At the center of Little Garden, the two giants—Dorry and Brogy—wielded their sword and axe at each other.
"It's about time you started missing home, Dorry."
"Of course, Brogy! That's why I'll defeat you and return to Elbaf!"
As the fierce battle raged on, Dorry answered Brogy and brought his sword down toward Brogy's head.
Brogy leapt back in a single bound, Dorry's blade slicing the air, and Brogy seized the moment to swing his axe at Dorry's head.
Krrk-kkk!
His axe struck Dorry's helmet, sliding off along its curved surface.
Luffy's party stood at one end of the path leading from the edge of Little Garden to its center, watching the two giants fight.
The shockwaves from each clash of sword and axe were strong enough to make their hair stand on end even from that distance.
"Thanks to that helmet, Dorry's still alive! If that blow had landed with full force, he'd have been history!"
"I don't get it—why would they fight like this when they don't even hate each other?"
"They said before they started, Nami! It's a battle to uphold their creed as warriors!"
"Ah, I see now... The 'Brave Warriors of the Sea' I admired are people who live that way!"
As Usopp reacted to Nami's words with yet another retort, it all went back to how it started, shortly after Luffy's crew first met the two giants.
Back in that not-so-distant past, the crew sat near a massive bonfire on a plain that seemed vast to them but barely even wide to the giants.
The two giants were roasting dinosaur meat over the fire, and Usopp, eyes shining, called out to them as they ate.
****
"You really each caught a Sea King that big by yourself?"
"That's right, Usopp. The giant Sea King skeletons you see at each end of the path from the center were the ones we caught, one apiece."
"The bones at the left end are the ones Dorry caught, and the ones at the right end are the ones I caught!"
Usopp looked back and forth between the two colossal Sea King skeletons, whose lengths exceeded a kilometer, and whose skulls were at least a third of that size.
Beside him, Luffy held a thick slab of meat still attached to a bone as thick as his torso, tearing off chunks and looking up at the giants as he spoke.
"Everyone knows the Giant Warrior Pirates from Elbaf shook the world until a hundred years ago. It's so famous it's almost cliché."
"And those two legendary captains of the Giant Warrior Pirates are right before our eyes: 'Blue Phantom' Dorry and 'Red Phantom' Brogy."
"It's ironic that two warriors of such renown have stayed on this tiny island for a hundred years, never returning home but only fighting each other."
"But their one-hundred-million berry bounties haven't disappeared—they'll last until they're dead."
"One hundred million? Isn't that a bit low for how famous they are?"
"Nami, those bounties were set a hundred years ago. And anyway, neither of them went around massacring or pillaging on a grand scale."
"As far as I know, even if they weren't on the same ship, the deeds of other giant pirate crews were attributed to them and others of their race."
"These two kept things relatively civil, so their bounty was only a hundred million."
"If they'd really gone on a rampage, even by old-time standards, I bet their bounties would've topped a billion each."
Right after Luffy said that and stuffed another huge chunk of meat into his mouth, Brogy spoke up first of the two giants.
"Elbaf is huge even by giant standards, Luffy. It'd be impossible for us to police small villages acting up in these waters."
"Sure, their actions weren't exactly our fault, but at first we spent our days running from the Navy."
"And no matter how hard we tried to explain, they wouldn't listen and just shot at us with their cannons. What else could we do?"
"Dorry's right. In the end, fighting was the only answer."
"After all, a warrior's virtue is never refusing a fight set before him. Pillaging was just side business after we cut down those who attacked us."
As Brogy and Dorry spoke in turn, Vivi gathered her courage and spoke to the giants.
"Excuse me... but does it really take a whole year to build up records in the [Record Log]?"
"That's right, Vivi. Most who come to this island die before their entries fill up."
"Some become dinosaur food, some fall to the heat and hunger, others die trying to attack us."
"Right, the reason people try to attack us is because we have the [Permanent Log]."
"Of course, our ultimate destination is our home, Elbaf."
"But what can we do? Even if someone survives a year here, by the time they leave, Alabasta..."
"Hey, furry ones! Don't you know any other way?!"
When Vivi bowed and mumbled, Hancock looked down at them and shouted.
"Hmm, any other way..."
"Maybe we could manage it if you helped us out, Hancock...?"
Hearing that, the two giants exchanged glances, then each rested his chin on the floor and thrust his faces up to Hancock, saying in unison:
"If you'd just show us what you look like... ♡"
"We might even give you the [Permanent Log]... ♡"
"Get your faces out of my sight, you disgusting heaps of walking filth!"
Hancock screamed as she leapt into the air and kicked each of them in the face.
When she completed her spin and landed, the two giants righted their torsos back above their waists.
