden in the shadows besides Rona and Kong, the bald giant naively thought that as long as the two Giant Warrior Pirate captains returned, they could turn the tide.
"Uncle Kashi, stop wasting time! Are Great-grandfather and Lord Yalulu here? I have very important news to tell them!"
Ripley had agreed with Silas that after sunset, Silas would launch an attack on Elbaf, drawing the attention of the Marines and CP0's strongest fighters.
And she needed to find the giants' hiding place before then and convince them to counterattack, recapturing the captured Giant King and numerous royal guards.
"Alright!"
Kashi nodded, hurriedly preparing to take Ripley to their hiding place.
But suddenly, he saw Rocks and Newgate behind Ripley.
"No way!"
Kashi stood his ground and said loudly, "Ripley, you can go, but these two little people cannot! They are in league with those little people outside!"
"Uncle Kashi, what are you saying?"
Hearing Kashi's words, Ripley said anxiously, "They are the same as me, all members of the White Wolf Pirates, all our companions! They are different from those Marines and CP0 outside!"
"What is different about them?"
Kashi shouted, "If not for the White Wolf Pirates, those little people would not have attacked Elbaf! We all heard those little people attacked Elbaf because the White Wolf Pirates stayed here!"
Kashi looked at Rocks and Newgate with angry emotions in his eyes.
"So, Uncle Kashi, you think it is because of me that Elbaf became like this?"
Hearing Ripley's voice, Kashi quickly shook his head.
"Of course not! Ripley, you and those White Wolf Pirates guys..."
"What is different?"
Ripley looked at Kashi and said loudly, "I am a member of the White Wolf Pirates! Should I not have been born in Elbaf? Should I not have grown up in Elbaf? If that is the case, then I never should have come back!"
It was precisely because she considered Elbaf her hometown, precisely because Elbaf was her hometown, that the Captain chose to rescue Elbaf!
"The Captain is willing to put himself in danger for me, for us, willing to face the Marines' strongest fighters. But in the end, you do not actually hate those Marines and CP0. You hate us?"
Kashi wanted to say something but saw that Ripley, who always loved to smile, was now in tears.
"The Captain will die!"
Even when facing her, Silas always wore a smile, but how could Ripley not know how difficult this battle was?
Even so, Ripley had no way to make Silas stop, to not come to support Elbaf.
Because of her, her beloved Captain had to bet with his own life.
To face enemies he could not possibly defeat.
So why could her people not trust them?
"Kashi!"
From deep in the cave came an old man's voice.
"Let Ripley in!"
"Kashi, you little brat, how dare you bully my great-granddaughter!"
"Lord Yalulu, it is great-great-granddaughter!"
"Same difference!"
Two giant elders led a group of giants out of the tree hollow. Seeing Ripley's tear-stained face, the giant elder with a waterfall-like beard glared at the hunchbacked giant.
"Ripley, tell us. What are you planning to do?"
Unlike Kashi, who was not very bright, Yalulu, who had lived over three hundred years, understood clearly that the World Government wanting to enslave them was not a recent development.
But the giant race's strength was not weak. In their heyday, they had several giants as powerful as His Majesty Harald.
Even forty years ago, with Dorry and Brogy, the two Giant Warrior Pirates captains, plus the old king still alive, even if the World Government wanted to successfully occupy Elbaf, they would have paid a heavy price.
It was just that after the old king's death, with Dorry and Brogy unable to return due to their duel, all of Elbaf had only the current King Harald shouldering everything alone.
The constant peace, plus the World Government not making moves against them and even easing relations in recent years, had made them complacent.
Giant King Harald had even developed the idea of abandoning force and peacefully coexisting with the outside world.
Now it seemed such thinking was wrong!
There might be friends outside Elbaf, but they certainly were not all friends.
There were also enemies!
After Ripley's emotions stabilized somewhat, Yalulu immediately understood Silas's plan.
To accomplish this, they had to cooperate!
"Redin, can you contact people hiding in other places?"
"I can, but..."
"Do not worry about being overheard!"
As a captain of the Giant Warrior Pirates who had sailed the seas hundreds of years ago, though Yalulu was very old, his spirit had not weakened.
"Once White Wolf Silas appears, we will counterattack the Marines."
Even in their current situation, a counterattack would definitely cause huge losses.
But...
"Since our friend is willing to bet with his own life!"
"We can only risk our lives to accompany him!"
"Then let us bet with our lives!"