Nox, Shakky, and Lesley walked past the fainted guards as if nothing had happened.
There were no masters in the Drum Kingdom at all; no one could withstand Nox's Haoshoku Haki. In such a weak kingdom, he could do whatever he pleased.
Throughout the entire palace, the only person who hadn't been knocked unconscious was the current King of the Drum Kingdom, King Abate.
"What's going on? What happened? Wake up quickly!!"
"Guards! Quick, get some guards!"
He looked at the ministers and soldiers who had suddenly fainted, extremely flustered, wanting to wake them up but unable to.
If they weren't still breathing, he would have thought these ministers and soldiers were dead.
"You don't need to call out. They will naturally wake up after a while."
Nox said, walking into the palace with Shakky and Lesley.
"Who are you?!"
Looking at Nox and the others, King Abate said nervously.
"You may not know me, but you should recognize this sword."
In the blink of an eye, Nox had arrived before King Abate, placing the eerie Seven Star Sword against his neck.
King Abate looked at the Seven Star Sword on his neck, radiating an eerie and cold killing intent, his entire soul trembling.
"Se-Seven Star Sword... You are the World's Greatest Swordsman Nox!"
Looking at the Seven Star Sword before him, which was both familiar and terrifying, King Abate exclaimed in disbelief and horror.
This sword is the Seven Star Demon Sword, the personal sword of the World's Greatest Swordsman Nox!
Even as the King of an Allied Nation on the Grand Line, he often saw news about Nox.
It wasn't that he wanted to pay attention, but Nox was too famous in the New World, making it impossible not to.
Even though Nox was disguised now, this sword was absolutely real!
However, he never expected that Nox, this great Pirate from the New World, would appear in his country. What were those Marines doing?!
"Since you know, everything is easy to discuss."
"I came to your Drum Kingdom because I want to recruit some excellent doctors to join our Limitless Pirates."
"And while I'm at it, buy some medical equipment and Devil Fruit. You shouldn't refuse, right?"
Nox asked, smiling at King Abate before him.
Although it was a question, his calm tone carried no hint of genuinely asking.
"No problem, absolutely no problem! As long as you don't harm the people of the Drum Kingdom, all of this is fine!"
After hearing Nox's words, King Abate actually felt relieved.
It wasn't scary that the other party had demands; what was scary was if the other party had no demands and just rushed in to kill all their people and loot everything.
"Since you're so sensible, that's for the best. Although I am a Pirate, I'm not a bloodthirsty one. I'm a Pirate who keeps his word!"
"If our cooperation this time goes smoothly, I don't mind having a long-term partnership with your Drum Kingdom and helping your Drum Kingdom develop further."
Nox smiled slightly.
"You're not bloodthirsty? I wonder who single-handedly destroyed several kingdoms right after joining the Rocks Pirates."
"I also wonder who, after Rocks' death, swallowed up countless islands and killed countless people to establish the territory of the Limitless Pirates today!"
After hearing Nox's words, whether it was King Abate, Shakky, or Lesley, they were all somewhat speechless. They had never seen such a talkative Pirate!
"Thank you, thank you. Once my soldiers wake up, I will immediately arrange for people to do as you instructed!"
King Abate said.
He just wanted to safely complete the tasks Nox had given him and then send the other party off properly.
As for the so-called long-term cooperation and helping their country develop, he didn't take it seriously at all. How could a Pirate possibly help their country develop? That was completely impossible.
King Abate was quite reliable and knew how to adapt to circumstances.
After the soldiers woke up, he immediately did exactly as Nox said, sending a group of excellent doctors and their families to Nox.
Then, some advanced medical equipment was also moved and handed over to Nox, and at the same time, two Devil Fruit from the national treasury were taken out.
And Nox also kept his previous promise, not taking the items for free but giving the equivalent value in Berries.
Anyway, for Nox, this amount of Berries was nothing, just pocket change.
"Very good, our transaction went smoothly. Oh, right, so you don't report us to the Marine or the World Government, you should also come with us for a trip."
"We'll let you go back after we're safe!"
Only after everything was taken did Nox say this with satisfaction, and he also took King Abate with him.
Currently, only King Abate knew Nox's identity; everyone else was unaware. So, just in case, he thought it better to take the other party along.
"Mr. Nox, this..."
Hearing Nox say this, King Abate was instantly terrified. If he went with Nox, this great Pirate, wouldn't he be dead for sure?