"That beauty and that fire! If I were human, I'd propose to you!"
"But even if you had shown it to us, we weren't planning on giving you the [Permanent Log] to Elbaf!"
"Obviously! Without that, we can't go to Elbaf either!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Luffy! Those rotten wretches haven't the slightest idea what Vivi's situation is...!"
"Calm down, Hancock. If you take the bait of these old fools, you'll only get yourself angrier."
"And besides, Elbaf is way at the end of the Grand Line's back half, so carrying this to Alabasta makes no difference."
(And these two aren't opponents we can beat—at least not right now.)
Just as Luffy thought that, Usopp looked up at them again and asked,
"So—they're dueling. But why are they doing it in the first place?"
"Honestly... neither of us can remember."
"You're dueling for a reason you don't even recall?"
"The gods of Elbaf always bless the righteous and spare them."
"So if two warriors begin a fight from which neither can withdraw, they fight to the death by the village's rules."
"The righteous receive the gods' blessing and become the victor; the other faces divine judgment, becomes the loser, and dies."
"Even if we can't recall why we began this duel, we're certain there was no turning back."
"That's why we've fought for almost a hundred years... and still no end in sight!"
"A hundred years?!"
"No need to gasp, Nami. Giants live three times longer than humans like you."
"Even so, three times means nearly thirty-three years by your standards—that's a long fight."
Boom!
"What was that?!"
"Don't be surprised, Usopp—that's the small volcano on this island erupting."
"And it erupts once a day to signal the start of our duel."
Dorry and Brogy rose to their feet.
"This place, the center of the island, is our appointed battleground. Don't get caught in it—go to Dorry's or Brogy's hut at the sides of the island."
"Is there any meaning in a duel to kill someone you don't even hate?"
"Hancock, money and even life itself will one day pass away. On Elbaf, we hold one's creed as the greatest treasure."
"To break a duel vowed with one's life over it is to cast away one's very identity as a warrior."
"And if I cease to be a warrior, then I cease to be myself."
"Yet if I can die without breaking my creed as a warrior, that will be an honorable death."
"From now on, this place is the site of divine judgment watched over by the gods of Elbaf!"
"For the loser, it's simply the absence of divine blessing—that's all!"
****
After Luffy's crew moved to the side of the island where the giant Sea King skeleton lay, the two giants began their duel.
As the life-or-death battle raged on, Usopp watched and then spoke.
"The true Brave Warriors of the Sea are those who defend their creed even at the cost of their lives—Someday I want to live like that."
"Even if one day I lost everything and met my end alone in a wasteland, if I lived upholding my creed until that moment, I'd have no regrets."
"And as I face death, I'd shout out this line:"
"I am Usopp, the Brave Warrior of the Sea!"
"Usopp... don't live like that."
Usopp's declaration was met with Luffy's cold stare.
"I don't understand those old dudes up there fighting—and I don't want to."
"But I do respect them. Everyone lives their life differently."
"As long as you're not hurting others, I'll respect almost anyone."
"But just because something looks cool doesn't mean you should follow it—you might regret it. Every bright side has its shadow."
"If you died, defending your creed as more important than your life, do you think everyone would celebrate you without grief?"
"Would you have the guts to tell Kaya in Syrup Village all those words you just said, face-to-face?"
"Ah..."
The impact of Luffy's words sank into Usopp's heart as the thrill of watching the giants' duel subsided.
"I'm sorry, Luffy... I was being so short-sighted."
"Don't apologize. I'm not saying you can't decide to do something even if you'll risk death before considering it. When that time really comes, your body will move on its own even if your mind didn't plan ahead. But don't rush in and get yourself killed before that moment arrives. I didn't bring you on this ship to watch you die."
"...Okay."
"Still, it's nice to see you braver than before."
"I—I was always brave!"
(Ah... He lived less than Old Man Garp, even counting previous lives, and yet I went and lectured him as if I were the old man.)
(And I can't just bluntly tell him not to live like Usopp.)
"Now's the moment to take you down!"
"...?"
At that moment, three men stepped out from the undergrowth where the crew stood.
The first, a rotund man cloaked in a cape, had two purple tufts of hair on either side of his face.
Flanking him were a man wearing a headscarf and another with tightly curled hair. The cloaked man spoke first:
"Greetings, you cursed commoners. I have temporarily assumed the title of Mr. 3, the third-strongest Official Agent of Baroque Works."
"But that's just a name I'm using until I return to my country."
"My true identity is Wapol, the King of the Drum Kingdom, a member nation of the World Government! Bow before me!"
As Wapol introduced himself and the two men at his sides, Luffy opened his eyes wide and thought:
('Why is Wapol here... and why is he an Official Agent?!')