Roa strolled out of the castle.
I need to find someone to lead the way first.
Just as he was thinking this, a dark shadow enveloped him.
"Hey! Brat! What just happened doesn't count! Let's do it again!"
Roa looked up.
Loki, wrapped in several bandages, his face almost entirely covered, looked furious.
Roa's eyes darted, then he said with a serious expression, "That won't do. Pirates have their own code of honor. I can't bully an injured person!"
Loki was stunned for a moment.
Could this guy actually be not so bad?
He had initially thought this guy, who treated people like puppets and didn't care if they died, was no good.
Loki forcefully patted his chest. "Don't underestimate me, brat! Cough, cough, cough... I'm perfectly... cough, cough... perfectly fine... cough, cough... fine!"
Roa looked at Loki, who coughed violently with every pat to his chest yet still acted tough, and couldn't help but click his tongue. Blood was seeping from his wounds.
What a stubborn fellow.
Even for an ancient giant, getting stabbed in the lung couldn't be comfortable, could it?
"Ultimately, you just want to join the Rocks Pirates, right?"
Roa's cute little face was full of smiles.
"So what if I do?"
Loki's voice softened.
"So what?"
Roa put his hands on his hips, an arrogant look on his face. "Ha, I see you don't understand at all! Standing before you is the youngest executive of the Rocks Pirates, the seven-year-old child with the highest bounty in the world, Mr. Roa, who became a member of the Rocks Pirates at the age of five."
"Oh!"
Loki's mouth dropped open. "You brat, could you actually be really strong?"
"Is there any doubt?"
Roa gave him a meaningful look. "Do you know why the Captain rejected you?"
Loki shook his head blankly.
Rocks said he didn't like brats, but this guy in front of him was even more of a brat.
"Exactly. If you don't even know why you were rejected, how can you not be rejected?"
Roa adopted the look of a mentor seeing potential.
"Is, is that so?"
Loki scratched his head, feeling that what this kid said was a bit convoluted.
The cunning and sinister Curse Prince of the future, due to years of associating with beasts, still wasn't very quick-witted.
"But it's okay,"
Roa crossed his arms, speaking earnestly. "I'll teach you how to join the Rocks Pirates!"
"Are you serious?"
Loki was pleasantly surprised.
"Of course!"
Roa leaped up from the spot, landing directly on Loki's shoulder. "But before that, you need to take me to see the murals of the Harald Canon."
"Murals? You're actually interested in that kind of stuff?"
Loki instinctively started to take a step, but then immediately stopped. He said suspiciously, "You're not going to trick me, are you?"
"How could I?"
Roa said with a smile, "Tell me, with how handsome you are, who could ever trick you?"
"You're right! Murals, huh? Let's go!"
And so, the journey of the young boys began.
Loki was truly a monster with a physique capable of surviving even after being repeatedly stabbed by Shamrock's dog-sword in the future. The stab wound in his lung from Roa seemed like mere child's play. He galloped through the village with Roa on his back, blood still dripping from his chest.
The village's name was West Village, a settlement belonging to warriors.
The giants of the Giant Warrior Pirates basically originated from this village. Aunt Linlin also lived here for a year back then.
Loki's popularity here wasn't very good. Despite being the future heir to the kingdom, most giants who saw him would immediately turn their heads away. Only a few would greet Loki.
Tsk, giants have bullying too, huh.
Fortunately, the strong individuals in this world were generally thick-skinned, and Loki didn't care about this atmosphere at all.
He just galloped straight ahead with Roa, not even lifting his head.
In the middle, a little giant wearing a helmet tried to block their way, wanting to say something, but was directly sent flying by Loki, who ran headlong.
He must have thought it was a speed bump.
Go tell Loki's king dad!
Roa looked back at the little giant who was clumsily getting up.
Oh, that guy's dad should be Harald too.
Hajrudin.
Loki's half-brother. The difference is indeed too great.
Soon, Loki had rushed out of the village, galloping along an extremely thick branch.
Before long, the two had passed through thick foliage and approached the main trunk of the Treasure Tree Adam.
They could already see it: the massive mural on the distant tree trunk.
That was the prophetic painting left behind during the Void Century.
"Ohoho! Truly magnificent!"
Roa stood on Loki's shoulder and approached the mural.
Even though he already knew the content of the mural, seeing it with his own eyes still filled him with genuine awe.
"Is it that impressive?"
Loki, however, said indifferently, "At the end of the day, it's just a painting."
"That's not right,"
Roa's mouth curved upwards. "It's the determined past, and the future that will be changed by me."
"Huh?"
Loki looked bewildered. "The future changed by you?"
What does that mean?
What was recorded on the mural was the truth of the world.
The mural was divided into three parts, corresponding to three worlds from ancient times to the present, matching the three chapters of the Harald Canon passed down by the giant race.
The first world: Humans violated the taboo of the sun. With the wishes of slaves, the first Sun God was born, probably the one worshipped by the giants. His enemies were the God of Earth and the Serpent of Karma Flames.
The middle world: The God of the Forest unleashed devils, perhaps referring to the birth of Devil Fruits. The second Sun God, Joyboy, ignited a war, but someone slew the Sun God and ascended to divinity. The God of the Ocean was thus enraged, perhaps referring to the rise in sea level.
The third world was the future world: The third Sun God brought the dawn, ushering in a new era. This undoubtedly referred to Luffy.
Although it was still very cryptic—what with the God of Earth and Serpent of Karma Flames, the God of the Forest and God of the Ocean, the half-moon people and full-moon people—it was impossible to know what they precisely referred to.
But combined with the mural itself, a lot of information was revealed.
The first world seemed to have the most prosperous civilization, with towering buildings.
In the second world, an evil dragon was entrenched atop a giant tree. Could this evil dragon be Imu? That's why the Celestial Dragons referred to themselves as Celestial Dragons.
In the third world, Luffy's ultimate opponent was a devil holding the sun. Who could this guy be? Blackbeard?
It's truly intriguing.
I transmigrated too early; this world is still full of countless mysteries.
"Since you're interested in this place,"
Loki suddenly spoke, "Would you like to see another place?"
"Oh?"
A little later, Roa was led by Loki to the outside of a colossal structure.
"Whoa, oh!"
Roa exclaimed, almost forgetting this place.
Before him stood a massive building, perfectly integrated with the branches of Adam, with a tree crown even at its top.
The main body of this structure was a colossal robot. Although it had been converted into a building, its outline was still clearly visible.
"They say it's a three-thousand-year-old robot!"
Loki chuckled. "Super cool, right?"
"Indeed, it's awesome."
Who doesn't love giant robots?
This guy must be the partner of the first Sun God, right?
Speaking of which, each generation of Sun God had a robot companion.
Joyboy's Emet, Luffy's Franky.
"Alright! I've shown you everything you wanted to see!"
Loki got down to business. "You should tell me now how I can join the Rocks Pirates, right?"
"No hurry,"
Roa stretched lazily. "Customer service always needs to be done right, doesn't it? First, take me back."
"You bastard!"
Loki yelled, then turned and ran back.