After the banquet that lasted through the night, it was time to leave.
The two giants had no luggage to pack. Whenever they were hungry, they hunted dinosaurs to eat; when they were thirsty, they drank from the inland river; and when they needed to bathe, they simply jumped into the river. It was pure wilderness survival.
"Gaba gaba gaba!"
As they boarded the Golden Dragon ship at the shore, Brogy looked back reluctantly. "I've spent most of my life here. It feels hard to leave suddenly."
"Kekekekeke! We'll come back someday!"
Dorry laughed heartily. "This farewell is just for the next meeting! That's the way of the children of the sea!"
"Gaba gaba gaba! True words!"
Brogy laughed too. Giants aren't the sentimental type.
The feeling of sorrow faded away in an instant.
"Let's set sail then," Ian said with a smile.
Babanuki immediately instructed the crew to raise the anchor and lower the sails. The huge ship slowly began to move forward, navigating along the coast of the island.
"By the way, Ian," Dorry stamped his foot and looked around curiously. "This ship is really big! Even by our giant standards, it's not a small ship."
The average size of a giant is about ten times that of a human.
Even if the Golden Dragon ship were scaled down to one-tenth of its size, it would still be a ship over a few dozen meters long.
"It's because there's a lot to carry," Ian chuckled.
Bombers, giant beasts, and the accompanying pirate and fish-man troops—there was never a shortage of things aboard the Golden Dragon ship.
"Oh, wait!"
Brogy suddenly remembered something and hurriedly said, "Ian! Be careful! There's a monster ahead that feeds on islands! It attacks any ship that passes through its territory!"
Before his words fell, the sea ahead had already begun to surge violently.
A heavy shadow rose from the depths of the sea, then broke through the water's surface, creating towering waves!
It was a goldfish!
An exaggeratedly large goldfish, with the part above the water already much bigger than the Golden Dragon ship. Considering the part hidden beneath the sea, its true size was nearly impossible to estimate.
"It's here so soon!"
Dorry immediately gripped the hilt of the giant sword he carried, "Brogy! Come, clear a path for our friends!"
"Gahaha!"
Brogy laughed loudly, "It's been a while since we used that move! Let's blast this guy through in one go!"
But...
Ian chuckled, "How could we let our guests do the work?"
Dorry and Brogy froze for a moment.
It was only then that they noticed the people on the deck. In the face of such a huge beast, not only were they not panicking at all, but there wasn't even the slightest hint of tension.
What was going on?
Ian had already turned around, "Who's going to take care of it?"
"Leave it to me, Ian."
Hancock was always the first to respond to Ian. The black-haired girl leaped lightly, landing directly on the mast. With a finger on her red lips, she drew out a heart-shaped crossbow.
"Don't think you're ahead of me! I'm the one who's going to take it down!"
Yamato never lagged behind in a fight, instantly leaping into action and soaring into the sky.
Hmph, white-haired freak, you're too slow.
Just watch me perform in front of Ian!
Hancock snorted coldly, and the next moment, a torrential rain of pink arrows shot into the sky, mercilessly raining down upon the creature.
"Ahh!"
The monster, seeing the arrows coming toward it, had no idea what they were, and continued to close in without a care.
However.
The arrows fell on the monster's body, causing it to begin turning to stone instantly. In the blink of an eye, more than half of the beast's body above the sea had already turned to stone.
"Eh!"
Dorry and Brogy stared in shock.
A Devil Fruit user!
Moreover, a very impressive ability!
Then, they heard another voice, "Innaraku!"
A white shadow fell from above the monster.
The iron rod in its hand, which was no different from a toothpick to the monster, struck the creature on the top of its head.
Then.
Boom!
The monster's body, already frozen in part, exploded.
Parts of its body turned to stone and scattered.
Other parts turned into ice and scattered.
Some parts turned to stone and then into ice, scattering as well.
"..."
The two giants were stunned.
So strong?
Dorry couldn't help but look at Ian, "Could it be that you guys are a group of very powerful pirates?"
Ian smiled humbly, "It's not bad, I guess. In this world, we're somewhat well-known."
Still acting modest.
Law rolled his eyes and directly said, "The Beast Pirates are probably the strongest pirate crew in the world right now."
"The strongest!"
The two giants exclaimed again.
Even when they led the Giant Pirate Crew and roamed the world, they were still far from being considered the strongest.
"As for this guy," Law pointed at Ian with his chin, "As the second-in-command of the Beast Pirates, his bounty is ten times yours combined."
"Ten times?"
Dorry's eyes almost popped out.
Brogy quickly began calculating in a flustered manner, and after finally coming to a result, he couldn't help but be shocked. "Doesn't that mean two billion?"
"That's outrageous!"
Dorry repeatedly praised. "In our time, there was never such a high bounty!"
"It's just that times have changed, and bounties have inflated," Ian replied with a smile.
This just shows how exaggerated Roger's bounty of 5.5 billion was ten years ago.
You see, even Whitebeard, after spending more than twenty years, barely surpassed 5 billion in bounty.
This is the value of being Pirate King!
However, there's another reason—it's likely because the pirates of the current era are indeed stronger than those from the past.
Apart from Joyboy and their era 800 years ago, in recent decades, the number of strong figures on the seas has exploded and the strength of the top contenders has soared.
Otherwise, the unprecedented massive changes wouldn't have occurred in this era.
"Even if they inflate, there's no way it would expand by dozens of times all at once, right?! Incredible! Truly incredible!"
Brogy's eyes widened in amazement. "So Ian, you're super strong too, right?"
Ian thought for a moment. "I suppose I'm alright."
Roughly calculating, his strength would definitely rank in the top ten among those still alive in this world.
Kaido-sensei, Whitebeard, Charlotte Linlin—those three active sea pirates were opponents he couldn't defeat.
Rayleigh's strength probably hadn't diminished much. Even though he wasn't as strong as Kaido-sensei and the others, Ian couldn't be sure he could beat him. The odds of Rayleigh not having mastered the Conqueror's Haki were low.
The Red Earl in Impel Down, whose strength was unknown, and Bullet, who had completed his DF awakening, were also strong enemies. Ian wasn't sure if Bullet had awakened his DF yet.
Dragon, who leads the Revolutionary Army, was absolutely a monstrous powerhouse. After all, how could he be such a major threat to the World Government?
On the Navy side, Garp and Sengoku were top-tier fighters who could rival Roger and Whitebeard. Ian couldn't beat them either. The three admirals—Akainu, Aokiji, and Kizaru—were also no pushovers.
Then there was the head of CP0, who was likely an incredible powerhouse. Along with the God Knights and the Five Elders, the power directly controlled by the Celestial Dragons had even more monsters.
And let's not forget about the mysterious Imu. According to the typical shonen manga formula, the leader of the strongest villain faction must have the most powerful abilities.
Ian realized, after calculating all this, that not only could he not be ranked among the top ten, but it was uncertain whether he'd even make it into the top twenty at this point.
There sure are a lot of monsters in this era.
And there will be even more to come.
Shanks and Mihawk, these two rivals, haven't reached their peak yet.
Blackbeard is still waiting for the right moment.
Luffy is still just a snot-nosed kid.
**********
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