One Piece: Nobody knows Devil Fruits better than me.

Chapter 288 The Invaders of Elbaf!
"Dad"

After receiving Whitebeard's permission, Marco returned to the deck and saw only the slowly fading starlight before Whitebeard.

"The Star Lord has left?"

Marco spoke with some curiosity, and behind him, Muir and the others quietly peeked out.

That's right—after learning that the Star Lord had bypassed their guard and boarded the Moby Dick, they naturally came to investigate.

"Ah."

Whitebeard glanced at his sons' foolish appearance and shook his head.

Marco became even more curious: "Dad, what did you and the Star Lord talk about?"

Just as mentioned before.

Marco had long noticed that Whitebeard's attitude toward the twelve constellations was quite peculiar—especially toward the constellation lord, for whom the old man seemed to know something.

Therefore, he had already suspected it in his heart.

"We talked about some things from the past."

Upon hearing this, Whitebeard casually replied.

"What happened in the past?"

Marco was taken aback upon hearing this, wondering if his father had actually known the Star Lord in the past.

But how come he's never heard of it before?
But before Marco could think about it further, he soon heard Whitebeard's words: "Marco, the wave is coming."

"What do you want to do amidst the tides of the times?"

Upon hearing this, Marco was also taken aback and couldn't help but look at Whitebeard in surprise.

He wasn't surprised by what Whitebeard meant by the 'tides of the times'—something anyone familiar with the state of the ocean could see.

The momentum of the twelve constellations is growing stronger, and the changes in the entire ocean over the past year are almost comparable to those of the many years since Roger's death.

The tide of the times has arrived, and everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates understands this.

But the problem is
"What kind of wave it is doesn't matter."

"The important thing is that we will stay by your side, Dad."

Marco did not directly answer Whitebeard's question.

He also understood that Whitebeard seemed to have seen changes in the future world through his communication with the Star Lord—a colossal wave that even Whitebeard, the strongest of the Four Emperors, had to be wary of.

However, as Marco said...

For everyone in the Whitebeard Pirates, 'how to deal with the giant wave' was a question that didn't even need to be considered.

Because they have white beards.

They just need to stay by their father's side.

"We are the Whitebeard Pirates."

Marco said seriously.

The waves of time may wash away everything, but they remain steadfast.

"."

Seeing Marco's expression of 'old man replacing brain, muscles replacing thought,' Whitebeard burst into laughter.

Yes.

He is the 'patriarch' of the Whitebeard Pirates.

The power he commanded and the family he built around the islands were the only things he truly cherished.

So, just as he had told Lox in the past, he didn't want to get involved in the changes in the world because it would bring danger and trouble to his family.

But the problem is...
"."

Whitebeard could sense it.

His body is no longer what it used to be.

His muscles were still strong, but he was no longer young.

His blond hair had turned white, and his old wounds constantly brought him weakness.

He was still white-bearded, of course—he could remain uninvolved in the world's changes, because even in the face of the greatest storms, he could lead his family to weather the storm.

But
He is old.

How much longer can he protect his family?
Two years? Three years? Five years?

How long will the aftershocks of that future giant wave, that inevitable world-changing tide, last?
Just like every patriarch.

Whitebeard began to think about the children's 'future'.

"Sir Newgate, I have a proposal."

Not long ago, the Star Lord's words still seemed to echo in his ears.

"."

Whitebeard picked up the wine beside him.

Then, he casually tossed it to Marco, who looked completely bewildered.

"Put it away, kid."

He shook his head and said casually, "I'm going to quit drinking for the time being."

obviously.

Apart from the Whitebeard Pirates, no one else in the world would know.

The four strongest emperors have already met quietly with the rulers of the twelve constellations, and the two have even reached some subtle understandings.

This is especially true for Elbaf, which is located in the New World and is relatively isolated. For example, right now.

Elbaf Sun Boundary, Warrior's Village, West Village.

