After listening to York's words, Harald was thoughtful.
He remembered a conversation he had with the Giant Elder Jarul many years ago.
Back then, Elder Jarul had vaguely reminded him—in the eyes of the world, the Giant race was a race of villains.
At that time, he only thought Jarul was referring to the past plundering of member nations, never expecting the true root cause to be the legendary Void Century.
"Was the Giant race an enemy of the World Government from the very beginning?"
Harald frowned. It was truly the first time he had learned of this.
At the bar counter, Rocks' gaze was the same; the way he looked at York had changed drastically from before.
Seeing that Harald had taken his words to heart, York didn't stay longer, turning and jumping back to the large dining table.
The reason he deliberately interrupted Rocks and Harald's conversation wasn't just to show off.
More importantly, it was to forge a friendship with Elbaf.
Not just aimed at Harald, but also at the two Elbaf princes squatting behind the bar counter, the future kings of Elbaf.
According to Oda's style.
Even Fish-Man Island, seemingly forced, produced a 16-year-old Ancient Weapon, Poseidon Shirahoshi, to assist Luffy in becoming the new Joy Boy.
Elbaf, such an important arc, had no reason not to produce a prince or princess corresponding to Shirahoshi's role in Fish-Man Island, becoming another major aid to Luffy.
And in the intelligence York knew, of the two Elbaf princes, Hajrudin became a member of the Straw Hat Grand Fleet in the future.
Although his strength was decent, he seemed like nothing more than a talented giant.
On the contrary, the little prince Loki, who fully inherited Harald's Ancient Giant bloodline and whom York only met after coming to Elbaf with Rocks, fit this conjecture better.
The Rocks Pirates would fall apart sooner or later.
Not only because York knew the outcome of the God Valley Incident in advance.
But also because the entire Rocks Pirates team was too fragmented, not looking like a team that could achieve anything at all.
York naturally had to prepare in advance for the future after the pirate crew disbanded.
...
The banquet ended.
Until the moment of departure, Rocks still failed to successfully invite Harald.
However, the reason Harald gave this time was different from before.
It was no longer for the so-called philosophy of peace, but simply feeling that Rocks couldn't possibly succeed.
Wanting to challenge a massive organization that had ruled the world for over 700 years with merely a dozen people, and a dozen people estranged from each other at that—this wasn't how jokes were made.
"Rocks, if you sincerely want to invite me, do as York said back then."
"Build a large enough country, build a strong enough army!"
"Otherwise, with just these few people you have now, I cannot risk the lives of my country's people to accompany you on an adventure!"
Although Rocks still felt unhappy, the reason Harald gave this time was indeed more persuasive.
It was just that he was no longer young. Changing tracks to engage in kingdom hegemony was almost impossible to succeed now; he could only continue down the existing path.
Thus, the Rocks Pirates returned empty-handed once again.
Of course, the frozen giants moved over with great effort were not moved back but left on Elbaf.
This was both entrusting Harald to keep them safe and letting their souls return to their homeland.
Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, another year went by.
It was now 37 years before Luffy set sail, Sea Circle Calendar 1483.
Dark clouds covered the sky, wind and rain mixed together.
A bizarre event occurred on Hachinosu.
"Have you searched everywhere?!"
"Captain Ochoku (Wang Zhi), responsible for guard duty last night... they were killed..."
"Even Captain Ochoku couldn't hold out?!"
"Impossible! Who exactly was it!!"
A large group of pirates surrounded a group of corpses. One of the bodies belonged to one of the core members of the Rocks Pirates, the leader who unified the entire West Blue underworld, Ochoku.
Soon, this news was conveyed to the skull mountain in the center of the island, where the Rocks Pirates had just woken up from rest.
"What did you say?!"
Rocks and Whitebeard were shocked simultaneously.
"Our Shakky was kidnapped?!"
A massive search operation erupted on Hachinosu.
However, even digging three feet into the ground yielded not a single clue.
Gloriosa cried in grief. The other members of the Rocks Pirates all looked grim, not to mention the numerous pirates of Hachinosu.
Fear that Shakky might be killed, anger and sorrow over losing Shakky—countless complex emotions shrouded the entire Hachinosu.
Soon.
The news of Shakky's kidnapping and disappearance swept the entire world like a hurricane.
"Rocks, that bastard! What the hell is he doing!!"
Furious, Roger tore up the newspaper, black-red Conqueror's lightning erupting from his body.
"I'm going to beat him to death!!!!"
Rayleigh, also reading the newspaper, trembled with rage.
"Shakky..."
Similar anger and grief occurred not only in the Roger Pirates.
Shakky's influence covered almost the entire world.
Not only were pirates in pain, but people all over the world fell into immense grief, having no heart to continue working.
The entire world's economic activities stagnated for weeks because of this.
However, missing meant missing.
Everyone could guess that Shakky's disappearance must involve betrayal within the Rocks Pirates.
Not just betrayal, but also collusion with outsiders.
Only then could they unknowingly kill Ochoku and his subordinates, and kidnap Shakky away.
Rocks wanted to investigate internally.
But to put it bluntly, every single member of the Rocks Pirates was a suspect, including himself.
Outside pirate crews were even more confused about the situation, so they directly regarded the entire Rocks Pirates as enemies.
After all, Shakky was kidnapped on Rocks' territory; the responsibility naturally fell on the Rocks Pirates' head.
Just like that, a seemingly endless war began.
Countless pirates from all over the world, aiming to destroy the Rocks Pirates, would open fire and attack directly upon encountering them at sea or arriving near Hachinosu.
Their strength might not be great, but their fury made even Rocks feel helpless.
In this situation, only iron-blooded slaughter could make these dizzy pirates sober up again.
Thus, war and slaughter became the main theme of the new year.
The entire Rocks Pirates fought for almost a whole year, killed for a whole year.
Almost all pirates with some strength in the New World delivered themselves to be killed cleanly.
In the end, Rocks finally re-established the status of the world's number one pirate crew through slaughter.
And it was at this moment that a brand new piece of news reached Hachinosu.
Shakky was still alive!
And she was on an island called God Valley!