The two brothers exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other's intentions.
In the next moment, Pini retreated at high speed and activated his Half-Beast Transformation. Twin wings formed from wind and lightning burst from his back while arcs of electricity gathered around his arms.
At the same time, Lightning Metallurgy activated in his hand, reshaping his golden longsword into a massive longbow crackling with thunder.
With his speed increasing dramatically, Pini immediately began circling Whitebeard at blinding speed.
Arrow after arrow rained down continuously.
Each Wind and Thunder Arrow targeted Whitebeard's blind spots, especially his flanks and back.
No matter how powerful Whitebeard was, his true strength lay in destruction and attack power. Unlike Kaido, his body did not possess absurd durability.
If he took Pini's elemental attacks head-on, injuries were inevitable.
More importantly, these were not isolated shots.
Pini's arrows poured down like an endless storm.
At the same time, as Pini pulled away, Youki activated his own Half-Beast Transformation.
His head transformed into that of a dragon while his body remained humanoid. Iron-like feathers spread across his arms, and scales became visible beneath them.
Unlike Pini, Youki did not retreat.
He charged directly toward Whitebeard.
Even in his transformed state, Youki stood only around three meters tall. Since his weapons were gauntlets, close combat suited him far better.
Whitebeard, meanwhile, towered at 6.66 meters tall, wielding the enormous Murakumogiri, a bisento nearly eight meters long.
With Youki closing the distance aggressively, Whitebeard's massive weapon instantly became difficult to use properly.
Naturally, Youki could not avoid taking several devastating blows during the exchange.
But at point-blank range, Whitebeard could not freely unleash fully charged Tremor-Tremor Fruit attacks.
As for ordinary shockwaves, Youki's monstrous recovery abilities were enough to endure them.
And if Whitebeard actually tried charging a larger attack?
That was impossible.
Pini and Youki were not statues standing still waiting to die.
If Whitebeard ignored their attacks to focus on charging power, the brothers were fully confident they could kill him within seconds.
Not to mention Pini was still firing relentless Wind and Thunder Arrows from a distance.
If Whitebeard remained entangled with Youki for even a single second too long, his back would likely end up riddled with holes.
"Oho!"
Ash shaded his eyes while watching the battle unfold enthusiastically.
"So this is the crazy dog tactic Pini and Youki use? They're fighting pretty fiercely!"
Kirk immediately rolled his eyes.
"You really don't know why they're fighting this hard?"
"How would I know?" Ash replied without hesitation.
Kirk looked completely done with him.
Instead of continuing the conversation, he turned toward the island behind the Dawn ship and narrowed his eyes.
"The Thirty-Eighth Pirate Crew… finally decided to show themselves."
Hearing that, Ash glanced toward the rear of the island as well.
Sure enough, a massive figure was approaching from behind the mountains, clearly trying to surround them.
Honestly, stealth and the Ancient Giant race simply did not belong in the same sentence.
Ash grinned carelessly before turning toward Kirk again.
"Kirk, ever since Oars' corpse appeared back then, I've felt something strange about you."
Ash narrowed his eyes suspiciously.
"Tell me honestly, do you have some weird obsession with giants? Like those people obsessed with fluffy little animals?"
"Relax, I won't judge you."
Kirk stared at him in disbelief.
Before he could explode in anger, Saff suddenly leaped into the air.
Bang!
Her fist smashed directly onto Ash's head.
Unfortunately for her, Ash's body was too hard. Instead of hurting him, Saff ended up clutching her reddened fist while glaring angrily.
"My brother was born on a giant island in the West Blue! Of course he grew up reading stories and comics about giants!"
"Besides, how could a normal human even be together with a giant?! Stop talking nonsense!"
Then she pointed at Ash threateningly.
"And if you keep this up, I'll add ten times more lemon juice into all your food!"
Ash muttered quietly,
"Who said humans and giants can't…"
Then he suddenly froze.
He looked at Saff with a horrified expression.
"Wait a second… so you actually knew I hated sour lemons this whole time?"
"And you still made all that stuff?!"
Saff awkwardly scratched her cheek and looked away.
"You were the one who said you liked lemon pudding before. That's why I started researching lemon drinks and fruit wine recipes."
Ash instantly looked defeated.
"Lemon pudding is different. Compared to sour lemons, I prefer sweet lemons."
Saff nodded thoughtfully.
"Sweet lemons… got it."
"And please stop experimenting with lemon-flavored fruit wine."
Ash quickly added.
"Still, those juice blends you made before with the 8.11% and 6.41% acidity levels were actually pretty good."
While the group continued joking around, the island behind them suddenly shook violently.
A heavy tremor spread across the ground.
Under everyone's gaze, a colossal figure finally emerged from behind the barren mountains.
A gigantic sword nearly forty meters long rested across his shoulder.
"So this is it?"
Kirk sounded slightly disappointed after finally seeing the target clearly.
Ash laughed.
"That's Little Oars Jr. He inherited the bloodline of Oars the Continent Puller. The sail on his ship says 'Oars III,' so he's probably the grandson of the original Oars."
"He definitely resembles him, but he's only around thirty-eight meters tall."
Then Ash rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"Maybe he just hasn't fully matured yet. Giants already live several times longer than humans, and Ancient Giants live even longer than ordinary giants."
"If you calculate it that way, this guy might only be equivalent to a human teenager."
Ash suddenly grinned mischievously.
"So maybe he's just a giant brat."
Kirk rolled his eyes.
"Leaving aside the fact that this pure-blooded Ancient Giant is smaller than Kaido's failed Number experiments, even his presence is nowhere near the level of his grandfather from centuries ago."
"So what?"
Ash laughed loudly.
"Didn't you chop his legendary ancestor into pieces anyway?"
Kirk waved his hand dismissively.
"I'm just disappointed."
"After seeing Kaido's Numbers and learning there were still surviving Ancient Giants in this world, I became curious."
"But now that I've finally seen one myself…"
Kirk shook his head.
"Reality really is disappointing."
Ash chuckled.
"I heard Loki, Prince of Elbaf, and the former Giant King Harald both inherited Ancient Giant bloodlines through genetic regression."
"Both father and son supposedly exceeded seventy meters in height."
"You don't need to think about Harald though. He died years ago."
"But if Loki is still alive after killing his own father and escaping, he should satisfy your curiosity."
"Loki?"
Kirk narrowed his eyes.
"I've spent quite a while in the New World already, but I haven't heard anything about him."
"Didn't you say he escaped?"
Ash shrugged casually.
"If nothing unexpected happened, Shanks probably caught him and dragged him back to Elbaf already."
Kirk instantly fell silent.
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