Chapter 420: Luffy Plays Tricks on the Giant Race?
"The leaders are back!"
Inside the giant tavern, a boy of relatively short stature lay on the windowsill, turning his head and shouting at the drinking giants.
"They've also brought people from the human race! That must be the Straw Hat crew!"
Kolon's tone was slightly excited, and the giants in the tavern also showed expressions of joy.
"So you know about the Straw Hat crew too."
"But then again, they are pirates on par with the leader, Red-Hair. Have you seen today's newspaper?"
"Ah, you mean the Egghead war? To be able to retreat unscathed from the encirclement of the Marines... they're truly an incredible group of people."
The tavern, which was already filled with laughter, immediately became even more lively.
"Hee hee hee! The leader, Red-Hair, has told me about Straw Hat Luffy before."
Kolon was ecstatic. He jumped down from his chair and hurriedly ran to the door to welcome them.
Outside, Luffy, Chopper, and Usopp were at the head of the group, rushing towards the tavern with impatience.
Behind them, Reiner's group and Dorry, Brogy, and their group... soon, they saw the tavern door being opened, and a boy with pink hair and a horned helmet ran out, waving at them and shouting.
"Leader Dorry! Leader Brogy!"
"Gababababa! It's the little boy, Kolon!"
Brogy waved in response.
Reiner's attention was also attracted. From Brogy's words, he quickly reacted to the other's identity.
That's Gaban and the female giant's son, Kolon.
Speaking of which, is that really his biological son?
Reiner was temporarily skeptical about this. Love might be able to cross the species difference, but reproduction might not be able to cross the size difference.
Even as a child, in the eyes of the giants, the small Kolon was a head taller than Luffy.
"You must be Straw Hat Luffy. —Eh, you look pretty small."
Kolon looked at the human who had already walked up to him with curiosity. He immediately became excited and drew his short sword from his waist.
"Let's have a duel, Straw Hat! If I win, you'll take me out to sea! How about it!"
"Eh?"
Faced with the sudden invitation to a duel, Luffy felt it was a bit strange.
"Go out to sea?"
"Mm! Because Shanks always says I'm too young and won't take me out to sea! I want to prove that I'm also a warrior!"
Kolon said with an emphatic nod.
Immediately, the tavern burst into an uproar.
"Hahaha! Stop messing around, Kolon."
"The person standing in front of you is a Yonko, hey."
"You're going to get beaten to tears later, hahaha!"
"Shut up! Don't you guys look down on me!"
Kolon shouted at those behind him, a little embarrassed. He turned back to look at Luffy, his expression firm.
"Well, Straw Hat? Let's have a duel!"
"I see. But you are indeed still a child, although you're already taller than me."
Luffy scratched his head, feeling a little troubled. But looking at Kolon's determined gaze, he couldn't help but think of himself as a child.
Back then, he had also pestered Shanks to take him on his ship. Of course, he was rejected, for the same reason as Kolon.
"I understand. I accept your duel."
As if he had thought of something, Luffy suddenly had an idea and said with a grin.
"Hey, hey, hey! He actually agreed."
"Is that for real?"
"Wait a minute!"
Behind them, the tavern's proprietress ran up anxiously, squatted down, and grabbed the back of Kolon's collar. She said to Luffy with an apologetic look:
"I'm terribly sorry. This child is too mischievous. Please don't take it to heart."
"Forget it, Luffy. He's just a child. Even if he's a giant, he can't possibly beat you,"
at the side, Usopp also hurriedly persuaded. He knew Luffy's strength. It would be bad if he accidentally hurt him.
"Don't worry. I'll be fine."
Looking at the struggling and noisy Kolon, Luffy smiled, walked over, and said,
"I agree to a duel with you, but let's just forget about a fight. We'll use another way to decide the winner."
"Another way?"
Kolon was puzzled for a moment.
Reiner's group had also finally all come up. They couldn't help but be curious about what Luffy was trying to do.
Kolon hesitated for a while, and finally nodded in agreement:
"I understand! Tell me! How are we going to compete!"
After a while.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
A spoon tapped against a glass, making a crisp sound. Everyone in the tavern was now crowded around a table, looking as if they were watching a show and didn't mind the trouble.
"Get ready. Everyone be quiet, be quiet."
Luffy stood on a chair that was of a severely mismatched size. He put one foot on the table, put down the spoon and the glass, and said to Kolon with a cheerful laugh:
"The duel is about to begin. Watch carefully."