"What nonsense are you talking about? Write a note and leave it behind, saying you secretly slipped out to play for a month. After a month, I will naturally let you return."
Nox scolded.
"Yes, yes, yes, I'll write it now."
When King Abate heard Nox's words, it was as if he saw hope of survival.
A great Pirate like Nox would have killed him long ago if he wanted to. The fact that he wasn't killing him now, or perhaps truly as Nox said, was because he feared him reporting.
After everything was done, Nox left the Drum Kingdom with King Abate.
When the Drum Kingdom discovered their King had disappeared, although they searched extensively, there was no unrest. They all believed their King had gone out to play on a whim and would naturally return after a while.
After leaving the Drum Kingdom, Nox and his crew continued along the Grand Line, soon arriving at an island called "Small Garden".
Small Garden retained much of its primitive appearance. There were dinosaurs and some extinct species here.
Most importantly, two Captains of the Giant Soldier Pirates lived here, and they were the main reason Nox came here.
After using his Kenbunshoku Haki to sense around, Nox found the two giants, Dorry and Brogy.
"Who are you?" x 2
After seeing Nox, Dorry and Brogy felt the powerful aura emanating from him, so they were very serious.
Dorry had a massive body, standing 22 meters tall, wearing an iron-plated helmet with a visor, a long beard, a dark blue cloak behind him, warrior's armor underneath, and white furry waist armor.
He wore brown trousers below, brown long boots on his feet, held a giant long sword in his right hand, and a round shield in his left.
Brogy had a massive and stout body, about 1 meter shorter than Dorry, wearing an iron helmet with pointed ends and a large yellow beard.
He wore a dark blue cloak behind him, warrior's armor underneath, white furry waist armor, checked capri pants, brown short boots on his feet, held a giant battle axe in his right hand, and a round shield in his left.
Looking at Dorry and Brogy's attire, Nox felt like complaining; their equipment was too outdated.
"I am Nox, Captain of the Limitless Pirates, the World's Greatest Swordsman. I heard that the strength of the Elbaf Giant Race warriors is the strongest in the World, so we wanted to come and see if that's true!"
"Gurarararara!!"
"So you're someone who wants to challenge us Elbaf Giant Race warriors! Come on! As an Elbaf Giant Race warrior, I, Dorry, will not refuse any challenge!!"
"Gababababa!!"
"I, Brogy, am the same! Come on, let's fight!!"
After hearing Nox's words, Dorry and Brogy both laughed heartily, full of fighting spirit. They loved this kind of heroic battle the most!
"Come on, let me witness the power of the Elbaf Giant Race!"
Nox didn't use his sword. Instead, he covered his fists with Busoshoku, preparing to test Dorry and Brogy's strength with his bare hands.
"Be careful!"
Brogy held his giant battle axe and chopped down with one swing. The axe was several times larger than Nox's body, looking incredibly imposing.
"Boom!!"
Without thinking, Nox directly punched the axe blade, instantly shattering a corner of it. The immense strength caused Brogy's massive body to retreat repeatedly, finally sitting down on the ground.
At this moment, Dorry also held his great sword and delivered a horizontal slash.
"Good timing!"
Nox still punched the great sword, and after shattering a corner of Dorry's great sword as well, he sent Dorry stumbling back next to Brogy, where he also sat down.
"Friend, your strength is very great, even stronger than ours. Next, we will use Elbaf's strongest move. You must be careful!"
Dorry and Brogy exchanged glances, stood up, and said excitedly.
After just one exchange, they knew that the human before them was absolutely powerful. The two of them were no match at all and could only gamble by using their strongest combined move!
"The power of the Giant Race is truly immense. Ordinary Giant Race members possess Vice Admiral level strength after reaching adulthood."
"And Dorry and Brogy's strength is already comparable to Admiral level. However, their movements are considerably slower compared to other Admirals, to the extent that they are simply no match for them!"
"No wonder in the original story, they were toyed with and easily defeated by Crocodile's subordinates; it was due to their slow movements."
"And after returning to the New World, they defeated the Kid Pirates with one Bagguk, and at Egghead Island, they even clashed head-on with the Gorosei!"
While Dorry and Brogy were shocked by Nox's strength, Nox was also filled with emotion in his heart.
The strength of these two Giant Race members is indeed worthy of being the two leaders of the Giant Soldier Pirates back then!
"Then come on!!"
At this moment, Nox's expression became serious, and he used his Kenbunshoku Haki to the extreme, observing every move of Dorry and Brogy.