Chapter 272: The Sister and Harald
In a tavern at the edge of Elbaf, a child's curious voice echoed. "Captain Louis, who's stronger, you or Shanks?"
"You're both Emperors, right?!"
At the bar, the helmeted Kolon gripped his juice, looking up at Louis with pure anticipation. The surrounding giants just grinned.
Louis turned to look at the boy, sighing internally. This kid isn't even twenty, and he's already picked up the bad habit of power-scaling.
In the end, Louis mercilessly shattered the boy's fantasy. "Of course I'm stronger. In every way."
Kolon's eyes went wide, as if he'd heard the impossible. "No way! Captain Shanks is older!"
The nearby giants burst out laughing. "Kolon, Captain Louis is recognized by the whole world as the strongest right now, in both his achievements and his power!"
"Captain Shanks is definitely strong, but he's still a small step behind Captain Louis." In the giants' minds, Louis was like Whitebeard in his prime—a single tier above all other top-tier fighters.
But on the other side, Uta, who had been chatting with the tavern owner Mado, turned around, her expression surprised. "Kolon, you know Shanks?"
"Yeah!" Kolon slumped half his body onto the bar, his voice deflated. "Ever since Shanks captured Loki and brought him back, he sometimes stops by this tavern. I wait for him here after I finish training..."
Uta raised an eyebrow. "I see. You really admire him, huh?"
She could easily tell from Kolon's crestfallen expression that this little guy was depressed because his idol wasn't the strongest.
Gerd saw this and covered her mouth, stifling a laugh.
Louis just shook his head and sighed. "Gerd, take me to the depths of the underworld. I want to see what this Loki, Hajrudin's brother, is like."
The name "Loki" made the沮喪 Kolon shudder. The other giants' eyes went wide, and they froze.
After a moment's thought, however, none of them tried to stop Louis. They only offered a tactful warning.
"Captain Louis, please, don't believe a word that demon says! He never tells the truth!"
"Whatever you do, don't let that guy out. If you do, he'll just wait for you to leave Elbaf and then pop up again. He'll be a massive problem for us giants!"
"Relax, I'm not going to free him." Louis motioned for the giants to calm down, gaining a new understanding of Loki's reputation among his own people. In short: he was infamous, universally despised.
"Don't worry. The captain wouldn't do something so unnecessary!" Gerd smiled, letting Louis and Uta sit in her palm again.
Although Gerd felt that even if Loki was freed, he wouldn't last long against Louis, she didn't bother explaining that to her kin.
Nearby, Kolon's interest was suddenly piqued. "Captain Louis, Big Sis Gerd, take me to the underworld, too!"
Almost instantly, every adult in the tavern shouted the same thing: "No! Don't even think about it!"
"Aww, why not?!" Kolon was indignant, his lips pouting in a clear look of grievance.
Gerd just smiled and patted his head. "The underworld is so cold it can freeze even adult giants to death. If you went there, you'd be a popsicle in no time. Go wait for us in the 'Sun World' with the others."
Leaving him with that, Gerd slung her single-bladed giant axe onto her back, pushed open the door, and began walking toward the frozen mountains.
In the boundless snowfield, the 17-meter-tall giantess walked, carrying two people, leaving a set of deep, multi-meter-long footprints behind her.
The frigid air made Uta shiver. "It's so cold! This feels almost as bad as one of Yelena's blizzards!"
She instinctively squeezed closer to Louis, practically burrowing into his arms and pressing against him. Feeling the comforting warmth from his body, Uta's eyes closed in bliss as she breathed out a hot puff of air. "That's much warmer..."
Louis said nothing, but silently raised his own body temperature.
Gerd saw this from above, her lips curling into a faint smile, her eyes curving into crescents.
As time passed, the trio crossed the mountains. The trunk of the Treasure Tree Adam, larger than any mountain, loomed like a high wall stretching to the end of their vision.
"It's so big..." Uta whispered, her purple, jewel-like eyes wide in awe.
Gerd took the cue, smiling as she explained to the two in her palm. "This Adam tree is the oldest one in the whole world. It's been growing here on Elbaf for millennia. It's different from the one on Terra that the captain controls. No one has guided the sunlight to its base, which is why the 'underworld' formed with such a harsh environment."
"I see..."