Gulp~
Kolon lay on the table, his throat bobbing as he swallowed nervously. His two eyes were fixed on the three inverted cups in front of Luffy, not daring to look away.
"Hee hee hee. Watch me."
Luffy grinned, put his hands on the cups, and then...
Swish! Swish! Swish!
He switched the positions of the three cups a dozen times in a few seconds, at a speed that left afterimages. Finally, he slammed his large hands down!
Bang!
"Come on! Guess where the coin is!"
Luffy shouted with a serious expression.
Kolon's expression was tense. He stared at the three cups for a good while, and finally reached out his hand, but then suddenly stopped, and began to struggle again.
"Damn it! His movements are too fast to see clearly at all! Is this the strength of a Yonko?"
"..."
Nami slapped her forehead, feeling extremely speechless.
What strength of a Yonko? This is clearly a trick to fool a child!
However, it wasn't just Kolon. The host of giants who were watching and holding their breath, their hearts anxious and uneasy... and Chopper...?!
One by one, their expressions were tense, all of them staring at Kolon's wavering hand.
What a bunch of idiotic, childish ghosts. Sigh~
Nami sighed secretly.
Finally, Kolon pursed his lips, as if he had made a great determination. Looking at Luffy's 'victory is in my hands' expression, he steeled his heart and put his hand on the cup on the right!
"—What!"
Seeing Kolon's action, Luffy was so scared he jumped. He widened his eyes and cried out:
"Someone actually didn't choose the one in the middle!!"
"What a childish thought! Are you an idiot!"
Usopp bared his teeth and shouted a complaint.
Seeing this reaction, Kolon, along with all the surrounding giants, had their pupils constrict. They hurriedly lowered their gaze and stared intently at the still-covered cup.
"Wait a minute! Could it be!"
"No way! Did he really choose the right one!"
"Quick! Quick, open it and see!"
Gulp~
Kolon swallowed nervously. Cold sweat had unconsciously broken out on his forehead. He carefully and slowly lifted the cup.
Inside was, surprisingly...!
...nothing at all!!
"What!!" ×N
"Damn it! Could it be this one!"
Kolon hurriedly reached out and opened the one on the far left. Just when everyone thought the coin would appear this time...
...it was still empty!
"—Eh!!" ×N
This time, never mind the giants being shocked, even Chopper couldn't sit still.
"Wait a minute! Why isn't it here either? Could it be!"
Chopper looked at Luffy with a disbelieving gaze, feeling that the man before him was terrifyingly calculating.
"I know! Luffy was just pretending just now, right? The coin is actually hidden in the cup in the middle!"
"Ah, no. I was really surprised just now."
Luffy replied to him with a calm expression. As he spoke, he picked up the last cup himself.
It was also empty!
"What!!" ×N
At this time, all the giants had terrified expressions on their faces, as if a thunderbolt had struck their hearts.
"How could this be!"
Kolon's face was full of panic.
Only then did Luffy grin, stick out his long tongue, and reveal a coin.
"Hee hee hee, didn't expect that~~ you idiot."
"Damn it! I actually lost! I was utterly defeated!"
Kolon gritted his teeth and held his head in frustration, so ashamed he wanted to hide.
Seeing this, the giants finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.
"Wahahaha!"
"You were actually tricked."
"You can't be blamed for that. After all, even we didn't see it."
"Gegyagyagya! Forget it, forget it."
"By the way, it's amazing that you could think of such a move."
Usopp patted Luffy on the shoulder and said with a smile, "If I hadn't heard no sound when you were shaking the cups, I almost wouldn't have seen it. You've gotten smarter, Luffy."
"Hahaha! That's because Shanks also tricked me with this move several times back then."
Luffy laughed heartily.
"...S-several... times."
Usopp's smile slowly froze, and the corners of his mouth twitched. He silently took back his previous words.
Although they had been tricked a little, the giants didn't mind. No one had expected Kolon to really win and then go out to sea with them. He was still a child, after all.
But Kolon was clearly still a little unconvinced. Luffy looked at him, and it was as if he were looking at his younger self. Every time he was rejected, he would quickly go back to pestering Shanks.
He turned his head to look at the companions who had been with him all this way... Reiner, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji...
Suddenly, for a moment, Luffy felt as if he had returned to twelve years ago, in the small tavern in Windmill Village. A group of pirates were also squeezed together, drinking noisily. And there was a little brat sitting at the bar, drinking milk and sulking.
But this time, he had become Shanks's perspective.
He was a great pirate who had experienced countless adventures on the sea. And the other was a person who had never stepped out of the village, who only relied on the thrilling adventure stories he had heard from the pirates to long for the day when he would also become a brave and free person like them.
