The Giant Warrior Pirates.
To the Giant race, that name meant something entirely different.
It could even be said that the Giant Warrior Pirates were the spiritual pillar of the Giants.
Given the difficult circumstances the Giant race lived under, if Dorry, Brogy, and Hugh truly announced that they had joined Britannia, then barring any surprises—
at least thirty to fifty thousand Giants scattered across the world would choose to join Britannia.
"…."
The three brothers all fell silent.
A moment later, Dorry spoke seriously.
"My King, I have no objection to forming a Giant Soldier Knight Corps. To be honest, I'd even be willing to throw my reputation behind it and recruit Giants into Britannia. But there's one thing I want to ask first—can you truly guarantee the Giants a life worth living?"
A life.
A life.
To be born, and to keep living.
Such a simple phrase.
And yet for the Giants, it was unbelievably difficult.
This was no joke.
The suffering Giants endured was something outsiders could never imagine.
What outsiders saw was only the Giants' strength. They had no idea how many hardships lay within Giant society itself.
Those were real problems.
Enormous problems.
They stood right in front of them, and there was often no way around them.
Dorry sighed softly.
"My King, I truly don't care about anything else. I only hope that any Giant who comes to Britannia because of me will be able to eat their fill… and live on."
"…."
Even Hugh fell silent.
At the beginning, Hugh had brought his own followers to Britannia. And now, even their families had come to Britannia and settled down in peace.
To outsiders, that was something they simply could not understand or imagine.
But that was the truth.
For Giants, what they sought was that simple—
food, and a life they could continue living.
That was why Giants could be found in so many major forces across the seas.
There was no helping it.
They really could not survive in their own homeland, so they had no choice but to throw themselves into other factions.
Of course, more Giants still chose to drift across the sea instead.
Though the Giant race's situation was rather humiliating, that didn't mean they would obediently join just anyone.
They had their pride as well.
"Hehehe~"
Arthur chuckled warmly.
"Dorry, do I really seem like that kind of man to you?"
"In Britannia, you can watch with your own eyes."
"Ten years."
"Twenty years."
"One hundred years."
"Or even…"
Arthur rose to his feet.
A terrifying surge of Conqueror's Haki exploded out from him, dark violet lightning crackling through the room.
With unshakable pride, Arthur declared,
"So long as Britannia still exists, no matter how distant the future may be—anyone who is a subject of Britannia will always be able to eat their fill and go on living!"
"Hahahaha!"
Seeing Arthur's overwhelming aura, Dorry knew at once that this was not a man who would deceive him.
He nodded seriously.
"Then, my King, I am willing to form the Giant Soldier Knight Corps."
"Yes!"
"Yes!"
Brogy and Hugh naturally agreed without the slightest hesitation.
Arthur nodded seriously.
"Since you've chosen to trust me, then I'll build a true Giant Soldier Knight Corps and restore the glory of the Giant Warrior Pirates. But before that…"
He gazed into the distance, his expression gradually calming.
Some things—
it was time to set sail for them.
...
Splash!
Splash!
A massive ship departed from Britannia.
It set sail from the harbor of the Ice Mountain Island and gradually headed toward the horizon.
And everyone knew exactly who was aboard.
Arthur himself.
And with Arthur were two Knights of the Round Table—
Lamorak and Kay.
Of course, that was only what appeared on the surface.
Everyone knew perfectly well that more forces were certainly hidden in the dark.
"Gawain, Bors…"
"Gareth…"
"Agravain, Galahad…"
"Lamorak, Kay…"
"And…"
Arthur stood on the deck facing the sea breeze, his gaze sharp and fierce.
Those crimson slit-pupils looked like those of a terrifying dragon.
Seven Knights of the Round Table?
Perhaps.
Gawain and Bors were guarding Fish-Man Island. Whether Bors could move freely or not, Gawain absolutely could not leave Fish-Man Island in the short term.
Max and Tiger were still only candidate Round Table Knights.
Until Tiger gained the strength to become a true Knight of the Round Table, Gawain would not leave Fish-Man Island.
And as for Gareth?
She could not leave the Visma Region. There, she not only guarded that territory, but also tempered the elite knight corps stationed there.
It could be said—
Britannia now possessed three knight corps totaling thirty thousand troops.
The knight corps led by Gawain was the Sun Knight Corps.
Worth mentioning—whether by fate or coincidence, Gawain's corps had been given that exact name. Perhaps it corresponded to the title of the Sun Pirates, or perhaps it simply matched Gawain's own title as the Sun Knight.
The Sun Knight Corps was unquestionably the most elite of them all.
That much was beyond dispute.
Next came the Thunderwolf Knight Corps, led by Gareth.
And at her side—
that person served as her support, the two of them commanding the Thunderwolf Knight Corps together.
Because of the past half year of battle and tempering, it too had become an exceptionally elite force.
Still, compared to the Sun Knight Corps, which had been carefully selected from the vast population of Fish-Men—it was still somewhat behind.
As for the last one—
it was the corps led by Galahad.
In pure strength, it was indeed the weakest.
It did not even yet have its own distinct title.
And that fact alone spoke volumes about its current level.
The Sun Knight Corps, the Thunderwolf Knight Corps, and simply the Knight Corps—
these were the three knight corps Arthur had established.
In truth—
Arthur no longer intended to keep expanding the ordinary knight corps.
More precisely, he no longer intended to keep expanding standard mixed knight corps.
The Sun Knight Corps was built from Fish-Men.
The Thunderwolf Knight Corps was built from humans.