"The east wind blows, the war drums beat, we forge our swords and slay the bone discs."

“Sola, you sang it wrong. It should be ‘cut bones and blood, blood is used to make wine in a cauldron, and the head is used to make a dish under a bowl.’”

"Stop talking nonsense, you can't beat me anyway! What I'm singing is right!"

The children of Nishimura are singing innocent nursery rhymes and playing their daily games.

Yes, of course.

Whether it's nursery rhymes or games, Elbaf is quite 'powerful'—in a normal human kingdom, several obviously underdeveloped baby heads shouldn't be chopping each other with axes, even if the axes aren't sharpened.

What's even more absurd is that while the children were fighting each other, the giant warriors on the sidelines were actually laughing and joking.

But it is precisely at this moment
"Boom!"

The mortal realm suddenly began to tremble.

And it wasn't just the mortal realm—the entire Elbaf seemed to be experiencing an earthquake at this moment, the constant tremors causing the children who were playing to fall down instantly, making sounds of 'ouch' 'ouch'.

And then it followed closely behind.
"Awoo!"

"Roar!"

From below the Yang Realm, enormous roars continued to echo.

"It's a beast from the 'underworld'!"

"Another 'mutation' has occurred."

"There's definitely been another riot down there. Let's go hunt some wild animals, otherwise this will go on for days!"

"It must be related to those intruders from before. I don't know where they've hidden."

"The underworld is 'that person's' territory. Even he didn't discover the intruders. Perhaps those guys are already dead in the underworld."

The giant warriors' expressions immediately turned serious.

They each rose, picked up their weapons, and each of them displayed the characteristic sharpness of a warrior.

But it was precisely at the moment they were preparing to take action.

"Crackling sound!"

"Hehehehehe!"

Two loud and distinctive laughs rang out.

Dorry and Brogy, both wielding short axes and greatswords, emerged from the room.

Behind them, an old man wearing a horned helmet and with a long beard that dragged on the ground also came out.

Immediately, all the giant warriors showed expressions of respect.

This is inevitable.

The giants are a warrior nation that worships the strong—although some aspects of their culture regarding warriors were buried for a time in the past.

But in recent years, they have regained their glory.

As the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates, 'Dorny' and 'Broki' are naturally representatives of warriors, and they are naturally respected.

As for the old man, there is no need to say more—'Mountain Beard' Aruru, the strongest being in this sea three hundred years ago.

Even in the entire Elbaf region, he was the highest-ranking legendary warrior!

"Gentlemen."

At that moment, Yaru also spoke in a deep voice.

“This is the third ‘anomaly’ in the past two months. I will go to Auersto Castle immediately to report the situation to Regent Halding and ask him to send someone to investigate.”

"Before that, Dorry and Brogy will take you to the Underworld to cleanse those riotous beasts."

And when he got to this point in his speech...

The giant warriors laughed heartily: "What need is there for Chief Dorry and Chief Brogy?"

"They're just a bunch of wild beasts, we can handle them!"

But just as they were saying that...
"Hoo!" "Hoo!"

The sound of whistling wind came.

Above the sky, a giant raven fell from the sky and landed next to Aruru.

"quack!"

The crow cawed a few times, clearly communicating with Yaruru.

And Yaru seemed to understand the meaning behind it.

His expression immediately turned serious.

"Dongli, Brogy. 'Mulin' told me that invaders from overseas have reached the vicinity of Warrior's Spring and seem to have entered the 'Owl Library'."

He said in a deep voice.

"The Owl Library?"

Upon hearing this, Brogy and Dorry frowned: "Were they the same 'invaders' from before? Did Biblo fight them?"

But Yaru shook her head: "No, we can't confirm their identities yet."

"It seems that Bibro hasn't engaged in battle with them yet—so until then, take a few warriors to Warrior's Spring to provide support!"

"If the other party resists, grab him!"

(End of this chapter)