"It's probably this kind of feeling. I wonder what it will be like when I see you again, Shanks..."
Luffy pressed the straw hat on his head, lowered the brim, and a happy smile appeared on his lips.
Reiner, sitting at the side, held a wooden beer mug, leaned his body back against the table, and said,
"What are you in a daze for, Luffy? Don't tell me you're getting sentimental?"
"Sentimental?"
"It means... emmm, well, forget it."
Thump!
Reiner smiled and gave up on the idea of explaining the idiom to Luffy. He bumped his beer mug and gestured with it.
"To freedom!"
"Hee hee hee! Brothers!"
Luffy grinned, lifted his beer mug, and put one foot on the table.
"To freedom!!"
"—Yeah!"
"Cheers!!"
One glass of beer after another, a hearty gulp, letting the liquor flow from the corners of their mouths and beards, and drip onto the floor.
After less than half an hour, someone from outside ran in to report that the rainbow bridge was ready, and they could ascend to the Yang Realm at any time.
Fortunately, they had just started drinking, and Dorry and Brogy had not yet started to get drunk. Although they were reluctant to leave, they had to put down their beer mugs and lead Reiner and his group to the village.
And on the other side, Luffy, Usopp, Zoro, and Chopper, who was riding on Zoro's neck...
The four of them took their backpacks filled with food and wine from the tavern and prepared to cross the vast snow-capped mountains in an adventurous way to ascend to the Yang Realm. At the same time, they once again rejected Kolon's request to join them.
Dorry picked him up like a little chick.
"Gegyagyagya! You can just go up with us from the rainbow bridge."
"Got it, got it."
Being hung in the air, Kolon's cheeks were puffed out, and he pouted, looking a little depressed.
The group split into two. The four from Luffy's group set off, walking towards the depths of the vast white mountain forest. Reiner and his group, along with the Giant Warrior Pirates and Kid's crew, sailed their ships and came to the so-called rainbow bridge.
It was a veritable seven-colored rainbow, its colors so vivid and astonishing. They had never been so close and seen such a gorgeous and dreamlike scene so clearly.
One end of the rainbow plunged into the sea, while the other extended to the crown of the Treasure Tree Adam above, the "Yang Realm," forming an arch bridge.
"Eh? Wait a minute! Are we going to ride this up?!"
Looking at the rainbow that was so close, Nami was still a little confused at this moment.
However, when the bow of the great Eric touched the place where the sea and the rainbow met, a scene that shocked them to the core occurred.
That rainbow was actually like a river, and it lifted the incomparably huge ship and carried it up!
"—Eh!!"
The group's eyes widened in shock, their jaws dropping. By the time they had reacted, the two small boats had already been swept up by the rainbow river that was flowing upstream.
"It's really going up!!"
"Is this how a rainbow is used!!"
The clouds seemed to be within reach. Birds flew alongside the ship, soaring in the transparent azure sky.
The seven-colored rainbow, relying on the ship of dreams, sailed forward. The scene before them was like a picture from a fairy tale being projected into reality, magical and dreamlike.
"So beautiful—!"
A glimmer of light appeared in Uta's eyes, as if a sky full of stars were hidden in her bright black pupils.
Before she came, she had imagined countless scenes of meeting Shanks. She had prepared countless things to say. Her heart was filled with anxiety. At this moment, all her worries were blown away by the fragrant spring breeze that blew in her face.
The only thought left was to beat him up fiercely.
And on the other side.
"Not only the people, but even the beasts here are huge."
In the dense forest, the snow on the pine needles was shaken off. A cold wind blew past, and the footprints that had just been left in the snow were buried.
Zoro swung his sword and left a scarlet streak of blood on the white, sparkling ground. In front of him lay several giant snow wolves, all of them without a breath.
"We've only just entered the edge of the forest and have already encountered so many attacks. The road ahead probably won't be easy,"
Zoro said faintly, looking ahead, and slowly sheathed his sword.
Suddenly, as if he had sensed something, his eyes hardened, and a scarlet light flashed. He and Luffy whipped their heads around to look into the depths of the forest at the same time.
"An incredible guy is here."
"Ah. This presence is terrifyingly strong."
Luffy nodded, his two eyes grave.
Seeing this, Chopper and Usopp behind him trembled and hid, and followed their gaze.
In the depths of the pine forest, the silhouette of a person wearing a straw hat gradually became clear.
"We finally meet, Straw Hat."
(End of chapter)