Luffy, how can you become the Pirate King if you don't work hard!

"Because those guys drink good wine. Where did you get your wine, you stinky cat?"

"Who's the stinky raccoon? I am Nika, the sun god!"

"The Drunkard Sun God?"

As the two were joking around, Nika snatched the sake flask back from Luffy and suddenly seemed to remember something. "Oh right, so next, you're going to find those people in the remaining worlds, right?"

"Who?" Luffy tilted his head.

Nika sighed, wondering whether this guy's memory was good or bad.

She asked, "When you went back to the past with Gion, didn't you encounter a hammer-shaped squirrel?"

A furry figure instantly flashed into Luffy's mind, "It looks like a guy named Tetsuya?"

He remembered that squirrel; to be honest, it was a bit too big, and it could even turn into a giant iron hammer.

The first time we met was eight hundred years ago.

Luffy said, "The guy who used the Iron Lightning back then, named Borsong, seems to have been a giant king who had the bloodline of the ancient giant race eight hundred years ago."

They even had a fight back then.

That giant king was much taller than the giants of today.

That guy, Tere, seems to be a Devil Fruit-embodied being like Nika.

Because he saw him again in Elbaf eight hundred years later.

Nika laughed, "Back then, people from the First and Second Worlds would gather in the Third World. Perhaps that's what they call fate."

Those figures who once fought side by side and the promises they made have all vanished in the long river of time.

But now, in this Third World, everything will come together again.

The gears of fate have begun to turn again.

"The Devil Fruit that Iron Lightning was protecting may have already been eaten in this era."

"What fruit?"

"Nidhogg."

Black Dragon of the World!

"Oh, there are dragons too? I really look forward to seeing them again."

The connection between Luffy and Dragon is quite deep.

His father is Dragon, the leader of the Revolutionary Army, who fought Kaido and still has one left.

No matter what, there are no weaklings when it comes to anything related to dragons.

"Want to fight?" Nika saw right through his thoughts.

"Of course I want to!"

Luffy admitted it without any hesitation.

The two chatted idly, one sentence after another, and time passed by without them realizing it.

A faint light began to appear on the horizon, the stars disappeared one by one, and the color of the night sky slowly changed from inky black to deep blue, and then to light blue.

Luffy isn't in a hurry.

After all, the plan was to learn from Nika... learning is one thing, but learning to drink with her is another!

But Nika is in a hurry. Even though she's become an alcoholic, her alcohol tolerance isn't as good as Luffy's.

"One more, one more drink!"

Nika's fur has turned somewhat pink.

"You've had enough to drink."

Luffy looked at her speechlessly, "Besides, you can't outdrink me at all."

"Who says I can't outdrink you!"

Nika glared defiantly, "I'm a Devil Fruit user, how could I lose to a little brat like you?"

"Who was it that got drunk and sang pirate songs for three hours straight on the deck last time?"

"That's artistic expression!"

"Then who was it that got drunk the time before last and tied Nami's bellyband around their head like a headscarf?"

"That's fashion! You tasteless jerk!"

Luffy was both amused and exasperated.

If Nami catches this drunkard again, it won't be as simple as just hanging him up.

After some time, the Straw Hat crew members gradually woke up.

"This is the life of a pirate."

Vegapunk still looked excited when he came out of the laboratory.

I was surprisingly energetic even though I hadn't slept all night.

After all, he had several clones who handled all the unnecessary things for him.

He was heading to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee to perk himself up when, as he passed the mainmast, he overheard Luffy and Nika talking about the giant kingdom of Elbaf from the watchtower.

The name Elbaf made him stop in his tracks. He had seen the murals left by the giants, as well as the Halley's Codex, which the giants had treasured for generations.

The history recorded in those things still deeply moves him.

"I think we'll see quite a few giant children when we go."

Nika said drunkenly, "The giants were defeated eight hundred years ago in an attempt to save the children. It's a bit of a pity."

The characteristics of a race do not change in just a few hundred years.

Eight hundred years ago, giants were willing to die without hesitation to protect children, and eight hundred years later, the giant race will surely still be the same.

Valuing children, valuing family, valuing honor—these are things ingrained in the bones of the giant race.

Time can change many things, but some things will never change.

Vegapunk agreed, and walked over to say, "Giants value children very much."

As he spoke, he climbed slowly up the observation deck, his movements deliberate, for he was not young and could not leap up like Luffy.

He climbed a few steps and then stopped to catch his breath, still talking.

"I saw it when I was doing research in Elbaf. In the entire village of giants, everyone treated the children like treasures."

That level of importance placed on children is rarely seen in other races.

To the giants, children are the future.

Vegapunk finally climbed up, a thin layer of sweat already on his forehead.

"Uncle Vegapunk, you're here!" Luffy greeted him with a smile.

Luffy was also excited to see this super genius whose mind contained technology that was 500 years ahead of the world.

Vegapunk's strange and wonderful inventions were really interesting.

Shoes that can make people fly, machines that can turn seawater into cola, and all sorts of bizarre weapons and tools.

Every time the team members saw a new invention, they were as excited as children seeing a new toy.

Vegapunk greeted Luffy with a smile and then asked, "Are we going to Elbaf next?"

Luffy nodded. "That's the country we all dream of. Since Nika said there are crewmates there, let's go see them."

Speaking of the giants, the Straw Hat crew's connection with them actually started a long time ago.

Not long after entering the Grand Line, on the ancient island of Little Garden, they encountered Dorry and Brogy, the two captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates from a hundred years ago.

Those giants in the Enies Lobby incident.

And later, the New Giant Warrior Pirates joined the Straw Hat Grand Fleet.

"There's another giant named Saul, right, Robin?"

Luffy turned his head and spoke towards the cabin.

Robin had somehow arrived on the deck. Hearing Luffy's words, she smiled and nodded.

The morning light shone on her, and her long black hair swayed gently in the morning breeze, making her look gentle and elegant.

She held a freshly brewed cup of coffee in her hand, and as her figure transformed into flower petals, she arrived at the observation deck in the blink of an eye and sat down next to Luffy.

Vegapunk scratched his head.

That's what Devil Fruits are all about; everyone envies abilities like that.

But this name.....

"You know Sauro too?" Vegapunk asked.

“Yes,” Robin said with a smile, “that was my first friend.”

Haguwar D. Sauro.

The giant who saved her on the beach in Ohara.

"Thunderous hee hee hee hee..."

That peculiar laughter still seems to echo in my ears.

Saul's laughter was comical; such a huge giant making such a strange laugh made Robin, who was just a little girl at the time, laugh along with him.

No one lives in this world alone forever. One day you will meet companions willing to protect you. The ocean is vast, and one day, those companions will surely appear. If you encounter anything sad, just laugh out loud! Hehehehehehehe..."

Those were the words Saul said to her in his final moments.

If he were still alive...

Belatedly realizing what was happening, Robin looked at Vegapunk and asked, "Do you know Saul?"

Saul... is a very familiar name.

"If it's Sauro of the Giants, I know him... Mentioning Ohara must be very sad for you, right?"