After a while longer, Gerd brought them to an area where countless, dragon-like roots pushed up from the ground. In a small, snow-covered forest, massive, ferocious beasts lay in wait. Noticing Gerd's approach, they suddenly lunged from the blizzard.
From Gerd's palm, Louis and Uta could see their pale-white fangs and the stringy, foul-smelling drool.
Gerd simply used her free hand to draw the axe from her back and, with one swing for each, smacked the attacking beasts away. The sound of giants beasts whistling through the air was followed by tremendous crashes.
At the far end of her sight, Loki, chained to the roots, slowly lifted his head, revealing his half-bandaged face. His body was bound in thick Seastone chains. He had long pink hair and two curved horns on his forehead. His body was well-proportioned, and he was over 60 meters tall—the largest giant Louis had ever seen.
In Gerd's palm, Louis raised an eyebrow. This guy was several times Hajrudin's size.
In Louis's arms, Uta looked like she'd seen a ghost. "He-he-he's almost three times as tall as Hajrudin! Are they really brothers?"
"Loki inherited an unparalleled amount of ancient giant blood, so his size is close to that of a true ancient giant," Gerd replied, her voice steady even as she swung her axe. She explained that hybrids often possessed strength far exceeding that of their pure-blooded ancestors. This was why warriors like Loki and Harald were actually much stronger than true ancient giants like Oars or Little Oars Jr.
As Gerd carved a path through the beast pack and arrived in front of Loki, his mocking voice rang out. "Well, if it isn't little Gerd. Just like the rumors say... you're a little better than the useless weakling you used to be."
It was clear from his tone that he knew and remembered Gerd.
Louis and Uta's expressions both shifted. That's a sharp tongue. No wonder Gerd hated him. It was clear there was a reason his only friends in all of Elbaf were animals.
As expected, Gerd's faint smile vanished instantly, her fair face turning as black as the bottom of a pot. "Still so arrogant while chained up," she huffed, crossing her arms. "You'll be beaten to death here one day."
Loki just gave a few strange laughs and ignored her, focusing his attention on Louis.
"Haki... stronger and more monstrous than Red-Hair's. And brought here by Gerd."
"You must be their captain... the Forest God!"
"..." Louis narrowed his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Behind him, Gerd gasped, instantly recalling the contents of a hidden mural on the Adam tree. "Forest God? Loki, are you serious?" She forgot her hatred for a moment, ready to step forward and demand what he meant.
However, Louis raised a hand, stopping her. "Gerd, you should know better than I that he never tells the truth, right?"
Gerd snapped back, realizing her mistake. She shot Loki a look of pure disgust.
"I'm not a god," Louis said, his gaze cutting through the falling snow to land on Loki. "I only came here today to find out if King Harald, decades ago, used an agent—a certain 'Sister'—to complete some special... transactions... with the World Government."
"Did he trade certain 'cargo' to Marine Headquarters?"
Hearing this, Loki's mocking expression vanished. He lowered his head, falling completely silent.
Behind them, Gerd's pupils shrank, and her mind was thrown into chaos.
"King Harald... 'Sister'... an agent... the World Government... and—"
"Cargo... to Marine Headquarters?!"
She was in shock. The 'Sister' from 63 years ago... had been her favorite human. And King Harald was one of the people she respected most.
And now? 'Sister' was a World Government agent? And King Harald... might have used her to trade 'cargo' to the Marines?
During that period, what "cargo" had appeared at Marine Headquarters?
Gerd didn't dare to think any further. She forced herself back to the present and stared at the silent Loki, waiting for his answer.
After a long time, under their gazes, Loki lifted his head again. His face was wrapped in bandages, hiding his expression. His voice was deeper now.
"No... My father did have a special connection with the World Government."
"'Sister' was a human trafficking agent. Her story about saving giant warriors was a lie."
"But... the trafficked children... had nothing to do with my father."
As Loki's words fell, the area became dead silent, his heavy breathing the only sound.
"I see." Louis nodded, indicating he had heard what he needed to.
He looked up at the stunned and confused Gerd. "Let's go. Take us to the 'Sun World.' There's no reason to stay here."
Gerd snapped out of it. She gave Loki one last, complex look, and turned to leave.
She didn't trust Loki's words. But she trusted Louis's judgment.
And Louis had said he got his answer... which meant that for once, Loki hadn't been lying.
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