A fierce wind howled past the cliffs of West Village, and Gaban's figure vanished from sight.
The ground beneath his feet cracked inch by inch as he transformed into a blur barely visible to the naked eye, charging wildly toward the Owl Library.
Although he wanted to reach the library as quickly as possible, the scenes along the way tightened his heartstrings, forcing him to stop and investigate.
The usually bustling giant village was now eerily silent.
In front of the massive blacksmith shop, the blazing furnace fire still roared, but the blacksmith who should have been swinging his giant hammer lay stiff beside the anvil, his enormous body having collapsed half a wall.
On the streets, chasing and playing children, merchants pushing carts, patrolling warriors—all the giants without exception had fallen in various positions, having lost consciousness.
The 'red sun' hanging high in the sky still emitted a terrifying and overwhelming pressure, with black and red Conqueror's Haki ripples spreading out in waves like concentric circles.
Gaban inwardly gasped.
Even as a top-tier powerhouse who had once roamed the Grand Line, he had never seen anyone wield Conqueror's Haki to such an insane extent.
Suppressing his shock, Gaban stopped beside a fallen giantess who still tightly held an unconscious infant in her arms.
Looking at the mother and child collapsed before him, Gaban took a deep breath and decisively placed his hand on the infant.
The red sun hanging over the Giant Kingdom and the continuously released Conqueror's Haki, even if just the residual waves, were enough to crush an ordinary person's soul.
However, when he touched the infant's body, his eyes lit up, his tense body suddenly relaxed, and he let out a heavy sigh.
They were only unconscious!
More accurately, they were asleep!
Confirming that the infant hadn't been affected in the slightest by the Conqueror's Haki, the heavy weight in Gaban's heart lifted considerably.
He no longer checked each one individually because he now understood that the Fleet Admiral's goal wasn't slaughter.
But rather, through this method, to show them that no one in Elbaf could stop his advance.
Thinking this, Gaban didn't delay any longer and released his speed to sprint forward. Several minutes later, he arrived at the library's entrance.
Before he could charge into the library, a tall female figure staggered out from inside—it was Ripley.
"Where are the children?" Gaban approached, his words carrying a trace of concern.
"They've all fallen unconscious. I've checked, and there are no serious issues." Ripley's face was pale, clearly a lingering effect from the impact of the Conqueror's Haki.
The last weight of worry finally lifted from Gaban's heart.
Then, he looked up at the gradually dimming red sun in the sky, shaking his head with a bitter smile.
"Covering all of Elbaf with Conqueror's Haki without taking a single life—what an astonishing feat, Fleet Admiral Orion."
Just then, Gaban and Ripley caught sight of two figures quietly appearing not far away.
It was as if they had been standing there all along, only now becoming visible.
One was cloaked, with silver hair and a long sword at his waist—none other than the long-vanished Dark King Silvers Rayleigh.
The other was Shakky, the proprietress of the Shakky's Rip-Off Bar, holding a cigarette between her lips.
"Have we... arrived too late after all?"
Rayleigh surveyed the collapsed giants around him, one hand resting on his sword hilt as he walked forward calmly, his tone steady yet carrying a hint of gravity.
Surprised that Rayleigh had come to Elbaf, Gaban froze on the spot.
It wasn't until Rayleigh and Shakky stood before him that he snapped out of it.
Looking at the two standing side by side, he grinned and said, "What brings you here, old man?"
Rayleigh didn't answer immediately.
His gaze shifted past Gaban to the mountainously tall Ripley beside him, his expression earnest as he said, "This must be the sister-in-law, I presume."
After a slight pause, he added with sincere admiration, "Truly magnificent!"
Ripley's enormous eyes blinked slowly, clearly still reeling from the shock of Rayleigh's sudden appearance.
Before she could speak, Rayleigh suddenly leaned in close to Gaban's ear, his voice dropping to a whisper only the two could hear.
"I heard she gave you a giant son? Mind sharing—how did you manage to have a giant son with her? I'm quite curious!"
Gaban's eyes widened instantly, and he shoved Rayleigh away in a fluster, hissing under his breath.
"What sister-in-law! She's your older brother's wife!"
"And! You still haven't told me why you brought the sister-in-law here!"
"Heh," Rayleigh let out his signature chuckle, straightening up calmly. "I foresaw the crisis in Elbaf, so I rushed here as soon as I could to try and prevent this catastrophe. But it seems I was a step too late. The situation here doesn't look promising."
Hearing that Rayleigh had come to aid Elbaf, most of Gaban's anger dissipated.
He let go of the other's irreverent and nonsensical remarks, his expression turning serious again.
"There was no war here." Gaban paused before continuing, "I'm sure you saw on your way here—all the unconscious giants were knocked out by the Conqueror's Haki released by Fleet Admiral Orion. I've checked; they're all fine and will recover after some rest."
Rayleigh nodded.
He and Shakky had also felt the impact of that Haki when they landed.
On their way over, he had confirmed that the giants were merely asleep, which was why he came directly to meet Gaban.
"Has Fleet Admiral Orion's mastery of Conqueror's Haki reached such a level already?"
The ever-silent Shakky slowly lifted her head, gazing at the crimson sun in the sky that was gradually dimming, leaving only a dark red afterglow.
Her tone carried unbelievable shock.
"To actually compress Conqueror's Haki into a sun... such a method, even Rocks from back in the day couldn't achieve it, right?"
She paused slightly, withdrawing her gaze to look at Gaban and asked, "So what exactly is going on? Along the way, we haven't detected Marshal Orion's presence. Not only that, but even the naval interns who landed on Elbaf—their presence is completely untraceable."
Hearing this, Gaban shook his head with a bitter smile once more.
"Before Orion released his Conqueror's Haki, he used 'Observation Haki Nullification' to block the presence of all naval personnel. We can see those interns with our eyes, but we can't detect any of them through Observation Haki."
"I see," Shakky said, understanding dawning on her.
"Hey, old man—"
Luffy's energetic shout came from afar.
Immediately after, Luffy, Usopp, and Chopper rushed out from the woods.
Before the three could get close, the library doors opened again, and Robin, Perona, and the others filed out.
Almost simultaneously, from the dense forest on the other side, a group of figures stumbled into view.
Sanji kicked a small tree in half, the cigarette in his mouth nearly bitten through, his face full of despair.
Ace and Sabo followed behind, looking exhausted with hollow eyes, as if their souls had been drained.
The other interns were all unsteady on their feet, weak and listless, as if they had just fought a fierce battle.
Only Zoro, walking at the very front, was full of energy and vigor.
Seeing Luffy, Robin, and the others already gathered in front of the library, he immediately raised his head proudly, slinging the Wado Ichimonji over his shoulder.
"Look! Just look, we made it, didn't we?"
"I told you without me, this team would fall apart!"
"Without me leading the way, could you have found this place? Let's see who dares call me directionally challenged from now on!"