The air on Little Garden didn't just smell of ancient earth and salt—it tasted of blood and iron. Each thunderous impact from the clearing echoed through Nami's bones.
BOOM!
Another titanic clash. Dorry's colossal axe met Brogy's mountainous sword in a shockwave that made the very trees tremble. Dirt and splinters rained down around Nami and Usopp, who were hidden in the brush, their faces pale with awe and terror.
"They're not holding back at all," Nami whispered, her knuckles white as she gripped a tree root. A sword swing the size of a ship's mast missed Brogy's head by inches, shearing off the top of a stone pillar instead. "That wasn't a friendly spar. That was a kill shot!"
Usopp, however, couldn't look away. His eyes shone with a fervent light. "Look at them, Nami! Look at their faces! There's no fear. No hesitation. Just pure, unbreakable pride." He clenched a fist over his heart. "This is what it means to be a warrior of the sea. To face your oldest friend, your equal, and give everything you have because to do anything less would be an insult."
"It's insanity!" Nami hissed, tugging at his sleeve. "This is our chance! While they're trying to murder each other, we can get back to the ship and get out of this prehistoric death trap!"
Usopp shook his head, a rare, serious determination settling on his features. "I can't. I need to see this. I… I want to be brave like that. I want to have pride that strong." He looked up at the giants, his voice dropping to a reverent hush. "One day, Nami. I'm going to visit their homeland. Elbaf. I'm going to walk where warriors like them are born."
Nami stared at him, her pragmatic urge to flee momentarily silenced by the raw conviction in his voice.
CLANG!
The final, earth-shattering collision sent both giants staggering back, their weapons notched and steaming. The ground between them was a scarred wasteland.
Panting, his chest heaving like a bellows, Brogy lowered his sword. A deep, rumbling laugh rolled from his throat. "Another draw, Dorry! The 73,466th!"
Dorry leaned on his axe, a grin splitting his bearded face. "My arm grows numb counting them, old friend! The day our duel ends will be the greatest in history!"
The tension of battle melted, replaced by the warm familiarity of a century-long rivalry. Brogy lumbered over to a cache and pulled out a small barrel—the rum Nami and Usopp had given him earlier. "A drink! From our tiny guests. To cool the fire of battle!"
---
At Dorry's campsite, the mood was lighter. Luffy was laughing at something, Vivi was trying to maintain a diplomatic smile, and Dorry had just delivered a devastating truth.
"A… a year?" Vivi's voice was a fragile thread. She held up her Log Pose, its needle stubbornly pointing skyward, still recording the island's magnetic signature. "It takes a full year to set here?"
Dorry took a swig from a waterskin, nodding. "Aye. This is an ancient isle. Its memory is long and slow." He gestured broadly at the bleached white bones that littered the jungle's edge, silent testaments to failed patience. "Many sailors before you now feed the flowers."
Vivi's composure shattered. Her knees buckled, and she caught herself on a rock. "A year… Alabasta doesn't have a year. My people are dying now." A sob escaped her, raw and hopeless. "What's the point of me being here if I'm just… stuck?"
Luffy watched her, his usual grin absent. He didn't understand navigation, but he understood a friend's despair.
"I have no pose for your next island," Dorry said, not unkindly. He held up a single, heavy Eternal Pose. "Only this. It points only to Elbaf, the land of warriors."
Luffy scratched his head. "So we just go there instead? Sounds fun!"
Dorry roared with laughter at the boy's simplicity. "Just set sail and leave it to fate! You have the spirit of an adventurer, tiny one!"
But Vivi's tears continued to fall, a quiet storm of grief.
---
Meanwhile, Usopp had found Brogy, his heart pounding with hero worship. "Your pride… it's everything," Usopp stammered. "To fight like that, for so long, never compromising…"
Brogy sat, a mountain at rest. "A giant's pride is his life, small one. Our greatest wish is not for a glorious victory, but for an honorable end. To die without tarnishing that pride… that is a true warrior's dream."
Usopp's eyes were wide, drinking in the words, etching them onto his soul.
THU-WHUMP!
The explosion was not loud, but deep and visceral. It came from Dorry's camp.
A plume of smoke and sawdust erupted. Not the smoke of gunpowder, but something acrid and chemical.
"DORRY!" Brogy bellowed, surging to his feet.
They arrived to a scene of chaos. Dorry was on his back, a massive, smoldering burn across his chest and arm. The rum barrel lay in splinters. The sweet, fermented smell was now mixed with the stench of seared flesh and something bitter.
Luffy and Vivi stood frozen, shock painted on their faces.
Dorry groaned, pushing himself up with his good arm. His eyes, clouded with pain, found Luffy. Then Vivi. The friendly glint was gone, replaced by a burning, betrayed fury.
"You…" Dorry's voice was a gravelly avalanche of hurt. "You brought this as a gift… and laced it with poison?"
"No!" Vivi cried, stepping forward, hands raised. "We didn't! We gave Brogy the barrel, we didn't know—!"
"LIARS!" Dorry's roar shook the clearing. He struggled to his feet, swaying, but his grip on his axe was iron. "You saw the Eternal Pose was useless to you! Was this your plan? To remove the obstacle? To steal from a giant?!"
Luffy moved in front of Vivi, his body tense. "Brogy wouldn't do this. And we wouldn't either."
"Your words are as empty as your treacherous gift!" Dorry spat, raising his axe. The shadow of it fell over them, cold and final.
"Luffy, don't!" Vivi pleaded, grabbing his arm. "He's hurt, he's not thinking clearly!"
Luffy gently pried her hand off. He took his treasured straw hat and placed it firmly on her head, tucking her blue hair behind her ears. His eyes never left the enraged giant.
"Stay back, Vivi."
"But—!"
"He thinks we hurt his friend," Luffy said, his voice low and steady. There was no anger in it, only a grim resolve. "You can't talk that away."
He cracked his neck, rolled his shoulders, and took a fighting stance before the colossus. Dorry, wounded and heartbroken, loomed over him, his axe poised for a crushing, vengeful blow.
"You will pay," Dorry growled, "for poisoning a giant's pride."
Luffy didn't flinch. "I'm not gonna fight to hurt you. I'm gonna fight to make you listen."
As Dorry's axe began its devastating downward arc, a frantic voice cut through the tension.
"WAIT!"
It was Usopp. He wasn't looking at Dorry or Luffy. He was staring, horrified, at the smoldering barrel fragments. He knelt, picking up a splintered stave, his fingers trembling.
"This smell… this isn't from our rum." His face, pale as bone, turned to Brogy. "This is gunpowder treated with Klaramal Dust." His voice dropped to a terrified whisper only those closest could hear.
"This is the signature weapon… of Mr. 5."
And from the dense, prehistoric treeline behind Brogy, came the sound of slow, mocking applause. A figure stepped into the dappled light, a smirk on his face, followed by a woman casually blowing bubblegum.
"Bravo," drawled Mr. 5, adjusting his sunglasses. "The long-nosed one has a good nose for explosives. Pity it won't save you."
He gestured not to the Straw Hats, but to the two giants.
"The Baroque Works bounty on your heads, Dorry and Brogy, is far too lucrative to leave to your silly, century-long duel. We're here to finish it for you."
Brogy's sword came up, his eyes narrowing at the new threat. Dorry's axe wavered, his gaze darting between Luffy and the agents.
Luffy's fists clenched. The game had just changed. They weren't just caught in a giant's quarrel anymore.
They were trapped on an island with two wounded legendary warriors, and the assassins sent to kill them all.
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