"Why are you forcing me, Rocks?! We could have solved this in the best possible way. Why won't you agree?"
Harald's voice was wrapped in hoarseness suppressed to the limit. As his words fell, his giant sword, wrapped in Conqueror's Haki, descended toward Rocks's head like an iron mountain falling from the sky.
Before the edge even arrived, the thick layer of rock beneath them had already been crushed into dust by the pressure. Cracks spread in every direction like a spiderweb.
Rocks had no footing. The instant the ground collapsed, his body dropped sharply.
But he did not counterattack immediately. Instead, he raised his head and roared, "Are you still the Harald I know?!"
"For the giant kingdom, for Elbaf, for your own ideals, you are shifting all misfortune onto Ron! What about him?! What did he do wrong?! Was he born to sacrifice himself for your grand cause?!"
"This is even his first time coming to Elbaf. He hasn't even met you! On what grounds should he sacrifice himself for your Elbaf?!"
Harald's sword hesitated in the air for an instant. It was brief, so brief it was almost impossible to notice, but Rocks caught it.
"Harald!" Rocks's voice rose again. "I will never agree! I will never accept any condition you propose! If you want a fight, then I will accompany you to the end!"
With that, he swiftly counterattacked from below. His long blade and the giant sword crashed together at the same point.
The instant their Conqueror's Haki collided, a tangible shockwave exploded outward from the point of impact. The ground collapsed, rose, and was thrown away beneath the crushing force.
Crackle.
Dense dark-red lightning burst from the collision point, spreading outward like a spiderweb.
Harald gritted his teeth. His giant sword pressed down on Rocks's blade as he roared, "No one can stop Elbaf from moving toward peace and escaping violence and savagery! Even if it costs my life, I will not hesitate!"
"Wahahahaha!" Rocks suddenly laughed. "Harald, everything you are doing is filled with savagery and violence, yet you keep saying you want to cast those things aside. Don't you find that ridiculous?!"
The muscles on Harald's face twitched slightly, but he did not back down. He coldly laughed, his voice low. "Before obtaining certain things, a price must be paid. Is that not so?"
As soon as his voice fell, he abruptly withdrew his sword and swept it horizontally. The surface of the giant blade drew a wide arc in the air. Wherever the sword wind passed, it peeled up a thick layer of earth, sending stones and soil rolling like waves split by a plow.
Rocks no longer cared to distinguish right from wrong. He gripped his long blade tightly and charged again toward the horizontal slash.
Bang! Bang!
Bang! Bang!
Violent impacts rang out one after another. Terrifying shockwaves rippled outward in circles like waves across water.
On the Saber of Xebec, rings of air currents howled from the island's direction, sweeping over the ship's sky and raising a piercing whine.
The sea began to churn. The ship shook violently. Then the trembling of the earth followed, cracking the ice along the shore with fine fractures.
In the first moment, everyone aboard the Saber of Xebec rushed onto the deck.
"On the island..." Gloriosa stared toward the white expanse of Elbaf, her brows tightening slightly. "Something serious seems to have happened."
"Mama-mama." Linlin sat on the ship's railing facing the Underworld. Her legs hung in the air and swayed as she stuffed a snack into her mouth, her tone casual. "It's probably just that negotiations failed and they started fighting."
"Started fighting?" Annika unconsciously gripped the hem of her clothes, worry impossible to hide in her voice. "I hope Ron-sama is all right..."
After saying that, Annika clasped her hands together and began praying.
"Ron?" Golden Lion Shiki was stunned when he heard Annika's words beside him. Then he laughed. "Jihahaha! Worrying for nothing. And you're worried about the wrong side. You should pray that the giants of Elbaf are all right!"
After saying that, Shiki silently added in his heart: Hehehe. Do you not know what kind of person your Ron-sama is? You hope he's all right? For all we know, this entire riot was caused by your Ron-sama.
Marlon had a cigar in his mouth. As soon as Shiki finished speaking, he lazily followed up. "Hey, Shiki, are you holding a grudge because Ron slapped you with that three-hundred-and-sixty-degree spinning backhand, so now you're taking it out on the little girl he picked up?"
Shiki instantly became anxious and turned to glare at Marlon. "You bastard, is that something a person should say?! How could I possibly hold a grudge over such a small thing?!"
"Hard to say," everyone answered in unison, their tones perfectly aligned.
Annika hurriedly waved her hands and explained softly, "Everyone is misunderstanding Shiki-sama..."
She did not want to affect everyone's relationship because of herself.
But now that they had a rare chance to sprinkle salt on his wound, how could everyone let it pass so easily?
"Little one." Gansui smiled and beckoned Annika over. "Don't be fooled by that bastard Shiki. He's human trash!"
"Bastard, say that again and I'll kill you!" Shiki cursed.
"See? See? His true nature is exposed!" Gansui shrugged with a grin, then continued telling Annika, "From now on, don't give him any food. Let him eat Streusen's cooking!"
Streusen had only been standing to the side watching the show. When he heard this, he exploded. "Gansui, you bastard! Why are you dragging me into this?! Why didn't you complain when you ate my food before?! Only now you start criticizing me?! If I'd known this day would come, I would've stuffed a lump of shit into your food!"
"Little one." Gansui turned to Annika without changing expression. "Remember, this short thing isn't a good bird either."
"Linlin!" Streusen suddenly turned and shouted. "Help me beat that bastard Gansui to death!"
Then... the scene completely lost control.
Everyone argued with everyone. Some people secretly fanned the flames, cheering one side for a while, then the other. After helping both, they shouted, 'If it were me, I couldn't endure it. I'd go up and kill him!'
Gloriosa quietly pulled Annika a few steps away and said, "Do you see? This pirate crew is absolutely terrible. But you don't need to worry too much. Your cooking has already conquered them. They won't make life hard for themselves."
She paused, then added, "But you should watch out for that short winter melon. He might frame you."
Annika nodded seriously. "O-okay."
The moment she finished speaking, Streusen suddenly jumped up and shouted toward Gloriosa, "Damn woman! If you're whispering bad things about me, can you whisper softer?! You bastard!"