And the Knight Corps?
That one was highly mixed, containing humans and various other races.
That had been Arthur's deliberate choice, because this corps served more as a guide and a reserve for the future.
What Arthur truly wanted was to establish future knight corps centered around specific races.
For example—
once the Giant race was drawn in by the three Giant brothers, Arthur would organize them together into a ten-thousand-strong Giant Soldier Knight Corps.
Beyond that—
the Longarm Tribe, the Longleg Tribe, and in the future perhaps the Three-Eyed Tribe, the Snake-Neck Tribe, and other races as well.
Yes.
What Arthur wanted was to build one specialized knight corps after another—
not to indiscriminately bloat his forces with oversized armies full of weak filler.
There was simply no need.
After all, Arthur had never intended to conquer the world in the ordinary sense.
His goal was more like what he had already been doing now—protecting one subordinate territory after another.
Not every vassal needed a permanent garrison. A little over a hundred thousand elite knights would already be enough.
Honestly, if Arthur could field a ten-thousand-man Giant Soldier Knight Corps and temper it for ten years, then let Whitebeard try charging head-on into it.
They'd grind his skull into the dirt.
"My King."
Kay walked to Arthur's side and asked softly, "Still thinking about Prison Island?"
"Not just Prison Island."
Arthur answered quietly, "Fish-Man Island, Prison Island, the Visma Region, and Britannia itself—every one of them faces enormous risks. Although I've made the greatest preparations possible, all I can say is that I still don't have absolute certainty."
Kay, however, remained calm.
"My King, we already have a seventy percent chance of victory. So long as we have seventy percent, that is enough."
There was no denying it.
Just as Kay said—
Arthur had a seventy percent chance of winning the coming war.
Or rather, the war that had already begun.
If even that was not enough to secure victory, then all one could say was that there had truly been no other way.
Arthur nodded.
"Indeed. A seventy percent chance."
"And if I still lose…"
"Hahaha!"
He shook his head and laughed at himself.
"Then I'd truly be a disgrace. Everything has already been prepared. Now all that remains is to wait for them to come."
A sharp light flashed through Arthur's eyes.
His aura surged powerfully.
Clearly, over this past half year, Arthur had grown even stronger, and his mastery over the Red Dragon bloodline had advanced even further.
Now—
Arthur had already perfectly controlled around twenty-nine percent of the Red Dragon bloodline.
And that was only twenty-nine percent.
Yet even at that level, Arthur already possessed tremendous power and terrifying strength.
At this point, Arthur had already surpassed an ordinary Admiral.
He had roughly estimated it himself—
once he mastered about forty percent of the full Red Dragon bloodline, his strength would rise beyond that of a normal Admiral.
As for exactly how far?
Even Arthur himself wasn't entirely sure.
But one thing he was certain of—
it still wouldn't be enough to match someone like Whitebeard at his peak.
To reach the level of peak Whitebeard, Arthur estimated he would need to develop his Red Dragon bloodline to around sixty-five percent.
However, what truly mattered was this—
before seventy percent, the Red Dragon bloodline improved steadily.
But the final thirty percent would be a qualitative leap.
That was where the truly monstrous growth began.
At sixty-five percent, Arthur would be comparable to peak Whitebeard.
At seventy percent, he could rival Rocks at his peak.
That was the absolute difference.
The terror of Rocks lay around that seventy percent threshold.
And every bit of improvement beyond that final thirty percent would be monstrous in its own right.
Even Artoria, who was said to have been born in complete command of the Red Dragon bloodline, had not truly mastered it all—
let alone with treasures like the Holy Sword, Holy Lance, and the sheath added on top of that.
Arthur clenched one hand tightly.
For a moment, it was as if he had seized something invisible in his grasp—
then he let it go.
It still wasn't time yet.
"Haa…"
Arthur exhaled slowly and asked,
"Kay, what do you think is waiting for us on Prison Island?"
"Enemies."
"Monsters."
"Hahahaha."
Kay laughed freely.
"Who knows? But no matter what it is, none of it will stop us from winning. That much is only natural."
"That's right."
"Then let me see for myself what kind of preparations the World Government has made."
Arthur's eyes sharpened.
Good.
Let him see it.
What had they prepared?
And more importantly—
would it really be enough to stop him?
The smile on Arthur's lips deepened.
He was utterly confident.
Let him see what the future held.
That was no joke.
"Heh."
Kay crossed his arms and said confidently,
"My King, have you forgotten? You are the King of Knights. You are the Lion King. You've led us to victory again and again—you've never once failed. Since when did you start doubting whether you could win?"
"Hmph."
Arthur's lips curled upward.
"Of course I don't doubt it. I have absolute confidence. Victory in this war will belong to us."
A blazing light burst from his eyes.
Those crimson slit-pupils looked like an awakened Red Dragon.
"Roar!"
For an instant, it was almost as if the phantom of a roaring Red Dragon appeared around Arthur's body.
And all of this—
was only the beginning.
Arthur stood proudly at the bow, looking toward the horizon.
War was about to truly begin.
It could be said that since the end of the God Valley Incident, this would be the greatest war on the seas.
Although it had not fully erupted yet, no one knew just how many people were already entangled in it.
At first glance, it seemed to be a war between Arthur, Ochoku, and Silver Axe.
But—
behind this war, how many forces had already been drawn in?
Who knew?
No one could say with certainty what the true scale of it would become.
----------------------------------///
Advance Chapters on Patreon!
p(a)treon(.)com/HudaLin
-Remove the parenthesis to access patreon normally